Notes from the WGIS Principal

This page provides thoughts and commentary from Dan MacCollum, the Principal of West Genesee Intermediate School in the West Genesee Central School District.

Dear WGIS Families,

I hope everyone had a fantastic week and enjoyed Halloween. Here at WGIS, we had a great week learning and spending time together. Halloween was a huge success here at WGIS due to everyone's focus on having fun while making sure students are still learning and staying safe here in our building. Thank you, parents, for your help in supporting our school appropriate costumes and guiding students towards making sure they were successful on Thursday!

November is a month that can seem chaotic at times as we enter the holiday season and we have a lot of things happening in our district. A few items I would point out to everyone are:

• We have a 1/2 day on November 5 with students being dismissed at 10:05
• November 11, we will not have school in Observance of Veterans Day.
• Elementary Parent Teacher Conferences are not held at WGIS. If you have any concerns about your child and their learning, please reach out to the teachers for guidance or to set up a meeting with them. WGIS will have full days of school 11/22-11/26.

As always, thank you for your continued partnership with our school to make sure all of our students find success at WGIS. We are having a great school year and are looking forward to a great November!

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Winners of the costume contest received a prize donated by the PTA. There are 5 categories for the costume contest:

• Most Creative/DIY
• 5th Grade: Lily Ferrara 6th Grade: Ellie Beck
• Funniest
• 5th Grade: Jaela McQuarrie 6th Grade: Jacob Davis
• Historical or Book Character
• 5th Grade: Meshai Johnson 6th Grade: Kira Matthews
• Best Overall
• 5th Grade: Arden McDonald & Sincere Caldwell 6th Grade: Brooke Byrne
• Best Group Costumes
• 5th Grade: The Oompa Loompas 6th Grade: Boxed Barbies

Congratulations everyone!

Each month the Physical Education Department recognizes individual students for the above and beyond qualities and character they demonstrated throughout the month.

Congratulations to the November Physical Education Students of the Month:

Michael Dixon, Gunnar Flynn, Naudia Grabowski, Mary Kermes,

Jase Morgan, Aiden Petrocci and Guiliana Thompson!

These award winners have set an excellent example to their classmates on being respectful, following directions, showing great effort and leading by example.

Congratulations on receiving:

Physical Education Student of the Month!

Our clubs are up and running! Below please find the schedule for when each club will be meeting during the month of October. As a reminder, we offer late buses on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3:15pm.

Interact Club's next meeting will be Wednesday, November 6th.

Change Makers: next meeting will be Wednesday, November 6th.

Student Council's next meeting will be Monday November 4th

Chess Club's next meeting will be Wednesday, November 6th.

STEAM Club: Each meeting is for different groups, so please make sure to check the STEAM Club Google Classroom for details! Monday is Blue Group, Wednesday is Gold Group.

Run Club has officially ended - Great job everyone and thank you to Mr. Davis!

Click here for Club Descriptions

"IT" (Interaction Time) buses are available for students staying after for clubs and activities on Mondays and Wednesdays. IT buses pick students up from WGIS at 3:15. These buses are not utilized for musical practices since those rehearsals go past 3:15.

This year, we will be using Second Step to promote positive character traits in our students here at WGIS. Each week, we will focus on a new character trait. Students who exemplify the character trait of the week will have an opportunity to be recognized on the Friday announcements and be featured in our weekly e-news.

This week, we recognized students that showed self-control throughout the school day. Next week, we will focus on integrity. We will be on the lookout for students showing self control as they go throughout their school day.

This week, we recognized students who showed self-control throughout the school day . Congratulations to Lexi, Catherine, Cayden and Mason our Positivity Paw winners !

Our student council will be putting on a "Themed Friday" each Friday. This past Friday, student council hosted a favorite school or college!

Next Friday (11/8) student council asks that everyone wear some Flannel. We look forward to seeing everyone in their flannel!

This week, we took advantage of some great weather to have our last 2 fire drills for the fall. Students have now completed 6 fire drills successfully and are prepared if there were to ever be an emergency at WGIS. Great job students and staff!

The sale runs through November 8th. This week, your child has received a fundraising packet from their team teachers with the catalogs of items and information about prizes the kids can earn with their sales. If they didn't bring home a packet, the teams all have some extras and there are extras in the main office. You can also reach out to Carla at cboverton@gmail.com directly to get another packet.

Here is some helpful info about the fundraiser:

The WGIS PTA holds this fundraiser each year to raise the money we need to fund our events and initiatives. We use this to fund several events/activities that directly benefit our children, support teacher initiatives in their classrooms and in extracurricular efforts (clubs, etc) and scholarships.

Our goal is to raise $10,000 this year. WGIS PTA receives 40% of the total amount of sales.

IMPORTANT: ONLINE SALES are strongly preferred. When you register your child by clicking on the "Parents and Sellers" button on the website, there is a personalized link that can be shared via email, text or social media. Paper order forms did come home and are an option if needed but a simpler process for all of us if paper orders are minimal. If you do have paper orders, they must be delivered to school no later than the start of school on 11/8/24.

Orders can be shipped to school at no cost. Delivery to home is an option as well with free delivery for orders over $99. Frozen foods cannot be shipped to home and must be delivered to school.

All products for school delivery (including all frozen foods) will be available for a pick-up on a specific date at WGIS. We will announce this date as soon as we have a delivery date from the company. You will have ample notice. The pick-up will occur after school and into the evening.

In the packets, there are coupons the students can turn in for some small toys when they reach specific milestones. The secretary in the main office has graciously offered to keep these safe for the PTA to collect periodically so we can ensure the kids get the incentives they earn. They will not get the prizes immediately, but toward the end of the sale.

Participation is completely voluntary but very much appreciated. These funds allow us to continue our efforts to create positive and meaningful experiences for our students. Please reach out to Carla at cboverton@gmail.com with any questions!

For individuals that would like to contribute but do not want to sell products, you can donate directly here:

https://www.givebacks.com/causes/wgms/campaigns/a2a8828cddf50d

Thank you for your support!

• November 1- End of the First Marking Period

• November 5 - 1/2 Day of school (Supt. Conference Day)

• November 8- Flannel Day
  

• November 8- Marking Period One Report Card will be released at 5pm via SchoolTool

• November 11 - No School - Veterans Day

• November 27-29 - Thanksgiving Recess