GCA Weekly Update
3/1/24
Hello Spartan Community
We are excited about our Multicultural lunch today. This lunch was a great event last year, and we hope this one will be excellent, too.
Armageddon is coming next Thursday and Friday, and we need your help to make it happen. Please open the Signup Genius and see if you can come for a time period to help us out. We appreciate all you do to make this school great. Seniors, if you need service hours, please sign up to run an event.Tissues
We have run out of tissues. Please send some tissues in and leave them in their 1st-period class if possible. Unfortunately, we are not giving extra credit for tissues. We want grades to represent knowledge, not how much tissue we can bring. We also don’t want students to have wet sleeves. Thank you again for your help.
Measles
You may have seen in the news that there have been two cases of measles in the East Valley
recently. While we hope that these are the last of the cases, it is important to acknowledge that
Measles is highly contagious, and this could impact our schools
at some point. Therefore, we would like to share some helpful and vital information with our
families. The illness typically starts with a fever, cough, and runny nose. It is soon followed by
a rash that typically begins at the head and soon covers the entire body. If measles does spread
into our school community, we will immediately start working with the Maricopa County
Department of Public Health (MCDPH), and you will be notified. Any students who are not
vaccinated will be identified, and MCDPH will determine when they can safely return to school.
Unvaccinated students may need to be out as long as 21 days, and if more cases arise, it could
be longer.
If you have any questions regarding measles or would like resources on vaccinations, please
reach out to our Health Office.
Great Opportunities
Steam Hackathon
See this Hackathon Recruitment Flyer
HONEYWELL – Robotics Club Competition
Honeywell sponsors an annual Robotic Competition with Diamondbacks partnership held in June. I encourage GCA to participate. There is grant money to support existing Robotic Clubs or to start a new Robotic Club, while the first three schools in placement will also receive a cash prize of at least $1000. You can contact me to be directed to the correct focal for the 2024 competition.
I would like to discuss a Gilbert District-wide Career Day event hosted by Honeywell’s All Abilities Employee Network US West Chapter in the Fall semester of 2024 and continuously annually. Who may be the focal and contact information for this discussion? Please feel free to pass my contact information to the district. Thank you.
(480) 809-5830
Saturday Tutoring
No Latin Tutoring on Saturday
Mrs. Gary will hold Saturday Math Tutoring this Saturday, March 2nd, in her classroom (room 126) from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Bring $5 to get as much help as you want.
GCA Good Things
GCA hosted the State Latin Convention on Saturday, February 24. Students from across the state and from various schools gathered to compete in multiple academic, artistic, and athletic competitions. GCA won the Omni Award, the overall award, which is an enormous achievement. In addition, we won second place for the skit written and performed by the Latin Club officers.
Congratulations to all the GCA students who attended for representing our school so well, for helping our school to do a phenomenal job hosting the convention, and for contributing to our winning of the Omni Award!
There were the following individual awards as well:
Blake Carlson
3rd Place for Advanced Latin Prose in Sight Latin Reading
5th Place on the Latin III Latin Vocabulary Exam
5th Place on the Roman History Exam
Carter Carmichael
5th Place on the Latin III Latin Grammar Exam
3rd Place on the Roman History Exam
4th Place on the Latin Derivatives Exam
Caitlyn Dees
3rd Place on the Mythology Exam
2nd Place on the Roman History Exam
3rd Place on the Roman Life Exam
Paul Gailey
3rd Place for Advanced Latin Prose in Sight Latin Reading
4th Place on the Latin III Latin Vocabulary Exam
Kyle Jones
3rd Place on the Latin IV Latin Vocabulary Exam
2nd Place on the Latin IV Latin Grammar Exam
5th Place on the Latin Derivatives Exam
Lennon Mikan
2nd Place for Advanced Latin Prose in Sight Latin Reading
5th Place on the Latin III Latin Grammar Exam
Nikolai Oskowis
4th Place for Latin IIs in Sight Latin Reading
Juan Sinoc
4th Place for Advanced Latin Poetry in Sight Latin Reading
1st Place on the Latin III Latin Grammar Exam
Hanna Skiera
2nd Place on the Latin III Latin Vocabulary Exam
2nd Place on the Latin III Latin Grammar Exam
5th Place on the Roman Life Exam
Rayna Skiera
3rd Place on the Latin III Latin Grammar Exam
3rd Place on the Mottos, Quotes, and Abbreviations Exam
Jayden Yates
4th Place for Advanced Latin Prose in Sight Latin Reading
5th Place on the Latin III Latin Grammar Exam
3rd Place on the Latin Literature Exam
4th Place on the Roman History Exam
5th Place on the Ancient Geography Exam
5th Place on the Mottos, Quotes, and Abbreviations Exam
5th Place on the Latin Derivatives Exam
4th Place on the Greek Derivatives Exam
We should also recognize Carter Carmichael for his role as one of the statewide officers for the Arizona Junior Classical League, serving as 1st vice president.
Put a Happy Birthday message on the Marquee. Messages are available for a $10 donation.
GCA Music News
Congratulations to our junior high bands on their SUPERIOR ratings at last week's district junior high band festival. We are proud of your incredible work this year and look forward to the great things you will continue to do in our Spartan bands.
Congratulations to the Sinfonia Orchestra on their EXCELLENT rating yesterday at the AZ Band and Orchestra Director Association's junior high festival. These students created a challenging program and worked hard to impress the judges. We are proud of what you have done in junior high and are excited about what you will do in our high school groups.
Congratulations and good luck to the AZ 8th grade All-State band members as they participate in this prestigious group tomorrow. Their concert will be at Mesa Mountain View High School on Saturday, March 2nd, at 5 pm. Tickets are $5 at the door.
Aaron Andrade, 4th Alto Sax
Abigail Baker, 6th Alto Sax
Nathan Pudenz, 6th French Horn
Good luck to the Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Symphonic Strings as they complete their end-of-year performance assessment next week. We are excited to see how you do and what you learn.
Take advantage of our next choir concert on Monday, 3/4/24, at 7 pm at MJHS. Student call time is 6:00 pm. Come for a great night of music!
We are still looking for chaperones for these performance assessment field trips. We would love to have you join us! Here are the dates:
Tuesday 3/26- HS Choir
Wed/Thurs 3/27-28- Jazz Band
Friday 5/3- JH Choir
Friday 5/10- Concert Orchestra
Athletics
See our events on the Main Calendar.
GCA Peer Tutoring Club
If you are in need of tutoring, please follow this link:
https://forms.gle/cFHe8hFtJoNkoZmK6
If you are interested in becoming a tutor, please follow this link:
https://forms.gle/jT8s5qoyPyDv3Jxq6Do you want to win scholarships and get accepted into a dream college?
Guarantee your child's success with MasterPrep. Our tutors are GCA students with nearly perfect scores who are here to guide your child through the tricky challenges of the SAT/ACT. We offer personalized, in-depth tutoring that caters to your child's unique learning style, ensuring they are well-prepared to achieve their dream score. Join the many students who have experienced their scores skyrocket and dreams come true.
Volunteer to be interviewed about your career!
Parents - Are you willing to be interviewed by a GCA Student about your profession?
We are creating a database as a tool for our students. This will provide a list of professionals they can contact and interview to learn more about their possible career choices.
Please take a moment to open this form and fill out the questionnaire.
GCA Counseling Corner
Christy Kline, Christina.kline@gilbertschools.net Guidance Counselor
Beth Brewer, Beth.brewer@gilbertschools.net College Center Coordinator
The Counseling Dept and College Center now have a webpage with a ton of useful information!
Information about the upcoming changes with the FAFSA will be on under the “Opportunities and Helpful Links” page soon.
Please feel free to contact us at any time with concerns or questions. Throughout the year, we will be seeing students for grade-level classroom advisement and also on an individual basis.
Mental Health Counselor
If you are concerned about your child’s mental health or need family support, please don’t hesitate to contact me at aisling.sansevere@gilbertschools.net.
Be kind to someone this weekend,
Dan Hood Ed.D.
Principal
Gilbert Classical Academy