Community Nest

"Relationships are the agents of change." Dr. Bruce Perry

October 25 - October 29

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.

No School on Monday - Teacher PD Day

FALL FESTIVAL IS FRIDAY, 11/5 5 - 8pm

Don't miss the Fall Festival this Friday from 5 - 8 pm. We will be outside so please bring your lawn chairs for OUR first Family Fun event! The cost is $10/family pre sale or $15/family at the gate. We are CASH ONLY at the event. We will have raffle tickets for sale for the classroom and community baskets and concessions and Kona Ice (cash or credit card). We will have chili, hot dogs, pizza, candy, hot chocolate and warm cider for sale.


Our Family Dance begins at 6:30 with Kansas City's own DJ Fast Eddy. We will have crafts, yard games, photo ops, The Great Pumpkin playing on a loop and so much more! We can't wait to see you there!

Big picture
Big picture

UNITY DAY and the SLIMING

We were so proud of our students for meeting and exceeding Dr. Springer's goal of 2,500 acts of kindness in 10 days. Our Gray Hawk total was 3,172 acts of kindness and we celebrated our accomplishment by sliming Dr. Springer on Monday. The kids were very excited as representatives from each class came up to countdown OUR school to the each sliming. It was a lot of fun! Check out the pictures and videos below.
Big picture
Big picture
- YouTube

Fall Parade was a Blast!

- YouTube

An Amazing Third Grade Musical Program

Thank you to our music teacher, Mrs. Penfield for an amazing 3rd grade musical program earlier this week.
3rd Grade Musical Program
Big picture

Veteran's Day Program November 11 at 2:45 pm

Our incredible music teacher - Mrs. Penfield - is preparing a program to honor our veterans.


Details will be coming soon but parents and community members are invited to bring lawn chairs and enjoy the program as each grade level will perform a song honoring our veterans. Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for more information.

Big picture

Featured Literature

Brad Meltzer is an American Novelist. He has written best selling adult political and legal thrillers. He sold his first novel in 1994, while attending Columbia Law School. When he graduated he was selected to the Columbia Law Review.


In 2010 he wrote his first non-fiction book, “Heroes For My Son”, honoring the birth of his first child. In this book he outlines the lives of 52 people who have changed the world. This led to his Award Winning series “Ordinary People Change the World”. This fabulous series of biographies takes people from a variety of backgrounds and tells their life story. These first person narratives focus on celebrating how these individuals, from many cultures and upbringings, went on to make a huge impact on the world.


(Thank you Mrs. Kenton and Miss Quinby for another great author!)

Big picture

PROMOTING DIVERSITY

As a part of our commitment to ensuring that our students are exposed to the contributions of people of color and from different backgrounds, we kicked off this past week by giving daily clues to a famous person from history that has made our world a better place. This past week, the students heard the following clues:


  • I was born on November 13, 1911 in Florida. When I was twelve years old, I began playing semi-professional baseball for the Sarasota Tigers. Yes, just 12 years old!


  • To support myself I needed to find a job. I made $1.25 a day shining shoes and carrying luggage for people. I worked very hard and people loved me for it but it was exhausting and all I wanted to do was just play baseball.


  • When I finished 8th grade, I wanted to go to high school but because I was black, I could not get into high school in Florida. Eventually I did go to high school and earned scholarships in football and baseball at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida. I went to college for two years before heading out to play baseball as a professional.




  • From 1934 to 1938 I played on a bunch of different teams including the Miami Giants, New York Tigers, and the Shreveport Acme Giants. In 1938, I became the first baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs, one the most elite teams in the Negro Leagues.




  • I was a champion for the negro leagues. In 1990, I began raising money for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum here in Kansas City. In July 2006, I was signed to a one day contract with the Kansas City T-Bones and had two at bats. At the age of 94, I was the oldest person to ever play professional baseball. I died on October 6, 2006.



The answer this week was Buck O'Neil.

Celebrating Buck O'Neil

Big picture
Buck O'Neil - Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Bite-Size Brain PD

The video this week is Wired for Danger : The Effects of Childhood Trauma on the Brain. This video discusses three types of stress - Positive, Tolerable, and Toxic. It does a good job explaining how stress can rewire the brain but also offers ways to deal with this negative impact.

Wired for Danger: The Effects of Childhood Trauma on the Brain

OUR GRAY HAWK PTO ROCKS!

For the latest information from OUR GRAY HAWK PTO check them out on Facebook @grayhawkpto458

Gray Hawk Community Feedback

Think of this as a digital suggestion box. Drop your thoughts, ideas, praise, comments, questions, or concerns here.