Marauder Update

The fourth week of school brings a half day on Wednesday with students being dismissed at 10:50. Busses will run as normal with the adjusted end time. In the afternoon, we will be working as a staff on professional development with our continued focus on increasing student engagement.

As we round out September, it is important that students are monitoring their grades and staying in communication with their teachers regarding their progress in class. Additionally, it's always helpful to have that second set of eyes on grade. If accessing Mi-Star Parent Portal is an issue, please contact the main office and we can help out!

Gibraltar School District has placed a non-homestead operating millage renewal and a sinking fund renewal and restoration on the November 5 ballot. These millages are essential for maintaining and enhancing the quality of education and facilities in our school district.

The Non-Homestead Millage Renewal quick facts:

• The non-homestead millage is not levied on primary residences (a homeowner's primary residence).

• This millage has been in place since 1994.

• Michigan law requires all Michigan school districts to levy a non-homestead millage to receive their full share of state aid.

• The non-homestead operating millage renewal will generate approximately $3.6 million annually for GSD.

The Sinking Fund Renewal and Restoration quick facts:

• The sinking fund millage is essential for the continued upkeep and improvement of our school buildings and infrastructure.

• Revenue from the sinking fund will cover needs such as roof replacements, heating and cooling system updates, and upgrading technology.

• The sinking fund millage will generate approximately $415,000 annually for GSD.

• Due to Headlee rollbacks per the Michigan Constitution, the sinking fund has been reduced from the original amount of 0.5 to 0.4817.

• Restoring the sinking fund to the original 0.5 mills will cost the average homeowner living in a home with a $200,000 market value ($100,000 taxable value) $1.83 per year.

To learn more about the ballot proposals, click HERE

Don’t forget to vote on November 5 or by absentee ballot after September 26.

At our school, we're all about creating a positive, welcoming environment where students can thrive, and that’s where PBIS, or Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, comes in! PBIS is like our secret recipe for encouraging awesome behavior. We work together—teachers, staff, and students—to celebrate good choices, like being respectful, responsible, and kind in our classrooms, hallways, and cafeteria. Whether it's a high-five in the hallway, earning a cool reward from the Party Cart and Fun Lunch Friday's, or simply being recognized for doing the right thing, our whole school is on board to make good behavior fun and rewarding. By focusing on the positive, we're building a stronger, happier school community where everyone can succeed!

Check out the image below and click on THIS LINK to discover how you can join the fun and support our PBIS efforts!

Good news! Carlson is connected to Kroger reward cards. If you log in to your Kroger account and connect that to Carlson, we will earn proceeds from everyone's favorite task - grocery shopping! To get started, visit http://www.kroger.com. Once logged into your Kroger account, search for Oscar A Carlson High School either by name or GH029 and then click Enroll. New users will need to create an account which requires some basic information, a valid email address and a rewards card.

Who doesn't like to have fun on Friday? At CHS we are doing just that during our three lunches two times a month. Our first Fun Friday consisted of an ultimate game of rock, paper, scissors throughout the cafeteria. As each table determined their final champion, that person then played against another table's champion. This continued until we had 6-8 students left to pair up and compete against each other in front of the cafeteria until an ultimate champion was determined for each lunch. It was a great way to have a little friendly competition amongst each other and cheer for their fellow classmates!

This week will be different for students who are choosing to attend the away Southgate football game. Students must purchase a ticket at CHS in the cafeteria this week in order to go to the game. There will be no ticket sales at the door. Tickets are $6 with exact change only for cash or can be purchased using a debit or credit card in the cafeteria during all lunches beginning on Thursday. On game night, students (all visitors, but no exceptions for students) will need to enter through the gate behind Allen Elementary on McCann.

Unified Sports- Carlson Unified started a flag football team last week. The first practice went very well. The athletes are primed and ready to take on this new adventure and their coaches and partners are just as eagar to get this unified sport rolling.

Marching Band - It was another excellent weekend for the Marching Marauder Band! The Marching Band took 1st place at the Trenton Competition with a high score of 87.4, beating such bands that have a long tradition of success. The band also won Caption Awards for Best Marching, Best Color Guard, and Best Percussion!

Boys tennis- On Tuesday, the boys took down Wyandotte 5-3: Winners were Kyle Salisbury at 2 singles, Nolan Burgei and Nathan Dubach at 1 doubles, Zac and Chase Moore at 2 doubles, Tyler Martin and Isaiah Rowe at 3 doubles, and Liam Eighmey and Grayson Moll at 4 doubles. On Thursday we beat Lincoln Park 8-0, singles wins by #1 Singles Preston Eighmey, #2 Singles Kyle Salisbury, and #3 Singles Joe Borowski

Freshman volleyball- On Tuesday the girls lost to Woodhaven but Baya Bondy had 10+ digs, 4 blocks from Sophia Pryztula, and 8 assists from Kennedy Warren

JV volleyball- The team fought hard against Woodhaven on Tuesday, despite the troubles, the girls never gave up so it ended up being a good all around team effort

Varsity volleyball- on Tuesday, they lost in 4 sets to Woodhaven, Lauren Wilson- 7 kills, 2 blocks; Addy Wallace- 4 kills, 12 digs; Addy Skinner- 6 kills, 2 blocks, 8 digs; Emma Ferguson- 5 kills, 9 assists, 12 digs; Katelyn Maher- 4 kills, 5 digs

Girls golf- won their jamboree over Wyandotte and Trenton, the team was led by Andria Konczal (44), Madi Peterson (45), and Maddie Cooper (46), freshman Juliana Guzman rounded out the team score with her personal best round of 48.

Varsity football- beat Wyandotte 42-0, Joe Krolak went 7-8 with 128 passing yards and 1 TD, Zach Holewinski led the team in rushing with 79 yds on 12 carries, Avery Ortiz had 2 TDs, Landon Vida had 88 receiving yds on 4 receptions with 1TD, Brenda Stanley also had a receiving TD with 95 all purpose yards, Teegan Nagy, Cam Kalbfleisch, Bennett Szucs, Hayden Higgins, and Chase Towns all had tackles for loss.

Up to date schedules for athletics can always be found at https://www.gibdist.net/o/carlsonhigh/page/high-school-sports

We've been talking about student engagement in almost every update so far this year and are pleased to report that not only are we seeing so many creative, thought provoking, and collaborative activities in classrooms, our teachers are reporting that hands down are classrooms are just noisier. For many, that could be cause for concern. Actually, the concern is largely unfounded because the noise is productive noise. Additionally, the past few years have seen a decline in the level of talk amongst students and this undoubtedly has impacted the levels of learning they are able to reach.

We are also seeing a slight increase in the level of cell phones that we are seeing in classrooms. Overall, it's still been a great start and we are encouraged by what the freedom to be away from their phones (and ours too) has provided for students. The hope is that they will be able to transition this as they head off to wherever they go outside of Carlson's walls to be able to make choices about setting limits for themselves that allow them to truly engage.

We’re headed to Athens and the Greek Islands during Spring Break of 2026, and Costa Rica in June of 2026, and your family is invited!

We’re excited to tell you more about the trips we’re planning with EF Tours, our educational travel partner. We are running two back-to-back info sessions – one for each trip! Please be sure to register for the info session for the trip you’re most excited about to be considered for this opportunity.

Tuesday, September 24th
Greece Info Session at 6:30 PM: https://bit.ly/3ADJ9xT
Costa Rica Info Session at 7:00 PM: https://bit.ly/4770s6Y

In this info session, we’ll talk about:
• How this opportunity will benefit your student
• What we’ll see and do on our trips
• Everything that’s included in this experience
• How your child can earn academic credit
• How we’re keeping this safe and affordable
• How to enroll on the tours (before they fill up!)

There are limited spots on each trip, so we would love to have you attend this meeting to learn more about this exciting opportunity!

If you have questions, please contact Evie Cramton (cramtoe@gibdist.net) or Marisa Simone (simonem@gibdist.net).