I wrote to OUR staff this weekend about the power of gratitude and how finding joy at the end of our day is incredibly important to reframing difficult times and adversity that we may encounter throughout the day. As a practice I have made it a habit that every day before I leave, I write three notes of gratitude to a staff member, a student, or someone in my life. In being vulnerable, Friday was a difficult day for many for a variety of reasons and I was ready to go home and realized I had not done this. My brain told me I was done for the day and needed to leave but my heart reminded me how important this practice was and I stayed to write my three notes. It was a true game changer and helped me to reframe my day and end on a positive note.

I want to encourage each of you to try this practice in your life for one week and see what kind of an impact it has on you! Maybe you want to hand write a note to someone, or maybe send a text. It does not matter how you choose to express the gratitude as long as you do it.

OUR GRAY HAWK staff strives to be child-focused and doing everything they can to support OUR GRAY HAWK community. If you would like to express your gratitude to an adult at Gray Hawk, please fill out this brief form to let us know the "who" and the "why" and I will make sure that person is recognized with a certificate of gratitude on Friday each week from you.

Spring Picture Day is on Monday. Students will also take their class picture at this time. Please see the schedule below for picture times.

Your voice is very important! Please take a moment to answer two questions regarding the type of programming and activities we can provide in the future at Gray Hawk and what could be limiting access to family engagement activities here.

Please be sure to choose GHE for your school when answering the survey. We will keep the survey open until March 9 and I will send out occassional reminders. We would love 100% participation in order to have your voice heard. Thank you!

TITLE I FAMILY ENGAGEMENT SURVEY

Thank you for continuing to support the Kid's Heart Challenge. At this point we have 25 students registered. Those students have raised a total of $1,242 and met their first SLIME MILESTONE: Coach Eller is getting slimed. $2,000 is the next challenge. If they meet that, Mr. Jacob will be joining Coach Eller in the slime pit!

Mrs. Stanton's class is still in first place, Mr. Bartels class is in second place, with Miss Rues and Mrs. Brown's second place being tied for third.

We recently discovered that with a donation of $8, Happy Bottoms can donate a month's worth of diapers to a needy family. Your $8 donation equates to 50 diapers being distributed to families in need. If my math is correct, we could reach the goal that Connor set of 2,000 diapers for families in need by collecting $320. We would exceed the goal by going above that. This appears to be a more impactful way to support this challenge and even exceed the goal.

If you are donating cash, please send it in an envelope with your child's name and classroom teacher's name on it. We will keep track of classroom donations. The Stark family has generously stated they would provide a pizza party for the winning class. Dr. Springer will provide popsicles to the grade level that brings in the most in addition to providing an extra recess for that grade (covered by Springer and Hubbard, so teachers may get involved in the donation process even more!) :)

If you would like to donate and write a check for a record of your donation, please make your check payable to Gray Hawk Elementary. You MUST put a note on the memo line though indicating it is for diapers so that we can keep it straight with accounting.

We will continue to collect throughout the month of March, giving occasional updates along the way and have the big reveal on Monday April 3.

We will certainly continue to accept diapers in the office. Remember that they do not need to be sealed in a bag or a complete box of diapers to be donated. They also accept SEALED boxes of wipes.

Thank you for your continued support of our students' ideas and these challenges that seek to bring awareness to families in need.

There is a lot of information regarding OUR GHES TALENT SHOW this year in the form below. Please read it carefully and be prepared to meet the deadlines for the show to run smoothly.

Sign Up for the Talent Show is Tuesday, March 7, 2023 between 5 and 6:30 pm.

Dress Rehearsal is Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 6:00 and participants MUST attend

Gray Hawk Talent Show is Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 6:00 pm.

Please read the attached flyer for more details.

If you would like to sign up to be a part of the 2nd Annual GHES Talent Show, please fill out this form.

If you have a child that will be attending Kindergarten next year, please fill out the information above so that we can get you registered and information sent out regarding our Kindergarten Round Up events.

This week is a bit of a two-fer. I have included a great little video about how young brains are developed and some foundational things that need to be in place for this development to continue. Did you know that 90% of brain development occurs between birth and age 5?

I also wanted to share that my dear friend, Mr. James Moffett presented a trauma informed care seminar all day on Saturday at Gray Hawk and attendees were inspired to really look inward when supporting our students, our community, and each other as we move grow and evolve in our educational practices. It was nice to have so many of our Gray Hawk staff able to come and we even welcomed some attendees from USD 500 Kansas City, KS school district and a pre-service teacher from Emporia State.

Revelations in Education's Dr. Lori Desautels is providing a free Zoom Session for anyone interested in learning more about how adversity and trauma impact the developing nervous system and what we can do.

Topic: How adversity and trauma impact the developing nervous system and what we can do

Time: March 5, 2023 4:00 PM Eastern Time (3:00 PM Central Time)

Join Zoom Meeting at

https://butleru.zoom.us/j/93333031263

Meeting ID: 933 3303 1263

www.revelationsineducation.com