At Geary Elementary Community School: “We C.A.R.E.”	April 4th, 2017	http://twitter.com/gearygators	GEARY GAZETTE
Volunteer Appreciation Week

(April 23rd – 29th)

Volunteer Appreciation Week is fast approaching and Geary Elementary Community School has so many wonderful volunteers to thank! We cannot offer the programming we do without your continuous help. Many, many thanks from all of us at GECS. Volunteers are at the root of strong communities!

DIG IT!

Our Drama Club has been practicing for the up and coming Drama Festival on Tuesday, April 4th at Oromocto High School. Dig It will be performed at 11 a.m. in the theatre. The students are ready to raise the ground with their rendition of DIG IT! This musical will walk you through ancient history and leave you with a song in your heart! We hope that you will be able to attend. If not, the play will be performed at the school, for students and parents at a later date. Break a leg boys and girls! Thank you to Mr. MacTavish and Madame Peters for their support of this troop. As well Cora Compton’s nanny has been busy sewing costumes for the debut. Thank you for your support Mrs. Compton.

Music Festival

The Grade 3-5 Choir is getting ready to perform in the Fredericton Music Festival towards the end of the month. They will be sporting the brightly coloured shirts that we bought a few years ago, while singing "The Bare Necessities" from Disney's "The Jungle Book". This song will put a little spring in everyone's step. The performance will be held at the Tom Morrison Theatre at FHS, at 9:30 on April 25th. There is no cost to the students for this event. Parents wishing to attend will be asked to pay $2.00 at the door.

Fish Friends

On Thursday, of this past week, Mr. Andy Smith, a biologist from Base Gagetown brought fish eggs to the school. These eggs came from the fish Hatchery on the Saint John River, just below Mactaquac. The children in grade 5 had the fish tank up and running prior to the March Break. The water temperature had to be stabilized at 4 degrees before these hatchlings could arrive. There is much excitement in the school as our Fish Friends program gets underway! Fish Friends is an important activity for our students because they are learning to be stewards of the environment. Atlantic Salmon are an endangered species which makes the work these students undertake each year a very meaningful task. There are wee fish swimming around in the tank

already! Please come visit them! Thank you for taking on this role of responsibility grade 5! Your

work matters!

Paint & Sip for Seniors

Enjoy the company of friends and school-aged family when you join our energetic and fun Paint and Sip led by Jean Rooney. Regardless of whether you are a beginner or an experienced Picasso, you will enjoy a morning of friendship and creativity as Jean leads you from a blank canvas to the completion of your own masterpiece. This event is suitable for all skill levels. You can join us for one morning or all four- whatever works for your schedule. If you have a child in the school that you would like to have join you as you create your masterpiece, please let Mrs. West know when you RSVP.

Home and School

The next meeting of the Home and School Association will be held in the school library on Wednesday, April 12th at 6:00 p.m. The Home and School has been very busy planning for the Annual Spring Bazaar. This is the major fund raiser for the Home and School.
The Spring Bazaar is being held on Saturday, April 22nd at Geary Elementary Community School. Doors will open at 8:00 a.m. This is a family oriented event! Come and enjoy the fun and the friendship! Friday, April 21st has been set aside for the Spring Bazaar Children’s Bingo in the school cafeteria from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. All money raised on these days will go toward essential upgrades to our planned outdoor classroom and other necessities for the children. The Home and School recently bought a set of folding tables and a storage cart for school events. You will see these at the Bazaar! Many thanks to our H & S Association.

Student-Led Conferences

Report cards are coming home on Tuesday, April 4th. Student-Led conferences will be held on Thursday, April 6th in the evening. You can also conference with your child on Monday morning, April 10th. In grades K-5, you and your child may drop in any time. The children love to share the product of their learning with their parents/guardians. Please come and encourage your child. Attending the Student-led Conference tells your child that school really matters. The children do important work each day!

Student-Led Conferences for grade 5 will only be offered on Monday morning and evening, April 10th. Madame Peters is attending Provincial Meetings this week.

Mrs. Crowhurst’s class will receive report cards and have interviews at a later day. Information has been sent home in this regard.

Writer in School Program

We are very fortunate to have a New Brunswick author visit our school on Wednesday, April 12th. Diane Carmel Legere was supposed to visit us earlier this year but a storm day changed our plans.

We are very fortunate to have Diane Carmel Legere visit our school through the funding of the Writers in Schools Program. Meeting and learning from a New Brunswick author is an experience that can have a lasting impact!

Geary Headstart Preschool Program Registration 2017-2018

Date: Wednesday, April 6th

Time: 12:45-1:45

Place: Headstart Room – community use of school entrance.

Needs: Copies of Proof of Immunization, Birth Certificate, Medicare and $25.00 Registration Fee.

Note: Registration is not complete until all paperwork is filled out and registration fee is paid.

For details and information call Bonnie McDonald-Lively (Coordinator) 449-2603.

Kindergarten Orientation

There will be a Kindergarten Orientation for next year’s Kindergarten students on Friday, May 26th at Geary Elementary Community School. The orientation will begin at 1:30 and end by 2:30 p.m. Children will spend time in the Kindergarten classroom and participate in school readiness skills. Parents will meet with the Kindergarten teachers and have an opportunity to be informed about school expectations and to ask any questions that they may have. Students and their parents will also have an opportunity to ride a school bus on this date. We look forward to seeing the Kindergarten class of 2017-2018! It will be especially important for your child to attend this event as it is our way of transitioning these little ones to their new school. The children need this visit to make a positive transition.

There is a Kindergarten Readiness bag for each child who participates. If you have not yet registered for September, please consider doing so. You can register any day at the school. We want to make sure we can plan for your child for the fall start up.

Basketball Invitational

On Friday afternoon, April 7th, our Basketball Club will host Lincoln, Summerhill and Hubbard Elementary Schools in our gym. We are looking forward to fun, fundamentals and fair play. See you there!

Throughout the school year, your child has learned about the zones that his/her body goes in and out of throughout the day. We know that for our best work to happen, we need to be in the green zone. Many different tools are available in our classrooms to either help with increasing energy (alerting tools) or decreasing energy (calming tools) with the purpose of having all children calm, focused and ready to learn.

One tool that we are lucky to have in our school are seven brain bikes. These silent, stationary bikes are yet another tool to assist students in getting to the green zone so they are ready to learn, while also enjoying other health and creativity benefits! Ask your child about the zones of regulation tools that he/she has in the classroom and the ones that help him/her get to the green zone!

Breakfast for Learning

Did you know that Breakfast for Learning (BFL) is one of GECS’ partners in the breakfast program? BFL is committed to helping children across Canada realize their full potential in life by ensuring they attend school well-nourished and ready to learn. Breakfast for Learning has been helping support student nutrition programs in every province and territory for 24 years. For more information, please visit: www.breakfastforlearning.ca

Keeping the Promise Gardens

Some of our classes have been busy learning about organic, non GMO seeds, the process to of starting seeds indoors, and the preparation required to transplant into our individual classroom beds. Did you know that we have 10, 4’x8’ outdoor growing beds? This season we will be able to enjoy our second full rotation of planting, weeding, harvesting and eating; we are so excited! We will also be looking for a few Summer Partners to help with the beds while school is out. If this sounds like something, you’d like to be a part of (did I mention the perks? Fresh, healthy, and free produce) then please contact the school.

Community School Coordinator

Please join us in welcoming Mrs. Ruth Claybourn as our new Community School Coordinator. She has jumped right in to help us with the Breakfast Program and several other Community School responsibilities. Contact her at: ruth.claybourn@nbed.nb.ca - 357-4265

Steve Wolf from NB Tennis visited our students and instructed them in the fine art of tennis!

Important Dates to Remember

Monday, April 3rd	World Autism Day
Tuesday, April 4th	Drama Festival – Dig It at OHS – 11 a.m. REPORT CARD DAY
Wednesday, April 5th	Headstart Registration 2017-2018 in the Headstart Room – 12:45 p.m. Headstart Executive Meeting – 5 p.m.
Thursday, April 6th	Student-Led Conferences (evening only)
Friday, April 7th	Basketball Invitational in the afternoon
Monday, April 10th	PL day – no school for students (interviews in morning only)
Tuesday, April 11th	Saint John String Quartet 1:20 – 1:55 p.m.
Wednesday, April 12th	Writer in School Visits- Diane Carmel Leger Home and School Meeting 6 p.m.
April 11-13	NB Rugby – Blake Edwards teaches Rugby during gym classes
April 14 - 17	Easter Break
Friday, April 21st	Children’s Bingo
Saturday, April 22nd	Spring Bazaar
Tuesday, April 25th	Music Festival at FHS Performance at 9:30 a.m.
Thursday, April 27th	Heritage Fair Date at the School
Friday, April 28th	Professional Learning Day NO SCHOOL Community School Meeting being hosted at GECS
Monday, May 1st	MUSIC MONDAY
Friday, May 5th	NBTA Council Day NO SCHOOL

OHS students came to our school on Pink Shirt Day to help students use their WITS and learn more strategies to self-regulate. What wonderful student visitors they were.