GWINN AREA COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
GWINN, MICHIGAN 49841
BOARD MEETING SUMMARY – NOVEMBER 21, 2011
The following Gwinn Middle School students were named “Students of the Month” for November: Mr. Lucas Mayo – 7th grade; Ms. Dakota Stankowski – 7th grade; Ms. Victoria Lauren – 8th grade; Mr. Theodore Redlon – 8th grade.
Mr. Kaleb Kangas was named Gwinn High School’s “Student of the Month” for November.
The Board heard public comment from the following:
1. Hannah Erickson – informed the Board about an after school ski program for middle school and high school students at Marquette Mountain.
Claims in the amount of $552,548 were approved for payment.
District News
Gilbert Elementary School
Congratulations to the following Students of the Month for October: Neo Wilson & Makayla Olson (Kdg.); Desiree Johnson & Ashley Scott (1st); Shanna LaRock & Destiny Johnson (2nd); Nathan Barnhardt & Kaysa Gollakner (3rd); Seth Quayle & Cheyanne Meier (4th); Seth Aho & Hannah Noel (5th); Samantha Anderson & Heidi Eden (6th).
We enjoyed our first ROARS assembly to recognize and thank students for following our behavior expectations after the 1st marking period. Student ROARS tickets were drawn by grade level to give out prizes including books, posters, backpacks, and gift certificates toward the Book Fair.
We also enjoyed “Skippy and Dave’s Old Time Rock-n-Roll show”, a fun mix of ventriloquism and music. Some student volunteers and Mr. Matson even got to play some rhythmic instruments. The consensus from the audience was that Mr. Matson should keep his day job!
The PTO Frankenmuth Fundraiser was also very successful by raising around $3000!
Congratulations to the following classes who won the “Golden Whistle” Award for best behavior on the playground: Mrs. Jancsi, Miss Sivula, Mr. Gill, and Mrs. Sather; the “Golden Spatula” Award for best behavior in the lunchroom: Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Dow (twice), and Mr. Harrison; and the “Golden Plunger” Award for the neatest classroom: Mrs. Sather, Miss Lantagne, Mrs. Goldsworthy, and Miss Sivula.
The PTO “Mitten Tree” will be December 4th – 9th and “Secret Santa” will be December 15th and 16th.
Our Christmas Concerts will be held on December 20th as follows: Kindergarten-1st grade @ 9 am; 2nd -3rd grade @ 10:30 am; 4th-6th grade @ 2:00 pm.
KI Sawyer Elementary School
KI Sawyer Elementary was recently designated as a “Beating the Odds” school. The study indicated that our school is performing above our predicted level, based on risk factors such as percent economically disadvantaged, percent students with disabilities, percent English language learners, and percent minority students. We are proud to be on this list of 123 schools statewide, as our staff works hard to ensure that all students learn.
Congratulations to our October Students of the Month: Ava Turpeinen & Haylee Simmons (Kdg.); Sierra Barosko & Gracie Ayotte (1st); Noi Buyea, Gavin Wise (2nd); Gabby Wallenslager, Vince Barnett, Chloe Wiertella (3rd); Adrian McLean, Emma Menard (4th); Bob Bouschor, Janaya Newton (5th); Bethany Woodruff, Kyra Bowman (6th).
We held our first quarterly ROARS Assembly to celebrate our first quarter success! Students have shown they know how to be Respectful and Orderly, have a positive Attitude, and be Responsible, as over 400 ROAR cards were completed.
Fifty-nine students had perfect attendance for the first quarter!
Our students attended “Frog and Toad” at NMU on November 21st and 22nd. We were able to provide this live theatre experience for our students, courtesy of some of the proceeds from our recent Frankenmuth Fundraiser.
Our Christmas Programs are scheduled for December 13th, with K-1 at 9:00 am; 2-3 at 10:30 am, and 4-6 at 2:00 pm.
Other December activities for students include our annual Mitten Tree, where students purchase paper mittens for our school tree with proceeds providing winter wear for students in need. We will also have a “Secret Santa” workshop for our students so they can shop secretly for friends and family for Christmas.
Gwinn Middle School
Our PTO recently concluded our annual pasty sale which resulted in $2,153 in profits. The next PTO fundraising event will be a holiday dance in December. We have several enthusiastic parents who are working very hard to make our goal of raising over $10,000 this school year a reality. GMS students participated in Spirit Week the week of Halloween. We had themed days of Gender Bender Day, Crazy Hair Day, Fashion Disaster Day, Black and Gold Day and of course, we had costume day on Halloween.
We hosted the Middle School 7th and 8th grade girl’s basketball tournament here at GMS/GHS this past week. Congratulations to the 7th and 8th grade teams who both were tournament runners up!
Our students are really enjoying their netbooks. They have been discovering many new functions of their computers and are fascinated by all that they can accomplish on their devices. They have been very respectful of them in class and are taking wonderful care of them as well.
Gwinn High School
Congratulations to Kara Wixtrom who was chosen by the faculty as this year’s Daughter’s of the American Revolution Good Citizen of the senior class.
Congratulations to the following GHS Band Members on their placement in the District Honors Concert Band: Peter Asavesna and Erik Flinn; and District Honors Jazz Band: Joseph Duckworth, Alex Armitage, James Osterman, Rylen Parker, Stephen Simpler, William Valentia and Kaleb Kangas. These students will represent GHS in Negaunee on December 2-3.
Congratulations to the following students for placing in the VFW Voice of Democracy Essay Contest: 1st – Naria Ford-Thompson; 2nd – Isabella Wedig; 3rd – Kara Wixtrom. As the 1st place winner, Naria’s essay will now be forwarded to the district level.
Superintendent Maino gave a brief update on various topics including: specials teacher Gina Anderson’s recent Mt. Kilimanjaro climb as part of Multiple Sclerosis awareness, SET SEGs positive risk management report for the District, Cottage Food Laws/Serve Safe regulations and how they relate to concession stand operations, a loss of taxes because Renaissance Zones were not taxed on the voted school millage as required, KI Sawyer Elementary School’s making the list of schools “Beating the Odds”, and plans for the District’s upcoming holiday party for employees. Mr. Maino also presented the Board with minutes from the recent Personnel Committee meeting.
The Board took action on the following:
Accepted a recommendation of the Policy Committee and approved, as a second and final reading, the Gwinn Middle School Netbook Policy.
Approved, as a second and final reading, changes to the following NEOLA bylaws and policies: Committees (0155), Voting (0167.1), Non-Reemployment of Superintendent (1241), School Administrator Evaluation (1420), Student Supervision (1613), Student Supervision (3213), Use of Tobacco by Professional Staff (3215), Professional Staff Evaluation (3220), Student Supervision (4213), Use of Tobacco by Support Staff (4215), Use of Tobacco by Students (5512), Use of Tobacco on School Premises (7434), Computer Technology (7540), Student Network and Internet Acceptable Use (7540.03), Staff Network and Internet Acceptable Use (7540.04), Students – Sex Offender Registry (8470); Criminal Convictions (8470), Food Services (8500), and Public Attendance at School Events (9160).
Accepted the certified election results from the November 8, 2011 Board of Education election.
Approved a contract with Kimberly VanDrese as the District’s Superintendent of Schools from January 1, 2012 through June 30, 2014.
Approved a contract with Marquette County as the District’s School Inspection Authority for 2011-12 school year.
Approved the following student trips as Board-sponsored activities:
1. Gwinn Music Boosters – trip to Appleton, Wisconsin on April 28, 2012
2. GMS 8th grade class – trip to Great America on May 18, 2012
Set the date for the Junior Prom which will be held on May 12, 2012.
Accepted, with great appreciation, the following gifts and donations:
1. Amanda Noel – microwave donated to Gilbert Elementary School
2. Tim Goldwsorthy, Ace Hardware – microwave donated to Gilbert Elementary School
3. Grace Lutheran Church – school supplies and backpacks donated to Gwinn High School
4. Hyndman’s General Store – VCR donated to Gwinn High School
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