The Panther Post
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News & Updates from
Gum Springs Elementary
October 30-November 3, 2023
News and Updates
We hope you have a fun and safe time with family Halloween celebrations this week. As a reminder, please do not plan to wear costumes to school on Halloween.
Claw color t-shirts orders close THIS WEEK on November 1st. This is your ONLY CHANCE to order this year! Click HERE to order shirts through School Pay. (When placing your order, be sure to select your child's correct CLAW color. If you're not sure, your child's teacher can tell you what color to order. If your child was a GSES student last year, their Claw color is the same as their previous tribe color.) Just to clarify--CLAW SHIRTS are different from CLASS SHIRTS. If you ordered class shirts earlier this year, they will be available soon.
The yearbook Early-Bird 10% Discount ends THIS TUESDAY, October 31st. Click HERE to order. You will need to enter the following passcode for GSES: 101485563232668.
We hope your family will join us in honoring the veterans and current service members who are part of our GSES community by adding them to our Veterans Day slide show. See infomration in the "School Spotlights" section below about our Veterans Day program. All submissions are due THIS FRIDAY, November 3rd.
Plans are underway for the GSES Family Fall Festival on November 10th. Tickets are pre-sale only, $10 per person (2 and under free), and include access to all bouncies, crafts, and other activities, except food.
This Friday is the last home football game of the Panthers' regular season, which means it's our students' last chance to earn free tickets to the game! Make sure your child shows their Panther Pride on Friday for a chance to win 1 of 4 free tickets to this Friday's game.
We are excited to announce that this year's spring musical will be Annie! Students in 4th and 5th grades who are interested in being part of the cast should stay after school on Thursday. Parents, please refer to the Remind message from Mrs. Cooper with details. If you have questions, please email Mrs. Cooper at jcooper@jcss.us.
Families may now sign up to join your child for lunch at GSES. Please read the guidelines at the top of the form carefully before signing up. Click HERE to select your spot for November or December.
If your child signed up to participate in the Student Technology Competition, the following resources include helpful information for project planning. Please contact Mrs. Gassman (monica.gassman@jcss.us) if you have any questions.
We have an opening for a Copy Crew volunteer TOMORROW, 10/30. If you are available to fill this need, please sign up HERE.
JCSS uses a learning management system called Canvas to share information with students and families. This is where your child's teacher posts his/her class newsletter, schedule, and other updates. Student assignments may be posted in Canvas as well. If you do not know how to access your Canvas parent page, follow the step-by-step directions shown HERE. Contact media specialist, Mrs. Gassman (monica.gassman@jcss.us) if you need assistance.
This Week's
After-School Clubs
Tuesday: GS Gizmos (pick up at 4:30 P.M.)
Thursday: Science Olympiad Team (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Thursday: Stock Market Club (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Thursday: Spring Musical first meeting (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Upcoming Events
October 23-November 3: Parent Conferences
October 31: Deadline for yearbook 10% discount orders.
November 1: Deadline for Claw Shirt Orders
November 3: Entries due for Veterans Day Slideshow
November 10: Veterans Day Program
November 10: GSES Student Technology Competition
November 10: GSES Fall Festival
November 20-24: Thanksgiving Break (No School for Students or Staff)
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
Veterans Day Tribute
GSES students will honor our veterans and active military service members in a special program on Friday, November 10th at 9:00 A.M. Veterans and current service members are invited to attend with their GSES students or staff members. Even if your service member cannot attend the event in person, we want to include all veterans and current service members who have a GSES connection in our slide show tribute during the program. Our students get very excited to see their family members honored too! Please click HERE to complete the Google from and share your information about the special connections from your family. You will also use this form to RSVP if a veteran or service member from your family plans to attend our program. The form will close at 11:59 P.M. on Friday, November 3rd. Thank you for helping us honor this much-appreciated part of our GSES family!
Meet the First-Ever GSES Golden Spatula Winners!
We are excited about a new GSES recognition: The Golden Spatula! We are working hard on improving cafeteria behavior at GSES. Each week one class at each grade level will be recognized for showing PAWS expectations during lunch. The winning classes will receive the coveted GOLDEN SPATULA to proudly display on their classroom door. You can help us at home too by encouraging good manners at meal time. Here are a few ideas:
Make mealtimes an electronic-free time in your house--no phones, TVs, tablets, or computers. Family meal times are the perfect time to demonstrate and practice appropriate conversation skills with your child.
Remind your child to use good table manners and not play with his/her food.
Encourage responsibility by having your child clean up after him/herself. It is age-appropriate for all elementary students to clean up their area after eating, including putting all trash on their plate, emptying their plate, cleaning up any accidental messes they made, making sure they did not drop trash or crumbs on the floor, and wiping the table around their area after eating.
Check out our Cafeteria PAWS matrix below to see what our school expectations are for breakfast and lunch behavior.
Multi-Age Winner: Hendley
Kdg. Winner: Holman/Kollman
1st Grade Winner: Gordy
2nd Grade Winner: Rechin
3rd Grade Winner: Brunen
4th Grade Winner: Buford
5th Grade Winner: Menard
Red Ribbon Week was a great time of fun and learning as we explored why it's important to "Be Kind to Your Mind" (and Others). Check out some of our dress-up fun below and look for more photos on Facebook. Tune in to next week's Panther Post to find out the winners of this year's Red Ribbon Week poster contest. We had LOTS of great entries!
Blue Claw Wins Quarter 1 Panther Playoffs
Students had a great time at our first Panther Playoffs event for the 2023-24 school year! During specials on Friday, all six Claw color groups competed in friendly challenges to earn points for their Claw. Students competed in three events: dodgeball, hula hoop relay (which required lots of teamwork!), and the puzzle relay (which required some quick thinking and fast feet!). Champions in each event over the course of the day earned points for their Claw. Each claw earned at least 50 points, but top honors for the day overall went to the BLUE CLAW, our Quarter 1 Panther Playoff Champs, who earned 110 points! Of course, Gus the Panther showed up to celebrate with our students too!
All students have the opportunity to compete in Quarter 1 Panther Playoffs. For future Playoff events, students who meet class and school behavior goals and expectations will be invited to attend. Encourage your child to follow PAWS expectations for positive behavior.
Cultural Exploration in Kindergarten
Mrs. Miyake’s class recently read the book Lei Harvest. They learned how flowers are grown to make Hawaiian leis and how real flower leis are made. After reading the book, students looked at different types of artificial leis and made their own flower leis. They even wrapped up the book by dancing to some Hawaiian music.
Going Batty in 2nd Grade!
We “bat” you didn’t know that bats can live in cave colonies with up to 20 million bats! Ms. Rechin’s 2nd grade class had a lot of fun researching and learning all about bats this week. Students made their very own bat habitats, wrote an informational paper, and created a bat pamphlet with information. They also welcomed their kindergarten Book Buddies to come learn all about bats and tour the different habitats. Second graders make great teachers too!
5th Grade Peer Helpers
Mrs. Lankford's adaptive class really enjoyed having some extra-special visitors this week! 5th graders from Mrs. Hunt's class chose to cash in their punch card reward points to be peer helpers with Mrs. Lankford and her students. We love when our students show that they are great leaders who use their heart, time, and talents to help others!
PANTHER SUPPORTERS
October is a very busy month for teachers! Thank you to Shannon Marciano from Marciano and Company Real Estate for bringing some joy to our staff by sponsoring a Surprise Staff Snack Cart this week. These little treats really do make a big difference to our team!
We appreciate you!
Thank you to Alpha Delta Kappa society of Women Educators for donating snacks for staff and students.
During the month of October, all 3rd graders participated in routine hearing and vision screenings. Thank you to local Lions Club members as well as graduate students and their clinical supervisor from UGA's Speech and Hearing Clinic for assisting GSES Clinic Assistant Mrs. Gierum with this important process. Your help was much appreciated!
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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