Mustang Message
December 4, 2017
A Principal's Perspective
December has arrived! I love all of the festivities the holiday season brings! My principal's message is short (I know a true gift-right?) because there is so much information in this Mustang Message about next week. Please take time to read through the information so that we are all prepared for the many activities that will enrich our holiday time as a school family.
Be Innovative - Design the possibilities!
Donna
Morning Duties of the Week
Gym & Morning Assembly (7:20): J. Rhine
Gym (7:20): Weber
Parent Drop Off Direct Traffic (7:20): Knight
Parent Drop Off Car Doors (7:20): Owen & Glunk
Cafeteria (7:20): Marshall
Bus (7:15 - Buses/ Car Drop Off after all buses arrive): Jankoswski
Counselor Schedule: - Student Support, Small Groups, Individual Student Counseling
Librarian: GP
Week at a Glance
National Hour of Code Week
Monday: Crazy Hair & Jeans Day - Pay $1 to participate and support the Brazos Valley Food Bank.; PTO Grants Due; 3:05-4:00 Choir; 3:30-4:15; Progress Report Grades Due by 8:00 am; GP Leadership Team Meeting cancelled - rescheduled for December 11th at 3:00; Grade level leaders send Campus Council agenda items to Donna.
Tuesday: 3:30 Campus Council - Please send grade level agenda items to Donna by Monday.
Wednesday: GP Reading Day!; 8:10 Hartsell, Parker, & Kinder author visit in cafeteria; 9:20-10:20 – 1st Grade author visit in cafeteria; 10:00 am in gym CSMS Holiday Band Concert - all grade levels invited; 8:00-11:00 2nd Graders to the Hilton Christmas Tree Event; 3rd & 2nd switch lunch times; 3:30 GP New Teachers Meeting
Thursday: 12 Days of Christmas Begins: Wear Jeans & Red; 9:00-2:00 GP Choir Trip; 3:15-4:15 BRAVE & Chess Club; Mustang Market Open
Friday: 12 Days of Christmas - Cowboy Christmas; Mustang Market Open
Saturday: Frosty's Snow Bash 9:00-11:00
News & Notes
PTO Grants:
Grant Guidelines: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kSaLqQXbae2YBtbtLb0PiEjPB5jKbXPz0l5ec-6RJhQ/edit
Grant Application: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1En6LxK1g6rdtugiVHgHIo7-JbgCI4rcZZ76f5KGIx9o/copy
Reading Day: Wednesday, December 6th, is a reading day at GP! This is a fun, relaxing campus-wide day of reading. Nothing fancy needed, just some good books! Work it into events already going on for your grade level that day. See Melanie Marshall's email sent out November 20th for some great ideas!
Snow Bash: Saturday, December 9th, from 9-11. Bring your family, have some pancakes, enjoy Mustang Market, take pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and shop for gift baskets and/or teacher time auction items. Please talk up this GP family event with your students. We will have a link to the on-line auction coming soon. Please send the link to parents to encourage participation in the auction. Gift baskets will be great for Christmas gifts. Funds raised will go towards field trips, technology items, teacher grants, etc.
12 Days of Christmas: The Twelve Days of Christmas begin next week beginning on Thursday, the 7th. Next week wear red on Thursday and dress for a cowboy Christmas on Friday. If you would like to participate with the themed day, wear jeans along with your holiday themed shirt/costume.
Chrissy's Closet - From Shannon Long (This was shared with principals. I wanted our campus to have the opportunity to participate as well.):
Every night at Chrissy's Closet is fabulous but one of the very BEST is our Christmas event held on the last Monday before the Christmas break- Christmas at Chrissy's Closet. This year the event will be held on Monday, December 18th and will include pictures with Santa (the fabulous Jamie Bassett sitting in front of a beautiful backdrop). We will take and print out the pictures on site and provide free books for all of the students.
Shopping for Parents: One of our favorite parts of the night is the shopping area for students. We set up the cafeteria with tables full of accessories (scarves, socks, jewelry, purses, etc) for the students to shop for their parents. We have gift bags and wrapping paper and wrap the gifts for the students to take home and put under their tree. You can not begin to imagine the joy on their faces as they get to pick out presents for their parents. One sweet girl last year was so happy as we packaged her gift she said "My mama is going to be so surprised. She can't afford gifts for us. There's no way she would expect a gift for HER!".
We Need YOUR Help: In order to have a wide variety of items for the children to pick from- we need your help! In the next few weeks if you would be willing to clean out your accessories and donate any gently used items that could go in our Christmas Store we would be so very grateful. We have two white bins in the front office here at CO so you can drop them off anytime that you are over here.
- What
New or gently use accessories (including but not limited to) scarves, ties, purses, jewelry, unused lotions and shower gel/bubble bath,
hats, gloves
etc. - When
Anytime between now and Dec. 11th Where?:
From Donna: Drop off in office by Monday, Dec. 11th, and we will deliver to Chrissy's Closet.
We know that this time of year is super busy but if you happen to have some time on the 18th please stop by and visit. We promise you will be blessed! Thank you so much for helping us to make this event truly special for our students and their families
Tell Me Something Good! Or This Month - Fun, Holiday Facts You May Not Know!
- All letters addressed to Santa in the United States go to Santa Claus, Indiana.
- An artificial Christmas tree would have to be reused for more than 20 years to be "greener" than buying a fresh-cut tree annually.
- Santa wore a variety of colorful suits through the years — including red, blue, white, and green — but legend has it that the popular image of his red coat came from a 1930s ad by Coca Cola.
- A copywriter named Robert L. May first invented the oddball reindeer in 1939 as a marketing gimmick for Montgomery Ward's holiday coloring books. (Many considered naming the beloved misfit Reginald and Rollo.) And his nose wasn't originally going to be red: A red nose was viewed as a sign of chronic alcoholism, and Montgomery Ward didn't want him to seem like a drunkard. Good thing they changed it. "Reginald, the blue-nosed reindeer" doesn't have quite the same ring … or charm.
Mustang Yee Haws!
Happy Birthday:
Vicki Murphy, Dec. 2nd
Jennie Fortner, Dec. 10th
Welcome Back!
Welcome back Taylor! We missed you. Check out the picture of Taylor and her sweet baby, Eli.