Time Keeps on Slippin, Slippin, Slippin…into
the Future:
This old
Steve Miller Band lyric sums things up pretty well. On this, my son’s 21st birthday, I
think about how quickly time has passed.
It seems like he should still be a 4th grader in Becky Miller’s
class at Lawler instead of a junior at Vanderbilt. The years have flown by since I started
teaching school at GCHS 25 years ago.
Many things have changed in the school world, but some things have
stayed the same. Over the years, I have always
been surrounded by great people who care deeply about kids. That was true in 1990, and it is true in
2015. This school year is ticking right
on by as well. I have just a few notes
to share as the week winds down.
Dress for Success, a Great Success!
I was very
pleased to see such a good level of participation for our first “Dress for
Success Day”. I could see pride on the
faces of many of our students, who clearly felt good about themselves that
day. Thank you for encouraging this
effort. I know that many of you brought
items from home to help students be able to participate. We will do this again in the future!
Good Luck Cougars!
Good luck to
the GCMS academic team at the Regional Governor’s Cup competition. Our students will compete at Legrande
Elementary School in Hart County on Saturday.
Good luck to
our GCMS boys basketball teams as they compete in the conference tournament at
Ohio County. Our 7th grade
boys play on Thursday night, and if we win, we play in the championship on
Friday night. Our GCMS 8th
grade boys have already advanced to Friday’s championship game.
Welcome!
I would like
to welcome some new employees to GCMS.
Jeffrey Skaggs has been hired as a new custodian for the evening shift,
and Deanna Lasley has been hired as a new one-on-one aide, working with an 8th
grade student in Team 3. Also, Anna
Robinson is working as a part time aide with an ELL student in Team 1. I know that you will make them all feel
welcome at GCMS.
Second Annual Career Camp at GCMS:
I met with
Cynthia Smith and the staff from the GC Tech Center after school yesterday, and
we agreed upon February 17 as the date for this year’s Career Camp. The Tech Center staff will be here to conduct
demonstrations of their programs that day.
We will use a similar format to last year, with half the 8th graders
going in the morning and half in the afternoon. Groups of about 25 students
will rotate through 7 stations, spending about 20 minutes at each station
learning about a particular program at each stop. I will work up a schedule for the 8th graders
to rotate through that day and send it out to you ASAP.
High School Registration Info. from the
GCMS Counselors:
Mrs. Sims
sent this information out to 8th grade teachers recently:
On Friday, Jan 30th, representatives from various
departments of the high school will be here to have a sort of “recruitment day”
for our 8th graders during 2nd, 3rd, and 4th periods. They will have tables set up in the gym,
offering printed materials, etc from all departments for the students to have
before registration. I have reserved the
auditorium for PE classes to meet in during this time. There will also be an 8th grade Parent Info
Night at GCHS on February 23rd. There
will be calls made to parents before the event.
High school counselors will be here on February 24, 25, and 26th to
discuss the registration process with our students. They will meet in the language arts or social
studies core classes (team leaders please let me know which one you prefer), 1
day per team. They will meet with team 1 on Feb 24, Team 2 on the 25th, and
team 3 on the 26th. We ask that
alphabetized registration forms be turned in to me or Leann by March 6th. Please let me know of any questions. Thank you.
Lockdown Procedure:
Our recent lockdown drill went very well. We had about 10 local police officers present
to assist us with the drill, and they were very complimentary of our students
and staff. One item that we have agreed
to change is the duration of the emergency tone. From now on, when we sound the lockdown tone
or the tornado tone, we will only let it sound for about two minutes, and then
we will cut it off. When the tone stops,
that DOES NOT end the lockdown or tornado procedure. Classes will remain under lockdown until a
police officer or a school administrator unlocks your door. A tornado procedure would continue until the
all clear is sounded or announced.
Cougar Bucks:
The Cougar Book
Store has been receiving a lot of Cougar Bucks lately with no student name on
them. In some cases, a student from one
grade has cashed in Cougar Bucks from a teacher of a different grade. While it’s
not impossible that a case like that is legitimate, it is unlikely. Please always make sure that someone puts the
student’s name on the buck. If it isn’t realistic for the teacher to do it,
just train your students to write their own name on there right when they
receive the buck. Thanks.
Attendance Audit:
Mr. Prunty
shared with me this week that the attendance auditors noted that some middle
school teachers were not posting their attendance in Infinite Campus for every
period, each day. Mrs. Wilson and I have
reminded teachers repeatedly, but this continues to be an issue. Please make it your new year’s resolution to
post your attendance in IC every period, every day. Thanks.
Attendance Contest:
Mr. Prunty
is sponsoring a February attendance contest again this year. The school in Grayson County with the highest
percentage of improvement over February of last school year will win
$1500. Please encourage your students to
be present each and every day in February.
Quote of the Day:
“Input influences outlook, outlook
influences output, and output determines outcome.” ~Anonymous
Coming Attractions:
Jan. 29-30…GRVC
Boys Basketball Tourney continues at Ohio County
Jan.
30…Students grades 3-12 should have tested their IC user IDs and passwords
by logging into IC.
Jan.
30…Teachers will review their PGP and record reflections in CIITS.
Jan.
30…Deadline to have all Peer Observations completed
Jan.
30…Deadline to have all 2nd Mini-Observations completed (non-tenured teachers)
Jan. 31…Regional
Governor’s Cup Competition at Legrande Elementary (Hart County)
Feb. 14…Grayson
County Spelling Bee (at GCMS)
Feb. 16…PLC
Day (no school for students unless changed to a makeup day)
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