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Gorrell School is the Place to Be
The grant involved studies of how bats help control the insect population and students later took a trip to Cleveland's Playhouse Square to see a performance of "Stellaluna." Some were even given the opportunity to get up close and personal with a real bat. The group lunched in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where a student group performed for them. In the Pollution Solution class, the kids created their own land environment and then discussed the energy that could be used on the land as well as the pollution that may be a part of the environment. Then, they put their properties together and discussed how each environment has effects on the other and devised plans for conserving energy and lessening pollutants. Another class activity of the day was to collect a specimen of water from Lake Noah and then perform tests to discover what life forms, pollutants and chemicals may be present. This was definitely a favorite activity and the teachers at Camp Y Noah were excellent. During the first quarter, Mrs. Jenkins’ third grade students met with their Resident Artist, Mrs. Jill Malusky Back, education director from the Massillon Museum. Staying true to the recycling theme, the students brought in recyclable items to create Agent Green, a scarecrow that was entered in the Spring Hill Farms first annual scarecrow contest. They won a first place trophy along with a pizza party from Kraus’ Pizza! Our wonderful and forever busy PTO provided us an entire day with COSI to study electricity. We had opportunities for "hands-on" learning experiences. Gorrell students also observed Red Ribbon Week with various activities provided by Mrs. Link, our building counselor. She introduced us to our first c Finally, our new beginning would not be complete without spirit week! We enjoyed different ways to show our support to the Massillon Tiger football team. 
We have had a great start in our second year of our SmArts Grant, Going Green at Gorrell. The entire school joined forces in a building-wide recycling project, learning what's necessary to take care of our planet Earth. 
In Mrs. Wicks' fourth grade class, the SmArts Grant funded an October trip to Camp Y-Noah in Clinton. the day of outdoor education included a water safety class followed by canoeing. It was amazing to see all of them on the water, steering their own canoes. 
haracter pillar of study, "respect" for ourselves and our fellow classmates.
Celebrating Success at Franklin!
Not so long ago, Franklin School faced major consequences - its students fleeing to community schools, forced administration changes and loss of funding by way of paying for government-mandated services; improvement plans also had to be submitted to the state. The school was in the worst shape of any in Stark County. But, this year it’s a success story. Franklin climbed out of improvement status — which it had been in for the past seven years — by making strides with all of its students, including minority and economically disadvantaged. Before the bell rings to start another school day, Franklin’s approximately 300 students in grades pre-K through 4 fill the gymnasium. They read morning announcements, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and another pledge that gives rise to smiles and, more than that, administrators say: A belief in what once seemed out of reach. I really think we’ve become purposeful,” said Susan Gardner, who is in her 15th year of teaching. “We really focus on the standards. We are really working together to get everyone in the school on the same page.” Not only did Franklin achieve an “effective” rating, its students exceeded expected growth over the past two years and all student groups (including minority and low-income) achieved high enough marks in mathematics and reading to meet “adequate yearly progress,” a measurement mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act. The school has a high percentage of low-income (nearly 88 percent) and special-needs students (13 percent), and nearly half of its student body is minority students. Medure and his staff took up the challenge of increasing the odds of success by ensuring more opportunity for tutoring, volunteerism, intervention for children at risk, spurring parents to get involved and, just as importantly, getting kids to believe they could achieve. Medure attributed the achievement to tutoring programs, partnerships with community organizations and focused intervention targeting struggling students. A program called, “Project More,” brought volunteers into the classroom to work one-on-one with students and provide extra staff support. Parental involvement also was key. 
“There is no more blanket teaching,” said Principal Michael Medure. “You have to meet the cultural nuances that are out there. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every day.”
“As rising learners, we are here to believe in ourselves, achieve our goals and succeed.”
“Everyone pitched in, and the teachers were here before school, after school. It’s them,” Medure said. “They’ve been working for this, and now we’ve got it.” 
Emerson Kindergarteners Explore Autumn
The Emerson kindergarten classes have been studying the season of fall and activities that happen during this time. In class we have been studying the life cycle of both apples and pumpkins and learning about gourds and Indian corn. The children are having fun comparing, estimating and measuring the pumpkins. In September we took a field trip to Varian Orchards to further explore nature, seasons and plants. Each child received a pumpkin donated by Paige's uncle, and we want to send a big thank you to her Uncle Jim.
Bowers Implements New Goals
The Bowers Building Leadership Team, in support of the District Leadership Team, has created reading, math and school climate goals to reach for and achieve by the end of this year. While all buildings in the district have aligned their own goals to the district goals, each building has created its own specific action steps that will help them reach these goals. Soon, our building plan will be on the Web site so we invite you all to look at our plan. Of course, our reading and math goals are to promote our students to be at the proficient or greater level with the standardized tests that our students must take. So what is a school climate goal? Our school climate goal is geared toward reducing the incidents of all behaviors that lead to suspensions. We are also promoting positive behavior and school participation activities at E.G. Bowers Elementary School. We believe that activities that promote participation with our children, staff, parents and the community will lead to a positive school climate. We are doing this several ways: v Bowers Beginnings – Each morning, all students and staff meet in the gym to begin the day. Positive messages from Project Wisdom, a character education program, are read. Students are recognized for good behavior from the previous day. v Bowers supports another character education program with Character Counts. Each month, activities are done in the classroom to practice each of the pillars of character – trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. We have been discussing and celebrating the pillar of responsibility for September and October. v Students are celebrated every month from each classroom based on the criteria for those pillars of character. The students honored for responsibility for September and October were given a t-shirt for their success at being responsible citizens at Bowers. v A positive behavior management plan with a color wheel or chart has been implemented school wide. Green equals a good day; yellow, the children have received a warning; blue is a loss of a privilege; red is a phone call or note to parents. The goal for each child every day is to have a “green” day. v Students who met the criteria of at least 33 “green” days for the first grading period were treated to a movie and popcorn in the gym on Oct. 23. A great time was had by all. v Students will be working for another “green” day reward in January with a sock hop. Plans for a fun day of learning group dances like the Hokey Pokie, Macarena, Chicken Dance and the Electric Slide will be part of the festivities. Of course, there will be treats as well. There will be reward events for March and June as well. We will be celebrating good behavior all year long. v The Bowers Education Action Team (B.E.A.T.) parent group has been a great support with our school climate goal. They donated popcorn for our Friday event at the movies. They have also purchased great shirts for all the students that show different colors for each grade level. We are scheduling T-shirt days for the children to wear their shirts to show school pride. The B.E.A.T group has recently spruced up our front door with mulch and mums, making the Bowers campus very inviting. There are many more activities planned this year to promote school unity and parental involvement which, again, promotes a healthy school climate. We have Family Nights at each grade level, a Princess Dance and Spaghetti with a Prince along with our annual Pancake Breakfast, Carnival Night and Fun Day at Bowers. Last week, we celebrated Red Ribbon Week. The children participated in daily activities to promote healthy behaviors and make good decisions. This week, we are celebrating Spirit Week for the traditional Massillon/McKinley football contest. Monday is Million Dollar Monday for our Million Dollar Tigers, Tuesday is pajama day for the Tired Pups, Wacky Wednesday is for wacky clothes, Thursday is Orange and Black Day for Obie, and Free Choice Friday is to wear clothes for one of our favorite teams like the Massillon Tiger football team. The children will be purchasing spirit links all this week and the money will be donated to the United Way. This is a great activity to have our children participate as they are doing something good for the community. We also had students from Washington High volunteer to work with one of our classes at Bowers. They helped our students make spirit necklaces. 
Flu Shot
Bowers - November 9 - 1:00- 3:30
Franklin - November 10 - 1:00-3:30
Gorrell - November 13 - 9:30- until done
WHS - November 20 - 8:00-2:30
Additional Flu Information Links
Access the following links below for more information on the H1N1. Ohio's H1N1 Flu Shot Locator Ohio's H1N1 Informational Web Site CDC National Web Site
http://publicapps.odh.ohio.gov/publicinfo/h1n1info.aspx
http://www.odh.ohio.gov/features/odhfeatures/h1n1vaccine.aspx
http://flu.gov/
Flu Information Notice
We are aware that influenza is currently circulating in our local community and wanted to pass along some information to help keep your family healthy.
• elevated temperature, usually over 100 F
• headache and body aches
• lethargy (sluggishness)
• nausea
• vomiting
• diarrhea
Our best line of defense is FREQUENT, good hand washing or the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Hands should be washed with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds; an alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used if hand washing is not possible. Make sure you cough or sneeze into a tissue or the inside part of your bent elbow. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. This is how germs are spread. Please avoid contact with sick people.
If you feel your child is getting the flu, contact your physician. Your child is not to come to school if they have flu symptoms and they are to remain home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication.
For more in-depth information, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website is very helpful - http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/parents/ .
Sincerely,
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