Galloping Gazette
A newsletter for the Faculty and Staff - Week of 11/25
Put Students First • Seek Growth • Be Open to Change . Do Great Work Together • Value Differences
Principal Message
It's officially almost Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving kicks off the beginning of the holiday season, a time of coziness, festivities, family, food, and so much more. It is a season of gratitude.
The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness (depending on the context). In some ways gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.
Recently, I read a research study posted by Harvard Health that shared that gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. The article, which can be found here, shared a few quick ways to cultivate gratitude:
- Write a thank-you note.
- Thank someone mentally.
- Keep a gratitude journal.
- Count your blessings.
- Meditate.
In thinking of this, I want to take a moment to count my blessings. I cannot tell you how often I count my blessing to be at Christopher Farms with all of you each day. You are rockstars! I see the countless hours you put into your plans, the immense amount of time that you put in to ensure that all of your parents know on a daily basis how their child is doing, and the enormous amount of love that you pour into our students so that they feel safe and loved as soon as they walk through the doors. I am so thankful for each and every one of you. I love coming to work each day to be with you. I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving and truly know how much you are appreciated here every day.
-Robyn
Shout Outs...
Shout out to Wende Phillips, Jackie Cochran, and Ally Crouch for going above and beyond for the United Way and SCA.
Shout Out to Kim Jacobs for the awesome bus list/chart for my lanyard! Just what I needed! Frances
- Thank you, Tina Fritz, for making all the data sheets readable! Patti
- Shout out to Mrs. Shuttleworth and Mrs. Johnson for all of their valuable help with the Regions Expo! They went above and beyond to assure that all of our students had something meaningful to share/display. Michelle
- So very THANKFUL for Ann Featherston for her friendship, patience, and support as we welcome Mr. Davis and transition. Cynthia
- This is a week late, but I want to thank Travis for the two amazing lessons on simple machines. The kids and I loved it! Travis, hablas español muy bien. Miriam
- Thank you to the SCA Officers and Mrs. Cochran for all their help with the Thankful Gram fundraiser for Beach Bag. We raised $303.50. Karen
- Thank you to Jennifer Pleasant for always stepping up to help. Karen
- Thank you to Holly Virella for all the Harris Teeter Donations for Beach Bags. Karen
- Thank you Mrs. Pace for keeping your calm when a child was injured during PE last week!!! You helped keep her calm and to the clinic for treatment! Jill
- Shout out to Lauren and Ally for their ongoing collaboration, open-mindedness, and hard work in meeting their students’ needs. It does not go unnoticed! Ashley
- Shout out to Alainya and Lauren for getting creative with co-teaching styles and trying something new! Ashley
- Robin Mounce – thank you for helping me out in my inaccessible data dilemma! Ashley
Schedule for upcoming weeks
** No PLCs **
Monday, November 25th
- 4th Grade Collaboration 8:00-10:30
- 3rd Grade Collaboration 11:30-2:00
- GOTR 2:45-4:15
Tuesday, November 26th
- 5th Grade Collaboration 9:30-12:00
- 3rd Grade Tractor Pull- Time TBD
Wednesday, November 27th
- Ms. Porter out all day
- 1/2 day for staff and students. Enjoy your Thanksgiving break!!
** PLC Focus: L/A Paired Passages **
Monday, December 2nd
- "Sweat it Out"...wear your favorite sweats or work out clothes
- Landstown MS teachers/admin here for Learning Walks for Spanish Immersion
- Santa Workshop begins for the week 8:00-2:30 Innovation Lab
- Ms. Porter out in the afternoon for Training
- Girls on the Run 2:45-4:15
- SCA Meeting 2:45-4:00
Tuesday, December 3rd
- Ms. Porter out in the morning for training
- PBIS 3:00
Wednesday, December 4th
- Dr. White here for Learning walks
- 11:00 2nd PLC
- 12:45 1st PLC
- 1:35 4th PLC
- Newspaper Club 2:45-4:00
- GOTR 2:45-4:15
Thursday, December 5th
- 8:30 5th PLC
- 9:20 3rd PLC
- 10:10 PreK/K PLC
- SPED Meeting 3:00- Personnel TBD
- Spanish Immersion Meeting @ Alanton ES 4:00-6:00
Friday, December 6th
- Watch Dog Dad Arcilio Diaz
- 3rd Grade Simple Machine Expo 10:15-10:45
- Citizen of the Month Lunches
- Supper with Santa 5:30-9:00
News and Notes....
- Mrs. Barbarsi has made the bittersweet decision to retire on Dec. 31st from CFES. As much as we will miss her here at the farm, we are excited that she will get more time to enjoy everyday life with her husband.
- Don't forget that we are still doing the "Good Phone Call of the Day". If you have a student that has done something that goes above and beyond, or just had a really good day, please e-mail Ms. Backer. We want to start filling the wall up in the office.
- Doing something different after school? Are you keeping a student after school hours?
Don’t forget to get it approved!! For example: tutoring, student volunteering, interviews for the newspaper (other than Club day), make up missed school work, or teacher helper.
Things like this must have prior approval by admin., and parents must be made aware by the school (not the student) as well. We need a note from the parent giving permission to stay after and how they will get home when the activity is done.
ALL students must be signed out. Don’t forget, Safety, Security and Accountability!!!
- We understand there are times when you may be running late in the morning, and get caught up in the student drop-off line. Please just wait patiently, call the office, and we will get someone to cover your class until you come in. For safety reasons, we cannot have cars drive around the line to get ahead.
- We have done an amazing job hitting that happy medium for our color copying. However, as you can see below our overall copying is 40,000 copies more. Please be extremely mindful of how much you are copying.