GPS District Digest (v4, i5)
Stories, news, and updates from Greenwich Public Schools
A Sight for Sore Eyes
With two full months of the school year complete, there is only eight more to go! And let's face it: the GPS District Digest makes your day, week, month, and year!
As you would imagine, the amount of amazing content we get in the Digest newsroom is plentiful, so if you have told us about something great in your part of the world, be patient. We will get to you too!
Issue No. 5 is jammed packed with the sights and sounds of Halloween. Costumes, pumpkins, parades, and great music is what we have in store for you. You get extra credit if you can spot the John Mellencamp lyric. The amount of giving to those that need and positivity that we cover is incredible. It makes us think: What are we doing to help?
Well, let's get to it!
Enjoy Issue No. 5 and thanks for reading! Tell a friend.
GPS District Digest
Halloween Spooktacular Concert
Last week at the Performing Arts Center, the GHS Orchestra held its first concert of the school year: "Halloween Spooktacular Concert." The performance included spooky sounds of the season, a side-by-side piece with eighth graders from all three middle schools, and a bunch of other fun surprises. Children who came dressed in costume and were in the Halloween spirit received candy at the door.
All GHS concerts are free and open to the public. Head to the GHS webpage dedicated to their amazing music program for more information.
Enjoy the video!
Yellow Tulips Around Town
Earlier this month, PTAC’s Health and Wellness Committee and Kids in Crisis held The Yellow Tulip Project event throughout Greenwich to plant more than 1,000 yellow tulip bulbs as visual “Hope Gardens.” More than 75 Volunteers brought their shovel, gloves, and hopeful spirit to help smash the stigma of mental illness.
“We are here today to plant a hope garden because when communities come together to plant a garden and get their hands dirty," Youth Ambassador Bridget Carriello said that day, "hope happens.”
The committee wants you to remember that this is just the beginning of the project and asks that you spread the word. It is important that everyone keeps their eyes out for our yellow tulips and understands the meaning behind them.
Spooky Havemeyer 🎃
In October, the staff at the District's Havemeyer Building had themselves a pumpkin decorating contest, and let's be honest: the results were amazing. The incredible creativity that you would expect from educators and administrators was on full display. There were scary pumpkins, cute pumpkins, educational pumpkins, and even a pooch pumpkin.
The decisions of the judges were final and the trophies and medals were all distributed. And there's winners and there's losers, but that ain't no big deal. Enjoy the video recap!
Windrose is Boss
Students in GHS' Windrose Program are gaining experience in public speaking, presentation, critical thinking, critique, and creative problem-solving while working with the Bruce Museum, giving students a connection with a community resource.
This project is the first in a series of collaborative partnerships between Windrose and the Bruce Museum. The initial aspect of the partnership introduces students to the "New Bruce" and asks them to create a social media campaign for the museum during the months before the New Bruce opening. Students make two visits to the museum in order to learn about the New Bruce project.
After these visits, students collaborate with their teachers and staff from the Bruce to put together poster presentations of their social media campaign. Marketing staff from the Bruce provide critique and feedback to students after their presentations. Based on this feedback, students will create a social media post for their campaign and the Bruce Museum will use the posts.
The Great Pumpkin Rescue 🎃
The Greenwich Conservation Commission and Waste Free Greenwich will host The Great Pumpkin Rescue on Saturday, November 12 from 1:00-4:00 PM at the Cos Cob train station parking lot to collect pumpkins for composting and to raise awareness about food waste in our community.
Bring your pumpkins to be composted and stay for the fun! This free, family-friendly event will feature a pumpkin smash and lawn games, including pumpkin bowling, spooky ring toss, pumpkin bean bag toss and gourd tic-tac-toe. Earn raffle tickets for a chance to win prizes to green your home.
To participate in the pumpkin smash, guests must bring their own bat or mallet and protective eyewear. The Waste Free Greenwich team will also conduct a compost demonstration to share tips about backyard composting and other ways to cut food waste.
Head to Waste Free Greenwich's website or email wastefreegreenwich@gmail.com for more information.
Red Ribbon Week
Late last month, the Greenwich High School Outreach Club organized events for Red Ribbon Week to serve as a catalyst to mobilize communities to educate youth and encourage living a drug free life. The theme for their Red Ribbon campaign was: "Celebrate Life. Live Drug Free."
Students from all grades stopped by the Red Ribbon table during lunch to get a red ribbon, temporary tattoo, sticker, and wristband. The Red Ribbon Week banner was signed by students as a way to pledge to celebrate life and live drug free.
Red Ribbon Week is a national campaign that started in 1985 in response to the murder of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena. Angered parents and youth in communities across the country began wearing red ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raise awareness of the killing and destruction caused by drugs in America.
Project Connect at Eastern MS
Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students at Eastern Middle School celebrated "Unity Day" last week by wearing orange clothing to show unity for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. To recognize Bully Prevention Month, it sent a visible message that no child should ever experience bullying.
As part of Unity Day, students participated in "Project Connect" by creating on their own link on a massive paper chain. Each student wrote one thing they can do to make their school a safer place for their peers or what makes them unique and proud of who they are as an individual.
The chain is now displayed in the media center for all of their students to see.
Good Eats🥕🍎🥦
Let's take a trip close to home with GPS Food Service Director David Nanarello this issue as he recently visited the Greenwich Farmer's Market one Saturday at the commuter parking lot at the corner of Arch Street and Horseneck Lane.
Mr. Nanarello is developing great relationships with local farmers for purchasing and including on our menus. He agrees that farm to school enriches the community's connection with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and early care and education settings.
For the next issue of the Digest, we hope he shares photos of GHS' farm to school display, introducing farmers from our area and serving local apple cider and apple cider donuts to the students.
As always, Mr. Nanarello encourages families to use the Food Service Department as a resource in setting up lunch accounts, navigating menus and of course any allergy concerns. Feel free to reach out anytime!
Behind their Screens
On Sunday, November 20 at 3:00 PM at Greenwich Library’s Berkley Theater, Harvard researcher Emily Weinstein will discuss her co-authored book, “Behind their Screens: What Teens are Facing (and Adults are Missing),” with moderator Kathy Steiner of Greenwich High School. In the book, authors Emily Weinstein and Carrie James explain that young people need empathy, not exasperated eye-rolling from adults who should try and understand the complicated nature of teens’ online life rather than issue commands. This event is co-sponsored by Greenwich Alliance for Education, Greenwich Library, Greenwich PTA Council, and Perrot Memorial Library.
Winter Coat Drive
The Department of Human Services is holding their annual winter coat drive through November 17, with donation locations at Town Hall, Athena Book Store, Greenwich Kempo, and Tag. This year, they have teamed up with St Paul's Catholic Church and the Greenwich Human Services Foundation to collect new and gently used coats of all sizes. Last year, they distributed 600 coats to families, but still had to turn some residents away because they ran out of coats.
Around the GPS Twittersphere 📱
Are you one of the 1,921 loyal followers of @GPSDistrict on Twitter?
On social media, we will keep our community informed of breaking news and all good things GPS. Sometimes, we will even have a Twitter Takeover with some of your favorite people. And we love to show you some of our favorite posts around the GPS Twittersphere.
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Email: communications@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Location: 290 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT, USA
Phone: (203) 625-7415