Celebrating Young Authors
4th & 5th graders at GES celebrated the publication of their short stories at the book signing party on Dec. 12. Cornell students joined the GES students they have worked with for the last 10 weeks to help recognize their hard work and amazing accomplishment of becoming an author! This is an outstanding program that instills a passion for writing. Students that are interested in joining the second session be sure to look for the application that will be sent home in January. Space is limited so submit your applications ASAP.
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The "Puberty" Conversation
5th graders hosted Cara Burney, Teen Council Facilitator & Outreach Educator from Planned Parenthood, to discuss the many changes students experience during puberty. This can be an uncomfortable conversation for some to have because we don't often talk about all the awkward things that happen as kids go through puberty. However, students need to understand the physical, emotional, and social transformations they are likely to experience. Burney discussed everything from acne and hair growth, to breast development and peer pressure, and anything else that students had questions about. She also shared some helpful tips and resources for parents to use when talking to their kids about puberty.
- Normalize It! Whether this is about how their body looks, the emotions they are feeling, or whether or not it's OK to talk about this stuff- it goes a long way to assure children that these changes are normal, and it is normal to look/feel different than someone else. Normalize different body types and different shapes and sizes of body parts. Normalize that it is OK to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed when talking about this stuff because we don't talk about it openly that often. Normalize the types of changes that will happen (like menstruation or ejaculation, which can be jarring if these happen to someone without an explanation first), and assure children that most people experience these changes and that they are normal. It is important to use the real name for body parts, like penis, vagina, or breasts. Nicknames or code names will cause confusion and send a message that these are not parts to talk about openly.
- Be Open. Initiate conversations about puberty, and initiate them early-before kids have a chance to learn about things from an unreliable source. Answer questions openly and honestly, even if it can be uncomfortable. Show them that you are a reliable source that they can come to for the correct information. Let them know that you are available to talk and answer questions. Practicing what to say can be helpful, and the links below provide more information on what to say and how to say it. Kidshealth.org has more information on what the biggest things to talk about are.
- Provide Resources. Sometimes kids can be uncomfortable talking about this stuff with adults or asking all the questions they want. They may ask friends or take to the internet for more answers. It can be helpful to provide resources that have accurate information about puberty and health so that they don't stumble on information that isn't helpful or accurate. Kidshealth.org has resources just for kids, and I would recommend books like "It's Perfectly Normal" or "It's So Amazing" by Robert Harris, or "Our Bodies, Our Selves." Other helpful websites are:
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Dining Club Formation
The Dining Club at GES is up and running! Kelley Neville, the advisor for the club, was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming interest of students to join the new club. Students started with goal setting and kitchen safety and will begin cooking in the new year! We can't wait to see what they whip up!
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"CTE Outstanding Students of the Month"
TST BOCES chooses outstanding students each month based on qualities such as character, leadership, citizenship, work ethic, and attendance. These students should be compassionate, honest, trustworthy, responsible, and positive role models.
CONGRATULATIONS! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!
Taylor Moffitt, Cosmetology
Holly Dunham, Early Childhood
Samantha Cargian, Auto Technology
Demetri Brooks, Career Exploration Program
Nick Radley, Sports Conditioning & Exercise Science
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Bluebird Homes
Students in Mr. Martin’s and Mr. Rhodes’ 7th-grade technology class learned about the New York State bird - the Bluebird. They have studied the bird’s habitat, including where it prefers to live, what it eats, who its predators are, etc. The class has been constructing bluebird houses built to specifications of designs recommended for this type of bird. Once completed, students will be painting the birdhouses in school colors, and with the help of wooden poles made by the Building Trades class, the houses will be placed across the street from the Jr-Sr High School, along the Owasco Outlet. Students hope the project will provide the perfect home for the bluebird to begin to revitalize its population by nesting in the houses the students built. In the Spring of 2020, students will be able to see the fruits of their labor, as their design allows them to raise one wall of the house to see if a Bluebird has taken up residence and laid any eggs!
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Holiday Spirit Week & Holiday Gala
Jr-Sr High School students celebrated the holidays with spirit and festivities during the annual Holiday Gala. The week included themed days for students to participate in such as PJ day, red and green day, favorite holiday character day and ugly sweater day. The Holiday Gala kicked off with a special buffet breakfast and then moved onto various competitions and entertainment, including a lip sync battle, staff vs. student volleyball game, tug-o-war, teacher cabaret, ugly sweater contest, student talent show, mini-concerts and more. Thank you to both Student Councils for their hard work putting this wonderful day together for all to enjoy!
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Izzy's Nook & the "Red Boxes"
Thank you to all the teachers, parents, and community members for their donations to the newly created Izzy's Nook at the Jr-Sr High School. Also, thank you to the Junior National Honor Society for building the "Red Boxes" filled with fun personal care items that were raffled off to twenty students before the holiday! Funding for the "Red Boxes" was provided by the AASA Sourcewell Helping Kids Mini-Grant.
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SPECTATOR SPORTSMANSHIP
Spectators are an important part of the sports contests and are encouraged to conform to accepted standards of good behavior. Using cheers that support and uplift the athletes and teams, rather than taunting and making disparaging remarks towards players, coaches, opposing team’s spectators, and/or officials, is encouraged as a way of ensuring all enjoy the event. Here at Groton, we want our fans to ‘Be Loud, Be Proud, Be Positive - Be a Fan… not a Fanatic.’ Let’s let our players play, coaches coach, and officials officiate. All spectators need to do is sit back and enjoy the game! We hope to see you at one of our events cheering on our young student-athletes!
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Groton Village Banner Contest
Our Communication & Media Arts students drafted banner images for the village banner competition to be displayed around town later this year. We are proud to announce that Devon Klein's design was chosen as the winning design! Devon will work with the village board to finalize the drawing before they send it to print. This was a great experience working through the struggles of creating a 'real world' graphic design product. Congratulations Devon!
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Woodworking
Building Trades students built cabinets for the Groton Food Pantry.
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Video Contest
Agricultural Modeling & Training Systems (ATMS) is an international agricultural-based company located in Groton, NY. Carline Rasmussen, CFO and her team presented to our STEAM students about the intricacies of their business, including how ATMS got started, the development of their computer programming, and their career journeys that led them to ATMS. They are now teaming up with our STEAM department to offer our students a chance to compete in a video contest about "How technology in agriculture has improved quality of life." Students will work across programs to create a 2-3 minute video highlighting the positive impact of technology in the agriculture industry. AMTS will feature the top 5 videos on their Facebook page where people can vote for their favorites. Winners will be revealed on The Nutritionist webinar on May 8th. Good luck!
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RYLA Reflections
Drew Jackson, Jaelynne Harriott, and Morgan Dittman shared their reflections on their RYLA experience. RYLA is the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, and students selected attend a four-day leadership conference on SUNY Oneonta campus. They listened to speakers and discussed with other students from all over NYS how they could apply these lessons to their everyday lives to become better leaders. Not only did this experience help them realize that we are more alike than different, but it was an opportunity to create new friendships.
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REMINDERS & UPDATES
Please remember to
update your contact info
with the school if your phone number or address has changed. This is imperative for effective communication and vital for emergency situations. Please call your child's school to update your information.
The
Groton Educational Fund
executive committee was established fifteen years ago with the mission of providing funds to teachers who were attempting to do innovative projects in the classroom that were outside the scope of school budget funding. Due to recent retirements from this committee, new membership is being sought to ensure this funding stream can continue. If you are interested in hearing more about the obligations involved in serving on this committee, please contact Margo Martin at
mmartin@grotoncs.org
or by calling 898-5301.
Congratulations to Dr. Jason Oliver for being awarded an Ag. Ed. Incentive grant to help with the construction of an irrigation system for our hoop house. The grant will also support the animal husbandry goals and continue to grow our agriculture program. Also, congratulations to Talan O'Connor for being awarded a scholarship from NYS FFA Alumni Association to attend the State Convention!
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GROTON CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
WWW.GROTONCS.ORG
400 PERU ROAD, GROTON, NY 13073
(607) 898-5301
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