January 29, 2018
#GGUSDPRIDE E-newsletter
The #GGUSDPride E-newsletter features many of the great things happening in GGUSD.   
Send your photos to pio_department@ggusd.us to highlight your school or students in the e-newsletter.
GGUSD Homegrown Spotlight

Virginia Wantz is  #GGUSDHomegrown  and has a  #GGUSDHomegrownFamily .

Virginia attended Marshall Elementary, McGarvin Intermediate, and graduated from La Quinta High in 1977. She is currently the school secretary at Hare High School, and has worked in GGUSD for 26 years.

“I grew up in this district, and I met my husband in high school, though we didn’t date until after graduation. My husband is also GGUSD homegrown. Glenn Wantz, district plumber, went to Anthony Elementary, Irvine Intermediate and La Quinta High School Class of 1977. We’ve been married for 35 years, have two great kids who also went to GGUSD schools, and we both love our jobs. My school site is very unique, where everyone is not just coworkers, but family. We keep that positive vibe for the students and parents we serve.”
Virginia Wantz is #GGUSDHomegrown
The AVID Advantage

GGUSD is accepting applications from sixth grade students who are interested in applying for the district’s award-winning AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) elective course. AVID is a six-year program and academic elective offered at all ten of GGUSD’s intermediate schools and seven high schools that equips students with college and career readiness skills. As part of the recruitment efforts, the district published an AVID video (shown on the right) with staff and students sharing the impact of the course. All ten intermediate schools have videos about their program which can be viewed on their school websites or on the district's YouTube page here .
Bolsa Baseball Catches Donation

Austin Hedges, catcher of Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres surprised the baseball program at Bolsa Grande High School with a generous donation of Under Armour baseball equipment valued at six thousand dollars. Last week, Bolsa Grande administrators and baseball coaches surprised students with the Under Armour shipment, which included baseball helmets, shirts, shoes, socks, and more. The Bolsa Grande Matadors are currently practicing and gearing up for the season which begins in March.
GGUSD Career Showcases Pathways

GGUSD students explored a variety of career pathways and learned about exciting Career and Technical Education courses at the 2018 Career Fair hosted last week at Rancho Alamitos. Career Pathway teachers and students hosted interactive displays; community and trade schools answered questions, and industry professionals offered workshops on a variety of 21st century careers. (Photo on right) La Quinta's business students presented their success with DECA ( Distributive Education Clubs of America) , an international association that prepares students for careers as business leaders and entrepreneurs.
Collaborative Art
GGUSD transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students were asked to draw an imaginary creature and their drawings were given to high school visual arts students to develop and enhance using the training they receive in the classroom. The imagination and talent of our students is inspiring. The results of their collaborative project were shown in an exhibit last week.
Uniting for Safer Routes to Schools

Cook Elementary School and Jordan Intermediate School families united for a fun event to bring awareness to the Safer Routes to School project. The project, spearheaded with the help of the City of Garden Grove and the Garden Grove Police Department, aims to create safer routes to school for students who walk and ride their bikes. During the event, families enjoyed interactive safety demonstrations, giveaways, and bike raffles.
Jordan Intermediate Launches Share Table Program

Jordan Intermediate School Assistant Principal Nick Clark worked closely with GGUSD Food Services Personnel to enact a Share Table program, which allows students to drop off unopened/unwanted food or drink for other students who want the items. The program saves food from being thrown away and helps feed hungry students. Cafeteria Lead Jane Llanos and Plant Manager Thavil "Sonny" Sriruksa also helped make the program a reality.
Enders Elementary School students participated in the Great Kindness Challenge last week. Students made a checklist with acts of kindness such as "Help Your Custodian Out," "Smile 25 Times Today," "Help Someone New," etc. and are encouraged to check off as many as possible.
Hazard Elementary School sixth grade students visited Santiago High School's STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Department! Santiago students modeled and trained students in physics, coding and robotics, and engineering.
Peters K-3 Elementary School hosted a Family Math and Science recently. Parents and students engaged in hands-on activities while learning about the constellation system. Students even had an opportunity to look through a variety of telescopes to learn about the stars.
Gilbert Students Embrace Technology
Gilbert Elementary School's Instructional Leadership Team and teachers are focusing on technology integration to enhance learning. Recently, teachers engaged in the PDAR (Plan-Do-Analyze-Reflect) cycle and worked together in their grade level teams with the support of a Technology TOSA. Students engaged with iPads to document their work, spent time coding, used Chromebooks to demonstrate learning, and utilized several applications, including Seesaw to solve math problems and Flipgrid to identify examples of personification. Teachers and students continue to share their learning experiences with parents through a variety of apps that make it easy for parents to see their child's progress.

Simmons Elementary Expands Interventions
Before and after school programs can have a great impact on student learning. Beginning January 22, all general education teachers in first through sixth grades will provide before school academic intervention that will reach 180 students, the largest group that we have ever been able to serve within a specific program. Carlos (shown on the right) participated in a similar intervention program, and showed gains in many areas.Kudos to the Simmons staff, parents, and students for making academic support a priority beyond the regular school day!
Lake Students Succeed with STEAM

Students in Lake Intermediate School's popular STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math) elective are enjoying learning about computer design, modeling, automation, and robotics. Students in the STEAM Club learn about robotics with VEX and Sphero SPRK+ robots; others dive into modeling with Lake's 3D printer, and others take advantage of the school's after-school extended learning class learning computer programming and app development using the SWIFT language.
Lake Intermediate also offers many other extended learning opportunities, including an after- school math program called IXL. This is a computerized adaptive program allowing students to focus on specific math standards. Students also take advantage of an after-school writing class, a running club, volleyball, and AVID tutoring.

Student achievement is celebrated during the school's new monthly Drag Council meetings.