Panther Press
a weekly publication of the Georgia Academy for the Blind
Spring Break Edition!
March 23, 2018
Dr. Cindy Gibson, Superintendent
Email: smilam@doe.k12.ga.us
Website: www.gabmacon.org
Location: 2895 Vineville Avenue, Macon, GA, United States
Phone: (478) 751-6083
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Georgia.Academy.for.the.Blind/
Twitter: @gab_library
Mission Statement
The Georgia Academy for the Blind provides quality education services to Georgia’s students with visual impairments and/or visual impairments in conjunction with other disabilities to prepare them to achieve their highest level of independence in transition to college and career readiness.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Mark your Calendars!
March 26-30: Spring Break
April 2: Easter Holiday
April 5: Prom
April 10: Special Olympics
April 12 (NEW DATE): Spring Festival 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.
April 9-20 Elementary and Middle Milestones
April 19-22 SCASB, Thompson Stadium, 1210 Shurling Dr, Macon, GA
April 26-29: Senior Trip
April 30-May 11 High school End of Course Milestones
May 1: Help a Child Smile Mobile Dental Clinic
May 14-18: Milestones’ Retests for grades 3, 5 and 8
May 17: Community Partners Recognition Day 1:00-2:00 pm, Media Center
May 24: Project Search Graduation, 4 pm at Navicent Health*details page 3)
May 25: Graduation, Wesleyan College’s Porter Auditorium, 4760 Forsyth Road, (3.2 miles west of GAB)
Remaining March Birthdays
~23rd Harry
~27th Angelica L
~28th BJ
~29th Sammy
April Birthdays
1st Kevin
2nd Pierce
4th Caden W
7th Marquez H
12th Taylor
17th Dillon
18th Frankie
21st Eugene
21st Ashlyn
26th Marquez C
27th Majestic
30th Joseph
Character Education
PERSEVERANCE: Working hard without giving up. Our classes are discovering that many of their favorite musicians, athletes, and other stars all went through ‘the dip” and that they, and we, can achieve success by persevering through challenges. During spring break ask your child who they learned about and how this person showed perseverance. Share a time in your life when you had to persevere.
Learn more about our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program by visiting the link below.
This week in pictures!
POTTERY PORTRAIT PENDANTS! (above and below) These middle school art students of Mrs. Applebee created self-portraits in pottery and turned them into pendants.
Week 2 of Lunch in the Library
(Below) Students displaying good behavior during the week will have their names entered in a drawing. Each week 3 names will be drawn from elementary, middle and high school. Their names will be announced on Thursday's news. They will go to the font on the line and take their lunch to the library. This week’s winners were:
Elementary – Josie, Berkley and Roni
Middle – Kayleigh, Shakira and Felix
High – Jayla, JaQavious and Crystal
A good reminder during spring break
Check out this fun family literacy activity to do during Spring Break!
Spring Break is the perfect time to complete surveys!
Parent/guardian surveys continue! ONE DOWN, ONLY 2 TO GO!
Your voice matters and we want to hear from YOU! Please take a few minutes and complete these three quick surveys from the Georgia Department of Education. Sonya Milam stands ready to assist you!
1. Annual Georgia School Climate Parent Survey. DONE! THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!
2. Annual Georgia Special Education Services Parent Survey. This online anonymous survey with 10 questions also takes only 5 minutes to complete. It is available to all Georgia’s families who have a student with a disability. This survey helps the state determine parents’ perception of the success of parent engagement between them and schools. Georgia is required to conduct a parent survey collection process to measure parent/family perceptions. The information is gathered as a component of the State Performance Plan, Indicator 8: Percent of parents with a student receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving results for children with disabilities. The data collected is reported as a percentage of parental involvement in the Annual Performance Report for each district. This survey can be found here: http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Special-Education-Services/Pages/Parent-Survey.aspx When prompted to select district, choose STATE SCHOOLS, not your county! You will then be prompted to choose Georgia Academy for the Blind.
3. Annual ASPIRE SURVEY. This survey is conducted each year to determine parents’ satisfaction in and involvement with Georgia’s student led IEP program. Whether you attended your child’s IEP on campus or on the phone, if you didn’t complete this survey afterwards, please take a few minutes to do so now! https://goo.gl/oGU3oc
Spring Break is the perfect time to sign up for Summer Camp! FINAL NOTICE! DEADLINES ARE APRIL 6!
Sonya Milam is available during the break to help! 478-262-3303, smilam@doe.k12.ga.us FINAL NOTICE! DEADLINES ARE APRIL 6!
Camp Dreams 2018 Camper Session Dates
- · July 15th – July 18th (Sun. - Wed.)
- · July 19th – July 22nd (Thu. - Sun.)
- · July 23rd – July 26th (Mon. - Thu.)·
- July 27th – July 30th (Fri. - Mon.)
Visit their website where you can watch a video and learn more: http://www.campdreamga.org/
- Session 1 June 10-15 Family Camp (ages 5-9)
- Session 2 June 17-22 Pre-teen (ages 6-12)
- Session 3 June 24-29 Older Adults (ages 35-up)
- Session 4 July 1-06 Young Adults (ages 18-34)
- Session 5 July 8-15 Teenagers (ages 13-17)
Spring break is a good time to collect Box Tops for Education!
Mystery Theatre Presents: The Case of the Missing 300 Box Tops
If everyone “springs” into action by the end of May, we can reach our second goal of 1,000 more Box Tops. We have only 300 to go. The proceeds go to help fund our field trips. The clue to finding Box Tops is to look on items you buy such as cereal boxes, can goods, frozen items and even office supplies . These box top hide in the funniest places. Click below for a list of participating products. Get them to GAB before they “spring” into the trash can unnoticed.
More of this Week in Pictures
(Below) Exciting times in Work-Based Learning (WBL)
We want to introduce you to our newest jobsite -- “Paula’s Closet”, which is a part of Macon Outreach. What a great opportunity for our students!