In fall 2021, rootEd Missouri, in partnership with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, launched a three-year initiative provides select rural high schools with federal funding to hire college and career advisors to work alongside counselors to help students plan for success after high school.

This report shows the work Mrs. Perry and the senior class has accomplished in planning their future upon graduation. We appreciate everything she does to help our students.

For more information, check out https://rootedalliance.org/

Seventh graders dissected owl pellets while studying the flow of energy among living things.

Students in Mrs. Gilmore's Introduction to Business class have been learning the ins and outs of taxes. Here, students are using fictitious W-2 forms to complete the 1040 tax form to determine if there will be a refund and how much it would be.

Kaat Ulenaers and McKoy Dobbs were chosen for All-District Band. The students traveled to Nixa High School, where they both made first chair placement for their instruments. They returned to Nixa for the all-district band concert on January 14th.

Tryouts for the musical "Tied to the Tracks" a musical western comedy, will be held this week. The performances will be May 4-5.

Submitted by Mrs. Cindy Humbyrd

Our record may not show it but these girls have shown positive signs of improvement through the halfway point of the season. We have had a tough schedule and played some really good teams. We had a competitive week last week, losing to Bakersfield by two points and Dora by one point in overtime. These girls are playing hard and not giving up.

We have a busy few weeks ahead with about 12 games left on the season. As long as the girls stay the course and continue to give a good effort, I see them getting some wins in the future.

Upcoming games:

1/16 vs. Mountain Grove at Home

1/17 vs. Mountain Home Christian at Home

1/19 vs. Mansfield at Home

Submitted by Coach Lance West

So far on the season Easton McGee is our leading scorer at 13 ppg and leads us in assists at 3.8. Carter wise is 2nd in scoring at 10.4 ppg and Garrett Taber is 3rd at 9.6. Andrew Hambelton is our leading rebounder at 7.8 rebounds per game.

Submitted by Coach Chris Randolph

It's contest season for Gainesville FBLA. Members have been taking tests and preparing for their presentations at the district conference. Districts will be held Friday, February 3rd at Missouri State University - West Plains. This year, 63 members are participating in district competitions.

Vice President of Projects Jarett Hogan, as well as member Jenna Uchtman and a small committee of members organized a can drive collection contest for the district. Overall, more than 2,000 canned food items were collected for the Ozark County Food Pantry. We are proud of their hard work and dedication to this project. Mrs. Souder's fourth grade class collected the most cans in the elementary and were awarded with a pizza party sponsored by FBLA.

Character word:

Integrity: Is to behave according to a sense of what’s right or wrong.

Kindergarten: Garett Strain, Rowan Nash and Jackson Barcelona (not pictured).

1st grade: Gunner Hambelton, Emillie Vanderveen and Abel Goodwin (not pictured).

2nd grade: Trail Acklin, Nara Rudich and Allison Merriman

3rd grade: Elizabeth Havens, Eli Garrison

4th grade: Ty Alms, Waylon Strong and Lilian Lynne

5th grade: Violet Winrod, Brantley Nash

6th grade: Rachyl McGinnis, Annabell Snelson

Kindergarten had an exciting month! Students made gingerbread houses to go along with our gingerbread man unit, and enjoyed some hot cocoa while watching The Polar Express. Santa and his elf even made a special appearance in Kindergarten!

First graders have been using related addition facts to subtract from 10. We also enjoyed a visit from our adopt-a-players.

Mrs. Johnson’s class has been busy learning about weathering and erosion. In this activity, "Cornmeal Canyons", students created a model landform using cornmeal. Then they dripped water over this “land” to observe how water can change its shape and to understand how canyons can be formed through a similar process.

Fifth grade students tested their knowledge of physical science by investigating a “crime” that took place in a science classroom. They became investigators by observing the crime scene and analyzing evidence to figure out who committed the “crime”. The students analyzed footprints left at the crime scene, analyzed DNA from saliva on a coffee mug, observed fingerprints found on a piece of coal and tested several white powders for chemical reactions. Thankfully, with the help of some great 5th grade investigators, we were able to solve the “crime”!

Sixth graders have been working on our first research project. Each student chose a person of history to research. They have then been working on their largest assignment of the year, a 5 paragraph essay. Each student also showcased their creativity by creating a bottle buddy in the likeness of their person of history. They will finalize this unit with a oral presentation of their paper and bottle.

The Barney and Doris Douglas Family has donated $400 to the Gainesville Elementary Library to purchase books! All of the books purchased with the grant were titles that GES students had recently requested to be added to the library. The gift is much appreciated and the books will be enjoyed by our GES students. Third grade students are pictured with the books that were purchased for the elementary library with the grant fund.