Community Nest
"Relationships are the agents of change." Dr. Bruce Perry
January 3 - January 7, 2022
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.
REPORT CARDS came home on Friday


Gray Hawk Welcomed KC Wolf this Week

PTO Meeting Tuesday, January 11 6:00 PM
Upcoming Dates
Monday, January 10
- 2:40 pm - GHES NEST : Kindness
Tuesday, January 11 :
- 4:00 - 5:00 Sign Language Club GHES Library
- 6:00 PTO Meeting (Technology Room * Site Council Meeting to be rescheduled for Feb/March
- 4:00 - 4:55 - W.I.N.
Thursday, January 13
- 4:00 Guiding Coalition Meeting
- 4:00 - 4:55 - W.I.N.
Book Fair - January 24 - 28
Save the date for the first annual Gray Hawk Book Fair! We’re so excited to be able to do in- person book fairs this year. Our fair will be held Jan. 24- Jan. 28 in the library. LOOK FOR DETAILED INFORMATION TO COME HOME THE WEEK OF JAN. 18TH!
Cyndi Kenton - Elementary Library USD458
USD 458 Superintendent Mr. Powers Community Listening Tour Feb 1 5:30 pm at GHES


Featured Literature
This week instead of a featured author I’m focusing on on narrative non-fiction book that highlights what can be done to make positive changes through hard work and attitude.
The focus book for this week is “All the Way to the Top” by Annette Bay Pimentel
“Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins never wanted her wheelchair to slow her down, but the world around her was built in a way that made it hard for people with disabilities to do even simple things like go to school or eat lunch in the cafeteria. When the Americans with Disabilities Act was proposed to Congress to make public spaces accessible to everyone, Jennifer joined activists in Washington, DC for what become known as the Capital Crawl. At the steps of the United States’ Capital Building, without her wheelchair, she climbed… All the Way to the Top!” jkclegacy

Six Dots : A Story of Young Louis Braille - Jen Bryant Louis Braille was just five years old when he lost his sight. He was a clever boy, determined to live like everyone else, and what he wanted more than anything was to be able to read. Even at the school for the blind in Paris, there were no books for him. And so he invented his own alphabet—a whole new system for writing that could be read by touch. A system so ingenious that it is still used by the blind community today. Award-winning writer Jen Bryant tells Braille’s inspiring story with a lively and accessible text, filled with the sounds, the smells, and the touch of Louis’s world. Boris Kulikov’s inspired paintings help readers to understand what Louis lost, and what he was determined to gain back through books. | El Deafo - Cece Bell Starting at a new school is scary, especially with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece’s class was deaf. Here, she’s different. She’s sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends. Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom but anywhere her teacher is in the school—in the hallway . . . in the teacher’s lounge . . . in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it’s just another way of feeling different . . . and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend? | Wonder - RJ Polacio August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. Beginning from Auggie’s point of view and expanding to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others, the perspectives converge to form a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance. In a world where bullying among young people is an epidemic, this is a refreshing new narrative full of heart and hope. |
Six Dots : A Story of Young Louis Braille - Jen Bryant
Even at the school for the blind in Paris, there were no books for him.
And so he invented his own alphabet—a whole new system for writing that could be read by touch. A system so ingenious that it is still used by the blind community today.
Award-winning writer Jen Bryant tells Braille’s inspiring story with a lively and accessible text, filled with the sounds, the smells, and the touch of Louis’s world. Boris Kulikov’s inspired paintings help readers to understand what Louis lost, and what he was determined to gain back through books.
El Deafo - Cece Bell
Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom but anywhere her teacher is in the school—in the hallway . . . in the teacher’s lounge . . . in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it’s just another way of feeling different . . . and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?
Wonder - RJ Polacio
Roll With It - Jamie Sumner Ellie’s a girl who tells it like it is. That surprises some people, who see a kid in a wheelchair and think she’s going to be all sunshine and cuddles. The thing is, Ellie has big dreams: She might be eating Stouffer’s for dinner, but one day she’s going to be a professional baker. If she’s not writing fan letters to her favorite celebrity chefs, she’s practicing recipes on her well-meaning, if overworked, mother. But when Ellie and her mom move so they can help take care of her ailing grandpa, Ellie has to start all over again in a new town at a new school. Except she’s not just the new kid—she’s the new kid in the wheelchair who lives in the trailer park on the wrong side of town. It all feels like one challenge too many, until Ellie starts to make her first-ever friends. Now she just has to convince her mom that this town might just be the best thing that ever happened to them! | A Friend for Henry - Jenn Bailey In Classroom Six, second left down the hall, Henry has been on the lookout for a friend. A friend who shares. A friend who listens. Maybe even a friend who likes things to stay the same and all in order, as Henry does. But on a day full of too close and too loud, when nothing seems to go right, will Henry ever find a friend—or will a friend find him? With insight and warmth, this heartfelt story from the perspective of a boy on the autism spectrum celebrates the everyday magic of friendship. | The War That Saved My Life - Kimberly Bradley Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him. So begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother? |
Roll With It - Jamie Sumner
But when Ellie and her mom move so they can help take care of her ailing grandpa, Ellie has to start all over again in a new town at a new school. Except she’s not just the new kid—she’s the new kid in the wheelchair who lives in the trailer park on the wrong side of town. It all feels like one challenge too many, until Ellie starts to make her first-ever friends. Now she just has to convince her mom that this town might just be the best thing that ever happened to them!
A Friend for Henry - Jenn Bailey
The War That Saved My Life - Kimberly Bradley
So begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?
PROMOTING DIVERSITY
Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday: I was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. When I was seven years old, I made a roller coaster in my backyard with the help of my sister Muriel and my uncle. I had a big crash on our rollercoaster but I told my sister that “it was just like I was flying.”
When I was 11, I saw the very first airplane made by the Wright Brothers when I went to the Iowa State Fair.
After graduating from high school, I dropped out of college to be a nurse’s aid to help wounded soldiers in World War I.
Thursday: I bought my own plane when I was in my early 20s. It was bright yellow and I nicknamed it “Canary”. I set a new altitude record for female pilots in “Canary” when I flew at 14,000 feet. On June 18, 1928 I flew across the Atlantic Ocean in a plane called “Friendship”. With this flight I became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
I also was the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
Friday: I wanted to be the first person to fly around the world. On June 1, 1937 my co-pilot Fred Noonan and I took off from Miami, Florida. We made it all the way to Africa. On July 2, 1937 we took off from New Guinea to head out over the Pacific Ocean but our plane disappeared and we were never heard from again. I was declared dead on January 5, 1939.
Celebrating Amelia Earhart

Neuro News
We are constantly talking about behaviors, and what is the function of behavior? Does a child have ADD, ADHD, dealing with some sort of trauma, or are they simply choosing not to do what they are told? The focus this week comes from Dr. Lori Desautel's website: Revelationsineducation.com.
In this video, Dr. Lori Desautels (Teacher, Author, Professor) discusses different areas of the ADHD brain. What sort of ADHD symptoms occur where and what do they look like? Dr. Sarah Levin Allen (Pediatric Neuropsychologist) talks with SmartCourse founder, Adrien Harrison, and walks us through 4 different ADHD strategies caregivers can use when working with kids with ADHD brains.
(The clips are taken from Smart Course’s extensive database of masterclasses for caregivers of students with ADHD).

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