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GSCS High Schools Employees of the Month
Griffin High School
Eunice Lyons and Edna Gotell have been invaluable to GHS. They both get the job done without being asked. Their willingness to go the extra mile is irreplaceable. Both Ms. Lyons and Ms. Gotell keep a warm and inviting environment for faculty, students, and parents.
Spalding High School
Ed Aragon, a member of GSCS Technology Team, is on a non-stop schedule to help us keep our technology running smoothly. Ed moves at a fast pace and can be seen on every hall working to resolve technology issues. He is constantly on the move but never to busy to stop and answer questions from students and staff members. Spalding High School appreciates the efforts Ed Aragon makes for our students, staff and school system. Thanks Ed! Go Jags!
AZ Kelsey
Keisha Etienne is a first year counselor that came in and hit the ground running. She put in the time to make sure students had schedules and to ensure that we got off to a good start.
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ATTENTION TEACHERS! 2013-2014 PIE GRANT APPLICATION PERIOD OPENS THIS WEEK ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3.
THE APPLICATION PERIOD CLOSES OCTOBER 4, 2013.
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THE 12th ANNUAL
PARTNERS IN ED GOLF TOURNAMENT
SEPT. 20, 2013
7:30 AM
THE
CITY OF GRIFFIN GOLF COURSE
Thank you to the 2013 sponsors that have already committed!
(as of 8/30/13)
Tournament Sponsor
Scoreboard Sponsor
Hole-In-One Sponsors
Eagle Sponsors
Chillin' Bears
H.E. Hodge
Little Nicci's Pizza
Petro South
Birdie Sponsors
Kiwanis
FNB
Florida Rock & Tank Liner
Gas South
Georgia Banking Company
Griffin Rotary Club
SFCU
United Bank
ARI
BB&T
Brightmoor Hospice
David's Drug & Surgical
Georgia Power
Impact Outsourcing Solutions
Spalding Regional Hospital
Teams
Akins Feed Seed
JRE
SHS
Westbury Team
Griffiths Drive In
Drink Cart Sponsor
Brock Insurance
Tee Box Sponsor
Advanced Eye Care of GA
General Storage
Griffin OBGYN
State Farm
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 GETTING BACK TO NORMAL...
Message from Superintendent, Dr. Curtis Jones
Last week was a good week here in our school system. After one of the roughest starts that we have had with transportation and some other issues, last week was the start of getting us back to normal. Congratulations for all the hard work and teamwork that allows our students to experience the joy of learning.
This past week four significant events occurred that I think are note worthy. The first was the 50th anniversary of the 1963 march on Washington. An event that helped transform America and, I believe, helped make us a better nation. The activities, celebrations, and recognition of the March's significance says a lot about who we are as a country and where we are going.
Much closer to home, principals and teachers came together, to learn about the Common Core standards and how they are applied in social studies. Scholastic was conducting the training. As I sat in the half-day training with principals, I saw excitement on their faces. Two days later when teachers received the first part of that same training they also left excited and with many new ideas. Seeing their eagerness to implement what they had just learned was powerful. Some of the comments I heard where "I wish our reading teacher was here" and "I wish other grade levels were here." Individuals who received this training will be eager to share these strategies in their schools. The implementation of Common Core across the board we will help us become better school system.
Last weekend I was at the University of Georgia-Griffin Campus where the AKA sorority conducted a youth summit. This summit, titled Emerging Young Leaders, had about 50 young people training in subjects such as etiquette 101, STEM, applying for college, and teen dating. It truly was an opportunity for young people to get direct instruction on improving their lives. They connected how school subjects apply to real life. Thank you, AKA's, for conducting this youth summit and helping our youth grow and develop.
The Kelsey School Property Trust presented three awards to our schools. These awards were $400 each totaling $1200. One award was presented to Atkinson Elementary to support a Fall field trip to Atlanta for their students. Anne Street Elementary received the second award to assist with two class field trips, one to a pumpkin farm and one to the Atlanta area. The third was awarded to Spalding High to support their chorus competition trips throughout the school year. As you all know, field trips can be expensive and these schools requested assistance in that area. We are thankful that the Kelsey School Property Trust was able to step in and help these schools.
All of these events show there is support out there for us in many ways. Let's continue to collaborate with our community partners to make this year the best yet.
Thanks everybody and have a great week!
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Curtis
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 NOTHING LESS THAN PERFECT FOR NUTRITION!!! Message from Laura Youmans,School Nutrition Director
The Health Inspector has finished his rounds for the first review of the year and we are proud to announce that EVERY GSCS SCHOOL HAS RECEIVED A SCORE OF 100!!!!
Help us congratulate our managers and kitchen assistants who work so hard every day to be the best food service providers in the county.
We are so proud of our staff!
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LIVE ONLINE SAFETY FORUM
Message from GaBOE State School Superintendent
Dear Colleagues:
Creating a safe environment for our students is one of the most important things we can do as educators. Next week Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are joining with Facebook to host a live online safety forum for Georgia high school juniors and seniors, as well as teachers and parents.
The forum is Monday, Sept. 9, from 1-2 p.m.
The event will be held at Marietta High School but it will be available live online at wsbtv.com for all high school juniors and seniors across the state. We encourage your high schools to participate in this forum. You can submit questions in advance at local.programming@wsbtv.com. 
Sincerely,
John D. Barge, Ed.D.
State School Superintendent
Georgia Department of Education |
 LEAVING THE "DARK SIDE":
A BALANCED APPROACH TO CONTENT FILTERING
Message from Rod Smith, Instructional Technology
Last year I attended the 2012 Georgia EdTech Conference. I have been going to this conference for 15 years and I always leave having learned something new. This particular year there were several sessions on BYOT (bring your own technology) and how to take advantage of social media tools like Twitter. I had the opportunity to attend three of these breakout sessions. What I quickly discovered during the Q&A portion of these sessions, were frustrated teachers telling the group, "My school district blocks Twitter and many other web tools!" At the end of the conference, I chose to attend a session specifically about web content filtering in school districts. The presenter was Scott McLeod. Scott is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues. He also holds a law degree. He did not have a Power Point presentation or handouts. He simply stood in front of the group of about 80 educators and opened the floor for discussion. The first question he asked was, "Why do we have content filters?" I raised my hand proudly, he acknowledge me and pointed out to the group that I was an IT Director. The teachers in the room literally, booed me! One teacher actually stated "You're one of those guys who block us." We all got a good laugh and I proceeded to answer Scott's question. I explained the reason we have to have content filters, is because of CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act). I continued to share my wisdom about content filtering and why it was necessary. When I stopped speaking, Scott looked at me and explained that what I had shared was only partially true. Other participants supported my position, but Scott would again tell them they were only partially correct. It was at that moment that I decide to leave the "Dark Side" and shift my thinking similar to what Scott was sharing.
The question for me became how do I maintain CIPA compliance while allowing teachers and administrators the ability to make professional decisions concerning legitimate educational resources? My "Dark Side" shift makes me believe that 99% of all teachers will do the right thing and make sound decisions based on knowledge and understanding. As we know, there is unfortunately that 1% of adults that will not make the correct decisions. Those adults will also have to decide if breaking the AUP (acceptable use policy) is worth being unemployed. But, we should not punish the 99% of professionals for that 1%.
What this means for you?
Content filtering servers can be very frustrating for teachers trying to prepare students for the real world, a world where the internet is part of daily life. This year the leaders and principals of GSCS decided we would take a balanced approach to content filtering. This means giving teachers the responsibility to deem appropriate classroom instruction. This does not mean that the district content filter is going away; it will remain in place for students. Teachers will no longer be blocked but the monitoring feature will NOT be turned off, this is primarily for the 1% mentioned above.
Content filtering technology can be inconsistent and unreliable. Sites that should not get filtered often get blocked because they have been categorized incorrectly by the application. This may continue to happen, but far less than in the past. If you are "blocked" and you think the site has been improperly categorized, you can choose the option "Log in as Different User." You will actually use your normal GSCS credentials (User - firstname.lastname@gscs.com P/W- your GSCS email password). If this happens, please report it to the technology department as soon as possible by completing a GSCS Help Desk Ticket.
Quick Reminders:
- Streaming media sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Pandora are bandwidth "hogs" and should only be used for real instruction.
- Make an effort to test the sites before the day of instruction.
- Always log off of your computer when you're away.
- Do NOT let students use your override password, EVER.
- Remember your activity online is monitored, be professional.
This new balanced approach will allow you to take full advantage of the wonderful resources the internet has to offer. If you have questions or concerns related to web content filtering, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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"Without labor nothing prospers."
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SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 
Georgia Theatre Company is pleased to announce the 10th Annual Cinema for a Cause (formerly "Film & Food for a Cause") event to be held on Sunday, September 22, 2013 at all thirty-two of their theatre locations throughout Georgia including Griffin.
Customers are encouraged to come to the movies on Sunday, September 22, since 100% of all admission tickets, concession purchases, and extra donation bowl money will be donated to local charity groups including the Partners in Education.
Last year's event raised over $166,900 and to date this unique event has allowed Georgia Theatre Company to donate over $637,400 to local charity groups over the past nine years.
Advance tickets (regular pricing for all movies) for the event will be available at participating theatre locations beginning at 6pm on Tuesday, September 17 through event day, Sunday, September 22.
About Georgia Theatre Company
Georgia Theatre Company is a fourth-generation, family-owned business specializing in movie theater exhibition. The company, headquartered on St. Simons Island, Ga., is one of the 20 largest theater circuits in the United States. Georgia Theatre Company operates 326 auditoriums at 32 locations in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Virginia.
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 GOOGLE DOCS: TEMPLATES FOR TEACHERS
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Google's new templates for Google Docs make it fast and easy to create all kinds of documents. Google templates database contains hundreds of templates. All the templates are free and with one click you can download any one that you want.
Click on the link below for the best free templates you can use in your presentations.
some of the best templates teachers can use in their presentations and docs,
Click HERE for Google Docs easy tutorials for teachers. These guides come in very handy for every teacher looking to better integrate technology into his/her teaching. They are very simple,developed in a step by step process, illustrated by pictures, diagrams, video tutorials, and examples.
These guides are completely free but please give credit to Educational Technology and Mobile Learning if you want to reuse them somewhere else.
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"My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition."
~ Indira Gandhi
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RRMS's 6th ANNUAL  JACK-O-LANTERN JOG
Thursday, October 24, 2013
@ 6:30 p.m.
The race is a 5K course beginning and ending on Poplar St. between the old Taylor Street Middle School campus and the stadium.
* 5K awards: Male & Female overall + Male & Female age groups
* Scenic course through friendly neighborhoods of Griffin
* Splits at 1 & 2 mile and water at 1.5 miles
 All proceeds benefit Rehoboth Rd. Middle School Entry fee: * Students $10.00
* Non-students $15.00
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HOSTING EVENT: ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A GSCS FIFTH GRADER?
WHEN: SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
TIME: 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH - FAMILY LIFE CENTER
ADMISSION: $5 FOR STUDENTS; $10 FOR ADULTS
COST INCLUDES DINNER (HAMBURGER, CHIPS, & DRINK)
PROCEEDS BENEFIT GSCS.
Teams of adults will be asked a fifth grade standardized test question. They will have a short time to answer the question. If they cannot answer the question or give the wrong answer then the fifth graders team will be given a chance to answer.
One fifth grade student from each GSCS Elementary school will be selected to participate.
BRING YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS FOR A FUN NIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE!
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MILLIE NEEDS SOMEONE TO READ TO HER 
Millie is a reading therapy dog that is coming to the Griffin- Spalding County Library twice a month for the next several months. She is part of the Reading Paws program which tries to encourage reluctant readers.
Children can come visit and read to Millie at the library from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. on the following dates:- September 9 and 23
- October 7 and 21
- November 4 and 25
- December 9
There are four reading sessions for each visit. Reading sessions are by appointment only. If we have enough interest in the program other dates may be set up.
Call the library at 770.412.4770 to set up an appointment.
The library is located at 800 Memorial Drive Griffin GA.
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I am in need of some humorous comments made by your students. Please email them to me at laura.beaber@gscs.org.
(All names will remain anonymous)
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