Thursday Thriller

May 26, 2022

Photos from the Field

A few photos from Girls on the Run this past Saturday.  The girls enjoyed themselves and completed a 5k!!!  Thanks to Yaneth, Becky Jo and Christy for being coaches!  Shout out to Agnes, Rubi, Maria, Amber and her sister and Carina for being Running Buddies.

Zoe's students did awesome in their play!!

The 8th graders getting their picture taken. :D

Nuts-n-Bolts

1.    Yaneth is working on parent volunteers for our 8th grade activity day on June 16th and the 6th/7th activity afternoon on the 17th.  We reached out through Parent Square with Signup Genius.  However, if you know of parents who would want to volunteer on either of these days, please let Yaneth know.

2.    Here is the schedule for the YMCA on June 16th.  THANK YOU, Steve, for putting this together. 

3.    Tomorrow is the Staff vs Student bball game.  Here is the link so you can watch it in your classroom. If you are a teacher who is playing and needs to warm up but you have a class at 2:45, email me ASAP.  We will find coverage.  That person will stay with your class until 3:00 in which the person covering will bring your class to the gym.  Hope that makes sense.  THANK YOU for your flexibility with this game.  It's appreciated. :D

4.   Supplies for next year:  Each certificated staff will receive $125.00 for classroom supplies.  Armida has an updated a form to help track your expenditures.  When we receive our building budget in the fall which is based off of Garrison enrollment, Carina and I will work with the Leadership/Logistics Team and the Union reps to go over the bigger budget and how we decide to allocate dollars that are not tied to ASB.  Example:  staff members have wanted to attend workshops in which they needed help paying for registration, the amount allocated for Art, PE, etc.  Working with a team to tie our expenditures back to our mission and vision grounds us all in how our building funding is allocated and spent. 

**District is still paying for school supplies.  We will work off of last year's supply list.  We may not be able to purchase it all but we will try.

5.  Angie, Agnes and Stephanie B have taken the lead on the Step Up day for our incoming 6th grade students.  Step up day is Thursday, June 9th from 1:00-2:00. They have enlisted the help of some 8th grade students to greet, tour, and welcome our newest Troopers.  More information to come.

Something to Ponder

In the wake of the horrific act of violence in Texas, coupled with two big incidents at Garrison has left me asking myself, "Are we doing everything in our control to be as safe as possible?" If there are things that you have noticed and wondered about, please let me know.  I have blind spots.

Also, take care of yourself.  Hug your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, students and even colleagues. :D 

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CALENDAR of EVENTS

Thursday Thriller

 Thursday Thriller

May 19, 2022

Dear Staff,

This week's TT is a skeleton of what I usually send you. While I hate to admit this, other things took priority and I ran out of time. 

Garrison community has been hit with two big incidents in the last month and a half.  They have worn on people's emotions.  I can't thank you all enough for showing up each day and giving 100%.  Full disclosure, my tank is a little empty but is slowly filling back up.  :D

My apologies for a shorten TT this week.

Have a great evening. 

Kim

Fun Nuts-n-Bolts

1.  We had two groups of students visit both EWU and WSU last week!  Students came back, jazzed and excited about college possibilities.

2.    James Shipp in the SEL program was one of two recipients of the We Belong Award!  Read Mark's 10-10 for details.  Go JAMES!

3.    Millennials ended and what a huge success! 70+ students participated!

4.    Zoe's drama class is performing their play Tuesday night "The High Schooler's Guide to the Galaxy."

5.    Garrison took ALL 6th grade students to see Cinderella

6.    Beth's drama club will be performing in a few weeks.  This is the club that meets after school two days a week. 

7.  Several girls along with Becky Jo, Yaneth and Christy will head to Richland for the Girls on the Run 5k on Saturday!

SO MANY THINGS TO BE PROUD OF HERE AT GMS!  My tank is filling up :D

Business Nuts-n-Bolts

1.    Friday, June 17th and Monday, June 20th 8th grade students ARE able to come to school.  We will not be advertising that students 'can't' come back after the YMCA fun day on the 16th. Please be ready with something (this is not a free pass to be on their phones) if they come back-board games, coloring, etc.  Also, they won't be participating in the activity afternoon on the 17th for 6th and 7th grade students.  I understand in the past students have not returned-totally get that!  However, we can not tell students they can't come.

2.    GC meets tomorrow morning @ 7:30 CANCELED SEE KIM'S EMAIL

3.    8th grade students have a group picture at 9:45 tomorrow. 

Thursday Thriller

 Thursday Thriller

May 12, 2022

Photos from the Field

It's fun to watch sports outside when the weather is nice :D

The girls wanted to perform their dance for their moms for Mother's Day.💙

Officer Kelty with the WWPD has been popping in at lunch time. I have put this out on social media so alarm bells don't go off, "Why are the police at Garrison?!"

Nuts-n-Bolts

1.    Just wanted to thank our custodial staff Brent (Happy Birthday!), Marco and Ian for their help in setting up the gym last night for our parent meeting.  In addition, Stephanie was the BEHIND-the-SCENES coordinator for this event and she did amazing! Several families of incoming 6th grade students showed up.  Carina and I tagged teamed the evening and hopefully made a good impression. LOL

2.    Next week we begin iReady testing.  Several of you, ELA and Math teachers, have shared how you are setting goals with your students.  Please make it a priority to pump students up.  THANK YOU

3.  Logistics/Leadership Team members thus far are Steve, Robin, Yaneth and Nancy.  A couple of you have shown interest but still need a additional time to decide. There is room for more people. 

4.    Tomorrow afternoon is yours to collaborate with your colleagues.  Carina and I will be here if you have questions or need us.

5.    Bitter-Sweet~ Beginning next year, Marie, Jose and Zoe will have new adventures.  Marie will be the new ELA teacher for WWOnline, Jose will teach Algebra at the high school and Zoe will be teaching ELA at Lincoln in a new ALE program.  We wish them well!

Something to Ponder 

In last week's TT, the topic was end the year strong and 'Working the Roster.'  My results are dismal.  I will do better this week. Finishing strong is important even when I'm tired; it's a mindset. 

This week is Part 3 called "Tell me Five."  This activity resonated with because it focuses on credibility and belonging.  Plus, you can work it into your entry task/Do Now/warm up with the first 5 minutes of class. 

“Today for our warm-up, really simple — I'd like you to write five things to me that you think I should know about you in order to have a fuller picture of who you are. While you're writing yours, I'll write mine, too — and just as I'll ask you to turn yours in to me, I'll let you read mine."

Here are my five:

1.  Being creative is difficult for me.  I always like to start from a template.  Even in high school and college I needed something to launch from.  Maybe fear of completing the assignment wrong.

2.  Language is difficult for me.  What I mean is trying to find the right words to articulate what I say can be difficult.  I have often times put my foot in my mouth unintentionally.  I will also look up, pause, rehearse and then speak when I am trying to find the right words.

3. I have a great sense of humor and I use it often.  I LOVE to make people laugh.

4.  Once I leave work I am truly introverted.  God bless my husband because I don't have a lot of words left at the end of the day to converse with him.  I enjoy being at home and not going out much.

5.  I worry a lot about how people feel after conversations with me; especially those that didn't go well. I rehearse, reflect, replay and hope I don't make the same mistake again.  In administration, you 'shouldn't care what people think.'  I am not that way.  I care deeply what people think of me especially those I respect because I don't want to let them down.

I had 7 seconds left! :)

Hope you find a gold nugget in this activity.

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Little Humor

Tee Hee

I had to end on this one. Just saying 😆

CALENDAR of EVENTS(click and it will pull up May and June calendars)

Thursday Thriller May 5, 2022

 Thursday Thriller

May 5, 2022

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!!! 

There is not enough space to list the many extraordinary characteristics each one of  you has that contributes to an AMAZING Garrison Community!  Thank you, for the endless hours of work during the week and on weekends, your dedication and grit that keeps you going which keeps our students going! 

I don't say it nearly enough.  You ARE appreciated.  

Photos from the Field

Nuts-n-Bolts

1.  A couple of you have responded with interest regarding being a member of the Leadership/Logistics team.  Would LOVE to have additional voices around the table. :D

This was the original post in the April 21st TT:

 GC team is going to focus more on the PLC work as we enter next school year.  The past 2.5 years have been difficult through COVID to really dig into the PLC work.  GC has done a lot of logistics and planning.  With that being said, Carina and I are looking for staff members (classified and certificated) who would like to be a part of a Leadership/Logistics Team.  The team would meet once or twice a month most likely in the morning but that is not set in stone and there would be green sheet for certs and blue sheet for classified.  This table explains the difference between a Leadership/Logistics Team  v. Guiding Coalition.   If you are interested in being a member of the Leadership/Logistics team, please email both Carina and I, tell us why you want to be on the team AND what you would bring to the team. Tuesday, April 26th end of day, Carina and I will look through the multiple ;D emails and decide team members.

2. If there are no objections, I think when 8th grade students return from the YMCA we will have their dance.  PE Teachers, could we use the gym for this?  On Friday afternoon, June 17th (no 8th grade students Friday or Monday)  we would have an activity time for 6th-7th grade students. One of the choices would be a dance for them.  Unbelievably it was not just the 8th graders who wanted a dance.  If you know of any parents, who could be of help planning the dance and activity day, can you send me their names?  Thanks

3.  May 11th at 7:00 PM new 6th grade students and families are invited to attend an informational meeting. The goal is to share with families a little bit about Garrison, tour the building and ask questions.  You are more than welcome to attend not a requirement.  I just wanted you to know in case someone asks.

4. Some of you have inquired about paper planners for students for next year.  A rough estimate would be: 100 pages, printing on both sides of the paper, folding an 11x17 in half (making the booklet 8.5x11) and stapling along the side, as well as a 3 hole punch.  if we use white copy paper only, it would cost approximately 1.68 each booklet (or planner).  For 500 planners it would cost $838.65.  This comes out of our building budget for supplies and materials.  We do not get our budget until October.  Our budget is based upon enrollment. All materials -PE, Art, non-CTE elective classes, gen ed supplies, copy paper, office supplies, green sheet and blue sheet for staff for extra planning and meetings, are just some items that come from this budget.  If we want planners, I'm good with it.  I just need to know if we all want them or if some of us want them.  Please talk with your colleagues and let me know.

Something to Ponder

 Ending the year strong is a goal of mine; not to 'just finish.'  May and June seem like the months when everything needs to happen; end-of-year celebrations, testing, grading, after hours curriculum work, on and on the list goes. Naturally, the mentality is to 'just get through.' I have decided to try something different. I am going to try and 'Work the Roster.'  I will share my results with you.  It will not just be students on my roster, but a mixture of colleagues and 

Little Humor

What about needing ALL of the above? :D

CALENDAR of EVENTS