Thursday Thriller
December 1, 2022
New format or rather back to the blog format. :D Scott is taking on a weekly newsletter to families and rather than having him do all the work :D I will do the Thursday Thriller.
Shout Outs!
Stephanie and Yajara have been doing an amazing job keeping the office afloat! We will have a new addition to the secretarial staff on Monday, December 5th. Please welcome, Jennifer Finney. She is coming with experience from Dayton! We are looking forward to her arrival.
To any of you who coach (Amber, Nate, Nate, Reggie, Ruben, Charlie, Yaneth), oversee an after school program, club (Stephanie, Mike Bertram, Roger, Terri, Robin, Alex, Beth, Babett, Tobi-during her lunch on Wednesday, Agnes, Kara, Sue, Jami ,Jen, Christy) or volunteer(Jami and Sydney's book club) beyond your contracted time you are making a world of difference for students! Yes, some of this comes with a stipend for sure. However, for some students the 'extra' is what gets them up in the morning. For a lot of staff, now is not the time in your personal/professional lives that you can do more THAT'S OKAY! You are giving what you can. Putting all these pieces together makes Garrison a pretty fabulous place!
Nuts-n-Bolts
1. Friday, December 9th is a half day. We will meet in the library from 1:00-2:15. You are then free to work/collaborate from 2:25-3:45.
2. 4:00-6:00 on Friday, December 9th is our staff gathering at Quirk. Hopefully, Reggie and his sweater will make an appearance AND Charlie has another speech for us. We had fun last year and we are hoping to have as much or more this year. Shannon, Stephanie P and Beth are putting the details together.
3. Thank you for a great first day of iReady School Wide. While I was not present for it, word on the street was it ran pretty smoothly. Thank you GC members, counselors and office staff for getting materials ready and helping out. Send me an email or GC members to offer any feedback. While it is only the first one, if something was glaringly out of place or totally wrong we want to fix it.
4. No GNN on Wednesdays. If you have something that needs announcing, please send it to both Beth and me. Beth and her students take care of Fridays while I take care of M,Tu and Th.
5. Our District has an Employee Assistance Program that is WONDERFUL! Here is the newsletter for November. You never know when you may need help or someone to talk to you.
6. I created a SHARED drive for photos. Inside the Garrison Pictures folder are three folders. One for 6th, 7th and 8th grade. We will use the photos for the end-of-year slideshow for 8th graders. What makes the slide show incredible is if we can capture pictures of students from 6th-to 7th-to 8th grades so that during the 8th grade recognition we can see pictures from 6th through 8th grades. Feel free to put pictures you have captures into these folders. Thank you!!
7. Counselors are going to be calling down students for brief moments to check in with them. The goal is to get through their case load by the end of the semester. The point of it is to check in to see what is going well, involvement in clubs, activities, sports, how are the grades, concerns? Very brief touch points. We will do our best in the office to be efficient with the call slips. We are asking that when the call slips are delivered to please read when to send the student(s). Thank you.
8. FYI...Robin is overseeing the 8th grade students in the after school "30 for 30." I will be making phone calls to families letting them know that this is NOT optional. If a student is in sports, they can come after their season ends. I got word from the big guy at the DO that we aren't messing around. Identified students WILL BE coming since we are offering transportation. M, Tu and Th from 3:30-5:00 with transportation and a snack. Just keeping you in the loop.
Something to Ponder
Fostering Resilient Learners is the book study some of us are participating in. The last section was on Self-Awareness. Key take away was regarding your own mission statement. "Students and their families come at us in many challenging ways. From the little ripples to the larger swells and breakers, they present to us a variety of stressors and levels of intensity that can throw us off balance. How can we stay true to who we are and ensure that no matter what hits us, we will stay faithful to our internal identity?"
What will you hold true to in times of adversity or when a student's behavior resembles a tornado? I will be the first to admit that there have been MULTIPLE, unfortunately, times that I have regretted my actions and responses to student, parent and staff 'tornadoes.' Luckily, through the years I have mellowed out...a little LOL. My mission statement is When people talk with me they feel heard, my actions and character precede me before I enter the room and that I can help bring out the best in every student, parent and staff member that comes in contact with me.
What is your mission statement and true north?
Quote
"Nothing will work unless you do." -John Wooden
Little Humor
This video clip is 1:49. I laughed pretty hard beginning at 1:26.
Upcoming Birthdays and Celebrations
Birthdays
Robin December 2
Gonzalo December 6
Steve December 15
Kara December 19
Celebrations
Katie Grant finishes her student teaching on Dec. 9th!!!
Garrison Staff Gathering at Quirk from 4:00-6:00 on December 9th
