GSCS
ELEMENTARY EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH
ANNE STREET ELEMENTARY
Anne Street Elementary is proud to announce dual Employees of the Month for February.
Barbara McDowell is a model teacher who is dedicated to her students, always prepared and pushes her students to master the standards. Fred Colbert was named as our classified Employee of the Month because he is hard working, positive, flexible and always willing to help. Mr. Colbert is the true definition of a team player.
ATKINSON ELEMENTARY
Atkinson Elementary School would like to recognize Chasidy Barden and Kamilah Gordon as our February Employees of the Month. These employees have organized two successful parent events, Moms & Muffins and Dads & Doughnuts. The attendance was exceptional for both events! We are truly grateful for their contributions. Keep Working!!!!!!!!!!
BEAVERBROOK ELEMENTARY
Jerry Lewis is our Employee of the Month. Jerry is our new custodian and he is making a huge impact by keeping our school clean for our students and staff. He is very conscientious and dedicated to keeping everyone safe. We appreciate all of his efforts for Beaverbrook.
Michael Stanford, the GSCS Technology Specialist assigned to Crescent is our Employee of the Month.
Michael has been a wonderful addition to our staff this year. He is dedicated to his job, helps to keep our technology working and handles work orders in an efficient manner. We have kept Michael EXTREMELY busy this year with many issues, but he always comes to us with a willingness to do whatever he can to help. His gentle spirit is greatly appreciated. Michael, the faculty and staff at Crescent want to let you know how important you are to us!!! You ROCK!!
FUTRAL ROAD ELEMENTARY
A great big thank you to Sarah Meeks and Shelby Pullin for leading our Parent and Community Design Team in hosting the 15th annual Heart Hustle. It was our most successful Heart Hustle to date!
JACKSON ROAD ELEMENTARY
Jackson Road Elementary Employee of the Month is 5th grade ELA teacher, Jennifer Harper. Ms. Harper is always willing to go the extra mile for her students, working with them individually to help them find academic success, as well as teaching good character and problem-solving skills. Although this is her first year at JRE, she has emerged as a teacher leader. She provides support for other teachers, works collaboratively with her grade level and content area colleagues and provides professional learning for the staff. Ms. Harper is a valuable member of the JRE team and we are thankful for her dedication to our school!
JORDAN HILL ELEMENTARY
The Jordan Hill Employee of the Month is Patty Banks. Mrs. Banks produces awesome music programs for our PTO events, our Veteran's Day Program and our Christmas Extravaganza. She also co-chairs our Literacy Days events and volunteers her time to DJ our dances and other special events. This is her third year at Jordan Hill and our Music has never been better.
MORELAND ROAD ELEMENTARY
Moreland Road's Employee of the Month is Dr. Nina Williams. Dr. Williams has gone above and beyond with her enrichment class and the programs she has developed for PTO. She performs extra duties such as morning cafeteria duty and offers her help and support when needed. She is always promoting Moreland Road and also serves on our school council. Thank for all that you do!
ORRS ELEMENTARY
Orrs Elementary would like to name Katie Cobb as our Employee of the Month. Katie is our computer lab teacher and an outstanding employee. She is always available to help and support wherever needed. She is diligent, persistent, organized and ensures she gets the job completed on time. Katie brings fresh new ideas to Orrs. She is always thinking of special projects to implement to ensure Orrs is successful. Katie is very knowledgeable and a well rounded individual. Katie serves on the leadership team and plays an important role as a leader in our building. She is awesome and we appreciate all that she does! Congratulations Katie Cobb, you deserve this honor!!!!
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RESA LITERACY DAYS WINNERS
Congratulations to the following 2015 Griffin RESA Regional Literacy Days Competition winners:
Middle:
8th Grade Poetry Recitation 2nd Place-
2nd Place-
Rebekah Weeks, CAMS
3rd Grade Poetry Recitation
3rd Place-
Jamie Joiner, Crescent Elementary
 | | Jamie Joiner - Crescemt Elem. |
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2015
GRIFFIN RESA REGIONAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR WINNERS
1st Place
Senior Division
Jeramie Paz - GHS
Jenna-Mae Paz - GHS
Emma Grace Perry - SHS
Jacob James Perry - SHS
Jordan White - SHS
1st Place
Junior Division
Aimee Martin - CAMS
Special Awards
Jeramie Paz (GHS)- Pat Phillips Memorial Award
Jeramie Paz (GHS)- ASU Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives
Jacob James Perry (SHS)- Oswego GENIUS Olympiad Nominee
Jordan White (SHS)- Oswego GENIUS Olympiad Nominee
Jordan White (SHS)- Ricoh Americas Corporation
INTEL ISEF
Award Winners 2015
Jeramie Paz - GHS
 | | GHS Winners: (L-R) Jeramie Paz & Jenna-Mae Paz |
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REGION WINNERS
*These teams will advanced to the SuperRegional at Clayton State
Carver Road Middle
Soaring Eagles
Team Members:
Servantez Mealer
Leo Ayala
AJ Campbell
Igni Martinez
Amy Martin
Grayson Purdy
Christopher Zorn
Muhammad Butt
Trevion Miller
Coaches:
Mrs. Antoinette Richter
Mr. Thomas Stinson
Cowan Road Elementary
Cowan Lego Masters
Team Members:
Kaitlyn Baker
Victoria Ike
Asia Marshall
My Nguyen
Madisyn Oskey
Cameron Pass
Wesley Pollard
Joshua Talley
Mylie Vance
Coaches:
Danielle Booher
Kim Carden
Allison Baker
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GRIFFIN HONOR BAND CONCERT
Griffin Honor Band
(7th & 8th grade students from all GSCS Middle Schools)
Community Concert
Sat., March 14, 2015
2:30 PM
Griffin Auditorium
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 I am sure that you have all heard the news that I am being considered for the superintendent position for the Bibb County School System. I want to share my thoughts with you on this decision and what impacts it could have on GSCS.
First and foremost, things are wonderful here at GSCS. The great things you are doing and the successes you are achieving are being recognized by students, parents, the community and the state. I honestly could not be more proud.
The Bibb County Board of Education observed your hard work. They reached out to me and asked if I would apply to be superintendent. After much thought and consideration I decided to meet with them. I enjoyed our conversation and I agreed to be their superintendent if they elected me to the position.
To be honest, it was a hard decision. It was as hard a decision for me as it was deciding to leave Griffin High as principal and become the assistant superintendent. I have been in this school system for 18 years.
I am going to tell you something that you already know. You are outstanding teachers, para-professionals and classified employees. You have great principals and assistant principals. You have great people at Central Office who do their very best to support you and our students. We have come so far in five years. I am so proud. I am thankful and fortunate to work with such super professionals.
However, we still have a lot of work left to do, so don't get side-tracked or lose focus. eSPLOST V is on the ballot for March 17 and it is important. The Georgia Milestone Assessment is happening this spring for the first time. That is important to every student, parent, teacher and school. We need to make sure that our students are prepared and so are we. We still have TKES and LKES evaluations to complete to help all of us grow. Continuing to implement PBIS is important to help keep our students from suspension and in the classroom. We have the Class of 2015 ready to graduate and all of the following classes counting on us to be focused for this school year. Let's do that for them.
Have a great weekend!
COLDR
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 EMPLOYEES COVERED BY STATE HEALTH
As you may have recently heard or seen in the news, Anthem, Inc., the parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of the State Health Benefit Plan insurance providers, is the victim of a highly-sophisticated cyber-attack. In response to this, Alexander & Company (GSCS's insurance broker) contacted Blue Cross Blue Shield directly for further guidance in the appropriate action that should be taken by Georgia School Districts and their employees who are insured through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia. The following statement was received from Blue Cross Blue Shield:
"At this time, we have not identified the impacted members. We expect that to be done in the next several weeks. Those members will receive a letter in the mail advising of the credit monitoring available to them. This is all of the information we have to share at this time, but we will keep you updated as we know more."
Questions may be directed to Anthem at 1-877-263-7995, or visit their website, www.AnthemFacts.com. We have also attached a FAQ for your information.
Click HERE to view the FAQ document.
Please be aware of any scam emails claiming to be from Anthem, Inc. If an email includes a "Click Here" link for credit monitoring, it should be disregarded. Additionally, Anthem is not calling members regarding the cyber-attack and is not asking for credit card information or social security numbers over the phone.
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 GSCS AND THE REST OF THE STATE SCHOOLS CLIMATE SURVEYS USED AS MODEL FOR THE NATION
Georgia's school climate surveys, which help determine the social, emotional, and physical safety of a school environment, are being used as a model for the nation. Four of Georgia's surveys for parents, students, and school personnel will be shared by the National PBIS Center as an example for educators working to implement a similar framework.
PBIS, which stands for "Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports," is a proactive, research-supported approach to behavior issues that focuses on teaching and reinforcing appropriate behavior skills. School climate is an important part of this work, because students cannot learn when they feel unsafe emotionally, socially, or physically.
"In a school with a positive climate, students are better prepared to achieve academically, succeed in their future careers, and ultimately have a better quality of life," State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. "They have better test scores and they have higher graduation rates."
The surveys will be posted on www.pbisapps.org, which hosts resources for more than 25,000 schools implementing PBIS.
For more information on Georgia School Climate Surveys visit: http://www.gadoe.org/curriculum-instruction-and-assessment/curriculum-and-instruction/gshs-ii/Pages/Georgia-Student-Health-Survey-II.aspx
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 2014 STAFF SURVEY RESULTS Results from the GSCS staff climate survey were presented to the Board of Education last week. The survey was completed during the last two weeks of October by 489 respondents (76% were teachers).
% below are those who answered agree or strongly agree:
- I feel genuinely appreciated at GSCS. 65.24
- GSCS operates by strong values & ethics. 84.13
- I feel well-informed about important decisions in the district. 61.2%
- I believe GSCS is going in the right direction for student achievement. 73.7%
- This job meets the expectations I had when I started. 65.05%
- New ideas are encouraged in GSCS. 76.9%
- My benefits package is comparable to others in similar industries. 72.51%
- My job makes me feel like I am part of something meaningful. 83.27%
Click HERE to view full results
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 MAKE SURE YOUR VIEWS ARE HEARD
Click HERE for a current list of Federal and State Elected Officials contact information.
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GSCS NUTRITION ADVOCATES
On Thursday, February 5th, representatives from GSCS Nutrition participated in the Legislative Action Conference sponsored by the Georgia School Nutrition Association. Participants had the opportunity to meet with Senator John Yates and Representative David Knight to discuss legislative issues that could impact school nutrition in Georgia. In addition to time spent with our local legislators, the GSCS contingent met briefly with Governor Deal. We are proud of these GSCS employees for being advocates for school nutrition here and throughout Georgia.
 | | Pictured L-R: Sandy Phillips (Atkinson), Gina McDowell (Orrs), Doris Angeles (GHS), Nakeitha McKinney (Central Office), Linda Holder (Carver Road), Keiza Hunt (Orrs), Reba Ellis (Moore), Carol Ramirez (Anne Street), Sherrie May (Futral Road), Laverne Sims (Central Office), and Becky Collum (Crescent). |
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GSCS 2015-16 Pre-K Registration March 9 - Parent Meeting, 6 pm Griffin Auditorium March 26 - April 3 - Pre-K Registration, 8 am - 4 pm Parent Services Center (234 E. Taylor Street) Click HERE for flyer. |
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ATKINSON GIRLS STEAM AHEAD AT GHS
 Atkinson Elementary fourth grade teachers La'Tesa Parker, Rachael Bama and Vetrece Jefferson received a grant from the Griffin-Spalding Partners in Education to fund their project, "Girls STEAM Ahead." The program introduces their girls to different STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) activities and professions. With the help of Mr. Simmons, the teachers collaborated with Griffin High School to carry out their project. The GHS staff opened their classrooms to the Atkinson students and allowed them to interact in their STEAM activities. The fourth grade girls toured GHS for two days and experienced several wonderful programs.
"Thank you to PIE for funding this experience and to the GHS staff for their hospitality," stated La'Tesa Parker.
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GRIFFIN-SPALDING RETIRED EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
 A Memorial Scholarship of $1,000 is being given to encourage and reward an employee of the Griffin-Spalding School System who desires to become a certified public school teacher (including substitutes and any classified employees).
Click HERE for full guidelines and application.
Deadline: April 24, 2015.
For more information contact Mrs. Lance at klance97@att.net.
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Bearden's Tips
Heroic Choices: Risk Failure in Pursuit of Better Ways
Click HERE for handout.
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 JOIN GSCS WELLNESS FOR ZUMBA CLASSES
WHEN: Every Monday
TIME: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
WHERE: The old Taylor Street South Cafeteria
COST: $3.00 each class (pay at class time)
INSTRUCTOR: Dawn Johnson-Perdue
CONTACT: Nakeitha McKinney
770-229-3710 Ext. 410
nakeitha.mckinney@gscs.org
*Classes open for GSCS employees, family and friends
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Click HERE for our non-discrimination statement.
Laura Beaber, Editor
GSCS Communications and Partnerships Department
PO Drawer N
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