GMS Weekly Newsletter

Good Afternoon Wolf Pack Families!

Next Friday will be the end of Marking Period 3. This school year has gone by so quickly! Please take this weekend to sit down with your student and look at their progress in each of their classes. Many of our teachers accept late work until the end of the Marking Period. It's not too late to get some work done to boost your student's grades for MP3!

On Thursday, I had the privilege of attending the 6/7/8 Band Concert. Our students were well prepared and played beautifully. Ms. Podnar had our 2 High School Band Teachers from WLC and WLW conduct a piece with our 7th and 8th grade students. We are lucky to have such a fantastic performing arts program in Walled Lake Schools. Thank you Ms. Podnar for your work in preparing our students for this concert.

Wishing all of our Wolf Pack Families a fantastic weekend,

Stuart Riley

Principal, Geisler Middle School

Upcoming Events

3/17-3/21-Spirit Week

3/18-Track Practice Begins

3/19-Howl Back Dance-3:00-4:30 (must be registered by 3/17)-No Track Practice

3/22-3/30-Spring Break

3/31-School Resumes

In collaboration with all Walled Lake Middle Schools and Special Services Department, Geisler Middle School is proud to host a Spirit Week (March 17-21) celebrating inclusion. What is inclusion? Inclusion in the classroom means that all children, no matter their racial, religious, or ethnic background, gender, learning style, or ability have equal access to educational opportunities in a learning environment where all students are equally safe, valued, and respected.

Please see the attached letter from Mr. Scaling, Deputy Superintendent of Schools. Please sign and return the Opt Out form by Friday, March 28, 2025. If you have questions about our HIV/AIDS curriculum, please reach out to Mr. Riley stuartriley@wlcsd.org

The 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C. will be from Tuesday, April 22 to Saturday, April 26. Students who are not going on the trip should still plan to attend school those days as students will still be engaged in different learning opportunities. We are happy to have the Walled Lake Outdoor Education Center here on Thursday, April 24 in the afternoon to do some team building activities with the students. There is a small fee of $7/student to participate along with a signed permission slip + waiver. Please turn in your completed form and payment to your child’s social studies teacher by Wednesday, April 2.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rhSliE3W9ZPDwTdn2SyGGmBtYJOVR5Hz/view?usp=sharing

TL;DR Version -
3/17: LAST DAY to register for the Howl Back Dance - https://www.geislerptsa.com/dance
3/17: All raffle donations must be dropped off at the school
3/19: Howl Back Dance from 3-4:30pm
3/20: Last day to purchase FFE Tuition Expedition 50/50 Raffle Tickets
3/31: Last day to sign up to volunteer for the 8th grade celebrations - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-0SsKGG-KlDN1HkC5FSVHUYUYq96sYxywAhOm0skIhYeLJw/viewform?usp=sharing
4/7: Next PTSA Meeting at 7pm - Don’t miss it! The Principals from Banks and Walnut Creek will be there!!

HOWL-BACK DANCE - March 19, 2025
🐺 Register Your Student for the Howl Back Dance – March 19th! 🎉

Don’t forget to register your student for the FREE Howl Back Dance on Wednesday, March 19th, from 3:00-4:30 PM! Registration is required by March 17th.

Students will enjoy music, games, and free popcorn while having fun with friends. Send them with extra cash for raffle tickets (prizes still needed!) and concessions. Encourage them to wear their Geisler gear to show school spirit!

🔗 Register here: https://www.geislerptsa.com/dance

We also need raffle prizes and volunteers—sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080C45AEAE23A6F94-55626040-howlback#/

Let’s make this a great event for our students! 🐺🎶

🎉 The 20th Annual Tuition Expedition 50/50 Raffle Tickets Available! 🎉

🎟️ Tuition Expedition – Win Big for Education! 💰

Support education and enter to win a scholarship fund or cash payout!

🎟️ $50 per ticket or 3 for $100 (Only 1,000 available!)
🏆 Grand Prize: 50% of proceeds as a scholarship or 40% as a cash payout
💲 Secondary Prize: $1,000
🤑 Last year’s scholarship was over $11,000!

📅 Drawing: March 31, 2025, at Walled Lake Northern (Need not be present to win)

Get tickets today! Contact Hillary Glaser at hillaryglaser@wlcsd.org by March 20th!

📢 8th Grade Families – We Need You! 🎉

Help make the 8th Grade Celebration Breakfast & Dance on June 10th unforgettable!

📅 Event Details:
🥯 Breakfast: 7:30-8:30 AM (Set-Up & Clean-Up)
🕺 Dance: 6:30-8 PM

🙌 How You Can Help:
✅ Join the Planning Committee (Help pick the dance theme!)
✅ Donate food, decorations, or raffle prizes
✅ Set up, clean up, or chaperone the dance

⏳ Sign up by March 31st! Don’t wait—we need you!
🔗 Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-0SsKGG-KlDN1HkC5FSVHUYUYq96sYxywAhOm0skIhYeLJw/viewform?usp=sharing

Thanks for supporting our 8th graders! 🎓✨

Website | Facebook | Email | Become a PTSA Member

Congratulations to Mr. Yu and Ms. McDuffee for being awarded Foundation For Excellence grants to be used in our school. Mr. Yu plans to use his grant to pay for the cost of printing the last Geisler Chronicles on newspaper. Ms. McDuffee will use her grant to purchase adaptive tools for her students to use in the classroom. THANK YOU FFE for supporting our students, staff and schools!

Last Saturday, the GMS Wrestling team traveled to Waterford Kettering for the Lakes Valley Conference Tournament. The team wrestled outstanding and came away with 13 medals.

Preston Thomas 1st place

Jwanni Rojas 3rd place

Ali Muradkulov 3rd place

Eli Oberholtzer 4th place

Logan Asmann 3rd place

Paulo Popko 1st place

Christian Miller 3rd place

Mason Pattah 4th place

David Mitchell 2nd place

Josh Weinberg 1st place

Matias Shkreli 2nd place

Chistian Bullock 2nd place

On Monday, the team hosted their final dual meet of the season against Waterford Mason. Both teams were undefeated at 8-0. Geisler wrestlers wrestled hard and came away with the victory 54-41. This secured first place in the Lakes Valley Conference brought their season end record to 9-0! Congratulations GMS Wrestling Team!

This Saturday the team has their final tournament in Lake Orion. The Oakland County Championship. We wish them well!

REMINDER - All students attending our middle school athletic events as spectators will need an adult chaperone who will be responsible for them. Those without a chaperone will not be allowed to attend. The expectation is that chaperones will also be the transportation home for all students they have elected to supervise during the event.

The Giving Tree Club and National Honor Society at Walled Lake Central are excited to share with you that our Walled Lake Community Wide Make a Blanket Day is officially set for April 12, from 10am-2pm. You can come and join us anytime between then. Our goal this year is 1,000 blankets! We are partnering with Fleece and Thank You to ensure that every child facing an extended stay at the hospital not only receives a comforting fleece blanket, but also receives a personalized message from the person who made the blanket. The patient can also choose to send a video back! This day has historically been a huge and fun event for the whole family, and we would love to have you join us! Purchasing a blanket is not necessary to join the event. We just ask that everyone completes the free registration. Food trucks will be available to purchase food, and we are working on several special guests!

Here is a video that helps show just how special this organization is (https://youtu.be/61fJZDjVOIU).

Your school page can be found here:

https://charity.pledgeit.org/walledlake25/teams/@JRGMS

If you have any questions, or ideas, please don’t hesitate to contact Nancy Kattoula (NancyKattoula@wlcsd.org) or Amanda Swanson (AmandaSwanson@wlcsd.org).

Thank you so much for your support!

Nancy and Amanda

Please note that all Walled Lake 8th graders will be here for a full day and 6th and 7th graders will have a late start on April 15th. It is important that all 8th grade students who are feeling well on April 15, attend school for testing.

Morning Schedule

• 8:00 a.m.-8:05 a.m.-8th Graders arrive
• 8:20 a.m.-11:25 a.m.-Administer the 8th Grade PSAT
• 11:25 a.m.-11:58 a.m.-8th Grade Lunch
• 6th and 7th graders arrive at approximately 11:45 a.m.

Afternoon 1/2 Day Schedule

• 1st Hour 12:05 p.m.-12:30 p.m.
• 2nd Hour 12:35 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
• 3rd Hour 1:05 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
• 4th Hour 1:35 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
• 5th Hour 2:05 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
• 6th Hour 2:35 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

Transportation will be provided to all students to and from school on April 15th. Please see the document below for pickup times.

If you have a student attending WL Northern HS next year and they are interested in playing a sport, please complete the following survey link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfY3ZYFnai72gqNQVB7Cj3zRdufKs7lcIiPf0SAGZq_7X2msg/viewform?usp=header

The first day of fasting for the holy month of Ramadan will likely be on March 1st or March 2nd depending on the sighting of the new moon. Ramadan is determined by the Islamic lunar calendar, which begins with the sighting of the crescent moon. During the holy month of Ramadan, observing Muslims fast from just before the sunrise prayer, Fajr, to the sunset prayer, Maghrib. Our GMS observing Muslim students may go to the media center during their lunch period if they would prefer. For those who celebrate, we wish you a meaningful month of Ramadan.

Registration Link: https://www.northernsoftball.com/spring-clinics.cfm

Extra, Extra, Read all about it! Our students have been working hard on the latest edition of our award winning Geisler Chronicles. In this edition, they share some information about Valentine’s Day, update the community about the repurposing of GMS, and share about the butterfly project down C hall. Hard copies are available by the attendance office for pick-up while supplies last. Happy reading!

The Geisler Chronicles: http://bit.ly/GeislerChronicles

WLCSD is hosting 3 days of Unifed Basketball for all four of our Middle Schools this year. Unified Sports partner with the Special Olympics and we are so excited to bring this program to the Middle Schools in Walled Lake! We are looking for athletes and partner-athletes to join this program. Please see the flyer and form below to register your student.

Families, please see the attached document regarding the WLCSD's Math Course Skipping procedure. Contact information is provided in the document should you have further questions.

Gladiators Lacrosse is perfect for young athletes looking for an introduction to lacrosse. Teams available for students in 1st through 8th Grade. No experience required. Practice held in the evening at Clifford Smart Middle School. Registration Closes on March 5th! Click Here for more information.

Link to Smore: https://secure.smore.com/n/rh1y0

We are so excited that we will begin FREE before and after school tutoring for Math and ELA starting on Monday, November 11. If your student struggles in either/both of these subjects or iReady, this is a great opportunity for them to get additional support. Consider asking your student's math/ELA teacher if tutoring might be good for them when you meet at conferences on November 14. You may register for tutoring at anytime from now through the end of the November. Our tutoring sessions are led by GMS teachers!

Students MUST be registered in order to attend. They must also be dropped off and picked up on time in order to continue. See the QR code below to register or use this link: https://forms.gle/NL4iZKeouXhfht9F7

If you are a family that could use additional food over the weekends and are having difficulty finding the finances to do so, let us help! GMS and Hospitality House have partnered together to provide food to many of our students/families in need. Sometimes the need is temporary and others need it consistently throughout the year. Either is ok! Please contact your child's counselor, Mrs. Hart or Ms. Garvin if you have questions or would like to sign up for this program.