Happy Valentine's Day, GDW!

Today GDW students were excited to celebrate Valentine's Day by participating in a variety of fun-filled activities during their classroom parties, including Valentine exchanges with their classmates, playing games, making crafts, and eating delicious treats!  We would like to extend a heart-felt thank you to all of our volunteers for making this year's Valentine's Day celebrations so special!  Happy Valentine's Day, Wildcats!

GDW 5th Graders Present "Off Their Rockers"

Today GDW's fifth graders rocked the house in their performances of "Off Their Rockers", a musical which takes place in a senior center.  As the plot of "Off Their Rockers" unfolds, the senior center director decides to liven things up for the seniors by enlisting the help of friends and family to introduce songs and dances, encouraging the seniors to "get off their rockers" and have some fun.

Under the direction of Mr. Prosek, students performed some classic rock 'n' roll songs including "Rock Around The Clock", "At The Hop", "The Peppermint Twist", and Dancin' In The Street".  The students looked and sounded amazing.  Many students joined Mr. Prosek in getting into character by dressing up as seniors, putting a whole new "twist" on the phrase, "they grow up so fast"!  Way to go Wildcats!

Positively Reinforcing School-wide Expectations

Each day during morning announcements, the students and staff at Gary D. Wright Elementary School join together in The Wildcat Creed, where we pledge the following:

We will show respect for our school community each day.

We will accept responsibility for all of our actions.

We will come to school ready to learn, with a positive attitude.

These three R’s make Wright Elementary a great place to learn.

These school-wide expectations are part of our school’s focus on fostering a safe and effective learning environment.  Just as we teach our students to read and write, we must also teach them our expectations for their behavior while at school.  The expectations outlined above apply to all areas of our school, including the classroom, bathroom, playground, cafeteria, and hallway. Throughout the school year, staff recognize those being positive models of behavior with various incentives including issuing students “Pawsome Cards”.  Recently, as a result of earning 100 Pawsome Cards and redeeming them at the Pawsome Store, GDW Fourth Grade Student Rocco Sauer chose to have “Lunch with the Principal”.  Rocco and I enjoyed our time together, and he even surprised me with a delicious sandwich for lunch.   During lunch, Rocco filled me in on what to expect during Candy Bar Bingo, which was another great event that was recently held and sponsored by the GDW PTO.  It was my first time attending a Candy Bar Bingo event, and I quickly learned that combining bingo, candy, friends, and family will result in a lot of smiles and a good time had by all!  

GDW Celebrates our 100th Day of School

It is an extra special day at Gary D. Wright Elementary School!  Today marks the 100th day of the 2015-2016 school year.  Students and staff celebrated this milestone in a variety of ways, including making projects and dressing up as the wise old students that they have become.  It is hard to believe that we have already been together for 100 school days.  We have accomplished so many great things and look forward to what the rest of the school year will bring.  

School Speed Zone

In an effort to increase safety, the speed limit is being reduced on Ketchum Road between Big Timber Road and Kelly Road. The 30 mile per hour School Entrance Zone will go into effect Monday, January 25th. This School Entrance Zone will be enforced from 7am-10pm, mirroring the School Speed Zone already in effect on Big Timber Road. The Hampshire Police Department will provide assistance in enforcing the reduced speed limits.  The reduced speed will provide a safer exit from the high school’s inner drive onto Ketchum Road as well as providing a safer entrance onto school property.  School District 300 appreciates the support of the Village of Hampshire in approving and assisting with this project.  

   

The brush on the south side of the inner drive leading to the exit onto Ketchum Road has been cut back to increase the line of sight of oncoming traffic.  Also note, the Hampshire inner drive has a posted speed limit of 20 miles per hour.  Thank you in advance for following the posted speed limits to ensure the safety of our students, staff and visitors.

GDW Students Recognized At Board of Education Meeting

I would like to recognize the following GDW students for being selected as pledge leaders for the District 300 Board of Education Meeting held on Tuesday, January 12:

• Evan Branca
• Anabelle Cassidy
• Lianne Bucana
• John Belshan
• Holden Austin
• Kate English
• Huzaifa Ghafoor
• Joe Driscoll

The above named students were selected as pledge leaders and recognized at the Board of Education Meeting for demonstrating significant growth (up to 300%) from the Fall to Winter 2015 i-Ready benchmarking in both reading and math.  In addition, they have each successfully completed up to 90 i-Ready lessons so far this year!  These wildcats have demonstrated that through hard work and perseverance, we can (and will) accomplish great things!  

GDW Student Participates in D300 Men's Vocal Festival

The Illinois Arts Council provided District 300 with a large grant for the purpose of providing a festival to celebrate the male voice.  As a result, District 300's first-ever Men's Vocal Festival was held.  Congratulations to GDW Fourth Grader, Ben Bennick, for participating in the D300 Men's Vocal Festival, which took place on January 9 at Jacobs High School.  Ben joined seventy-eight other District 300 students in grades 4 through 8, where they rehearsed and performed with The University of Illinois Men's Glee Club (my alma mater).  Way to go, Ben!