Marauder Update

Quarter 1 ends this Friday, November 1st and we have a half day for all students (dismissal at 10:50 am) with parent-teacher conferences in the afternoon for our teachers. Conferences begin at 11:30 and will wrap up by 2:30. We will have another opportunity for conferences on November 4th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Teachers will be communicating out how to sign up and connect for parent-teacher conferences. Conferences are scheduled through Zoom or in-person depending on parent preference. Please don't miss out on signing up!

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.

This year, our Construction and Building Trades class took on an exciting hands-on project to design and build custom deer blinds. These blinds were constructed using high-quality materials and showcase the skills students have developed, from precise measurements to assembling sturdy structures fit for the outdoors. By creating these blinds, students not only practiced valuable construction techniques but also gained experience in planning, teamwork, and craftsmanship.

Our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program continues to play a significant role in reinforcing positive behavior across the school. Through PBIS, students are recognized and rewarded for demonstrating good character, effort, and respect. So far, over 2,500 rewards have been earned by our students, whether through tangible incentives, certificates, or acknowledgment events. This initiative has helped cultivate a supportive school culture where positive behavior is consistently encouraged and celebrated, contributing to a more engaging and respectful learning environment for everyone.

We have been seeing very positive results from our work with removing cell phone distractions in classrooms this school year. In the month of October, only 38 students were given a warning by their teachers and only 6 students had a second incident in class. Remember, when students put away their phones in the designated area in the classroom, the teachers give a PBIS reward for their classroom. This is an evolving thing as our teachers collaborate to find out what rewards and reward schedules seem to be working best in their classrooms, so some may be changing reward policy as the quarter changes next week.

The other side of eliminating the main distractor of cell phones is increasing student engagement in the classroom. With students less distracted by phones, we have been experiencing more peer to peer collaboration in class. Teachers are working hard to mix in more project and collaboration based activities in classes. The results are beginning to show up well, as the number of failing grades in the first quarter is down significantly when compared to first quarter of 2023 and 2022; and the number of students in need of advanced levels of academic supports has dropped significantly over the same period of time.

Thank you for your continued support at home to reinforce the importance of following the cell phone policy and staying engaged in class. Your efforts help us more than you know!

Girls Cross Country

• Outstanding Performance at Regionals: Placed 5th as a team and qualified Giada Fioritto and Livia Boucher for the state meet on Saturday at MIS!
• League Achievement: Finished third in the Downriver League, with congratulations to Giada Fioritto, Reagan Reaume, and Livia Boucher for earning all league honors.
• GR Invite Success: Took 2nd at the GR Invite, just 5 points out of first, with six girls earning All-Downriver Honors!

Boys Cross Country

• League Finish: Finished 4th in the Downriver League, with Nathan Lawe and Collin Jaskula named All-Downriver and Nathan taking 7th place overall in the League Meet.
• GR Invite Performance: Took 5th at the GR Invite, with Nathan Lawe, Ben Ciesielski, and Collin Jaskula medaling and placing in the top 25.

Varsity Football

• League Championship: Won their 4th consecutive league title with an impressive win over Lincoln Park, 41-14!
• Playoff Game: The team will host Bedford for the first round of playoffs at Marauder Stadium, Friday, November 1st at 7:00 pm. No passes are allowed for this MHSAA game.
• Strong Wins: Beat Allen Park 42-0 and Woodhaven 49-14, showcasing their dominance this season!

Girls Golf

• State Competition: Placed 15th at D2 golf states, led by Andria Konczal with a 2-day total score of 191.

Varsity Volleyball

• Senior Night Celebration: Honored seniors (Avery Coggins, Gabby Barmore, Lauren Wilson, and Zoe Stoltz) with a sweep of Taylor! Gabby Barmore and Emma Ferguson played exceptionally well.
• Efforts Against Allen Park: Despite a loss to AP, Addy Skinner had her best game of the season, and Lauren Wilson and Gabby Barmore were impactful at the net.

Soccer

• Boys' District Semifinal Victory: Beat Airport 3-0, with goals from Noah Jasso, Dom Bongiorno, and Caden Fenech, and James Miller achieving a shutout as goalie.
• Season Conclusion: The girls concluded their season with a strong effort, scoring a goal by Caden Fenech in a 3-1 loss to Huron in the district finals.

Girls Swim

• Thrilling Win Against Woodhaven: Beat Woodhaven 93-90, with fantastic performances from Kiley Lewandowski, Ashlyn Taylor, Jordan Sikora, and Katie Frommann!

JV Football

• Defensive Excellence: Achieved a shutout victory over Woodhaven, 26-0, led by Drew Biro and Josh Beach, with Drake Jones scoring 2 touchdowns! The boys ended their season 8 - 1 with their only loss to a strong Dexter team.

Marching Band

• First Place Victory: The Carlson Marching Marauder Band took 1st place at the Chippewa Valley Marching Invitational, winning awards for Best Marching and Best Percussion!
• Undefeated Season: Capped their 2nd Undefeated Season with a personal record score of 89.6! A huge thank you to everyone for their amazing support!
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Congratulations to all teams and individuals for their hard work, dedication, and fantastic achievements! 🎉

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

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.

Congratulations to senior Felicia Molina for being our Student of the Month for September. Felicia is in her second year of the Health Science DTCT program while she balances her Carlson classes. She was nominated for her contagious positivity. Felicia always has a smile on her face and is a joy to be around. She is always sweet and kind to eveyrone and very respectful to her teachers. Congratulations, Felicia!

AP Testing Information for all AP Students and their Families

Students must log into their MyAP portal (https://prod.idp.collegeboard.org/) and join their AP classroom in order to register for the AP exam.

Students must join their class with the code provided by the teacher. If your student does not know their code or has not registered for their AP Exam yet, please contact Mr. Duperon at duperod@gibdist.net. The deadline to register for AP Exams is November 14th.

ASVAB Testing

Carlson is offering the ASVAB TEST on November 13th at 7:40 am in the Library. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a multiple-aptitude battery that measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success in the military. It is administered annually to more than one million military applicants, high school, and post-secondary students. If your student is interested in this military entrance exam, please email Ms. Trush at trushj@gibdist.net to sign up!

Dual Enrollment for Winter/January 2025

Dual enrollment opportunities for high school students have already opened for Winter classes at many colleges. These courses fill up fast! If your student is interested in dual enrolling and taking a college course while still in high school for next semester, please have your student contact their counselor.

Ms. Palazzolo - last names A - G - palazzm@gibdist.net

Ms. Trush - last names H - O - trushj@gibdist.net

Mr. Duperon - last names P - Z - duperod@gibdist.net

Senior Parents: FAFSA Information and Financial Aid Webinars

Financial Aid Presentation hosted via ZOOM by the University of Michigan for Carlson:

Mark your calendars! The University of Michigan will be hosting a Virtual Financial Aid Night for Carlson High School. The event will be on November 20, 2024 at 6 pm. A Zoom link will be provided and sent out closer to the event date!

MI Student Aid Opportunities:

Students and families looking for help paying for college can attend an upcoming Virtual Financial Aid Presentation provided by MI Student Aid.

Participants will be able to gather information on the following financial aid topics:

• FAFSA application information
• Federal financial aid programs
• State financial aid programs
• Scholarship searching resources
• November 30th and December 18th sessions available to register!
  
  To sign up for a virtual Financial Aid session please visit: https://www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid/students-families/virtual-financial-aid-presentations

We know that there was more flexibility created during COVID because of necessity, but are recognizing that attendance is playing a significant role for our students in their learning. When you are making family decisions about appointments and vacations, please be mindful of our calendar whenever possible (I know some things are just unavoidable). If you are scheduling early, here are some dates to think about as good dates to schedule appointments:

Half Days (after 11 am)
9/3
9/25
11/1
2025
1/8
1/23
1/24
4/4
6/12
6/13

No School
10/21 - 10/22
11/5
11/27- 11/29
12/23/24 - 1/3/25
2025
1/20
2/14 - 2/17
3/24 - 3/28
4/17 - 4/18
5/26

Virtual Days (State Testing) - Virtual days allow for greater flexibility with learning because they do not require students to be in school as long they complete the learning assigned for that day
10/15/24
12th grade - virtual learning, no report
9th, 10th, 11th grade - report for testing with chromebook and charger (dismissal after testing with virtual learning scheduled for remainder)
4/9/25
9th, 10th, 12th grade - virtual learning, no report
11th grade - report for testing (dismissal after testing with virtual learning scheduled for remainder)
4/10/25
10th, 12th grade - virtual learning, no report
9th, 11th grade - report for testing (dismissal after testing with virtual learning scheduled for remainder)
4/11/25
9th, 12th grade - virtual learning, no report
10th, 11th grade - report for testing (dismissal after testing with virtual learning scheduled for remainder)