February is a busy month when Gardner will be celebrating Black History Month and Random Acts of Kindness.  Similar to last year and throughout the month, posters of African Americans who have made an impact in our country as civil leaders will be hidden around campus.  Students are encouraged to keep their eye out for the posters as they pop up and read about these amazing figures and then share those interesting facts with each other, family members at home, or me during recess. This will be like a month-long fact finding mission!  Also, Mrs. Tew’s class is leading us in Random Acts of Kindness and will share more ideas for students to do to show kindness throughout the month.  This morning they shared plenty of ideas to get us all started.  Thank you Mrs. Tew’s class!

Coffee with the Principal

Due to a Leadership Conference that I will be attending, the February Coffee has been cancelled.   However, you can look forward to our March 9th Coffee when Ms. Semple will share the “Zones of Regulations” with parents.  Zones of Regulation is a framework to foster self-regulation and emotional control and provides staff and students with a common language and understanding of emotions. For more information on how you can use the same language at home with your children, join us on March 9^th right after the Friday Assembly. 

Mindfulness for Parents

Join me and Dr. Behnaz Shahidi on Thursday, February 15th at 6:00 pm to hear about GB's mindfulness program.  Dr. Shahidi will discuss the benefits of practicing mindfulness at home and in the classroom and will share best practices as well as answer any questions you may have.  We will meet in the faculty lounge located in the front of the school.  

Solar Project Update  

While all or most of the fencing has been removed at several sites, fencing is still needed at Covington, Santa Rita, Gardner Bullis, and Egan Schools for approximately another week.  Most of the fencing at those sites should be removed by the end of next week.  A huge thanks to everyone for their patience during this very long construction period.  It won't be long before we start generating our own power.

A Shout Out to Mrs. Loebner & Mrs. Tandon’s Classes!

The kindergartner and 3^rd grade buddy project is a perfect example of combining Black History Month and Acts of Kindness.  According to Mrs. Loebner: Together, the kinders and 3^rd graders did a lot of learning about MLK, discussing his desire to make the world a better place for all people.  The students talked about their own dreams and made a big poster on the wall outside of the multi. Then, they talked about how they could “repair the world” right here in our corner of the world.  Mrs. Loebner expressed that the food banks were not getting many donations now that the holidays were over and they decided to create a challenge for the two classes.  In honor of the 100^th day of school, they decided to see if they could collect 100 cans in each classroom to donate to the Second Harvest.  The students did the math and figured out how many cans each child would need to bring in. In total, they collected 269 cans/packages of food, filling the bin in the foyer of the multi!  100% participation for a common goal.  Grizzlies are Kind!

Coming soon:  6^th grade Valentine Café and Student Council Flower-grams

Join the 6^th grade students at their Valentine café Wednesday, February14th in the multi before school.  More information to come on all of the delicious treats they will have and the focus of this year's 6^th grade donation project.  I can tell you that the 6th grade team has been working very hard to prepare and share a lovely experience for us all and we are very excited to see what they do!  

You will also be able to purchase a flower for someone special and attach a special note-which will then be delivered to the student’s classroom Valentine morning.  All proceeds will go back into the Student Council for future projects and fundraisers.

Nadia Oskolkoff, Principal