The Panther Post
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News & Updates from
Gum Springs Elementary
January 8-12, 2024
A Message from Administration
Happy New Year! I hope all of you were able to spend some time with your families and recharge for the New Year. We were excited to have our students back in the building this week. I think many of them were happy to be back as well. Over the last three days we have seen our staff and students dive right in to instruction and get back in the swing of things.
Regardless of whether you have kids in elementary, middle, or high school, second semester is always busy. Our Wednesday & Thursday lunch sign-ups will begin after the MLK, Jr. Holiday. You can begin signing up today using the link below.
We are also planning another All Pro Dads event. We will send out information in the coming weeks about the date and time. APD is new to Gum Springs this year, and our initial event was well-attended. In a few months, our 3rd-5th grade students will be taking their Milestones tests and our 5th graders will be getting ready to make the transition to middle school. The end of the school year will be here before we know it.
Lastly, thank you all so much for your flexibility and patience with our check-in process during our holiday parties. We managed to screen over 1200 visitors through our Raptor security system. Thank you for your support as we work through our new system and try to make GSES as safe as possible.
Thank you so much for all that you do to make GSES great!
Joshua Todd
News and Updates
Congratulations to our December Claw of the Month winners--RED CLAW! This month, our students earned 3,410 PAWS tickets for positive behavior, with Red Claw claiming 717 of those. We are proud to recognize our Panthers doing a great job showing PRIDE, having a positive ATTIUDE, being hard WORKERS, and helping keep our school SAFE!
This Wednesday, January 10th, is CLAW SPIRIT DAY. We are looking forward to seeing GSES covered in our Claw Colors! Everyone loved our new Claw shirt design, so we have also decided to do one more round of Claw Spirit shirt orders for those who regret not ordering on the first round. 😀 Click HERE to place your order on SchoolPay through February 2nd. (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.)
We have an opening for a Copy Crew volunteer TOMORROW, 01/08. If you are available to fill this need, please sign up HERE.
The Family Lunch Guest Sign-Up is now 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).
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.
This Week's
After-School Clubs
Tuesday: GS Gizmos (pick up at 5:00 P.M.)
Thursday: Science Olympiad Team (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Thursday: Chorus Rehearsal for all students EXCEPT CREW--No Crew (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Upcoming Events
January 10: Claw Spirit Day
January 15: MLK Day (No School for Students or Staff)
January 16: Report Cards go home with all students.
January 16: GSES Spirit Night at WNB Factory
January 17: 100th Day of School (Your child's teacher will notify you if their grade level is planning any special events or dress-ups.)
January 19: Yearbook Picture Day (only for newly-enrolled students)
January 19: Kdg Field Trip
January 20: Northeast Georgia Regional Technology Competition
January 20: GS Gizmos LEGO Robotics Team Super-Regional Tournament
February 1: Mark your calendar to join us for an awesome Family Game Night, sponsored by GSES PTO! Details coming soon.
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
The annual 5th grade C.H.A.M.P.S. graduation ceremony was held just before Winter Break on Wednesday, December 20th at GSES. Choosing Healthy Activities and Methods Promoting Safety (C.H.A.M.P.S.) was founded in 2003 by the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association to teach students about safety and the importance of making good life choices. Students learn about topics like drugs, alcohol, Internet safety, peer pressure, and much more in the 12-week course taught by trained local officers. In addition to the great curriculum the course covers, we are also thankful that the C.H.A.M.P.S. program gives our students the opportunity to connect with local law enforcement on a personal level and realize the community champions who are here to support them as they grow up. Deputy Scott Frazier, this year's instructor, has been such a great role model for our students. We will miss him next year as he transitions into a new role for JCSO. Special thanks to Officer Frazier for his commitment to this important program.
A few special awards were presented during the recent ceremony. Congratulations to our C.H.A.M.P.S. Students of the Year Rockwell Kale and Olivia King who were selected from among the entire 5th grade to receive this honor.
Bri Rodriguez was recognized for winning the annual Essay Contest about the importance of the C.H.A.M.P.S. program, and Norah Eberlin placed 2nd.
Special thanks to Sheriff Janis Mangum and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office for sponsoring this program and always being such great supporters of our students and school. We were also excited to have a team of JCSO officers at our ceremony to recognize this year's graduates. We know the C.H.A.M.P.S. program has provided our students with the important tools they need to make great choices as they face life's challenges. Congratulations, 5th graders!
New Year, New Goals
With a new year comes the chance to recharge, refresh, and reset...and you're never too young to start that! This week, many of our students and classes have been reflecting on the first half of their school year and working on setting goals they'd like to accomplish during the new year. Check out some of their reflections and resolutions in the pictures above.
Mrs. Brunen's 3rd grade class is one example of a class who recently set goals. After reading Squirrel's New Year's Resolution together as a class, Mrs. Brunen's students set their own personal and academic goals. They also discussed how goals without plans are just wishes, so they came up a plan to make sure their goals were achievable too.
January is a great time to set new family and home goals too. A great goal for home is to help your child develop more responsibility and independence. By establishing daily routines for afternoon or evening or requiring specific chores and holding your child accountable to completing them, you will also be helping set your child up for success at school, as following multi-step directions is a common expectation in elementary school. Here are some examples of age-appropriate chores that might be a helpful place to start as you think about establishing routines and expectations at home.
Mrs. Swierczek's 5th grade class completed a PBL on New Year's Resolutions to start off the New Year. Students read, researched, and created products in varying formats based on New Year's information from a historical lens, a mathematical lens (statistics), and an ELA lens. Students used articles, videos, infographics, and research to create a Google Slide presentation, a Podcast/Talk Show Episode through Flipgrid, and a Life Coach Brochure via Canva. Students learned valuable tips on how to make attainable resolutions and follow through with them to become a positive statistic!
Go Gizmos!
Congratulations to our GS Gizmos LEGO Robotics Team. Because of their great performance at their recent regional competition, the Gizmos recently received word that they had been offered a coveted invitation to participate in the LEGO Super-Regionals Tournament! We'll be cheering for the Gizmos as they head to Lawrenceville to compete on January 20th. Way to go, Gizmos!
Pen Pals Meet
Just before Winter Break, Ms. Menard and Mrs. Sweirczek’s 5th grade classes got to meet their pen pals in person. These 5th grade students have been writing back and forth to pen pals in the Jackson County High School Key Club all semester and were excited to finally get to meet them in person. Students were led on a tour of their future high school, played games, made bracelets, decorated cookies, and ate pizza, while getting to know their pen pals in person. Thanks to our friends at JCHS for helping our students grow as writers and showing them what great high school role models look like!
PANTHER SUPPORTERS
Thanks to the awesome team at Outback Steakhouse, Athens location, for providing a back-to-school luncheon for our staff on their first day back to work in 2024. The great food and great service was a perfect way to kick off a new year!
If you want to join a great team, mark your calendars to visit the Jackson County School System Career Fair later this month! Help spread the word to your friends in surrounding areas so we can recruit the best and brightest 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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