Important Dates

One of the things that makes the Mothers’ Club such a special organization is the many individuals who give their time and talents to support our students and South.

This newsletter would not be possible without the help of Ellen Dennehy! She has been hard at work since August preparing each monthly newsletter and keeping us all informed!

Our volunteer chair, Beth Newhart, has quickly provided all of our fall volunteer lists to each of the committee chairs. These groups have quickly jumped in to help with all of our fall activities to kick off a great school year!

Homecoming was a HUGE success! Special thanks to all our class parent sponsors, our class advisors, Melissa Petz and Meg Pierce, our administration, our float hosts, and the hard work of Mary Jane Haindl. An incredible amount of work went in to planning and creating this special event!  

Our directory team was also busworking during the month of October. The student directory is a terrific resource that wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of Tricia Bower, Michele Lindsay, Lori Nixon, Steve Justin, Julie Ricci and a committee of proofreaders and distributors. 

Thanks also to all the staff who submitted enrichment requests and our VP of Enrichment, Laurie Martin, Principal Moussa Hamka and members of our Executive Board for preparing, organizing and reviewing them. Enrichment requests were approved at our September General Membership meeting and funds continue to be distributed to our faculty for their use in adding to their academic curriculum.

Our Preservation Chair, Marica Ostrowski, has also been hard at work! We have two new sponsored auditorium chairs thanks to Mr. and Mrs. William Briscoe, Class of 1961. The Cleminson Hall doors will begin the restoration process right before the Winter Holiday Break. Annie Dennis, archivist and education director at Pewabic Pottery, visited campus last month to document the 14 locations Pewabic Pottery is used throughout the main building and Boll Center. We were very proud to say that South has the most Pewabic Pottery in a public school in ALL of Michigan! Finally, be on the look out for our NEW holiday tree in Cleminson Hall!

We are fortunate to have such incredible involvement by so many here at South. My sincere thanks to everyone of you!

Sincerely,

Beverly Bennert

Mothers’ Club President

president@mothersclubgps.com

Grosse Pointe South School Store

New spirit wear has arrived!

All of our store profits go back to the school, teachers, and students through the Mothers' Club support of enrichment, scholarship, and preservation.

School Store Hours:

Monday 11:00 am - 12:45 pm

Tuesday - Friday 10:30 am - 12:30 pm

Students can stop in at lunch time to purchase warm chocolate chip cookies, snacks, drinks, gum/mints and spirit wear!

Questions, please contact:

Sara Koch @ sararkoch@gmail.com or Helena Carroll @ hjcarr13@gmail.com

Class of 2024

The Class of 2024 would like to give a huge thanks to the following parent donors. Your donations allow students to put on amazing events and activities for their class, making their four years at Grosse Pointe South incredibly memorable. You are appreciated more than you know and we can't thank you enough!

Blue Devil Donors 

• Brink Family
• Conn Family
• Edlund-Maxwell Family 
• Flores Family 
• Haindl Family 
• Tischbein Family 

Gold Donors 

• Barbieri Family
• Hutchison Family
• Jogan Family
• Melhem Family 
• Petz Family
• Rosati Family
• Vinyard Family 

White Donors 

• Biter Family
• Clark Family 
• DeMarco Family 
• Eckert Family 
• Fett Family 
• Goodman Family 
• Huffman Family 
• Kelly Family 
• Mager Family 
• Maxwell Family 
• Nelson Family 
• Reynolds Family 
• Selinger Family 
• Weber Family 
• Williams Family

The class would also like to thank the following parent sponsors for their donation of time, food, resources, and supplies during homecoming season. With the help from these families, our float parties were able to take place, run smoothly, be filled with food, and most importantly, be an amazing experience for the students. Thank you for ensuring a great homecoming experience for our students and for your endless support! 

• Jakubowski Family (our float party house)
• Bennert Family 
• Eckert Family
• Flores Family 
• Jogan Family 
• Kaminski Family
• Kendall-Mooney Family 
• Schindlbeck Family 
• Turnbull Family 

There was also a plethora of monetary donations and items purchased from our Amazon wishlist during homecoming. A lot of these donations were anonymous, but we want to recognize our gratitude to everyone who donated to the class. Once again, we would not be able to do the things we do without the supportive community surrounding our students. Thank you for everything! 

South Athletic Booster Club 

November 2022 Counselors' Corner

I love the adage: It’s not happy people who are thankful; it’s thankful people who are happy. It not only feels right, but science backs it up neurologically! One way to build happiness in your life is by keeping a gratitude journal. Studies show that you will sleep better, and wake up more refreshed and connected in our world. Check out the Ted Talk on Gratitude from Br. David Steindl-Rast, a monk and interfaith scholar. He advises us to Stop, Look, and Go. That is: slow down the crazy rush of life, look for the opportunities life presents us to have gratitude and serve others, and then go do it! What a great recipe for the holidays in particular.

ALL PARENTS:

The quarter ended on November 4th. Report cards will be finalized and available for review on Parent Portal on November 15. Report cards will not be mailed home so it is important that you log in and look at your student’s grades. This is the time to evaluate grades and review class selections. If students are struggling in an honors or AP level class, please contact the teacher to discuss if a student should consider moving to the curricular alternative. The school policy always encourages students to challenge themselves to the extent possible with the curriculum while ensuring that they are not overwhelmed and out-paced. Students have until November 18 to make a level change without the previous grade penalizing them. Call their counselor if you have any questions about this policy. If you have a question or concern about a class or grade in a particular class, we encourage you to contact the teacher directly via their email or their voicemail number. Both of these can be found on the school’s website. Any problem that may not be resolved via direct teacher contact can certainly be referred to us, but the conversation with the teacher should take place first.   

SENIOR PARENTS:

Transcripts will not be sent to colleges until students complete the College Application Notification form. This is critical, and if it is not completed will delay your application review at the university. Students can find this form on the counseling website.

There are many early action and early decision deadlines in the first half of November. It’s not too late to apply to hundreds of great schools! Don’t delay – apply today. 

We are anxious to talk with seniors who are still undecided about college or other post-graduation choices. Please encourage your student to make an appointment to see their counselor if they are in this situation. It is definitely not too late to start the planning process if they have been undecided up to this time.  

FINANCIAL AID ALERT!

The FAFSA is a gateway to college scholarships and student loans. File now at www.fafsa.ed.gov The window opened October 1. Some colleges, universities, and scholarship programs use the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, as part of their financial aid process for some or all of their financial aid applicants. Here is a current list of institutions that use this process: Check with the Financial Aid office at the colleges where your child is applying. If the Financial Aid office requires the PROFILE then check the deadline for applying. 

JUNIOR PARENTS:

The state of Michigan exams (M-STEP) are scheduled to take place at South in April and include a free SAT. However, that doesn’t mean that the ACT is off-limits for our students. The ACT is still accepted everywhere, and students typically find themselves well-prepared to take this test. Students can still sign up to take the test at North by going to www.actstudent.org. We encourage students to sign up and take an additional ACT or SAT before the end of their junior year at Grosse Pointe North. Macomb Community College and U of D High School are good alternatives as second-choice test centers. If he or she has not already signed up to take an additional test, please have your junior student register online. The South school code that they will need to register is 231-802. We recommend either April or June test dates.   

Students wishing to take the SAT should register soon for their preferred testing dates so they will be assigned to the test center of their choice. As with the ACT, students can now sign up for multiple test dates. They do not need to wait until they have taken the test once before registering for a second test. Go to www.collegeboard.org or to the Counseling Center for more information. Again, the South school code for the SAT is the same as for the ACT: 231-802.   

FRESHMAN, SOPHOMORE AND JUNIOR PARENTS:

We anticipate that the PSAT scores will be available online by the December holiday break. Your student should look for an email in their school account notifying them to log in to College Board and check their results.  Paper copies of the results will not be sent to schools until sometime in January.

Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).

~ James Baraz

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