Notes from the WGIS Principal

Dear WGIS Families,

I would like to start this week's E-News by congratulating our 2024 Camillus Optimist Students and Teacher of the Year! Abigail Ames and Myles Avery were both selected this year through teacher nominations for the honor of Optimist Students of the Year and Mrs. Callahan (Team 5-1) was selected as our WGIS Optimist Teacher of the Year! All 3 recipients embody what is means to be a Wildcat through their kindness, hard work and ability to "Think Big" when it comes to conquering a new challenge. Congratulations!!!

Next week, we are going to reviewing building wide and classroom expectations. Our building has made a commitment to revisiting these expectations on a regular basis throughout the year to ensure all students have a welcoming and safe learning environment at WGIS. We will also have out first "LockDown" drill. This drill can bring up questions and at times, anxiety from students. Please discuss with your children the importance of having these drills that prepare us if there ever was an emergency in the building. The goal of these drills is to ensure everyone's safety in your building. If you have any concerns, please contact me at school.

As always, thank you for your continued partnership with our school to make sure all of our students find success at WGIS.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

This page provides thoughts and commentary from Dan MacCollum, the Principal of West Genesee Intermediate School in the West Genesee Central School District.

Our clubs are up and running! Below please find the schedule for when each club will be meeting during the month of October. As a reminder, we offer late buses on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3:15pm.

Run Club will be meeting Monday, October 21st, Wednesday, October 23rd, Monday October 28th and Wednesday October 30th.

Interact Club will be meeting Wednesday, October 16th.This will be the first meeting for this club. For more information, have your child reach out to Mrs. Ciarla or Mrs. Cotter!

Student Council will be meeting Monday, October 21st and Monday October 28th.

STEAM Club will be meeting on the following dates October 21st, October 23rd, October 28th and October 30th. Each meeting is for different groups, so please make sure to check the STEAM Club Google Classroom for details!

Chess Club will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, October 23rd. Make sure your child grabs informational sheet from Mrs. Barbuto or Mr. Strumlok regarding chess club!

Click here for Club Descriptions

Our "IT" (Interaction Time) busses have returned beginning this week (10/7). These busses allow us to run clubs and activities after school on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30-3:15. IT busses are only available on Mondays and Wednesdays and can only support clubs that end at 3:15. These busses are not utilized for musical practices since those rehearsals go past 3:15.

This year, we will be using Second Step to promote positive character traits in our students here at WGIS. Each week, we will focus on a new character trait. Students who exemplify the character trait of the week will have an opportunity to be recognized on the Friday announcements and be featured in our weekly e-news.

This week, we recognized students that used kind words throughout the school day. Next week, we will focus on perseverance. We will be on the lookout for students showing perseverance as they interact with each other, their teachers and our school.

This week, we recognized students who went out of their way to use kind words . Congratulations to Marshall, Dawson, Shea and Eliana, our Positivity Paw winners !

We are blessed at WGIS to have both an amazing student body and faculty! Our students show exemplary behaviors every day in school and our teachers show an unwavering commitment to student achievement for all students. Partnering with the Camillus Optimist organization, we have the opportunity to recognize an outstanding teacher and two outstanding sixth grade students every year! Faculty nominated many students and fellow teachers for these awards and we are proud to announce our recipients for this year!

Please join us in congratulating our Camillus Optimist Students of the year: Abigail Ames and Myles Avery! Criteria for this designation are: students who exhibit patience, perseverance, initiative, caring, flexibility, effort, creativity, integrity, responsibility and academic achievement while demonstrating school spirit and involvement in school and outside activities. Congratulations Abigail and Myles!

We are also proud to announce that our Camillus Optimist Teacher of the Year is Mrs. Callahan! Criteria for this designation is: teacher sensitivity to the needs of their students, creating a classroom atmosphere that is exciting, challenging and successful for each student, and a teacher who has a goal for their own professional growth and the general improvement of the quality of instruction at West Genesee. Congratulation's Mrs. Callahan!

Our student council will be putting on a "Themed Friday" each Friday. This past Friday, students wore their favorite jersey or sports apparel. This upcoming Friday (10/18) the student council encourages everyone to wear Pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

On Wednesday, October 23rd, the student council will be selling wristbands during lunch periods to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness. Wristbands will be $1.00 and exact change would be very much appreciated! The money raised will be donated to Cancer Connects which is a local non profit organization that provides free programs and services to help people during their cancer journey.

On Friday, October 25th, Student Council has chosen to have a PINK OUT for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Wear your pink to show your support!

WGIS will be hosting a costume contest on Thursday, October 31st for any students interested in participating. Winners will receive a prize donated by the PTA.The costume contest will take place during lunch, and the school day will run on it's usual schedule. There are 5 categories for the costume contest;

1. Most Creative/DIY
2. Funniest
3. Historical or Book Character
4. Best Overall
5. Best Group Costumes

Be on the lookout for a ParentSquare message next week with guidelines for appropriate and acceptable costumes.

Next week we will have our first Lock Down drill of the year. This will be the first of four mandated Lock Down drills we have this year. The primary steps for students during these drills is to remain quiet, listen to their teacher or adult in the room and move to an area that cannot be seen from the hallway (away from the locked classroom door).

Our first drill will allow time for questions in classrooms and clarification on what students should do in the classroom space. Please reach out if you have any questions.

A reminder to all students and adults dropping students off in the morning - Students should exit vehicles as soon as they are pulled up next to the curbed sidewalk in the morning. Please do not wait until you are closer to the building. If all students get out of their vehicles once they are next to the curbed sidewalk, then we will be able to move more vehicles through the line, quicker. Thank you for your cooperation.

Amazon Wishlists

Each year, we invite the teachers to submit an Amazon Wishlist that will be shared with the school community. These items are used to support and enhance instruction for our children throughout the year. The teachers and staff are so appreciative of the support. This is a way to show our gratitude for their efforts each day with our children. The links to the wishlists can be found here: https://docs.google.com/.../1y9cOM3uS-0wRxLcgJx6.../edit...

Book Swap

We are preparing for our annual book swap. This event occurs in the spring and is quite popular with our students. If you have any books (appropriate for students 9-12 years old) that you are done with, you can send them in with your student or drop them off at the main office. We also collect adult books and keep those separate for the teachers and staff. We need about 2000 books to ensure this event is a success!

Join the PTA

Lastly, the PTA would love your support! There is no commitment to participate in any meetings or events, but your $10 membership helps us ensure that we have the funds to continue the events that support our school community. You can join here: https://wgms.givebacks.com/store?limit=21&live=true

• October 25- Pink out for Breast Cancer Awareness

• October 31 - Halloween

• November 5 - 1/2 Day of school (Supt. Conference Day)

• November 11 - No School - Veterans Day

• November 27-29 - Thanksgiving Recess