The Panther Post
 The Panther Post
News & Updates from Gum Springs Elementary School
Week of December 12-16, 2022
News & Updates
It's been a big competition week for our students at GSES! This week, three students were recognized as winners in the American Legion Junior Oratorical Contest, and twenty-seven school-wide winners represented our school at the inaugural JCSS District Student Technology Competition, with 14 of them claiming top honors! Read more about these Panther victories in the School Spotlights below. We are Panther Proud!
Students are welcome to join our staff in participating in our Holiday Book theme days this week to show their holiday cheer. Check the calendar below if your child is interested in participating.
Merry Grinchmas! GSES PTO is sponsoring a Holiday Shoppe for students December 14-19. Students who would like to shop may bring money to purchase gifts for family or friends. Lots of awesome PTO elves will be available to help them pick out the perfect choices and wrap their gifts to bring home. Gifts include something for everyone--parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, etc., including items such as ornaments, holiday decor, candles, UGA gifts, stuffed animals, toys, and more! Prices of items will range from $1 to $20. Students may pay with cash only. Students will shop on the following days at a designated time for their class:
Wednesday, December 14: Kdg and Multi-Age Classes
Thursday, December 15: 1st and 4th grades
Friday, December 16: 2nd and 3rd grades
Monday, December 19: Pre-K, 5th grade, and make-up shopping day for students who were absent on their designated day
As you are visiting GSES for special events in the next few weeks, please be sure to check the Lost and Found. All items will be donated to a local charity during the holiday break.
This Week's
After-School Clubs
Monday: Panther LEGO League Bonus Practice
Tuesday: Panther LEGO League
Thursday:Â Science Olympiad Team & Secret STEM Club
Upcoming Events
December 12: Holiday Book Day Theme Day "The Night Before Hanukah" (Wear blue)
December 13: Holiday Book Day Theme Day "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (Wear something Grinchy or green)
December 14: Holiday Book Day Theme Day "Moostletoe" (Wear a tacky holiday sweater)
December 15: Holiday Book Day Theme Day "Santa Bruce" (Wear a Santa or Elf Hat)
December 16: Holiday Book Day Theme Day "The Polar Express" (Wear holiday pajamas)
December 19: Holiday Book Day Theme Day "The Night Before Las Posadas" (Wear a holiday scarf with your Tribe Shirt since it's also Quarter 2 Panther PlayoffsDay!)
December 21-January 3: Winter Break
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
Twenty-seven GSES Panthers represented our school at the inaugural Jackson County School System Student Technology Competition on Wednesday, December 7th. Each of these students or student partnerships were already selected and announced as winners at the school level several weeks ago. Their projects were entered in either the 3rd-4th grade division or 5th-6th grade division in one of 14 project areas, ranging from topics like Robotics and Graphic Design to Animation and Digital Photo Production. Students competed against students from other JCSS schools who completed projects in the same category. Winning projects represented a wide range of products such as websites, videos, photos, audio productions, inventions, robots, programming codes, multi-media projects, and more--ALL STUDENT-CREATED! Each winner presented his or her project and shared a speech for a panel of technology expert judges at the competition. We couldn't be more proud of each of these winners! We were SO IMPRESSED with the quality of students' work and the beyond-their-years presentation skills with which they shared it. Congratulations on a job well done, Panthers!
TOP TECH TALENT
The great news continued on Thursday, December 8th, when we found out that FOURTEEN GSES students won 1st or 2nd place in JCSS district competition and now advance to the Northeast Georgia Regional competition in January! Congratulations to
Violet Brooks & Ellie Rankin, 1st place in 3rd-4th Internet Applications
Jacob Mack, 1st place in 3rd-4th Multimedia Applications
Daniel D'Arienzo, 1st place in 3rd-4th Productivity Design
Charleigh Kayumova, 1st place in 3rd-4th Video Production
Jocelyn Vanchiasong, 1st place in 5th-6th Device Modification
Silas Black, 1st place in 5th-6th Multimedia Applications
Faith Carter, 1st place in 5th-6th Productivity Design
Dylan Gierum, 1st place in 5th-6th Robotics
Liam Selby, 1st place in 5th-6th Project Programming
Kitty Lee, 2nd place in 3rd-4th Digital Photo Production
Landon Rock & Liam Paduani, 2nd place in 5th-6th Digital Photo Production
Erin Casper, 2nd place in 5th-6th Video Production
INVESTIGATING HISTORY
We were proud to have three GSES students from Mrs. Tinnell's 5th grade class compete in the American Legion Junior Oratorical Contest this week. Students researched to learn more about the articles of the U.S. Constitution, then wrote, memorized, and delivered speeches to a panel of judges. Students were excited to receive a check for their efforts as well! Thanks to American Legion Post 56 for sponsoring this competition and providing awards. Congratulations to
1st Place: Owen Landress
2nd Place: Joshua Xiong
3rd Place: Madelyn Rhodes
2ND GRADE PERFORMERS STEAL THE SHOW!
Our 2nd graders put on three wonderful performances of "The Greatest Snowman" last week to a packed house during each show! The musical was directed by GSES Music Teacher Mrs. Jackie Cooper, who has been helping students practice and prepare since October. Their hard work paid off, as audiences were wowed by the great personalities, talented singing, and discipline of the actors and actresses on stage. Special thanks, also, to Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Hannifin for using their talents to create the beautiful set design. Thank you for helping put us in the holiday spirit, 2nd grade! We LOVED the show! (If you didn't get a chance to see the show in person, you can watch it HERE. You can also view more photos from the event on our GSES Facebook page.)