the gscs COMMUNICATOR

Week of September 12 - 16, 2011

the Griffin-Spalding County School System's employee e-newsletter

published by the school & community services department

the gscs
COMMUNICATOR

system-wide straight talk

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Employees of

the Month

Elementary Schools

Anne Street

Kamicia Seay

Lynn Berg

Mrs. Seay and Mrs. Berg organized, planned and gathered materials for Science Day for our students.

Atkinson

Charity Barden
Kristi Mathis
Great job with Thinking Maps & Teacher Commentary

Beaverbrook

Angie McDaniel
Angie is hard working and dedicated to our school. In addition to her office responsibilities she is our resident artist. Her art work is an inspiration to students, staff and parents.

Cowan Road

Jennifer Oglesbee
Nikki Hudson
Melissa Bentley
For successfully presenting Thinking Maps to all staff and supporting this initiative.
Your leadership has impacted staff practices and student learning already this year. KUDOS TO YOU!

Crescent

Betsy W

alker
1st grade teacher
because she is a one of a kind teacher who has touched the lives of so many Crescent students. Betsy is patient, kind, genuine, loving, funny, persistent, and committed, along with being loved by her colleagues, students and parents. In addition, she is an excellent teacher! We appreciate her dedication to our students.

Futral Road

Sandra Long

Counselor

for her tireless efforts with organizing and coordinating our STEEP Blitz. She has also done a tremendous job with our Positive Behavior Intervention Supports program working with teachers to identify and proactively address behavior concerns within our school. Ms. Long always works with staff, students, and stakeholders for the improvement of student learning.

Jackson Road
Donna Gasses
Media Paraprofessional
Donna is a valued employee that brings a wealth of knowledge and experiences to many facets of our school. She "jumps in" to make sure student needs are met and is such a team player. I would like to say a special thank you to Donna for being such a dedicated employee to JRE! Thank you!

Jordan Hill

Monica White
Speech Language Pathologist
Monica is a great resource for Special Education and is very helpful to other teachers. She is a valued educator in the SPED department and a leader at Jordan Hill.

Moore

Dee Collier
Dee has exemplified determination, commitment and enthusiasm as she has transitioned from working with paper to working with people in her new role of Pre-K paraprofessional. Her dream is to become an effective classroom manager and we support her efforts to join our ranks as mentor, scholar and educator. Hats off to a Godly woman and an effective teacher in the making! She is the best of the best.

Moreland Road
Tonya Collier
Cashier
Always pleasant to the staff and has a genuine concern for our children in general. She has always done an excellent job.

Orrs

Marsha Clark
Assistant Principal
For her ability to perform designated tasks in a high performing manner. Her enthusiasm, innovativeness, and her genuine concern for Orrs are outstanding qualities. Simply, the best assistant principal this system.

Leaders Among Us
a message from Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones

On Tuesday night, the Board of Education recognized the 2011-2012 Teachers of the Year at a reception and at the board meeting. Our "TOTYs" got a framed certificate and a VISA gift card thanks to the generosity of the Southern Federal Credit Union, sponsor of the TOTY program, and other donors.

2011 Teacher of the Year Reception sponsored by Southern Federal Credit Union

Teachers of the Year were honored at the Tuesday, September 6 Board of Education meeting.

This year's Teachers of the Year are a truly awesome group, and I look forward to their being their school's representative on my Instructional Advisory Committee. These teachers are definitely leaders among us - and I applaud them for being named by their peers as Teacher of the Year.

Teachers of the Year

Nina Ogletree

Anne Street Elementary

2nd & 3rd Grade Math

Joined GSCS in 2003

Audra Olukoya

Atkinson Elementary

3rd Grade

Joined GSCS in 2008

Laura Love

Beaverbrook Elementary

5th Grade

Joined GSCS in 2001

Christine Ray

Cowan Road Elementary

3rd Grade

Joined GSCS in 2006

Lisa Peeples

Crescent Elementary

1st Grade

Joined GSCS in 1990

Sharon Totman

Futral Road Elementary

K-5 Special Education, Reading & Math

Joined GSCS in 2005

Heather Fountain

Jackson Road Elementary

1st Grade

Joined GSCS in 2004

Joanna Johnson

Jordan Hill Elementary

Kindergarten

Joined GSCS in 2005

Denise Daniels

Moore Elementary

Kindergarten

Joined GSCS in 1981 & 1996

Nicki Gore

Moreland Road Elementary

3rd Grade

Joined GSCS in 1997

Dana Jett

Orrs Elementary

SDD-SC Kindergarten

Joined GSCS in 1997

Bart Pinckney

Carver Road Middle

8th Grade Math

Joined GSCS in 2008

Kathy Duke

Cowan Road Middle

8th Grade Science

Joined GSCS in 1986 & 2008

Robyn Davis

Kennedy Road Middle

8th Grade Science

Joined GSCS in 2007

Beverly Blackmon

Rehoboth Road Middle

Connections (Computers)

Joined GSCS in 1991

Dawn Gatlin

Griffin High School
9 - 12 Math

Joined GSCS in 1997

Michelle Purmort

Spalding High School

9 - 12 in Math

Joined GSCS in 2001 & 2006

Autumn Barnes

A. Z. Kelsey Academy

Grades 9-12

Joined GSCS in 2008

Val Gladney

Taylor Street Achievement Center

9-12 Science

Joined GSCS in 1996

Julie Neel

Mainstay Academy

Middle Grades, All Subjects

Joined Mainstay in 1991

Congratulations to our System Teacher of the System finalists

On Wednesday afternoon, last year's TOTYs met to determine this year's finalists in a blind selection process. I'm quite proud to announce our three finalists for the 2011-2012 Griffin-Spalding County School System:

Joanna Johnson - Jordan Hill Elementary
Dana Jett - Orrs Elementary
Robyn Davis - Kennedy Road Middle

These three finalists will be recognized and featured at the October 4th Board of Education meeting. I'm so very proud of the three of you, and I thank you for setting such a great example for all of us to follow!

A note about Parent University

On another note, we hosted our first Parent University this week. You may have seen the flyer in last week's Communicator and the status posting on Facebook. Robin Dykes, the Griffin RESA School Improvement Specialist spoke about developmental milestones related to literacy, as well as the many ways parents can make a difference at home. Her words of wisdom included, "Parents and students should be united. It's about the children - not the grown-ups!" Sadly, parent attendance was low.

Our next Parent University will be on November 3rd, and it will be the school to career fair for middle and high school students and their families. Let's start talking this up now so that our students' parents will know about it and attend. You'll see advertising for it in the next few weeks.

Click here for our non-discrimination statement.

Elizabeth Benz, Editor

Griffin Spalding County School System
PO Drawer N
Griffin, Georgia 30224