Community Nest
"Relationships are the agents of change." Dr. Bruce Perry
Week of September 20- September 24, 2021
OUR GRAY HAWK MISSION STATEMENT
"OUR GRAY HAWK FAMILY works together to help students feel safe, loved, and inspired so they can be empowered learners and engaged citizens."
Student Council
3rd Grade-
Brown: Kallum Holmes & Samuel Watson
Johnston: Elle Hoffman & Harper Bell
4th Grade-
Shupe: Caroline Ramsey & Baylie O’Callaghan
Storck: Elena Morgan & Cassia Harris
5th Grade-
Bartles: Jacob Nelson & Kami Skinner
Williamson: Ruxin Holmes & Dylan Pierce
Thank you to our Student Council sponsors - Mrs. Shupe and Mrs. Storck!

Panorama
The Panorama survey will be given to students in grades 3 - 5 during the upcoming week by Miss Hubbard and Dr. Springer. The Panorama survey for Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is used to measure and grow OUR students social emotional skills and supports. Social Emotional Learning is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others, maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. These skills help our students succeed in school, careers and life.
Panorama for Social Emotional Learning measures student growth on SEL topics such as Growth Mindset, Grit, Self-Management and Social Awareness. It also measures attitudes about supports in the environment such as school climate, teacher-student relationships, school safety and sense of belonging. Panorama for Social Emotional Learning gives educators evidence-based resources to use in classrooms as part of their regular classroom instruction, so we can grow in partnership with our students.

Appropriate School Dress
There will be special spirit days when wearing pajamas to school is appropriate but we ask that students limit wearing pajamas to school to only those special occasions. Additionally, parents please be aware of the items that your child wears to school. Students may not wear items that advertise alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or show inappropriate sayings. Please also be aware of proper fit on pants and shirts. If you are ever in need of assistance with clothing or other supports, please know you can reach out to Dr. Springer, Miss Hubbard, our school counselor, or Mrs. Duke, our school social worker.
Walk to School Wednesday - October 6

Mum Sale was a Big Success

Congratulations Mrs. Browns 2nd Graders Name that Baby Contest

IT'S HOMECOMING WEEK!
We are so excited that it is HOMECOMING WEEK!
There are special spirit days and students are encouraged to dress up and have some fun!
Monday: Pajama Day - Roll out of bed and roll into school
Tuesday: Twin Day - Twinning is Winning! Dress alike!
Wednesday: Jersey Day - Show your support for your favorite team
Thursday: Decades Day (Wear clothes from your favorite decade)
Friday: Bobcat Pride Day


Promoting Diversity
- I was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929. When I was six years old I had a best friend and we played together all the time. He was white and I was black. When we started going to school, he had to go to a school for only white kids and I had to go to a school for only black kids.
- I was angry that my best friend could not play with me because I was black but my parents taught me how important it was to keep more love in my heart than hate.
- When I was just 15 years old, I started going to college. It is in college that I learned about using love and peaceful protests to change unfair things especially the way black people were being treated in the United States.
- On August 28, 1963 I gave one of the most famous and important speeches of my life. It was called the I Have a Dream Speech. One year later I received the Nobel Peace Prize.
- In 1968, he was killed. He was only 39 years old when he died. Things are not perfect today but his influence has made our world a better place to live and his lessons have taught us the importance of living together in harmony instead of apart.
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Teachers discussed their guesses with their students each day until we revealed that the person of the week was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. They were then given a video that introduced OUR GRAY HAWKS to Dr. King and some of his many accomplishments. You can check out the video below:

Diverse Literature
Jacqueline Woodson is an American author. She writes for both children and teens. She has served as the Young People’s Poet Laureate, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2020. All of these very prestigious awards for writers.
She split her youth between South Carolina and Brooklyn, New York both of which have influenced her writing!
The featured book this week is The Day You Begin.
“There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it's how you look or talk, or where you're from; maybe it's what you eat, or something just as random. It's not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it.
Jacqueline Woodson's lyrical text and Rafael López's dazzling art reminds us that we all feel like outsiders sometimes-and how brave it is that we go forth anyway. And that sometimes, when we reach out and begin to share our stories, others will be happy to meet us halfway.” Amazon
(Thank you Mrs. Kenton and Miss Quinby for another great author!)

Each Kindness Chloe and her friends won't play with the new girl, Maya. Every time Maya tries to join Chloe and her friends, they reject her. Eventually Maya stops coming to school. When Chloe's teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the lost opportunity for friendship, and thinks about how much better it could have been if she'd shown a little kindness toward Maya. | Brown Girl Dreaming Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become. | This is the RopeDuring the time of the Great Migration, millions of African American families relocated from the South, seeking better opportunities. The story of one family’s journey north during the Great Migration starts with a little girl in South Carolina who finds a rope under a tree one summer. She has no idea the rope will become part of her family’s history. But for three generations, that rope is passed down, used for everything from jump rope games to tying suitcases onto a car for the big move north to New York City, and even for a family reunion where that first little girl is now a grandmother. |
Each Kindness
Brown Girl Dreaming
This is the Rope
During the time of the Great Migration, millions of African American families relocated from the South, seeking better opportunities. The story of one family’s journey north during the Great Migration starts with a little girl in South Carolina who finds a rope under a tree one summer. She has no idea the rope will become part of her family’s history. But for three generations, that rope is passed down, used for everything from jump rope games to tying suitcases onto a car for the big move north to New York City, and even for a family reunion where that first little girl is now a grandmother.
The Other Side Clover's mom says it isn't safe to cross the fence that segregates their African-American side of town from the white side where Anna lives. But the two girls strike up a friendship, and get around the grown-ups' rules by sitting on top of the fence together. With the addition of a brand-new author's note, this special edition celebrates the tenth anniversary of this classic book. As always, Woodson moves readers with her lyrical narrative, and E. B. Lewis's amazing talent shines in his gorgeous watercolor illustrations. | The Year We Learn to Fly (1/4/22)On a dreary, stuck-inside kind of day, a brother and sister heed their grandmother’s advice: “Use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours. Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing. Somebody somewhere at some point was just as bored you are now.” And before they know it, their imaginations lift them up and out of their boredom. Then, on a day full of quarrels, it’s time for a trip outside their minds again, and they are able to leave their anger behind. This precious skill, their grandmother tells them, harkens back to the days long before they were born, when their ancestors showed the world the strength and resilience of their beautiful and brilliant minds. | Pecan Pie Baby All anyone wants to talk about with Mama is the new “ding-dang baby” that’s on the way, and Gia is getting sick of it! If her new sibling is already such a big deal, what’s going to happen to Gia’s nice, cozy life with Mama once the baby is born? “[An] honest story about jealousy, anger, displacement, and love [that] will touch kids dealing with sibling rivalry and spark their talk about change.”—Booklist |
The Other Side
With the addition of a brand-new author's note, this special edition celebrates the tenth anniversary of this classic book. As always, Woodson moves readers with her lyrical narrative, and E. B. Lewis's amazing talent shines in his gorgeous watercolor illustrations.
The Year We Learn to Fly (1/4/22)
On a dreary, stuck-inside kind of day, a brother and sister heed their grandmother’s advice: “Use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours. Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing. Somebody somewhere at some point was just as bored you are now.” And before they know it, their imaginations lift them up and out of their boredom. Then, on a day full of quarrels, it’s time for a trip outside their minds again, and they are able to leave their anger behind. This precious skill, their grandmother tells them, harkens back to the days long before they were born, when their ancestors showed the world the strength and resilience of their beautiful and brilliant minds.
Pecan Pie Baby
“[An] honest story about jealousy, anger, displacement, and love [that] will touch kids dealing with sibling rivalry and spark their talk about change.”—Booklist
GRAY HAWK NEUROSCIENCE NEWS
In having a conversation this past week with friends from Butler University, we talked about the importance of relationships but someone made a comment that really stuck with me. She stated that relationships are the foundation of what we build with our students, each other, the community, etc but it really doesn't mean a whole lot if we don't feel SAFE. Safety is crucial for all of us. When we feel safe, we are more open to relationships, we feel better equipped to handle stress or other adversity that may come our way, and more. We have to remember that some stress is actually GOOD for us, but when we are constantly living in a state of stress that is where safety, relationships, even our health are negatively impacted. The video offers some practical suggestions about ways to manage the stress. We are all stressed right now but it is so important that we take the time to breathe and face things in stride. We are seeing this stress in our students. Please encourage them at home to "take a break". I know it is something that I have to constantly remind myself to do!
The video this week is from Sentis and is about Managing Stress for Safety.


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