Grant Dispatch
November 2019
Sustainability--School-Wide at Grant
Our school-wide theme this year is sustainability. In working with the district science coordinators, organizations in Columbia, and our grade level teachers and specialists every grade will integrate learning standards to focus on sustainability. One of the new ways to address sustainability throughout the building is a new format for the Grant Dispatch.
To reduce paper usage we will be sending the Grant Dispatch electronically via email. If you would like to receive the Grant Dispatch in paper form please contact the office at (573) 214-3520.
Letter from the principal
I want to take this opportunity to thank you so very much for welcoming me to the wonderful Grant community in such a warm and friendly way! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here with your kind and respectful children, the professional and caring staff, and of course, all the parents that I have had the pleasure to work with in various ways. It is a bittersweet feeling to depart, but it is time for you to have your wonderful principal, Dr. Wingert, back with you, and it is time for me to get back to my retired life with my family and friends.
As we welcome in November and Daylight Savings Time, it is also the end of our first trimester. At the end of first and second trimesters, CPS holds parent/teacher conferences. During these important conferences, teachers share the learning and progress of your student. The students have been hard at work these past few months learning new concepts, creating projects, and helping form their classroom community. Grant School and the district strives for 100% attendance for parent/teacher conferences so please let us know if you need to reschedule your conference time. Engaging in these conferences is an excellent way for parents and teachers to come together as a team to support our students.
As always, thank you for your continuous support of your children and of the Grant School community. Your support and involvement in your child's school is critical to their success.
Mrs. Mary Sue Gibson, Principal Substitute
Veteran's Day Assembly November 11
Conferences with Specialist
John Nies, Media
jnies@cpsk12.org
Lisa Wagner, Physical Education
lwagner@cpsk12.org
Ashlee Christansen, Art
Pam Sisson, Music
Lena Sheets, School Counselor
Coach's Corner
October has been a challenging month in P.E. class as we were very busy completing our fitness testing and tumbling units. I am so proud of all the 3rd-5th grade students here at Grant for doing their very best on all the fitness tests and all the students for keeping a positive attitude while working on our tumbling skills. I am always so impressed with the amazing skills and abilities that Grant students bring to class each day. We are currently working on some volleying skills and next will be some jump roping skills.
The weather is starting to turn cooler and some students are starting to wear boots to school. Please help remind your student to either wear or bring tennis shoes on P.E. days to be ready for class.
Thank you for all your support!
Coach Wagner
P.E. All stars of the month
Kindergarten - Lucy Scott
1st Grade - Brantley Turley
2nd Grade - Ashanti Dixon-Boyd
3rd Grade - Colin Holder
4th Grade - Brock Patterson
5th Grade - Amina Savoie
Congratulations and keep up the great work!
Jogging Generals
Our Jogging Generals club came to an end towards the end of October. I had such an amazing group of runners in Jogging Generals this season! The students were eager to come every week, enjoyed being active, and worked towards their goal each time. I really enjoyed our season this year and want to thank each of the students and parents for their hard work, dedication, and for making it so much fun!
--Coach Wagner
Media Matters
Hello Grant All Star readers! We hope you enjoyed your October. We certainly were busy in the Library and the Eco Schoolhouse. I'm sharing a snapshot of our October progress and our November focus. Please visit our webpage to see media games, practice, and resources for all.
http://gremediacenter.blogspot.com/
OCTOBER OBSERVATION:
Media Classes: Hooray, hooray! Each Grant All Star has completed a grade level appropriate Digital Citizenship course in media. Ms. Orscheln did a great job covering important media issues and the students were very responsive. We used the Common Sense media curriculum which you can view at this site: https://www.commonsense.org/education/
We are also using media time to support skills in the classrooms and Grant School’s 2019-2020 focus on sustainability. For instance, Kindergarten did a healthy scavenger hunt around Grant School and labeled the pictures they took on their scavenger hunt. Second grade went on an Erosion scavenger hunt at Grant School and are using audio/visual apps to record their thoughts and then type about their pictures. Fourth graders have all adopted a tree on Grant School/Columbia Cemetery property and are also word processing about their trees.
Library Program: The library has undergone a huge space transformation. We are excited to welcome patrons into our more open floor plan. Our book displays this month are Native American fables to support Native American Heritage month and also Mark Twain/Show Me State Award Nominees.
Eco Schoolhouse: In the Eco Schoolhouse this month, Second graders created seed dispersal machines to seed our garden mound but we were a little late and the frost got us. Their machines were very interesting and effective. Fourth grade learned about trees from tree expert Ann Koenig (Missouri Department of Conservation) after they did their Adopt a Tree trip.
NEXT IN NOVEMBER:
Media Classes: For November, our biggest focus will be on word processing. Each grade level is word processing on a topic supporting their class work or their grade level sustainability project.
Library Program: Book Fair time! This is my first attempt to organize the book fair and I am excited for a successful event. I am also excited to meet many Grant School families during the fair. Thank you so much to those that have volunteered to help out with setup and staffing the event.
Eco Schoolhouse: Mr. Kuensting has used the sundial to help learn about shadows and the sun’s apparent movement across our sky. Mrs. Poage is starting a robotics unit with her students through December. Second grade is enjoying project based learning based on Erosion. Fourth grade will also extend their tree learning.
--Mr. Nies
Grant School Scholastic Book Fair
November 15, 8:00-11:00 a.m.
Hall of Fame Art Contest
--Ms. Christiansen
Music Notes
The October Character Trait was self-control. Ms. Sheets taught lessons on the topic in counselor and Ms. Sisson found a song nearly everyone liked and classes sang it in music during October. On October 29, all classes celebrated using self-control by singing the song in their class rooms at end of day and Grant School was filled with music. The song was pretty popular and some parents were singing it at the Halloween celebration. November's Character Trait is honesty and the song is already a favorite to the singers.
5th grade played Native American flutes made out of furniture grade PVC pipe and created some beautiful melodies.
4th grade had the opportunity to see the musical Tarzan at Battle High School. Be sure to ask your students for a review on the characters, scenery, music, choreography. We are learning names of the notes for the treble clef and will soon be putting that info to use by learning to play the recorder. CPS provides recorders for all students to play. If anyone wants to purchase their own recorder, it is great to have one at school and one at home for practice, but it is not required or necessary for students to purchase their own.
3rd grade will be taking a field trip to the Missouri Theater to hear music from Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev to learn about the instruments of the symphonic orchestra.
All classes had fun in October...some of the activities included a pass the pumpkin game, singing about pumpkins, learning about how music played on a minor scale may sound spooky or sad and much more.
A note about our blues musician Tj Wheeler...he is doing well with his recovery, taking on some gigs and hoping and looking forward to being able to return to Missouri for some time with the Grant All Stars.
--Ms. Sisson
PTA News
Dear Grant Families,
We are having a great year so far and we are getting ready to gear up for a busy winter at Grant.
OPT OUT FUNDRAISER: Our Fall PTA fundraiser has been extended to TODAY as we are $2,500 short of our $6,000 goal. This is our big fundraiser for the fall and 100% of your donation goes straight to support students and teachers at Grant Elementary. If you can’t locate your envelope just use a plain one and write “PTA OPT OUT” on the outside. Either way send it back in a Friday folder or take it in to the Grant Office! Thank you!
Parent/Teacher Conferences are being scheduled with your students’ teachers, so please make sure you have signed up for a time that is convenient for your family. Our Grant staff know how important it is to make sure each family gets a chance to meet, and they commit to us. The majority of meetings happen on Thursday, Nov 14th and Friday, Nov 15th.
During this week of conferences, Grant School and our PTA plan many things:
- GRANT BOOK FAIR: Thursday, Nov 14th and Friday, Nov 15th
- STAFF MEALS: Thursday dinner and Friday breakfast – The PTA provides meals for our staff during these days so they can focus on meeting with our families.
- SHAKESPEARE’S PIZZA FUNDRAISER: Thursday, Nov 14th
We have teamed up with Shakespeare's Pizza for this easy fundraiser. Bring the flyer that came home in Friday folders (or scroll down for an electronic version) to any location, and 15% of the sales will come back to Grant School! This includes food, drinks, and gift cards at all locations (eat-in or carry out). This is a great time to stock up on gift cards for the holidays - 15% of the gift card sales will go back to Grant – for items you are already buying. What a great deal!!!
The next PTA meeting is on Tuesday, November 12th from 5:30 – 6:30 pm in the Grant Media Center. We will have a 10-minute meet and greet to mingle. The business meeting will begin around 5:40 pm. We will be mindful to wrap up the meetings by 6:30 pm. The agenda will be emailed to our PTA members during the week prior, and any requests to add agenda items need to be submitted to the officers by email at grantallstarpta@gmail.com.
UPCOMING PTA EVENTS:
OPT OUT donations are due – TODAY, Friday, Nov 8
PTA Meeting – Tuesday, Nov 12 from 5:30 – 6:30 in the Media Center
Grant Book Fair – Thursday, Nov 14 & Friday, Nov 15
Shakespeare’s Fundraiser – Thursday, Nov 14 – all eat in and carry out food, drinks, and gift
cards give 15% back to Grant Elementary – take your flyer with you!!
Holiday Present Wrapping & PTA meeting – Tuesday, December 17
JOIN GRANT PTA TODAY! Click this LINK to complete the membership survey.
Grant PTA Leadership
Lisa Tye, President
Kalei Holder, Vice President
Carin Huffman Grinch, Treasurer
Laura Page, Secretary
Box Top Contest
Congratulations to Miss Schwarting’s class for winning Round 1 of our Box Tops classroom contest and earning a Cookie and Apple Cider Party! Mrs. Williams' class took second place and Mr. McKee's class placed third this round.
The Round 2 deadline is February 19, 2020. The winning classroom will be awarded with a Donut and Chocolate Milk Party. Round 3 deadline is May 8, 2020 and the classroom with the highest cumulative total of valid Box Tops will be awarded a pizza party at the end of the academic year.
Clipping Box Tops is an easy way for you to help Grant Elementary earn cash. Our goal for the 2019 – 2020 school year is $1,000! For a list of participating products please check the following website: www.boxtops4education.com
PIE News
We have sent two groups of fifth graders to Central Bank of Boone County for this year’s Fifth Grade Bank Shadowing program. This program is designed to show fifth graders the ins and outs of the banking industry. Fifth Graders shadow Mrs. Liz Jones as she has the students visit many sections of the bank. The students have all looked professional in their appearance and they have been appreciative of all of the many gifts and trinkets they received from the bank.
Bank on Books will be November 13th and 14th. Bank on Books is a program in which employees from Central Bank come and read to students at Grant Elementary School. Central Bank of Boone County also provides teachers with complimentary books from the fall Scholastic Book Fair during this time.
Thanks to our Outstanding Partner in Education for over 35 years!
Grants Funded
- Sustainability Mural, $2000--Ms. Christiansen: Provides students the opportunity to create a mural. The grant pays for supplies and time of an expert artist.
- Improving Reading Comprehension through Narrative Retell, $614--Mrs. Neal: Hands-on materials (i.e. picture cards, stories, icons) in addition to interactive software for use with students with language delays.
- Building Knowledge through Math Games, $497.24--Mrs. Poage: Provides students with a variety of strategy games and logic puzzles to enhance their math understanding and skills.
- Linking Literacy to Math, $439.19--Miss Schwarting: Provides math picture books to students to help build their math vocabulary and enrich their learning.
The Assistance League of Mid-Missouri (ALMM) is a non profit service organization whose members identify, develop, implement, and fund ongoing philanthropic projects to serve specific needs of children and adults in Columbia. Some of the new programs that directly affect the students at Grant are:
- Links to Learning
- Book Bags
- Parent Packs/Bundles for Babies
- Kaboodle Kits
- Operation School Bell
For more information of how to become more involved with ALMM or to donate visit www.almm.org
November 15: No School, Parent/Teacher Conferences & Book Fair
November 22: Hat Day
November 27-29: No school, Thanksgiving Break
December 4: Early Dismissal, Grant School Dismisses at 12:45 p.m.
Grant School Year at a glance
A Community of Learners
Website: cpsk12.org/gre
Location: 10 East Broadway, Columbia, MO, USA
Phone: 573-214-3520