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Gary Schools Roundup: Tons of Excitement Happening Across the District

The Gary Community School Corporation has kicked off 2023 with an ever-growing list of activities, events and accomplishments. Listed below is a roundup of recent successes:

The district is celebrating the return of its basketball program for elementary and middle schools. The season launched in mid-January with competitions taking place every Saturday in the gymnasium at West Side Leadership Academy. Eager student athletes and their families pack the gym regularly to cheer on the Cougars at every grade level. Elementary games begin at 12:00 p.m. with championship play taking place February 25, 2023. The full athletic schedule for all the games and sports are available at garyschools.org.

Students from West Side Leadership Academy (WSLA) recently participated in the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) competition and brought home a series of wins. Under the leadership of band director DeAndre Teamer, Sr., the Solo and Ensemble competition results are as follows:

Trombones: 3/3 Gold

Trumpets: 3/3 Gold

Saxophone: 1/1 Silver

Clarinets: 2/2 Gold

Snare drum: 1/1 Gold

Gold medal winners were Regan Bandy, TyLeah Boyd, Joseph Coburn, Tristian Cody, Dante Dorsey, Jomar Henderson, Anthony Johnson -and Jessica James. Josiah Wright earned a silver medal.

Recently, students from WSLA participated in the JAG (Jobs for America’s Graduates) Regional Career Development Conference. Scholars took home three 1st place trophies competing against students from 12 other schools in the region. The winners, who are listed below, will advance to the state competition in the spring.

The winners are as follows:

Halle Bradley – 1st Pace, Career Presentation

Joseph Coburn – 1st Place, Public Speaking

Mariah Swain – 1st Place, Entrepreneurship Plan

“Our students took the initiative to prepare and practice for this high profile competition,” said Kerchell Hopson, Director of Secondary Education. “Based on the results, it's clear that from academics, to the arts to athletics, we are competing and achieving.”

Lastly, Banneker at Marquette Elementary School recently held its first Sneaker Ball. This trendy event of wearing athletic shoes with dressy attire is all the rage in schools across the country. Organizers wanted to ensure that students had sneakers and made an ask of the school community. To their surprise, the support rolled in a big way with new shoes being donated for every student in attendance.

“We would like to thank everyone who contributed to ensure that our students had an unforgettable experience,” said Chaitra Wade, Principal at Banneker at Marquette Elementary. “Some of the dresses were donated as well allowing all of our students to participate without placing a financial strain on families.”

Upcoming district events include Black History programs, honor society inductions, wrestling regionals and more. For the latest district news and event schedules, visit garyschools.org.

Basketball Schedules

Calendar

Information for Families

Use the R.A.C.E. Strategy at Home

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In the Schools

School-Wide Events

14th Doughnuts for Dads 9:30 AM and 10: 15 AM

22nd Promotion Day Planning Session 2 @ 9:30 AM

23rd Black History Presentations

9:00 - 9:35 AM (E. Brown, S. Davis, M. Morales, H. Turner)

9:40 - 10:15 AM ( R. Acevez, M. Lattimore, J. Young)

10:20 - 11:00 AM ( M. Brown, E. Justice, S. Pierson, S. Siroky)

February 28th -8:30 AM Perfect Attendance for January

Bethune Newsletter

Mr. W. became a Speleologist (a person who studies caves)! He shared with 2 more 3rd grade classes today about his trip to Meramec Caverns on Missouri over Christmas Break because their STEM project involves learning about the different types of rocks and minerals. Mrs. Worthington, who is a secondary science teacher, sent a special rock for 3rd graders to observe. It was from a real volcano!

One class did some further research and emailed Mr. Worthington about some discoveries they made!

Our fourth and fifth grade students had a blast at our first Sneaker Ball. We would like to thank the 4th and 5th grade team who sponsored this successful event. Special thanks to donors who made it possible for every student who attended to have a brand new pair of gym shoes. Thank you to teachers and support staff who donated some of the beautiful dresses you will see in the pictures and those who assisted and contributed in many ways. As always, thank you parents for your support. Go Cougars!!!

Congrats to the following scholars for either meeting or exceeding their IREADY reading and/or math grade level and/or growth goals!!!! WAY TO GO Beveridge Cougars Scholars!!!

After school STEM Slime, Invisible Ink and Chemical Reactions

Boy Scout Forensics Science Fingerprinting

2/28- Black History Program

2/28- District Community Forum at 5pm

2/9- RACE Workshop for parents. We will have meetings at 10am and 5pm.

2/23- Safety Meeting for Parents

The 8th Grade Scholars at GMS completed a group project for the second quarter. They recreated a colony based on the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies.

The winners of the 13 Colonies Project were the following students:

Amiyah Green

Kenneth King

Priscilla Burton

Geralynne Williams

Serenity Smith

Mikalya Russel

Lenay Jackson

The runner- up project was created by the following students:

Nailah Dennis

Zuri Kimble

Mauriel Wynn

Kamari Loggins

Kudos to both the 8th grade scholars, and the dynamic social studies teacher,Ms. Miller. Job well done!

STEM activities through our adaptive curriculum class taught by Daphne White

Highlights from the Cougars vs Cougars game (Bailly vs. GMS). Congratulations to our Bailly STEM Academy Cougars on the win and a great season!

Trombones: 3/3 Gold

Trumpets: 3/3 Gold

Saxophone: 1/1 Silver

Clarinets: 2/2 Gold

Snare drum: 1/1 Gold

Gold medal winners were Regan Bandy, TyLeah Boyd, Joseph Coburn, Tristian Cody, Dante Dorsey, Jomar Henderson, Anthony Johnson -and Jessica James. Josiah Wright earned a silver medal.

Congratulations BigFuture Scholarship winner, Jasmine King!

The JAG Program in Northwest Indiana held their regional JAG Career Development Conference at Ivy Tech Community College in Valparaiso. JAG Students from 13 different programs competed in a variety of events. I am pleased to let you know that the following students from West Side Leadership Academy were honored. Mariah Swain placed first in the Entrepreneurship Plan event. Halle Bradley placed first in Career Presentation. Ta’Liya Smith placed third in Financial Literacy and Joseph Coburn placed first in Public Speaking. All of the students who placed first will go on to represent the region at state.

On behalf of CWI, I want to thank you for your continued partnership with CWI, JobWorks, and the JAG Program in Northwest Indiana and the state of Indiana. We value your partnership and look forward to many more years of the JAG program at West Side Leadership Academy.

This month, our scholars participated in the Boeing STEM roadshow, where they created a hack in box light challenge STEM project. It was awesome seeing the students' faces light up as they worked, and their projects made a sound and worked.

Boeing spoke with juniors and some seniors from WSLA and our charter school partners about stem pathway careers and the STEM scholarship which is open now until Feb. 28th for any senior student attending a 2- or 4-year college majoring in the STEM field.

Last year, five WSLA students received scholarships one was WSLA and GACC, CNA student and 4 charter school students who were GACC students. It's great when students benefit from the opportunities available, especially through Boeing who has contributed to Gary Community Schools actively.

Student Spotlight

Chantal Rubio

West Side Leadership Academy scholar, Chantal Rubio, has been nominated for an Impact Award by Work and Learn Indiana. Under the leadership of instructor Latoria Williams, Rubio along with some of her peers from the Gary Area Career Center will be honored at the IMPACT Awards Luncheon later this month

“We are very excited for her, a reflection of a great instructor and great leadership and collaboration of WSLA/GACC,” said Selena Bradley, Lead School Counselor for the CTE Program. “It's wonderful to see our students grow in a career/industry that they are passionate about.”

Teachers who Rock!

GMS VPA would like to shed light on the 6th grade team. The District is currently completing IReady MOY, middle of the year, testing to evaluate the progress of each scholar has made for the first semester. Once a student takes the initial test, IReady sets two growth goals for them- typical and stretch growth. Typical growth is the growth they would typically make for the year. Stretch growth is the growth that scholars make when they go beyond the expected typical growth.

The 6th grade teachers already have 49% of scholars that have met typical growth in reading, with another 16% having met stretch growth. In math, 47% of the scholars have already met typical growth and 15% have met stretch growth.

When asked what they attribute to such success, the team gave a several reasons. One, they listed the platforms MindPlay, Ascend, and IReady meeting the scholars where they are. They stated they reward scholars with PBIS points every time they get a certificate for successfully completing a skill/ level. However, the biggest influence on their success is consistency and teamwork. They support and reinforce the teaching of one another. They constantly revisit skills and provide differentiation to make sure scholars “get it”. The scholars are motivated to succeed because of this cohesiveness.

We salute the GMS 6th grade team for a job well done! Keep up the good work!

Adaptive Curriculum Teacher, Daphne White, and Paraprofessionals: Camisha Lane and Brenda McCoy

Mrs. Daphne White is the adaptive Curriculum teacher at GMS VPA. She is a phenomenal educator and is extremely dedicated to the well-being of her scholars, classroom instruction and learning process in her class. Mrs. White engages her scholars in PBL(Project-based learning) in addition to STEM educational activities. Her effective pedagogical practices had made a huge positive impact with our scholars and their educational experience.

According to Mrs. White her success in the learning environment is attributed to a collaborative effort with the teacher and her classroom paraprofessionals, Camisha Lane, and Brenda McCoy. "It cannot happen without their assistance ", says Mrs. White.

Additionally, Mrs. White selects the school wide PBIS theme weekly at GMS VPA. The GMS VPA Family would like to take this opportunity to salute this team for being excellent educators! PAWS UP 🐾

Community

West Side Theatre Guild Presents:

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

That Afternoon Show with Jeffrey Smith

Interview with Dr. Esther Goodes, Director of Elementary Education and Dr. Paige McNulty

Athletics

Student Athletes from West Side Leadership Academy are

Changing the Game through Academic Excellence; Sportsmanship

The Gary Community School Corporation heightened focus on academics is changing the game for student athletes. Now more than ever, scholars are striving for excellence with a total of 45 students holding a GPA of 3.5 or greater this quarter. This trend of academic excellence among student athletes is setting a new standard for the community and changing the expectations of athletes.

“Without question, our students are intelligent,” said Athletic Director Robert Lee. “They just have to be challenged and held accountable, which is what the coaching staff has strived to instill.”

For example, West Side Leadership Academy’s 2022 graduating class, valedictorian and star athlete Jaylen Washington went on to play basketball at the University of North Carolina. Senior athlete De’Eric Mister holds a 4.0 GPA and recently committed to play football for Minnesota.

And if raising the bar academically wasn’t enough, the players and teams have been consistently acknowledged for their sportsmanship.

Recent reports submitted to the IHSAA offer the following accolades:

“These young men and the coaches should be proud of how they represented their school and community,” said Thomas Hansing of Ben Davis H.S. in Indianapolis. “The entire team was respectful… they respected their coach, but most importantly, they respected the officiating crew and the game.”

Each athletic team in the district has study tables, mentorships, and support from the coaching staff and community. The launch of the booster club last fall has allowed the teams to receive donated meals from local businesses and organizations before games and when they travel. Through sponsorships and the continuous support of the community, District officials are claiming a strong and bright future for its student athletes.

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