A Five Day Week! (I say confidently on a Thursday)

This Week at GCMS:

It has been great to have a five day week of school this week!  Weather interruptions happen every year, but it is great to get some consecutive days of instruction in.   It has been a busy time with starting the student voice survey along with our regular teaching and learning.  The students seem to be taking the survey seriously and doing a good job with it.  I appreciate Becki Pearl serving as our building contact person for the survey.  I have just a few notes to share as this week winds down.

National School Counselor Week:

Being National School Counselor Week, I want to take this opportunity to thank our two GCMS school counselors, Leann Majors and Nancy Sims.  Both ladies do an outstanding job for our students and staff at GCMS.  They are a crucial part of our leadership team, they keep our daily and yearly schedules running efficiently, and most importantly, they work closely with our students who have a wide array of social and emotional needs.  Nancy and Leann often deal with highly emotional and crisis type situations, and always approach each case with the best interests of students in mind.  Ladies, thanks for all that you do!  Also, a big thank you to Shawn Majors, the counselor and director of our Grayson County Alternative School.  He counsels and works closely with many GCMS students who are assigned to AEC and often helps to get them back on the right track.  We also appreciate all of our outside agency counselors who help with counseling needs at our school.  We have a great support network for our students.

Staff Concerns:

With lots of staff families having health concerns right now, I will not attempt to list them all.  Whether it is elderly parents, children, spouses, siblings, or others, please remember your GCMS work family and their family members who have issues right now. 

Congratulations:

Congratulations to the GCMS boys basketball team on another successful season.  The season wrapped up this past week with the conference tournament.  Even though we did not bring back a championship this year, the boys and Coach Majors and Coach Johnston have worked hard and done a great job representing our school.

Baseball:

Grayson County Baseball has reorganized this year, and we now have a middle school baseball team.  The team is still part of the GCHS program, and our own Jonathan DeVore will be coaching the team.  Baseball Open field for 7^th and 8^th grade boys will start next Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3-4:30 on the Babe Ruth Field.  You must have a physical to participate.  Please see Coach DeVore for more details.

Cougar Bucks:

Lately, we have had a few cases of students attempting to cash in Cougar Bucks which were originally awarded to other students.  Please watch this closely to make sure that the students who are rewarded are the students who actually earned the Cougar Bucks in the first place.  Try to give Cougar Bucks on a regular basis so that students do have the opportunity to be rewarded for hard work, positive behavior, and good citizenship. Writing the students' names on the bucks or having the student to write their own name upon receiving them is the best way to assure proper use.  The good news is that even having this conversation means that students do value the bucks and want to use them.  Thanks.

Make Up Days: (repeat from last week)

It has been decided that February 15 and March 18 will be used as makeup days instead of PLC Days.  Students and staff will be here those two days.  Also, one PLC Day will be held on primary election day, Tuesday, May 17.  As of right now, spring break has not been affected, but this could change if we continue to have bad weather and have to close school additional days.  Stay tuned. 

Leading To Learning Grant: (repeat from last week)

There will be an informational meeting at the central office in March about the GRREC Leading to Learn Aspiring Principals program.  This is the third and final cohort of the grant, and it is a great way to get your principal’s certificate through WKU at a greatly reduced cost.  Ashley Johnson and Lea Ann Frank are in the year 1 cohort, and Gary Parker is in the year 2 cohort.  I know that any of the three would be glad to talk to you about the details of the program if you are interested.  Again, this will be the last year of the Aspiring Principals part of the grant, so if you are interested, now is the time.

Quote of the Day:

“Try Not.  Do or do not.  There is no try.” ~Master Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back)

Coming Attractions:

Feb. 6…GCMS Archery at NASP Region, Owensboro (Apollo HS)
Feb. 8...GCMS Faculty Meeting, 3:00

Feb. 8 and 10…Balfour Ring Rep at GCMS during lunch to take ring orders (form and $25 deposit)

Feb. 9…GCMS Home Volleyball Matches, 5:00

Feb. 12…Progress Reports go home

Feb. 13…Grayson County Spelling Bee, at GCMS

Feb. 16…Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:00-6:00

Feb. 17…GCMS SBDMC Meeting, 3:15

Feb. 18…GCMS Home Volleyball Matches, 5:00

Feb. 22-26…Tentative Dates for American Heart Association Fundraiser (pending approval)
Mar. 14..GCMS Faculty/Staff  Meeting (Testing Ethics Training), all who will work with testing