GSD E-Blast
May 2023
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Every spring, we take the time to appreciate the incredible individuals who contribute to making GSD an exceptional place to learn and work! Our teachers, administrators, staff, and volunteers go above and beyond to create an environment that our students look forward to being in every day. Their unwavering commitment to making our students smile, from the start of the day to the end, is what sets them apart. Our GSD staff strives to make our school a more positive place than the day before, and they are dedicated to the success of our students. As I always say, it takes a village to support our students, and our village is incredibly strong and committed to teaching, learning, and making a difference. We are grateful to our GSD staff and volunteers, who truly make a difference! If you are visiting our schools this month, we kindly ask that you thank our amazing staff and volunteers for their hard work and dedication.
Your partner in education,
Amy Conway
Superintendent
Spark's Corner
Research shows that being happy and positive primes the brain to be more successful and productive. Promoting positivity will enhance our student’s academic ability and develop them into happy and positive thinkers and leaders. Each month we will highlight a building or staff member that is spreading “The Orange” (Happiness) through Gibraltar!
Carlson High School
CHS Quiz Bowl
Recently Carlson High School wrapped up its Quiz Bowl season with a very successful year. Big Blue finished 5-1 on the regular season and won the end of the year tournament to qualify for the state championship Saturday April 15 at U of M. At the State Championship we finished ranked 15th in Division 1. This is the first year Carlson has finished ranked in the Top 25!. Congratulations to: Nick Manolias, Nick Boes, Connor Douglass, Charlotte Clavet, Chase Crawford, Andrew Jia, Matthew Jia, Nolan Kennedy and Zach Cox on a job well done and a very successful season.
Chapman Elementary School
Celebrating Earth Day!
Chapman Chargers had a blast celebrating Earth Day by taking part in a building-wide spirit week and by working on collaborative projects to show our appreciation for Mother Earth. Throughout the week, students worked together to clean up our courtyard to prepare for spring outdoor learning sessions. Students raked leaves, bagged clippings, and mulched flower beds. They also hosted TWO drives! One drive raised over $150 to help endangered turtles native to Michigan. Another drive brought in over 200+ plastic bags that are being re-used to make mats for the homeless. Additionally, our Charge Up Crew students performed skits to each class to teach our students about composting to begin composting fruit and vegetable scraps in our school cafeteria. We are proud of our Chapman Chargers for giving back to the community in an environmentally-friendly way.
Hunter Elementary School
SPACE Month in STEM at Hunter
In STEM at Hunter, every student has been focused on another growing field in STEM… SPACE! Every grade had a different focus, but all students were dreaming, learning, exploring, inventing and celebrating SPACE! They had students making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in space as astronauts, they had second graders inventing a heat shield for astronauts, they had first graders learning all about our planets, and third graders learning all about the constellations.
But the most exciting experience for the whole school by far was STAR LAB! Mrs. Brown was able to bring in all STEM classes for 40 minutes throughout the day to sit in Star Lab and experience the wonder of the constellations in the night sky. The view of stars in the night sky was only surpassed by the interesting and sometimes funny stories of the Greek and Native American constellations. Creating a buzz about science, technology, engineering and math is what we do best in STEM, and this was no exception.
Downriver STEM @ Weiss
Downriver STEM @ Weiss Takes on Imagination Station
Get ready to be wowed by the amazing experience we had at Downriver STEM at Weiss Elementary School! This past month we had our first school-wide field trip and it was absolutely incredible! Almost every student and staff member attended, along with over 165 chaperones from our community.
As a STEM school, we were thrilled to provide our students with hands-on experiences that they won't forget anytime soon. From taking apart electronics to tinkering and building items, from learning how to fly a plane, to understanding forces and circuits, to see erosion happen in real time, to seeing live science shows about the scientific method, and more- we had it all!
Our students had an absolute blast getting to explore and experiment with STEM activities, and we couldn't have done it without the incredible support of our community. It was amazing to see parents, grandparents, and community members all come together to make this field trip a huge success.
We are so proud to be part of a school community that values and prioritizes STEM education, and we can't wait to see what other exciting opportunities the future holds for our students. Thank you to everyone who made this incredible field trip possible especially Mrs. Pidgeon and Mrs. Hunter who did so much behind the scenes to make this possible!
Parsons Elementary School
Parsons Pie in the Face Delivers Funds for Kids Heart Health and Lots of Laughs
Parsons students started April's Town Hall meeting in a traditional style. Student of the Month recipients smiled for the camera. Golden Awards were given out to classes for meeting PBIS expectations for the lunchroom, hallway, buses, and specials classes. Finally, students excitedly stood for their reward as Pirate Gold winners were announced.
However, the major excitement occurred when it was announced that it was time to Pie Teachers in the face. Students chanted "pie in the face" over and over as Mrs. Scheetz emceed the event. Twenty three students who raised $100 or more had the chance to pie a teacher or the principal. This was the cumulative event for a successful Kids Heart Challenge where Parsons students raised over $8,000.
Lakeshore Virtual School
Gift of Life Bottle Drive
The Lakeshore Leadership Club, with the help of Mrs. Firsdon and Mrs. LaButte, recently sponsored a bottle drive for the non-profit organization, Gift of Life Michigan. We collected bottle returns in order to donate the money to Gift of Life Michigan. This organization recovers over 1,000 organs each year for transplantation. They also recover bone, skin, and tissue and work with Eversight to manage cornea and eye donation. Thanks to our Leadership Club for this great opportunity to help others!
Shumate Middle School
SMS PBIS Olympics
On April 6th, our eighth-grade students participated in the first-ever “Seahawk Olympics”, organized by Mrs. Mandy Gardner. The event was a PBIS reward for excellent behavior. It began with our National Anthem, played by the amazingly talented Shumate Band. Next, students engaged in a “torch” relay. After that, students participated in an exciting staff versus student hockey game, followed by an egg race. Lastly, the event concluded with the presentation of Olympic Medals!
Kiwanis Award Ceremony
Kiwanis held its annual awards ceremony and honored some of our outstanding GSD staff and students. Congratulations to all our exceptional award recipients!
2023 4th Grade Charity Essay Winners
Chapman: Elaina Cardine
Organization: (Hedgehog Welfare Society)
Hunter: Rylie Evans
Organization: (Penrickton Center for the Blind)
Hunter: Maggie Hayes
Organization: (Downriver Foster Closet)
Parsons: Ryleigh Kin
Organization: (Two wild Hearts Sanctuary & Equine Rescue)
Weiss: Mason Reasey
Organization: (Disabled American Veterans)
2023 GGKC Youth Citizenship Award Winners
Chapman: Mia Harris
Hunter: Clara Radford
Parsons: Lia Batalucco
Weiss: Jarett Kimmel
Shumate: Collin Jaskula
Carlson: Alyssa Kamm
Lakeshore Virtual: Autumn Nelson
The Greater Gibraltar Kiwanis Club Community Service Award
Evelyn Cramton (CHS Teacher)
Transportation Department
We are excited to welcome aboard Charles Johnson, our Sub Aide. Charles will be in training for the next few weeks. We are hiring bus drivers and bus aides. If you are interested, contact us at (734) 379-6370.