The Cub Corner
Expect Excellence In Everything
October 2, 2020
A Note from Mr. Bender
Dear Families,
Welcome to October! We have many important dates coming up during the month of October including parent conferences, early release days, and Picture Day. Next week will be a short week. There will not be any school October 8-12 for Fall Break. Enjoy your time off!
PTA has announced their annual Reflections arts competition. The 2020-2021 theme is “I matter because...”. We encourage all of our students to participate! Please find more information including the entry forms below. All Reflections entries are due on Wednesday, October 7.
This week we also kicked off our Reading Rewards program. This is our school-wide reading program. We encourage all students to read at least 20 minutes per night and log their minutes on the provided reading log (located on eCLASS). Reading logs are due back to school at the end of each month. Students that participate and meet the goal will be recognized on the morning announcements and earn a prize.
Enjoy your weekend! Go cubs!
Mike Bender
Principal
Important Dates
10/8-10/9: Fall Break (No School!)
10/12: Teacher Work Day (No School!)
10/21-10/22: Early Release Days (Students dismiss at 12:15 pm)
10/26-10/30: Red Ribbon Week
10/29: Picture Day!
10/30: United Way Book Character Dress Up Day
11/3: Election Day (No School!)
Lunch Menu: October 5-7, 2020
Monday: Strawberry Parfait
Tuesday: Pepperoni Pizza
Wednesday: Meatloaf, hamburgers, fish filet
AKS at Home
You are an important partner with your child’s teacher, whether your child is learning at home or at school. To help you support your child’s learning, GCPS is launching a new initiative called AKS at Home. With this project, families will learn ways to help their child practice skills they are learning in class as part of the district’s Academic Knowledge and Skills (AKS) curriculum.
Join live Zoom sessions where teachers will show you how to help your child practice important skills and answer your questions. Here’s the schedule:
Monday, September 28
Kindergarten
· Language Arts – 9:30-10:30 a.m.
· Mathematics – Noon-1 p.m.
Tuesday, September 29
1st Grade
· Language Arts – 10-11 a.m.
· Mathematics – Noon-1 p.m.
Wednesday, September 30
2nd Grade
· Language Arts – 9-10 a.m.
· Mathematics – 11 a.m.-Noon
Thursday, October 1
3rd Grade
· Language Arts – 10-11 a.m.
· Mathematics – Noon-1 p.m.
Monday, October 5
4th Grade
· Mathematics – 9:30-10:30 a.m.
· Language Arts – 11 a.m.-Noon
Tuesday, October 6
5th Grade
· Mathematics – 10-11 a.m.
· Language Arts – 11 a.m.-Noon
United Way: Book Character Dress Up Day
Ice Cream!
Save the Date: Ice cream sales will begin for in-person students on Tuesday, October 13. Ice cream is sold every Tuesday and Friday for $1.00.
Early Release & Parent Conferences
Please be on the lookout for conference information coming soon!
Picture Day
Election Day
Girl Scouts
Interested in joining Girl Scouts? Watch the video below to learn more!
Building Babies' Brains
Join the Building Babies’ Brains Awareness Campaign!
For over two years, a group of Gwinnett community members, businesses, non-profits and educators have been developing a plan to attack the impending Kindergarten readiness crisis in Gwinnett. Last year, 52% of our children entered Kindergarten not ready. We have students in every elementary school not ready with some schools having 80% entering school unprepared. These children are from all demographics, but poverty seems to be the common thread. The main message we are trying to get out to the community is around the importance of early brain development. Did you know that a baby’s brain is 90% developed by age five? Did you know that learning starts at birth? Too many times the answer is, “No, I didn’t know that!” Answering these questions, along with providing other brain development resources, has been the driving force around our two-year process. We have over 60,000 children birth to age five throughout the county and we need them all to be ready to thrive in Kindergarten and beyond!
We need your help! We are attempting to reach parents of birth to five children and influencers of parents of birth to five children with an awareness campaign around this issue. One central solution is a comprehensive website with local resources and content that can give parents the tools they need to help grow their child’s brain, but we need help spreading the word.
What Can You Do?
- Follow Us on Facebook and Instagram. These social media platforms will be vital in increasing awareness and beginning to build engagement with our audiences throughout the county. Please use the hashtags: #BuildingBabiesBrains, #Gwinnett, #EarlyLearning101, #EarlyBrainDevelopment. Suggested caption: Gwinnett Building Babies’ Brains was born out of a community need to improve Kindergarten Readiness for our children. This website provides parents and caregivers information on brain development and practical resources so that parents can be their child’s first and best teacher. Visit often and share with everyone you know!
- Share, post, and email the website link: www.buildingbabiesbrains.com to your constituencies. Help us spread the word that this site is meant to help everyone that interacts with a young child. This support would go a long way in affecting change in our kindergarten readiness numbers.
- Promote your support for this initiative on launch day! Attached below you will find two graphics we’ve created for Facebook and Instagram to introduce our website and encourage users to view the available resources. It would be impactful to have you post this graphic along with a caption speaking to why you support early learning in Gwinnett. We’ve also included a sample caption below to get you started! Don’t forget to tag BuildingBabiesBrains.Gwinnett on your post!
Please check out the Woodward Mill Counseling Department’s eCLASS page for resources and opportunities for you or your child to meet with us virtually. You can find us through your child’s eclass page under “My Courses.” Digital students can have one on one sessions via zoom with their counselor during office hours and by appointment.
Character Trait and Mindfulness Activity of the Month
The character word of the month for October is Sharing. Sharing includes sharing things of course, but also ideas! As a No Place for Hate school, we encourage students to share ideas respectfully and to give others the opportunity to be heard. Teachers will be looking for students exhibiting the character trait of the month to be recognized as the Cub of the Month!
Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week is October 26th-30th! This year’s theme is “Be Happy. Be Brave. Be Drug Free.” During this week, we talk with students about how to make healthy choices for their bodies by saying “no” to drugs and alcohol! Stay tuned for more information!
Curbside Book Checkout
Our digital learner curbside checkout is being offered each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Parents must receive an email hold notification from our media center before coming to pick up books. If you are not receiving timely emails, particularly if you use a yahoo email account, please notify the media staff.
If you are unable to pick up your child’s books during the curbside hours, you are welcome to stop by during school hours to pick up your books. When you arrive, please let the front office staff know you are here for media books and we will deliver your books to the front lobby.
Only digital learners will be placing holds on books. In-person students will have access to the media center with their class during the week.
All digital holds automatically expire after 21 days, so please be prompt about picking up your books after receiving the email notification. Contact Jennifer.Alden@gcpsk12.org if you have any questions.
Using the Destiny Discover for Digital Learners
Reading Rewards
It’s time to kick-off our school-wide Reading Rewards incentive program! The goal of this program is to encourage students to develop a consistent habit of daily reading. Students can read independently or with their parents at home, outside of school hours. K-5 students will be asked to read at least 20 minutes a day for at least 20 days of the month.
In-person students will be provided with a paper log in the Friday, Oct. 2, weekly folder. Digital students will be able to download and electronically complete a log that can be returned as an assignment in eCLASS.
All students can choose to use either the paper log or the digital log option. If you are a digital student and prefer a paper log, please stop by the school to pick up a paper log in the front lobby.
If you use the digital log, you will download the editable pdf log to your computer, rename the log (following directions provided in eCLASS) and submit the log as an eCLASS assignment before the monthly deadline. Paper logs will be returned to the homeroom teacher before the monthly deadline. Parents will verify each date entry on the log.
Digital logs can be found on the school landing page of eCLASS in the Reading Rewards widget. The Woodward Mill landing page is where the student lands when they click on the My eCLASS Course Page tab once logged into the portal.
The Reading Rewards program will begin in October and end in April. If you have any questions, please email Jennifer.Alden@gcpsk12.org. Thanks for your support of independent reading!
Hi Cubs! Welcome back! Don’t forget to join PTA on My Payments Plus by paying a $5 membership fee per adult member. Membership is open to any and all adult family members. (You do not need to pay for students.) While we’re facing a unique school year, we’re committed in our efforts to support our school and our Cub families. We would love to hear ideas from you for virtual events to hold this school year. Please join our Facebook page for continuous updates- Woodward Mill PTA.
Woodward Mill Facemasks
Teacher Spotlight
This week's PTA Teacher Spotlights are...
Testimonies from the parents:
“Mr. Kosiak is an awesome teacher! He’s really patient and his creative way of teaching makes learning fun! My son had him last year and still talks about him!”
“My 2nd grade son loves his 1st grade teacher, Ms. Gassman, to the max!!! He says she's "nice and funny." We would have never gotten through the Spring semester without her checking in with him one on one. Even though he's no longer in her class, she still checks in on him to make sure all is well. She cares so much for all her kids, but she has a way of making everyone feel like your family is the most special. She is a shining example of what WMES embodies. Thanks for all you do!”
For more teacher spotlights, or to submit a spotlight for your teacher, please check Woodard Mill PTA Facebook page!
National PTA’s Reflections Art Contest is underway! Our deadline has been extended to Wednesday, October 7th! Both in-person and digital students are eligible to participate. Entries need to be turned in to Mrs. Elliott in the front lobby.
A student may submit an entry in any of six arts areas. Only original works of art are accepted. The six art areas are: Visual Arts Photography, Literature, Music Composition, Dance Choreography, and Film Production.
The Reflections Program provides an excellent opportunity for students of all ages to:
- Unleash their creative talents and be inspired
- Express themselves imaginatively in their artwork
- Experience the joy and fun of making art
- Tap into critical thinking skills to create art inspired by the annual theme
- Receive positive recognition for their original works of art.
Rules/guidelines here: https://www.georgiapta.org/reflections/reflections-submission-info#80-rules-and-forms
We are excited to announce that WMES has been designated as a “No Place for Hate School”! No Place for Hate helps schools foster a culture of respect and create a safe, bully-free learning environment for all students. During the 2019-20 school year, we completed activities as a school to work toward building a brave and equitable school. This year, all students and staff signed the No Place for Hate pledge on a banner outside of our cafeteria. We also completed three activities to encourage kindness, respect, and inclusion in our building: the addition of the Buddy Bench to our playground, Kindness Week in November, and “Mix it Up” day in February. Thank you to student council who served as our student group in planning activities for this initiative!
"The Promise of Gwinnett” campaign is a means of focusing attention on the importance of public education, the role it plays in our nation, and the outstanding schools found right here in Gwinnett County. In addition, the campaign focuses on the accomplishments of our students and the promise they hold for a bright future. Click here to visit the Promise of Gwinnett.
In5ive is a fast-paced, fact-filled informative program that gives you a quick five-minute update on the latest good news in education from Gwinnett County Public Schools.
Help our school everytime you shop! Enroll in the Publix Partners program to earn money for Woodward Mill every time you go grocery shopping.
Woodward Mill just received our quarterly check from the Publix Partners program for $122 dollars. Please help us raise more money for our school by registering for a Publix Partners account and entering your phone number every time you grocery shop at Publix. Every dollar counts!
Business Partners
Woodward Mill would like to take this opportunity to thank the numerous business partners that support the students and teachers at our school. Our business partners support our school in various ways such as sponsoring after-school clubs, providing teacher appreciation gifts, donating supplies, and mentoring students. Please check out our wonderful business partners below:
Woodward Mill proudly thanks our business partners! Please support these businesses that support our school!
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About Us
Website: http://www.woodwardmilles.com
Location: 2020 Buford Drive Northeast, Lawrenceville, GA, United States
Phone: 678-407-7590