second quarter 2015

Grassland Games

Our fourth annual Grassland Games were a huge success this year! Special
memories were made by both the student body and teachers at this unique and fun fundraising event. Thank you to the GMS Parents' Club for your overwhelming support through donations, time, energy, volunteering, and encouraging your child to attend. The GMS Positive Behavior Management Program (CI3T) earned $9,000 this year through Grassland Games. What an overwhelming success it was on so many levels!

The students loved the new game additions, including the American Ninja Warrior Obstacle Course, Pie a Teacher, and the 8th Grade Paint War. The Sumo Wrestling, Escape the Room, and Dodgeball Tournaments continued to be a big draw for students. Middle schoolers were filled to the brim with pizza, cotton candy, and many other tasty treats. Meanwhile, â€œshout outs” were made over the intercom, and special teachers or friends were summoned to “jail.” 

A HUGE THANK YOU to the leader of the CI3T Committee Ms. Jennifer Keith,
the Grassland Games Committee, as well as all the other teachers who worked
many hours to make the games possible. Thank you, Dr. Leffler, for encouraging
and supporting such an awesome event, which directly benefits the students at GMS through “STARBUCK” rewards and incentives. What a special afternoon it was!

--Melanie Sakarapanee

President's Report

I can't believe that the first half of the school year is already over. On behalf of the Parents' Club, I would like to thank everyone who supported the organization by purchasing items at the General Store Holiday Sale. I also would like to thank the parents who volunteered: especially Lisha Pope and Amy Algood. They were instrumental in making the sale happen.

It was a big success for us, and we will probably have a similar personalization sale
in the spring. We will have items to help get you ready for spring break. We still have several Fripp & Folly and Lily Grace t-shirts, and we will continue to sell those through the General Store. We are going to shift our store hours to be every other Wednesday starting on January 6th. We will continue to remind you via email when the store is going to be open, and we will feature some of our items online at GMSpc.org.

Please check out the notes from our Empowered Parent seminars at GMSpc.org. We have had some great speakers, including school board representative Rick Wimberly. Stay tuned for new events from the Parents' Club next year. 

We are working to replace the marquee at the front of the school. We hope to have the new monument sign up this spring. 

I hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season and a healthy 2016.

--Cindy Bhavsar

Building and Grounds Update

GMS was the recipient of CrossPoint Church's generosity this October. CrossPoint sent approximately thirty members to help our Building & Grounds Chairs with much needed landscaping maintenance around the perimeter of the school. 

Scholastic Clay Target Program Club

Campbell Andrews shot 83 of 100 clay targets at the Big Springs Tourney, Saturday, October 17. Luke Lindahl was there checking out the eight-team competition!

--Victor Andrews

Student Newspaper

In the General Dispatch, the GMS student newspaper, the team keeps Grassland up to date on the latest news. This includes the student of the month,  holiday traditions, and what fellow classmates are up to during breaks. We meet every power Monday morning to work on the newspaper. To do this newspaper, a few of us at a time go out and interview students and teachers around the school to get their point of view.  Newspaper is a fun place to be, and we encourage everyone to read it!

--Newspaper editors, Elizabeth Konyen and Cameron Jean, pictured above

 Wrestling

Your General’s Wrestling team concluded its 2015 season at the end of November.
 
Representing the school in the varsity tournament…
Captain Michael Brown ended up finishing fourth in what was considered the league's toughest weight class. The winner of his class ended up with the “Most Outstanding Wrestler” trophy. Daniel Helton, Spencer Jones, and Arie Baalbergan also competed.

On Saturday we entered five wrestlers in the JV tournament, and four of them took home medals. Brock Carlson ended up with a gold medal around his neck. Teammates Max Ponce and Will Ross both brought home silver medals. In the very tough 75-lb class, Daniel Barnes was able to finish in fourth place. First-year wrestler Michael Nichols also competed. And J.D Saulters? He went to the Grand Canyon and had a great time with his family!
 
Congratulations to all this year’s Grassland Wrestlers on a season to be proud of!

--Gil Filbey

 Soccer

GMS boys’ soccer had another great year. The boys’ JV soccer team finished with a record of seven wins and one loss. The boys’ varsity soccer team was able to beat every team in the district and won the WCS championship by defeating Woodland Middle 3-2 in the final game of the WMAA Tournament.

--Russ Keller

 Strings Program

On December 3rd, students from Grassland Middle School and Brentwood Middle School combined to present a Winter Concert. This was an exciting moment for all fifty-six students who performed. A huge thanks to BMS for hosting the concert and to GMS for the beautiful programs. The most exciting part for me was that this performance was the first for the majority of the students! It was an honor to share that moment with each of them!

This semester, students have been building a solid foundation of music theory and string instrument technique. They have worked diligently every day to learn and solidify many different techniques. The progress was very evident at the concert as students performed six different pieces: "Jingle Bells," "Dreidel," "Jolly Old St. Nicholas," "Up on the Housetop," "Good King Wenceslas," and "First Christmas March." These pieces displayed a variety of techniques! My favorite part of this concert was that the students played in harmony on four out of six pieces! Amazing! After only three months on their instruments! 

I am so thankful for the amazing support we (myself and the students) have received from WCS, GMS, BMS, and parents. It takes an army, and we have the best army backing us. We hope you will come out to hear us at the WCS Fine Arts Festival on April 9th at the Factory!

--Susan Abell