Thursday, November 21, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving from GCMS!

Cougar Staff:
As we wrap up another great week at GCMS and enter into the Thanksgiving Break, I want to pause to thank each of you for what you do at GCMS each day.  Every staff member’s contribution and work is important, and I don’t say thank you often enough.  I was reviewing the TELL Survey results earlier this week, and one of the statistics that jumped out at me was that 94.6 percent of those who took the survey said yes, that “GCMS is a good place to work and learn.”  That sounds like a pretty good result on that question, but I would like to see this number at 100 percent next time.  I want people here who want to be here and know that we have a great school for our students and for our staff to work and to learn.  I appreciate our staff coming to work each day, having positive attitudes and high expectations for students and fellow staff, and for everything that you do.  I hope that you have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.  Take some time to truly count your blessings.  We all have much to be thankful for.  I thank the Lord every day for blessing me with a wonderful wife and two great children, for great friends and coworkers, for good health, a comfortable home, food on the table, clothes on my back, a great job where I have the opportunity to make a positive difference for kids, and on and on.  I am blessed far beyond what I could ever deserve, and I am thankful.

Personnel:
Please continue to remember those GCMS staff members who have health concerns.  Stacy Pierce is recovering well from surgery and was supposed to get some more test results back today (Thursday).  Laura Goff has returned to work, and we are glad to have her back after having surgery last Friday.  Elaine Holley has been having some medical testing and has a gall bladder surgery scheduled in December.  Cassie Jarboe’s daughter, Alyson, has also had some testing completed, and they are narrowing down what has been causing her health issues.  Many of you know Gayle Ferguson, who used to work as a custodian at GCMS.  Please remember Gayle in your thoughts and prayers.  He is going through chemotherapy dealing with a recurrent cancer.

Back to the Future Day:
Thank you to everyone who helped out with our 6th grade Back to the Future Day yesterday!  We had a good turnout of 6th grade parents, and everyone seemed to have a very positive experience.  I appreciate Faye and Kenzie setting up and working the hospitality room.  I also want to thank all of our 6th grade teachers for opening up your classrooms to our parent visitors yesterday.  By parents getting a glimpse into the daily school life of their children, they can hopefully better understand and become more engaged with their child’s education.

You Are (UR) Statements:
In response to the overwhelming success of the GCMS “I Am Project”, we are asking staff members to post UR (You Are) statements to our students.  Please take a few minutes to write down some of the positives and potential that you see in our students.  This can be to your advisory, to your team, to a particular class, or to our GCMS students in general.  These statements can be given to Becky Miller or Becki Pearl, or you can post it directly up on the wall in the “tunnel” leading from the front lobby toward the library (across from the I Am statements).  Becky Miller put together a very nice video of the I Am project.  I even told her that if she ever gets fired from GCMS, she may have a future as a videographer!  Here’s the link for those who haven’t seen the I Am Project video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWq8oa6SiUk&feature=youtu.behttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWq8oa6SiUk&feature=youtu.be

Early Bird List:
It is time for Mr. Blain to update the School Messenger “Early Bird” list.  This is a list of staff members who would like to receive a School Messenger call from the central office as early as possible in the event of school delays or cancellations due to inclement weather.  Typically, the Early Bird list is called about 30 minutes before everyone else is called.  If you were on the Early Bird list last year and want to stay on it, you don’t have to do anything.  If you want to be added or deleted from the Early Bird list, please let me know.  This is especially nice for those who drive greater distances to get here from out of county or from the farthest reaches of Grayson County.  As always, school cancellations and delays are also posted on the Louisville and Bowling Green TV channels, K-105 radio, and on the GCBOE Twitter.

Help Desk Tickets:
Please utilize the technology help desk ticket system when you have technology needs.  Kevin will get to your tech requests as quickly as possible, and the ticket system is the most efficient way to do this.  Please understand that Kevin cannot always drop what he is doing to respond to your tech issue, but he will get to each and every tech need as quickly as possible.  We appreciate the work that Kevin does each day to make things run smoothly with technology at GCMS.  Thanks.

Also, please take the tech survey that Jerrod Graybeal sent out yesterday.  I completed it, and it really took less than 1 minute to finish.  Please complete this by November 23.

Quote of the Day:
“Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.” ~Lady Bird Johnson

Coming Attractions:
Nov. 25-29....No School, Thanksgiving Week
Dec. 7…GCMS hosts 6th Grade Showcase (academic team)
Dec. 7…GCMS girls basketball conference tourney, at McLean County
Dec. 9…Christmas Breakfast, sponsored by GCBOE
Dec. 10..Team 7 Showcase Lesson Day
Dec. 10..GCMS Christmas Dinner, 6:00 pm at GCMS
Dec. 16..Staff Potluck Lunch in Library
Dec. 17..8th Graders tour the GC Tech Center
Dec. 20..Last day before Christmas Break (that day, we will be using our Mon-Thurs schedule)
Dec. 21-Jan. 5…Christmas Break

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