Glenwood Intermediate School - Ball Chatham CUSD #5

Intermediate School
Glenwood
A publication of the Ball-Chatham School District November, 2012

On the Cover
During Homecoming Spirit Week,
held the first week of October, all
Ball-Chatham employees participated
in a canned food drive to benefit the
Ball-Chatham Food Pantry. The students
pictured above were helping to pack up
all the items, which were then put on a
bus for delivery. Thank you GIS staff for
your kind generosity!
Virtual Backpack
Coming Soon
The Ball-Chatham School District
will be launching at the beginning
of 2013 a new approach to
distributing information to students
from outside non-profit organizations,
intergovernmental agencies,
and business partners, for which it
grants approval.
Rather than sending home
flyers for organizations in book
bags, through email blasts, or in our
newsletters, we will be posting such
information on a Virtual Backpack
webpage throughout the school
year for all to see. (Homework and
district/school/class correspondence
will continue to be sent home as
always, however, so be sure to check
your child’s backpack for these types
of items.) This new procedure will
save staff hours of sorting/ handling
these flyers, reduce “reader fatigue”
from email blasts, and reduce the
amount of paper being distributed.
Suitability and approval will be at the
discretion of the district.
Submission procedures and
requirements will be posted on the
Virtual Backpack page.
BCEF Approves Donation for
Electronic Learning Devices at GIS
At their October 16 board meeting,
trustees of the Ball-Chatham Educational
Foundation approved funding
of electronic learning devices (or up to
$21,600) for use by Glenwood Intermediate
School students in support of its
technology initiative entitled, “Bring
Your Own Device” (BYOD).
“The grant from the Ball-Chatham
Educational Foundation to fund the
purchase of cutting-edge technology
for the 5th grade classrooms fits the
Foundation’s mission to support innovation
in our district,” says Dave Kelm,
BCEF president. “This grant will be used
to pilot 21st century technology in the
Ball-Chatham school district. What our
5th grade teachers will learn about how
students interact with these new technologies
will guide future decisions by
the District Board and District Administration.“
BYOD was first piloted at GIS last
year in two fifth grade classrooms and
plans are to bring more classrooms into
the fold. According to Dan Lund, GIS
Principal, students today are growing
up in a world that includes constant access
to information through the use of
these emerging technologies. “Students
will be able to utilize the technology
purchased with the grant to focus on
enhancing their 21st century learning
skills,” he says. “They will be able to not
only access information instantly to
enhance the science and social studies
curriculum but will also be able to
become engaged in higher order
Box Tops Update
learning activities. The usage of these
devices will increase the engagement
of students, promote collaboration,
and enable students to be creators of
content. In addition, teachers can select
and utilize specific apps to engage students
in interactive ways.”
“The district is thrilled to have this
commitment from our Foundation,”
says Superintendent Carrie VanAlstine.
“There’s a great cost savings to the
district to allow students who have
them to bring in their own devices, but
we know not every student has this
technology, so this donation goes a
long way to supplementing the devices
brought in by students.”
About the One-to-One Initiative,
Kelm adds, “The Ball-Chatham Educational
Foundation is proud to be able
to help support this effort with donations
received from parents, teachers,
businesses and community leaders.
Fundraising events, such as the upcoming
Titan Trek 5K, provide the dollars
necessary for such exciting efforts and
the Foundation is grateful to be able
partner with the district to make these
programs a reality.”
GIS & GMS are off to a record-breaking start with over 4,600 Box Tops collected
so far this year. Thank YOU very much for collecting. With Thanksgiving
just around the corner, think Box Tops - crescent rolls, green beans,
butter, broccoli, flour and many other products are Box Tops approved. Keep
sending them in.
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice
are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of
democracy, therefore, is education.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt

BYOD: Learning Through Technology
The Ball-Chatham School District is looking to expand its one-to-one initiative, “Bring Your
Own Device,” at the fifth grade level this school year. Beginning in January 2013, students
may bring their own laptops or tablets with browsing capabilities to class to access education
resources from anywhere in the world without leaving their desks.
Ball-Chatham’s intent is to ensure that every student has access to, and experience in, learning
through technology. Unfortunately, state and federal budget cuts prevent the district from
purchasing these devices on its own.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation of one of the following (new or
used) in support of BYOD through the Ball-Chatham Educational Foundation:
qGoogle Apple Chromebooks TV qiPad2 qiPad3 iPad3 qApple Monetary TV qMonetary Donation Donation
If you would like to donate, contact Patrick Murphy at the BCEF - pmurphy@chathamschools.
org. If you have BYOD curriculum questions, contact tniemeyer@chathamschools.org.
Thank You!

GIS/GMS PTO News
VOLUNTEER NEWS
• Parent/Teacher Conferences -
Thank you to all the parents and guardians
that donated food and money to
ensure that all the teachers were fed
during the two days of Parent Teacher
Conferences at GIS and GMS. A special
thank you to Maria Plaza and Marilyn
Jefferis for organizing the luncheons at
each school.
• Holiday Goodies - Our annual
Holiday Goodies will be held in December
Parents are encouraged to send in
a goodie to GIS and or GMS as a thankyou
to our terrific teachers and staff.
• To volunteer - please contact Judy
Gartland at g.tomandjudy@comcast.net
FUNDRAISING UPDATES
• Spirit Wear & Student Directories
- Sales are complete, and all orders have
been distributed to the students.
• Century Fundraiser - Started on
October 1, and was well received by GIS
and GMS family and friends. Delivery for
the fundraiser will be on November 7 at
GIS in the field house
Thank you to the many families
that supported these yearly fundraisers.
Some special thanks go out to goes out
to the following parents. Beth Edwards,
for the creation of this years school
directory, Amy Lash, for our Sprit Wear,
Laura Menke and Marilyn Jefferis for
their hard work in organizing the Century
Fundraiser.
Final totals are still being tallied,
and we will announce the grand totals
next month. The bulk of the PTO’s fundraising
goes towards teacher grants.
HELP EARN MONEY FOR GIS/GMS
Money is tight, and time is short, but
you can still help GIS/GMS earn money
by simply doing what you normally do
– shopping for your family at your local
stores. SCRIP. Purchase a wide selection
of gift cards thru SCRIP at GIS/GMS, and
GIS/GMS receives a percentage back
from each sale. The SCRIP order form is
online under the PTO section. Simply
print out your order form, fill it out, and
send it to school with your student.
SCRIP orders are completed within a
few days. This is a great holiday gift –
save yourself the holiday scramble!
ONLINE INFORMATION
• PTO information is posted on the
GIS and GMS website. We are under
the “Our School” tab. You’ll find information
about PTO, meeting dates, and
more.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Nov 7 Century Fundraiser Delivery
Nov 10 Titan Trek
Nov 12 No School - Veterans Day
Nov 22/23 Thanksgiving Break
LITTLE ITALY’S
Keep sending in your Little Italy’s proof
of purchase seals (on the back of each
pizza box). For every seal, Little Italy’s
gives us 50 cents. Our last deposit
totaled $60! Thank you Little Italy’s.
Thank you parents!

Box Tops 2012-2013
Be a Box Tops Super Star!!
Where Titans Have Strong Learning Habits
Learning Habit # 4: Large tasks should be broken down into smaller ones. For example, if an
essay is to be written, the tasks might include coming up with a thesis, writing a solid first paragraph, planning out the
points that need to be covered, researching those points, writing each section, etc.
Learning Habit # 5: Keep a "log book" or record of needs to be accomplished in each study section. Your child can look
over it later and be impressed with themselves!
Learning Habit # 6: Keep studying supplies in a handy place, like in a shoe box. Have your child organize them so they
can grab what they want quickly, without having to rummage around.
Source: http://www.familycorner.com/education/study_habits.shtml
TAPE one Box Top over each picture. Return the completed form to your teacher as soon as possible. Fifth graders, to your homeroom teacher.
Sixth graders, to your First Hour teacher. Please, no expired Box Tops (i.e. it is expired if the expiration date is before the date you return the
completed sheet) or Box Tops with the date accidentally cut off. Questions/Comments/New Collection Sheets – send an email to
GISGMSptoboxtops@gmail.com Thanks for participating! Please consider making a copy of this collection sheet to help save expenses for the
school and the PTO. Only five collection sheets will be sent home this year.
NAME___________________________________________ TEACHER________________________________________ GRADE________________

Thank you
to our 2012
sponsors!!
Bryan Albracht, DO; Beth
Bergman, MD; Sarah
Fowler, MD; Xinyan
Huang, MD; John Kwedar,
MD; David Lieber,
MD; Chris Ryan, MD; Jeff
Thompson, MD; Ravi and
Pramila Venigalla
Timothy A. VanFleet, MD
Ball-Chatham
Education Association