Happy New Year! The second half of our school year is in full swing. As you will see from the individual building reports, our students and staff are very busy!
In February, we will be conducting our district-wide Needs Assessment survey. When you receive your copy, please take a moment to complete and return the Needs Assessment. Your feedback is important to us.
Some of you may recall completing questionnaires at the November Parent-Teacher Conferences. I wanted to share some of the results with you:
Thank you for this valuable feedback. It will be used as we work to improve our school-family communication strategies.
The new Middle School building is in the final stages of construction. The tile and ceilings are being installed. There are, however, still things that need to be done, and at this time we don't know if moving into the building over Spring Break will be possible.
Thank you for your support and involvement in our school district. Working together, we make GCMS a wonderful place of learning!
On December 5th, members of the Middle School Student Council took a trip to the new middle school building. They received a tour of the building as well as a report on the progress of the construction.
According to their sponsors, Mrs. Portwood and Mrs. Doran, this trip served as an important way to update the student body on the status of the new building. After their tour, the student council representatives presented what they had learned to the rest of the Middle School students during Advisory period.
After the move to the new building, Student Council representatives are going to play an important role in helping the other students familiarize themselves with the new facility. We are very fortunate to have such capable student leaders in our Middle School!
Miss Illinois, Jennifer Powers, visited GCMS on November 20th. In addition to sharing words of encouragement with the students, she shared her talent of classical opera with them.
On January 18, the GCMS 6th grade Olympiad team consisting of Greg Clow, Lindsey Elder, Todd Epps, and Pat Volker competed in the All Central Illinois Learning Olympiad 2001 in Springfield. They qualified to compete in the Olympiad by finishing in the top five at an area competition held at Mt. Zion in December.
The Learning Olympiad tests each team in all the academic areas. What makes this contest unique is that the students compete in a variety of challenging games and competitions. There was a jeopardy game, an engineering design competition, math critical thinking, and a chess challenge.
Forty-nine teams competed at this year's Olympiad. We are proud to report that GCMS took 5th place. Congratulations to these GCMS Middle School students!
7th grade students, who were enrolled in art first semester, participated in a poster contest sponsored by the Gibson City Lions Club. The theme of the contest was "United in Peace". The students had to communicate the theme with just pictures - no words.
The winners of the local contest were:
1st Place - $25.00 prize - Karissa Carpenter
2nd Place - $15.00 prize - Deb Latham
3rd Place - $10.00 prize - Matt Eads and Ryan Clements (tie)
Karissa's poster has been sent on for judging in the Lion's International Peace Poster Contest! Wow!
The first graders entertained family and friends on January 22nd with a program of winter poetry, songs, and drama. The drama compared and contrasted the story of The Mitten. One story was retold by Alvin Tresselt, the 1966 version, and the other was retold by Jan Brett, the 1989 version.
The children enjoyed doing the drama. They had animal masks that they put on during the performance. While wearing the masks they became like the animals in the story - even walking and talking like them!
There will be a Summer Learning Olympiad held in Mt. Zion this year. The Elementary Olympiad for grades 3rd and 4th will be on June 25th. The Middle Olympiad for grades 5th and 6th will be on June 26th.
Students have the opportunity to put together their own 4-person team or if an individual would like to compete, they will be assigned to a team.
Registration to participate in the Summer Olympiad is due by May 1, 2001. Interested students should contact Mrs. Bane. PACT will assist interested students and their parents with registration fees and transportation.
The GCMS PTA will hold its annual Carnival on Saturday, February 24th at the Elementary School. The Carnival will have expanded hours this year, running from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. In addition to the usual food, face painting, and carnival games, this year will feature a Radar Pitching Cage and a Cake Walk. Everyone is invited to attend this evening of fun!
(If you would like to help with the Carnival, there will be a Carnival Planning Meeting on February 6th at 7:00 p.m. at the Elementary building.)
For the 13th year, the National Geographic Society held the National Geographic Bee for students grades 4th - 8th. GCMS participated by holding a local contest at the Elementary School. Fifth grader Ben Wurmnest won first place and Carrie McGrew, also a fifth grader, won second place.
As the local bee winner, Ben advances to the next level of competition, a written examination. He is eligible to win the national championship and its first prize, a $25,000 college scholarship, at the national competition in May at Washington DC. Congratulations to all the students who participated. Good luck to Ben as he continues in the competition!
Finalists in the GCMS Geography Bee - Back Row: Victoria Gregerson, Terese Fairfield, Carrie McGrew, Brittany Meyer,. Front Row: Colin Kirkpatrick, Grant Kerber, Ben Wurmnest, and Jordan Moore. Not Pictured is John Williams.
The next PTA meeting will be in April. The PTA is looking for officers for next school year. If you are interested, or would like more information, contact PTA President Lee Thomas at 784-8054.
Managing the Morning Rush - Does that sound like something you and your family could use some help with? If so, there is great new book in the Parent Resource Center that can help. It is called Managing the Morning Rush by Lee and Marlene Canter.
This little book has less than 50 pages, but is full of practical suggestions, checklists, sample contracts, and advice for parents.
This is just one of many new books that have been added to the Parent Resource Center this school year. The next time you and your family are in Moyer Library, take a few moments to check out all the great books, videos, and audio tapes. You can also look at the resources by logging on to the GCMS Parents' Web Site. Just click on "Resource Center".
3C has headed south of the equator this month to find out more about penguins! Mr. Kummerow helped the class find facts on 17 species of penguins!
Did you know that some Dad penguins have to hold the egg on their feet for five weeks until the baby hatches? If it falls off, the egg will not survive! Did you know that when penguins go swimming, they send one penguin in first to make sure that the water is free of seals and whales?
We had great fun making penguins, writing facts, and even doing great extra credit projects like the ones in the picture. Now we are trying to make our own slides in the computer lab!
Want to learn more about penguins? Come visit 3C!
On Thursday, March 15th at 7:00 p.m. in the GCMS Elementary Gym the Traveling Lantern Theater Group will delight us with a performance of "The Sword in the Stone". Mark your calendar so you won't miss this night of family entertainment.
The 2nd Annual GCMS Family Art Night will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27th. Details are still being planned, however, the evening will have a "Fishy" theme. Be on the lookout for more information to be sent home and posted on the GCMS web site.
This year to honor Dr. Seuss on his birthday, we will have a Story Reading Night on Thursday, March 1 at 7:00 p.m. at the GCMS Elementary Gym. Every student is invited to write a story about an adventure that Dr. Seuss might have had while visiting the United States.
All the stories will be read by the students that evening. In addition, we will be watching for the "Cat in the Hat" to make a visit to hand out treats to all the young authors. This will be a great family activity. We hope you can come.
On December 14 the 4th grade Olympiad team, Alan Broaddus, Nathan Dickey, Jared Lutz, and Eric Sommer, along with their sponsor, Mrs. Eagleson, traveled to Mt. Zion to compete in the Elementary Learning Olympiad contest. This is the first time GCMS has participated in the Elementary contest.
With the snowy conditions, the team arrived late and missed getting points for the first event. Still, out of 14 teams, they barely missed getting third place. They came home with fourth place and the satisfaction of being one of the few teams that succeeded in the boat design competition. Congratulations!
GCMS High School, and all public high schools in Illinois, will be offering the first Prairie State Achievement Exam this spring. The exam will be given to all juniors over two days, April 25 and 26, 2001.
The first day of the exam will be made up of ACT testing. The tests will come from the following subject areas: Math, English, Reading, and Science Reasoning.
The second day of the exam will be made up of both Illinois State Board of Education and Work Keys exams. The tests will come from the following subject areas: ISBE Writing, Science, and Social Science and Work Keys Applied Mathematics and Work Keys Reading for Information.
Students will receive feedback from the Illinois State Board of Education that will be placed upon the student's official transcript. Passing the PSAE exam is not required for graduation at this time.
Students will be given an official ACT score that may be used by students for college admissions. Additionally, students will be given a voucher that will allow them to retake the ACT test free of charge, if they choose to retake the exam.
GCMS High School is working to familiarize students with the test format and type of information necessary to succeed on the exams.
During December the GCMS Lifesavers competed with their counterparts at PBL High School in a 3-D Month Pledge contest. "3-D Month" stands for Drunk and Drugged Driving Month. The State of Illinois recognizes December as 3-D month.
The Ford County Probation Department proposed the contest between the two high school groups. Each group worked to get as many people as possible to sign a pledge that they would not drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The GCMS Lifesavers came out on top!
At their January meeting, PBL students and Probation Department staff were on hand to congratulate the group and present them with a trophy. This trophy is a traveling trophy that PBL will have the opportunity to win back next year.
Three of our Lifesavers were recognized: Ashley Mogged (51 pledge forms), Rebecca Spellmeyer (34 pledge forms), and Danielle Kearfott (21 pledge forms). Congratulations to the Lifesavers and to all those who pledged to drive sober!
Enclosed in this edition of The GCMS Times is a Domestic Violence reference card. These cards have been provided by the Ford County Coalition Against Family Violence and the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Family Violence Coordinating Council. For additional copies of this resource, call Cathy at 784-4223.
In October, GCMS Art students participated in the Prairie Center/Red Ribbon Week "Put the Slam on Drugs" art contest. For the second consecutive year, we had two winners from our District.
Fifth grade student Carrie McGrew won the Button Design Contest. Carrie's art work was made in to buttons for her whole class to wear. In addition she won several prizes, including a bicycle!
Seventh grade student Brett Hoy won the Billboard Design Contest. In addition to winning prizes Brett had the honor of seeing his art work made into a billboard that was displayed in Champaign!
Each of these winners, their families, and classmates attended a Recognition Reception at Jumers in Urbana. Illini Men's Basketball Coach Bill Self was there to congratulate them on their achievement.
Congratulations to both of these students and to their Art teacher, Mrs. Fox!
Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry is our destination for the fourth annual GCMS All School Trip. There are so many incredible things to see and do at the Museum of Science and Industry! For a fun preview of the day, log on to their web site at www.msichicago.org. You and your family won't want to miss this great day!
All GCMS students and their families are welcome. Please note that students must be accompanied by one or more adults to attend. There are restaurants at the Museum where lunch can be purchased or you can bring your lunch with you.
The deadline for registration is Thursday, March 15, 2001. Due to Museum policies, we have no flexibility to extend this deadline. (No refunds will be given for cancellations or "no-shows".) If you have any questions, please call Mrs. Bane at the Elementary School, 784-4278, or Cathy at the Liaison Office, 784-4223.
On Friday, April 20th, GCMS will be holding an incredible day of student and parent assemblies. America's premier youth motivator and humorist, Sam Glenn (aka; "The Chalk Guy") will be in the District. Sam will speak to the High School and Middle School student bodies during the day. That night, he will speak to parents and community members at the Middle School gym.
Sam shares a heartfelt message loaded with encouragement, humor, and empowerment. Just when you think he is about to wrap up - the lights go out, the music turns on, and Sam draws an incredible picture of the message he has just delivered. That is how he got the nickname "Chalk Guy", and it has to be seen to be believed.
Funding for Sam Glenn is being provided by the PTA, Gibson Area Hospital, PACT, and the GCMS Title IV Program. Mark your calendars and join us. (Details regarding times will be released closer to the date.)