The Panther Post
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News & Updates from
Gum Springs Elementary
January 22-26, 2024
News and Updates
We hope you can join us for some family fun on Thursday, February 1st from 6:00-7:30 P.M. as GSES PTO hosts Glow-in-the-Dark Bingo Night! A meal voucher ticket ($8) is required for all guests and includes pizza, cookie, bottle of water, and free Bingo cards. The event is pre-sale only. Click HERE to purchase tickets.
New year, new habits! Just a reminder that the school instructional day begins at 7:40 A.M. If your child is arriving to school late, he or she is missing important daily instruction. Car riders, please leave home early enough to ensure that your child will be exiting your vehicle no later than 7:35 A.M. so that your child can be in class and ready to learn by 7:40 each day. Our teachers and paraprofessionals have to be in the building to begin instruction as well.
Families are requested to give feedback about our school on the annual Georgia Health Survey. Survey results help us find out how families feel about our school climate and community. We'd love to hear from you! This short survey can be completed in 10-15 minutes, and your feedback helps us continue to make GSES better. Click HERE to get started.
Round 2 of Claw Spirit Shirt orders is open through February 2nd. Click HERE to place your order on SchoolPay. (You must indicate your child's claw color on the order form to receive the correct color shirt. If you do not know your child's claw color, please ask his/her teacher.)
Pre-Kindergarten lottery registration for the 2024-25 school year is open. Families can register for the lottery through Friday, February 16. Please note this application does not guarantee admission into a Pre-K program inside the Jackson County School System, but is rather an application into the lottery. JCSS will hold a lottery drawing in March and families will be notified following the drawing. To register for the lottery, click HERE. Please help us spread the word to families in our JCSS community who have rising Pre-K students.
The Family Lunch Guest Sign-Up is live for January and Feburary dates. Click the button below if you'd like to reserve a time to join us. Please read the specific guidelines at the top of the form carefully before signing up (and be sure to click SUBMIT).
Current 5th grade families: If your child is interested in playing middle school softball next year, please complete the interest form referenced below by clicking HERE or scanning the QR code below.
The GSES Stock Market Club will be back in action for the spring competition soon! If your 4th or 5th grader is interested in participating, be sure to read the information below and click HERE to sign up.
This Week's
After-School Clubs
Thursday: Science Olympiad Team (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Thursday: Chorus Rehearsal--only speaking parts and all orphans--no Crew, no New Yorkers, no servants, no ushers (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Upcoming Events
January 26: Winter Wonderland Dance for 5th graders
January 31: Claw Spirit Day and Panther Playoffs
January 31: Deadline to sign up for Stock Market Club
February 1: GSES PTO Glow-in-the-Dark Family Bingo Night; 6:00-7:30 P.M.
February 2: 2nd Grade Field Trip
February 2: Deadline to order Claw shirts
February 16: Deadline to register for Pre-K lottery for 2024-25 school year
February 16 & 19: No School for Students
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
GS Gizmos are GRAND CHAMPIONS!
The Gum Springs Gizmos are GRAND CHAMPIONS!!! This past Saturday, they claimed 1st place at the FIRST LEGO League Super-Regionals tournament at Mountainview High School. The Gizmos also won the LEGO Table Award for having the highest coding score in the tournament. Their next stop is the STATE COMPETITION!!!
Congratulations to team members Mason Williams, Murphy McSwain, Allie Duncan, Candler Chambers, Parker Hamrick, Elliel Gutierrez-Alvarez, and Carson Powers who have worked diligently for many, many hours since August to prepare. Thank you to their dedicated and supportive coaches GSES teachers Mrs. Kasey Sheridan and Mrs. Haley Meier, as well as Mr. Jonathan Page from Jackson County 4-H. We are Panther Proud of this incredible team!
Panthers Take Top Honors at Region Technology Competition
Gum Springs was well-represented at this weekend's Northeast Georgia Regional Technology Competition. Seven of our students, who already brought home first place honors at the JCSS District Competition in November, competed on Saturday against winners from our regional RESA district, including 13 school systems, and ALL OF THEM brought home a medal! We are Panther Proud of these amazing students for the hard work, research, presentation skills, and technological knowledge they put into their work. Two first place winners will aslo advance to the State Competition on March 2nd!
Congratulations to:
1st place: Addison Tope, 3rd-4th Project Programming (Headed to State!)
1st Place: Valentine Skrobot, 5th-6th Productivity Design (Headed to State!)
2nd Place: Tanner Runge, 5th-6th Project Programming
3rd Place: Cooper Williams, 5th-6th Animation
3rd Place: Jacob Mack, 3rd-4th Animation
3rd Place: Daniel D’Arienzo, 3rd-4th Video Production
3rd Place: Parker Spears—3rd-4th Digital Game Design
An Un-BEE-lievable Performance
Last Friday, 4th grader Rithvicka Purushothaman represented GSES at the Jackson County School System District Spelling Bee. She competed against the school level winners from ten different JCSS schools, including middle schools, and claimed 5th place! We are so proud of how hard Rithvicka worked to prepare and were honored to have her represent our school in such an amazing way. Congratulations, Rithvicka!
Engineering in Action
After learning about force and motion in a recent science unit, Mrs. Ellis' 4th grade students were challenged to make a functioning marble roller coaster. They explored how bumps and tape caused friction and ways to successfully make loops for their marbles. Students reflected on Newton's laws of motion and how energy transferred throughout their roller coaster designs.
Learners "Spotted" Having Fun in Pre-K
Our Pre-K Pals had fun celebrating all things dalmatian on the 101st day of school this week! These cute little puppies especially enjoyed using Scooby Snacks and Oreos to make a special "101" snack treat.
Sticky Situation
Mrs. Gordy's 1st graders put their geometry and engineering skills to the test last week. Students were challenged to build various 2-D and 3-D shapes using marshmallows and toothpicks. Check out how well these first graders are learning to identify shapes!
100 Days Smarter!
Students had LOTS OF FUN celebrating being 100 days smarter on our 100th Day of School this past Wednesday. They enjoyed discovering and sharing many different ways to represent the number 100 with special activities throughout the day. Understanding magnitude and exploring different representations for numbers is an important step to help early learners develop number sense. We are looking forward to filling the next 78 days of school with lots more challenging and engaging learning opportunities too! (You can view lots more pictures of our fun day on our GSES Facebook page.)
New Year, New Goals
This week's "New Year, New Goals" challenge is to set screen time limits for technology use. Technology can offer many benefits, like entertainment, staying connected, and even supporting education goals. But just like we have to put limits on other things we may enjoy, like sweets or snacks, we need to have limits on technology use too. (It's good reminder not just for our kids, but for us as adults as well.) As parenting guidance organization Talk Heart2Heart says, "Limits = Love."
If you'd like to know more about recommended guidance for screen time, as well as how to get started setting limits that work for your family lifestyle, this website has links to several helpful articles, categorized by teens, older children/tweens, and younger kids.
PANTHER SUPPORTERS
Spring sports registration is now open at Jackson County Parks and Recreation. Register for baseball, softball, t-ball, volleyball, soccer, and track and field today. Click HERE to register or call 706-367-6350.
If you want to join a great team, mark your calendars to visit the Jackson County School System Career Fair THIS SATURDAY. Help spread the word to your friends in surrounding areas so we can recruit the best and brightest staff members to the Jackson County School System.
Want to know more about how you can support our school? Click below for details. Feel free to contact Mrs. Hannah Freyre at hannah.freyre@jcss.us with questions.
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