The Au Gres-Sims School District

The focus of any school district is the students and the people that interact with the students the most, the teachers, are obviously the most influential. There are, however, a host of other positions that essential to a successful school district. Next week we recognize those positions and the people that fill them in a celebration of their contributions to our schools.

Wednesday, November 16th is Educational Support Professionals Day. It is a day of celebration that most people don't know about, but it is a day that we celebrate and show gratitude to the people that make schools work. Wednesday we celebrate our custodians, cooks, bus drivers, and paraprofessionals. It is the quality and care put forth by this group of people that provides the structure and environment necessary for learning to take place on our campus everyday. Without these people the important work of educating your students would be next to impossible.

In education, it is the little pieces of gratitude that go the furthest. Gifts are nice, but words of support and thankfulness are equally, if not more, impactful, and they don't cost you anything other than a few minutes of your time. Even if you do not have a personal relationship with any of our support personnel (but you or your child most likely does), please consider showing them how much you appreciate what they do. AGS absolutely could not function without these people!

Everyone listed below has an AGS email, formatted the same way, their last name, followed by their first initial, @ags-schools.org.

Example, John Smith would have the email smithj@ags-schools.org

Custodians

• Ken Moll
• Bethany Gay
• Tammy Converse

Cooks

• Sherry Boensch
• Shannon Compau
• Vicki Petri
• Marvin Cochran
• Kim Nichols

Bus Drivers

• Bob Lyon
• Robert Strano
• Cory Brown
• Aaron Abair
• Ted Gibbs

Paraprofessionals

• Aileen Kubik
• Amanda Hewitt
• Haley Norton
• Jack Long
• Molly Luberda
• Heather Elwine
• Jade Williams
• Kirsten Swanson
• Bailey Brewer

'Other'

• Ken McCaffrey
• Gordie Ostrander
• Kristen Jenkins

The contribution that these people make to your child's education is immense. They are a critical component of what we do everyday for our students. Please show them your support on Wednesday, November 16.

As a reminder, we do not have school on Tuesday, November 15, as this is our district wide Safety Day. Good luck to everyone in your safe and successful hunts. Don’t forget to enjoy your peace and quiet out in the woods while creating great memories and bonding opportunities!

With school pictures arriving, MS/HS students will also notice something else on the backside of the their ID tags, a phone number for students to access a suicide prevention hotline. Last year, the Michigan Legislature passed the “Save Our Students Act” which mandates that school districts in grades 6-12 display a 24/7 local, state, or national suicide prevention hotline number on the back of each ID card/badge. This is just one more resource that students will have available at their fingertips.

You may have noticed the many banners throughout town. These were purchased from the Wolverine Pride Association. Although the banners were not athletic in nature, the focus of the WPA is to support all student-athletes of the district. The banners are just one small example of the many endeavors that the association has supported. One of the primary ways that funds are raised to help support the WPA is through concessions at home sports contests. If you are interested in being a part of this great group of people, please let the school know and we will connect you with the appropriate individuals. Another group of individuals that have the sole purpose of supporting our kids is the Au Gres-Sims PTO. The PTO is also looking for additional members to be a part of the wonderful things they do. For more information, contact Mrs. Holly Gordon at gordonh@ags-schools.org.

Veterans Day is on Friday, November 11. Veterans Day is a time for us to pay our respects to those who have served. This holiday started as a day to reflect upon the heroism of those who died in our country's service and was originally called Armistice Day. It fell on November 11 because that is the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. However, in 1954, the holiday was changed to "Veterans Day" in order to account for all veterans in all wars. The following link recognizes our proud AGS grads who have gone on to serve in the Armed Services: https://youtu.be/E6CF_bgqdvQ Thank you Ms. Richardson for providing this great resource for all of us to enjoy. If we are missing anyone, PLEASE let us know so we can continue to honor the individuals who are so deserving. Thank you, veterans!

This past week on Tuesday, our administration, teaching staff, and paraprofessional staff were able to attend the Bay Arenac ISD-Wide Fall Conference. We traveled to multiple locations in Bay City for an entire day of professional development focused around social/emotional strategies and support. It is the first time in 3 years that we have been able to do this Professional Development day in person. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to experience this again in a face-to-face setting, as we have learned in the past few years that doing things virtually is not the best option. This was an important day of learning and we are fortunate to be a part of an ISD that provides such wonderful learning opportunities for all of its local districts.

We were also happy to see parents on campus for our Elementary Parent/Teacher Conferences this week. These home/school connections are vitally important for the success of our students. Thank you for investing in your child’s education and strengthening the partnership between school and home!

For some of our high school students who are taking credit recovery classes - the end of the 1st marking period meant the end of their 9-week class (unless they are taking credit recovery during seminar.) We are continually monitoring progress through these classes and cannot express the importance of making up these courses in order to graduate on time. We have increased the number of supports that we provide to assist students in these classes, including live help rooms available for all Core Content classes with a certified teacher in that subject are from 9am-5pm each day. We also have a library of resources and instructional videos available if a student is struggling in a class. We have worked hard to create a learning environment where students can focus and use the hour-long class period each day to devote to their course. Our certified teachers of record are always accessible to students and are keeping in communication with students on a regular basis to keep them on track. Students also have the opportunity to re-do assignments if they scored low, to improve their score and have a second chance to learn material that they may have missed the first time. If your student is in credit recovery and you have any questions about their courses or their scores, please contact me directly.

Congratulations to the Varsity Girls Volleyball and Varsity Boys Football teams, who both completed their seasons last week. With the close of their seasons we now turn our attention to the Winter Sports Season. The middle school boys and girls basketball seasons are already underway, and the high school girls basketball season starts this week, with the boys starting in one week's time.

Next Week's Schedule of Events:

Thu. Nov. 17

• 6p MS Boys Basketball HOME vs. Hale
• 6p MS Girls Basketball AWAY @ Hale

November 11th is Veteran's Day, a day that we remember all of the people who have served our country's armed forces. This video was put together by AGS ELA Teacher Barb Richardson and is a work in progress that we add to each year to honor the commitment and service of our Au Gres-Sims Alum.

The Wolverine Wake-Up is a student written publication that comes out weekly and shares the reporting of our own high school students and their interpretation of what is going on the in the world. The teacher sponsor and editor-in-chief is Mr. Luke Freeman. Thanks for reading.

The Wolverine Wake-up, Edition 64

In an effort to provide the academic support that our students need, the middle and high school will have drop-in after school tutoring starting next week. The tutoring will run after school until 4:30 on Mondays and Thursdays in the Cyber Cafe. Students are invited to drop in to work on their homework and/or get help from a teacher on a particular topic.

Dates for Tutoring the next few weeks:

• Mon. 11/14
• Thu. 11/17
• Mon. 11/21
• Mon. 11/28

Tutoring for our elementary students will look a little different (based on the age of the students) and will begin after the first parent-teacher conferences of the year. We will update you on the details as we get closer to that date.

Important dates for November for the Au Gres-Sims School District.

NOVEMBER

• 14th: PTO meeting in Elementary Library, 6p
• 15th: NO SCHOOL STAFF AND STUDENTS, District and Administration Offices will be closed
• 17th: School Board Meeting, 5:45p (*Note: this is a change from the original date of Monday, November 21st, therefore it is a "special meeting")
• 23rd-25th: NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Holiday

Important and note-worthy events taking place in Au Gres and Arenac County

• Monday, November 14th 6p - AGS PTO Meeting in AGS Elementary Library
• Thursday, December 1st (6p registration, 7p start) - Arenac Community Funds Holiday Auction (Ali's Up North)***
• Saturday, December 3rd - Christmas Parade (starts at AGS parking lot and ends in the City Park
• Saturday, February 18th - Arenac Community Funds Trivia Night (Arenac Community Center, Standish)

***Items for the ACF Holiday Auction should be turned in to any committee member by November 21st, including a donation form. See attached PDFs for details. Locally, items and forms may be turned into Chris Ming in the administrative office of the school district or Dale Wiltse at City Hall.

Job Opportunities at AGS

• CUSTODIAN (EVENING SHIFT)

We are also always on the lookout for substitute teachers. If interested, please inquire with Mrs. Miller in the district administration office, (989) 876-7157 and she will put you into direct contact with Laurie Crane at ESS-WillSub

Email: web@ags-schools.org
Website: www.ags-schools.org
Location: 310 South Court Street, Au Gres, MI, USA
Phone: (989) 876-7150
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuGresSims/?ref=br_rs
Twitter: @agsschools