Attention ES Families - Your students classes are now viewable on Lumen which can be found on our App and the Menu of our website. Click on course info then roll down to see your Homeroom. Email djworth@gcmsk12.org for your login information
Special Education teachers look forward to seeing everyone at the Middle School. Don't forget your masks! https://youtu.be/OYaUjoIDre4
Kindergarten Families
Info about our transition night should have already arrived. Each family has been assigned a 30 min time slot during the evening of Thurs., August 13th between 5:00-7:00. If you are a K parent and did not receive it, please call 217-784-4278. Thanks!
Pre K families
Information about our transition night should be arriving by mail (hopefully today). Each family will have a 15 min time slot scheduled on Tuesday, August 11th between 5:00-7:00 to come meet staff and see the classroom.
High School Tennis tryouts are next week! All athletes please verify you have turned in the necessary paperwork to the high school office.
Monday, Aug. 10th 3:30-5:30
Tuesday, Aug. 11th 3:30-5:30
Thursday, Aug. 13th 3:30-5:30
Friday, Aug. 14th 3:30-5:30
Our very kind librarian encourages you to be kind to others as we return to school! https://youtu.be/VkUICQpv7S0
Guess what these names all have in common: Diezel, Piper, Roxy, Nora, Sofia, and The Rock?
Answer: Those are the names of the kiddos and pets who live with our newest Falcon Family faculty member!
Mrs. Manda Paris will be joining the 2nd grade team of teachers this August. In her free time she loves to sing, dance, and spend time with her family. This summer they even went zip-lining together! Mrs. Paris owns a DIY business where some of her very first customers were a group from Gibson City. She knows it is a supportive community and looks forward to working with such wonderful staff members. Welcome the Falcon Family Diezel, Piper, Roxy, Nora, Sofia, The Rock, AND Mrs. Paris!
Please note that parents are not going to come in the building during 6th grade transition night. Students are to be dropped off and picked up at the designated times.
6th Grade Transition Night
If you registered online and have not received a response letting you know that we got it, please call and check to make sure that it went through. Thanks!
Mr. Kean
Please make sure that you register your child for school (either online or in person). We will be here until 4:00 today and are still waiting for many to let us know that they are coming, have decided to homeschool, or have moved out of district. Thanks!
Mr. Kean
Check out this guided tour of our new app! Then if you haven't done so already go to the App Store or Google Play and download it!
https://youtu.be/AG1xL_Qkbe0
GCMS High School is proud to present its new Wall of Honor. This board contains the names of GCMS HS grads (94-00) who have honorably served our country. Special thanks to Hood’s Ace Hardware for engraving the dog tags and to Mr Mackinson and Mr Garard for their tireless work on the project. We think it’s a terrific addition to our halls!
Just another reminder to come and turn in registration paperwork and/or pay registration fees. Also, please call us and let us know if you plan on homeschooling your children. We will be open until 7:00 pm today (8/5/20). Thanks!
Mr. Kean
This year's school pictures will be handles through VSI. Their order form and a link to prepay are available at https://vsi.co/schools/
Are you doing some back to school shopping? All of our supply lists can easily be accessed on the go through our app!
ES Families - If you ordered a supply box through us last spring you do not need to attend the drop-off night on August 12. Those boxes will be delivered directly to student classrooms.
GCMS Elementary will have a supply drop-off on Wednesday, August 12 from 4-6pm
And now a mask dance from your 6th Grade teachers! https://youtu.be/9hlLxkEX-1w
Please remember tomorrow is our full day registration day with buildings open from 8-12 and 3-7. Please come with completed documents, a mask, and only one person per family!
Call your respective schools if you have any questions!
It’s Registration week! Today is a beautiful day to stop by one of these tables at the Elementary to fill out your student’s Registration paperwork. Paper copies for each building are available in the bins outside every school! Please share to help us spread the word!
4th Grade teacher Ms. Frankie shares some good tips for wearing a mask at school! https://youtu.be/KWHBhByKpoM
Hometown proud! Help us welcome back one of our own to the Falcon Family. Mrs. Rachel Dewey joins our teaching force as a third grade teacher this fall. This will be her 8th year teaching. Her absolutely favorite book to read with students is "Tiger Rising" by Kate DiCamillo. In her free time, Mrs. Dewey loves spending time with her kiddos (Violet 3 and Calvin 1) swimming, taking walks, and swinging! She is SO excited to teach where she went to school and we are #FalconProud to have her teaching for her hometown! #IChoseGCMS
A recording of tonight's webinar is now available on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/Az19qor68LU
Please see below for a draft of the GCMS Return-to-Learn Plan. Supt. Darnell will discuss the draft on tonight's Facebook Live at 6:00 which can be joined at https://www.facebook.com/gcmsunit5/live/
https://bit.ly/gcmsrtl
Texas Instruments has provided their TI-84 CE as a free download to schools through June, 2021. This is perfect timing to coincide with our 1:1 initiative. The link will be pushed out to students when school starts.
6th Grade Transition Night Information
When asked about what she is looking forward to at GCMS, our new second grade teacher, Mrs. Anna Denault exclaimed: "I loved student teaching at GCMS & I’m excited to plant my roots in a school that feels like home to me already!"We are so excited to welcome you to your new home, Mrs. Denault! In her free time, Mrs. Denault enjoys decorating her house, reading books, and spending time outside. Her favorite book to read to students is "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" but she personally loves to read any good thriller that is a page-turner. Mrs. Denault LOVES teaching students about history and teaching children to be good, kind people. With those priorities, Mrs. Denault is obviously going to fit right in to our Falcon Family!
2021 is getting ready!
The registration forms have been updated to fix the errors with some of the fields, thank you for your patience! https://www.gcmsk12.org/article/276709?org=gcms
We have just learned there is an error with some of the checkboxes on our digital registration forms. We are updating the errors now and will have corrected forms online soon, stay tuned!
We are thrilled to welcome back Ms. Brittany Hari to the Falcon Family!
Ms. Hari student taught at GCMS High School and will be returning to teach English this year.
Three fun facts about Ms. Hari which you might find surprising:
1.) She loves listening to true crime podcasts.
2.) Her favorite text to teach is "Romeo and Juliet".
3) She has 4 cats and 1 dog!
All that AND she's a Cubs fan---how lucky are we!?!
Welcome to the Falcon Family, Ms. Hari! #IChoseGCMS
More of our Falcon family is getting in on the fun! Ms. Rousseau shows why it is important to wear your mask at school! https://youtu.be/mM4N_Jj2ffM
REMINDER- Middle School Softball practice begins tomorrow morning, Mon. July 27. Practice will be from 8-10AM at the High School Softball field.
Families,
It is with sadness that I share the announcement from the IESA director that the 2020-2021 Middle School / Junior High baseball and softball competition seasons and State series have been cancelled. You can read the full announcement at iesa.org.
GCMS will be providing opportunities for practice and skill refinement at the local level following appropriate health guidelines. Please stay tuned for further announcements from the Middle School and coaches.
There has been no decisions on IHSA high school athletics at his point.
-Sincerely
Jeremy Darnell
Superintendent
A recording of tonight's Return to Learn update webinar is now available on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/BJDJf1VVffI
Our 2nd Return to Learn Update Webinar is tonight at 6:00pm. Join us on Facebook Live to submit your questions https://www.facebook.com/gcmsunit5/live/
Ms. Riley and her friend Mr. Moose would like to remind everyone to wear your masks at school this year! https://youtu.be/W_V9U-06rPI
Our new mobile app will allow us to quickly push out important updates, make sure you update your settings to get all the GCMS news that is important to you!
Please help us welcome our new 8th grade science teacher, Ms. Carly Jurik, to the Falcon Family!
Ms. Jurik is from Heyworth and this will be her first year teaching. In her free time she enjoys hiking, reading, crafting, and traveling (she has a personal goal of visiting all 50 states!). When asked about why she chose GCMS, Ms. Jurik said: "Growing up in the HOIC, I saw that GCMS was always a team that had a bunch of community support. I can’t wait to be apart of that. I’m also looking forward to coaching volleyball as well and, of course, meeting my students."
#IChoseGCMS
We are so excited to introduce you to Ms. Chelsea Augsburger!
Ms. Augsburger will be teaching 3rd grade at GCMS Elementary this year. She is from El Paso, IL and is the youngest of three. "Those Shoes" is her favorite children's book of all time but she enjoys reading mysteries in her free time. This summer she has spent her time golfing, taking walks, and enjoying the outdoors as much as possible.
Ms. Augsbuger is just as excited to be teaching in our small-town community as we are to have her! Please give her a Falcon-proud welcome!
This is what 30,000 disposable masks looks like. We want ALL of our kids both here and safe, and are trying to do all we can to make that happen!!!
We’re thrilled to announce Gibson City-Melvin-
Sibley CUSD #5’s new app! It’s everything GCMS, in your
pocket. Download the app on Android: https://bit.ly/2BXYXgP or iPhone: https://apple.co/2BRMVp9.
We ask all parents of students eligible for transportation to complete this survey if you have not already done so (even if your student will NOT take the bus).
https://forms.gle/TTsUZFbHU4gp2bNy5
In case you missed our FB Live last night, here's a quick overview of the current GCMS Return-to-Learn Plan.
A recording of tonight's Return to Learn update webinar is now available on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/RjrIyS7u79I
We invite our whole community to join us for our Return to Learn update webinar Thurs 7/15 6:00pm. Watch and comment live at https://www.facebook.com/gcmsunit5/live/. A recording of the event will also be available afterward at https://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalFalcons
Wednesday, July 15: High school football and girls’ basketball workouts are cancelled for tonight.
Join us for a Facebook Live event Thursday night at 6:00 to hear about progress on the GCMS Return-to-Learn Plan! https://www.facebook.com/gcmsunit5/live/
Class of 2020 today is the day to pick up your graduation photos and video of the ceremony. The office is open until noon today!
In a time when good news can be hard to find, you'll find a smile in this one. Congrats, Aidan! https://www.wcia.com/sports/gcms-football-standout-aidan-laughery-lands-illinois-offer/?fbclid=IwAR2lLLZIQHmU5eJ3fovS-fZONbFnG1nXflNGxzrUwOOwvJ4rSblWCm9WjEE
GCMS Parents--please complete our Return-to-School Parent Survey!
https://forms.gle/2SksRVZ9wfT8uVy58
Middle School Schedules are available in LUMEN at https://lumen.gcms.k12.il.us/ Remember that when logging in use "5" for the location. If you have trouble logging in contact willis.walker@gcmsk12.org.
FYI our website is updating to a new format with some new features coming soon! For the next few days you may see some error messages when loading the site while all the changes take place. Thank you in advance for your patience!
Families can start preparing now for wearing masks in the fall!
Are you an incoming freshman and interested in the Tennis Team this fall? If so email coach Davis at davis.cortney@gcmsk12.org for more information. Go Falcons!
Elementary School Supply lists for the 2020-2021 school year are now available! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EmykpxSNUtmFxDhErbeqIIWaNOKrEzWg?usp=sharing
Incoming Freshmen Girls interested in playing basketball please contact Coach Dornbusch at dornbusch.keri@gcmsk12.org for information.
Also please join the team's Remind for regular updates:
text @2h6fg3 to the number 81010
or
https://www.remind.com/join/2h6fg3
Even the pandemic can’t stop the Falcon Drumline. Mr. Renchen and the Drumline had their first rehearsal of the season tonight via Google Meet (some members not shown) and will be working hard this summer to get their music performance-ready for the Fall.
GCMS Graduate Chase Pondel was officially presented with his David "Moe" Sweet Golf Scholarship. Congratulations Chase!
Just a reminder that the school supply box orders are only available until the end of the week. Please know that this is not a requirement, but is an option for those who don't want to search out all of the supplies over the summer. You can order online at www.shopttkits.com. Our school account # that you will have to use to order online is 12346. Please make sure that you are ordering for the grade that your child will be in NEXT year. These kits will be available to purchase until May 29th and will be available for pick up at registration. Thanks!
Every year, the 8th graders participate in the 8th grade Olympics. The kids dress up in team colors, have team chants, and battle for the coveted 8th grade olympics trophy. Because of remote learning, this year's 8th grade class were going to miss out on this anticipated event. So, the 8th grade teachers came up with a way for the 8th graders to do 8th grade olympics- quarantine style! Take a look at what the students came up with in this year's Quarantine Olympics! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnsSeC3bBFW2p75Kk56qNcXUFTMsKpuDC
GCMS Middle School will be live streaming our 8th grade awards! Join us Tuesday, May 19 at 6pm. https://stream.meet.google.com/stream/c3722922-ff2c-49e8-8888-aef0eb377bf2
GCMS Middle School will be live streaming our 8th grade awards! Join us Tuesday, May 19 at 6pm. https://stream.meet.google.com/stream/c3722922-ff2c-49e8-8888-aef0eb377bf2
GCMS Middle School will be live streaming our 8th grade awards! Join us Tuesday, May 19 at 6pm. https://stream.meet.google.com/stream/c3722922-ff2c-49e8-8888-aef0eb377bf2
Congratulations to our Middle School Students of the Month for May 2020! https://www.gcmsk12.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=5IPPPY&dasi=33PI
You can now see all of our Senior scholarship winners in one place at this link! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSp1uHZ0GTPlxdMp0PKTEKHQRQ2Vy3bKdCArr0steKeYtMqRlPIAr6_8WoAL5s-swnSzQJSjiiD0sLn/pub?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000
We are proud to present a look back at the class of 2020! Thank you to Karson Davis for editing this together. https://youtu.be/u1RvmWVjP3A
Congratulations to the winners of the Hiram & Anne Robbins Sibley Scholarship - Taylor Dueringer and Spencer Meenen
Congratulations to winners of GCMS Ag. Department Scholarships - Taylor Dueringer, Lauren Leonard, Kelsee Cliff, Brooke Beyers, Kylee Mueller, Keegan Brucker
Congratulations to the winner of the Curriculum Coordinating Committee Scholarship - Hannah Hathaway
Please take a moment to read the attached letter from Mr. Darnell providing information on our graduation celebrations. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z0sloMBVo3KQp_i05LfAWGQkVWQHfysb/view?usp=sharing
Congratulations to the Early College and Career Academy CNA Student of the Year - Kelsee Cliff!
Congratulations to the winners of Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution Recognition - Hannah Hathaway and Payton Kean
Congratulations to the WCIA 2020 Best of the Class - Olivia Overman
Congratulations to the Bank of Gibson City Student of the Year - Hannah Hathaway!
Congratulations to the winner of the David “Moe” Sweet Golf Scholarship - Chase Pondel
Congratulations to the winners of the Gibson City Masonic Lodge Scholarship - Ethan Freehill and Emily Clinton!
Congratulations to the winner of the Phil & Eva Loy Scholarship - Keegan Kutemeier!
Congratulations to the winner of the Frieda Garber Scholarship - Karson Davis!
Congratulations to the winner of the Future Teachers of America Scholarship - Hannah Hathaway!
Congratulations to the winners of the John W. Cowell Scholarship - Payton Kean and Rylee Tompkins!
Congratulations to the winners of the Jake’s Boys Scholarships - Taylor Dueringer and Emily Clinton
Congratulations to the winner of the Rotary Reach for the Stars Scholarship - Kylee Mueller!
Congratulations to the Rotary Service Scholarship winner - Hannah Hathaway!
Congratulations to the Rotary-Interact Member of the year - Hannah Cliff!
Congratulations to our Lions Club Scholarship winners - Keegan Kutemeier and Lauren Leonard!
Congratulations to the winner of the Red Cross Award - Hannah Cliff!
Congratulations to the Heart of GCMS Scholarship winner - Emily Clinton!
Congratulations to our Illinois State Scholars from the class of 2020! Ethan Freehill, Hannah Hathaway, Daniel Jones, Rylee Tompkins, Payton Kean, Spencer Hazen, Madelyn Schutte, Summer Roesch, Olivia Overman, Keegan Kutemeier, Sierra Hileman
Locker pick-up and drop off of supplies
GCMS HS Families –All school lockers will be cleaned out and prepared for pick up by families according to the schedule below. During your scheduled pick up time, we ask that you please return ALL HS textbooks, library/classroom books, sport uniforms, school calculators, etc. Staff members will deliver items to your car so you do not have to exit your vehicle. Please follow the schedule below in order to make this process run smoothly.
May 18 - Freshmen and Sophomores 2:00-5:00
May 19 - Juniors and Seniors 2:00-5:00
Chris Garard – GCMS HS Principal
GCMS Graduation/Senior Scholarship Announcement
GCMS High School’s Graduation ceremony scheduled for May 16 has been postponed to June 27 at 7:00 in the HS Gymnasium. We are also planning on combining our Senior Scholarship Assembly with our Graduation Ceremony in order to further recognize and celebrate our seniors. We are optimistic that the social distancing guidelines will be lifted by this time. Please stay tuned for additional information regarding Graduation for the Class of 2020.
Chris Garard – GCMS HS Principal
GCMS Prom Announcement
GCMS High School’s Prom was scheduled to take place on April 25 at ISU. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, it is with great regret that we announce that Prom will not be rescheduled. We understand this is not a popular decision and we are deeply sorry. I would encourage everyone to dress up and post pictures to their social media accounts for all to see.
Chris Garard – GCMS HS Principal
We have a bonus read along today for Easter weekend! Ms. Laughery reads The Easter Bunny's Assistant with permission from Scholastic. https://www.facebook.com/gcmsunit5/videos/157758455544536/
We've added a few more staff members to our parade! We still miss you all and we are #inthistogether and #falconproud https://www.facebook.com/gcmsunit5/videos/3015416378522413/
Today we have another GCMS originial! Elizabeth and the 8 Fairies is written, illustrated and read by Lilly Lahr.
https://www.facebook.com/gcmsunit5/videos/261206338242709/