GARDNER GAZETTE

It is hard to believe that the end of the school year is near. We hope that your child enjoyed his/her year at Gardner Elementary and was able to grow academically and emotionally. We truly value the time we get to spend with your child(ren)!

The first week of May is Staff Appreciation. We all know this has been one of the most challenging years for educators. If you would like to donate small gift cards for our staff drawings, we would greatly appreciate it! You can drop those off at the office or send them in with your student. A note of appreciation to your child's teacher is always appreciated.

During the second week of May, we will celebrate "Parent Appreciation" by encouraging students to do small acts of kindness at home.

The last full week of school will be "Student Appreciation" week. During this time, we will have fun activities throughout the week. On May 23rd, we will have a Civil War Reenactment. Fifth graders will participate in Gardner Getaway on May 24th, while fourth graders will participate in Gardner Getaway on May 25th.

If you have any questions throughout the summer, don't hesitate to give us a call! Enjoy your summer!

The 4th grade beginning band meeting will be Monday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Gardner cafeteria. The beginning band camp will be Monday, July 11 through Thursday, July 21, 2022.

Information and registration for next year's 5th grade chorus will be sent home in the coming weeks. To become a member you must turn in a signed permission form.

If you could use a helping hand, be sure to call our House of Neighborly Service office to sign up your children for our free summer lunch program! The program starts when school is out and will provide weekly bags of groceries to feed your children lunch! Thanks to our partners in Columbia, Valmeyer, Prairie du Rocher and Waterloo we will have easy pick up sites for you close to home! Just call our office and answer a few questions so we can be sure to best serve your family! Call us at 618-939-8900 or 618-939-8680. We will have a volunteer speak with you or someone will return your call.

Athletic summer camp information can be found by visiting the WCUSD5 district website. On the homepage click on documents, then click on athletics, then click on summer athletic camps. Or use the link below. There are several different camps to choose from! Your student can turn their forms/money into the Gardner office and we will get them to the right place. https://www.wcusd5.net/documents/athletics/summer-athletic-camps/210199

Gardner's last Papa John's night for the school year is on Wednesday, May 11th. May is a busy month, so many places to be, who has time to cook! So mark your calendars and plan on having a family pizza night! There is a flyer with coupons at the bottom of the Gazette.

For any student participating in Bluestem the last day to complete the Bluestem books to be eligible for the reward party will be Monday, May 16. More information will be given to students later regarding the reward party for completing the Bluestem books!

Congratulations to the following students who won an Above and Beyond award for the month of March. March’s trait of the month was “Optimism”, The belief that good things will happen”. Elyse Seidel, Braxtyn Kollack, Jude Latchem, Charley Tankersley, Quinn Ahrens, Lou Jarden, Ayden Flatley, Brooklyn Eline, Chloe Biggins, Mya Voges, Tessa Whitley, Shelby Davalos, Ella Black, Easton Propst, Easton Faries, Addi Crain, Chloe Parker, Gerry Gable, Brantley Thomas, Henry Worley, Brielle Fink, Alyssa Kurth, Nevaeh Pickering, Maxine Albracht, Caden Kite, Layla Luke, Max Powles, Tristan Steiling, Vivienne Mayer, Koen Baxmeyer, Remy Johns, Myla Eggemeyer, Drew Selck, Makayla Truxal and Carter Stephens.

Congratulations to the following students for wining an Above and Beyond award for the month of April. The trait of the month for April was “Empathy”. The ability to understand and share the feelings of another Person. Grace Zimmerman, Kinleigh Cannon, Tyler Major, McKenna Sternau, Ashlyn Kujawski, Charlotte Nonn, Ali Cobb, Easton Diehl, Scarlet Leal, Ryland Sides, Zoe Choate, Keegan Roland, Lynnan Logan, Ava Jones, Gracie Candrl, Collin Mace-Jones, Kadie Keller, Owen Morris, Lily Osterhage, Madison Done, Emerson Prather, Ty Schmeink, Ellie Martin, Dede Blackwell, Kolbe Mosbacher, Kevin Baker, Cassidy Knobloch, Denim Hall, AJ Helms, Asher Guerra, Bentley Riebeling, Isabella Goersch, and Ayden Juengling.

The warm days are calling our learners outside! While school is still in session, it is important for us all to remember that we are still covering new material. Please continue to help your child as we are in the final stretch to make it to summer!

Your reader is learning more about Fort de Chartres for our upcoming field trip. We also have begun to learn about firsthand and secondhand accounts. We have begun our last fluency practice poem “Spring Interrupted”. We are continuing to focus on all of our reading concepts from the school year with these last reading units.

Our wonderful writers are beginning a second writing piece on personal narratives. They will write about something they have experienced in their life.

Our scientists are still investigating The Birth of Rocks specifically on learning about volcanoes and mountains.

Our mathematicians have begun Chapter 7 in learning multiplication of fractions and digging deeper into measurement.

In social studies we are starting to learn about the Civil War. This has been great to focus on as we are preparing for a play.

Also please make sure you have marked your calendars for our Civil War play themed, “The Blue & the Gray”. We will host this event on May 17th! Every student will take part in the play, and there are different levels of participation. Please make sure you have the paper from your learner regarding the play information.

Thank you for your continued support each day.

The last few weeks of 5th grade will be busy and exciting! We will be taking a tour of the Jr. High, going to Conservation Day at the Sportsmen's Club, and the band and chorus will perform their last concert. We have a lot to learn yet in our daily classes as well. We are learning about “Our Watery Planet” in science, economics in social studies class, and decimals in math. We will be finishing up reading with a unit on inferring and are working on various types of writing during language class. We will wrap up the school year with Gardner Getaway activities and a dodgeball tournament.

When asked about their favorite memories of 5th grade, students shared the following: when the Gaga Ball Pit opened, DARE graduation, science experiments, and Reindeer Games.

Congratulations to the band and chorus students for an amazing spring concert. We will still have chorus and band practice and band lessons until the end of school. Attending band and chorus class at 2:30 is required. Band students will also continue to turn in weekly practice minutes.

Chorus members will begin to practice for our performance at the Cardinal game. Chorus members will sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at the Cardinal Game on Monday, May 23.

Current 5th grade band members should mark their calendars for summer band and camp. The camp will be for the weeks of July 11 through July 21. A schedule will be sent home soon.

Girls on the Run is hosting a pajama day! For a $1.00 donation students can wear their PJ's to school on Thursday, May 5th! Proceeds will be used to support local nursing homes!

Families are invited to the 4th grade musical production of the Blue and Gray. We hope you can join us!

May 3rd - 4th grade field trip

May 5th - PJ day

May 11th - Papa John's Night

May 17th - 4th grade play - 1:00 & 7:00 pm

May 23rd - Civil War reenactment

May 23rd - 5th grade chorus sings at the Cardinals game

May 24th - 5th grade Gardner Getaway

May 25th - 4th grade Gardner Getaway

May 25th - Last day of school for students

July 18-28--Summer Boost