The Read-A-Thon has a winner.  Mrs. Dammann's students averaged over 1,457 minutes of reading!  That is highly impressive.

Our Souper Bowl of Caring contest also came to an end.  GMS donated over 1,595 lbs. of food which is 1,000 meals!  Ms. Moreno's EXCEL class earned the movie and pizza.

Here are our 7th grade Kid Story Book winners.  They had loads of fun at Baldwin and Mills Elementary.  Thanks for having us!

 If you have a child interested in being a cheerleader or being the school mascot, please see Ms. Chandler.  Time is running out.

Digit.press is created by GMS students for GMS students.  Each week a new Gnasher News is created and sent out for students to view.  The website not only has Gnasher News but also other projects students have chosen.  I encourage you to view the website often.

 Don't forget Monday is a student holiday.  We will see you back here Tuesday.

All 7th grade ELA students got creative last week while making children's books.  The best books from each class will be shared wit Baldwin and Mills Elementary Schools next Friday.  

Our "Only One Gorzycki" night was highly successful.  It was a great showcase of all our awesome electives!  Remember that Choice Sheets were due this week, so please make sure you have turned in yours.

Today Gorzycki celebrated "Wear Red Day" which recognizes women's hearth health as well as over all wellness.

Valentines Day is right around the corner.  The dance teams are hosting a 7th & 8th grade dance next Friday and the leadership team will be selling carnations.  It should be loads of fun.

Good luck to our Regional Choir students and to our girls soccer teams this weekend. 

Attention 7th graders - If you are interested in the PALS program for your 8th grade year, stop by Mrs. Sindt's room, 804, for an application.

Do you love to run and want to be on the GMS Team for the Cap 10K?  Stop by and see Coach Warner.

Congratulations to the girls A Soccer team.  They defeated Murchison last week.

Did you know that GMS had 22 choir students make regional choir?  Congratulations!

Are you interested in being on one of the GMS dance teams?  There is a mandatory meeting February 3rd.  See Ms. Hanson for more details.

If you have not taken the keyboarding test, next week is the last week to do so.  This is mandatory unless you want to take keyboarding as an elective.

Don't forget that Tuesday is Only One Gorzycki.  I look forward to seeing everyone there.

I am excited to announce this year's Teacher of the Year, Mr. Howard!  He will do an outstanding job representing Gorzycki!

It's time for next year's Choice Sheets.  All incoming 5th graders will receive them during presentations next week at their elementary campuses.  Current 6th and 7th graders will have presentations here at GMS.  Eighth graders will receive their high school choices the following week.  For those wanting to know a more, we are hosting our annual "Only One Gorzycki" February 2nd.  Please look at our website for specific times.

I'm not sure how the leadership class finds time to do all that they do but next week they will kick-off their annual "Super Bowl of Caring" contest.  Please help support the local food bank by bringing canned foods.  The EXCEL class with the most cans receives a movie party.

GMS is also forming their Capitol 10,000 team.  Check out the daily announcements if you are interested in participating.

As I visited classrooms this week, this is what I saw in our 7th grade science classes.  Students dissecting frogs!

Today, the students who read "The 5th Wave" and passed their AR test went to see the movie before anyone else did.  If you have never seen a movie with a theater full of middle school students, it is quite a fun experience!  The kids were great.  This is the 6th grade group once we got back to school - lunch in the commons.  

 Today was also the final round of the Geo Bee.  Will H., an 8th grader, was our winner.  Congratulations!

A shout-out to our awesome school board, and especially to our own Trustee Mrs. Wagner.  Thank you for all you do!  (I happened to be in the board room this week and snapped the picture of the banner from Gorzycki.)

Students interested in the Independent Study Fair were presented information today.  Please check with your child to learn more.

7th graders, are  you interested in the PALS program?  Next week you will have presentations from current PALS .Applications are due Feb. 3rd.

Have a great weekend!

Have you heard this has been a change to the student dress code?  The GMS Student Council proposed these changes: Students be allowed to wear athletic shorts and all other shorts as long as they are at  least finger tip length; Leggings can be worn with shirts/dresses which must also be at least finger tip length. These proposed changes have now been approved and can begin immediately. Student out of dress code will have their parent's contacted or will need to change clothes.

This is a reminder that all middle school students must pass a keyboarding proficiency test prior to leaving middle school.  This can be done several ways.  Most students just take the keyboarding class.  For those that don't, you must sign up to take the keyboarding test before the spring semester of your 8th grade year.  This year that test date is the last week of January.  Make sure you have a plan for your child to either take the class or test.

The boys basketball teams had their first games this week. The 8th graders didn't end with wins, but were impressive to watch.

Today I attending my first fieldtrip here at Gorzycki.  I went with the 6th graders to the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences.  It was a fun day of learning.

Don't forget there is no school Monday.  Have a great long weekend.

Did you see Gorzycki Middle School on the news this week?  Our very own Mrs. Christensen was surprised by AISD's Superintendent, Dr. Cruz, and received his first "SUPERintendent Coin" for her dress project last semester.  If you missed it, watch the attached link. http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2016/01/06/aisd-highlights-exceptional-teachers-with-unique-collector-coin/78359624/

While on campus that day, Dr. Cruz visited several other classrooms, and he took lots of pictures.  They can be seen on his twitter account, and I tweeted them as well.

Next week the format for EXCEL classes will look different.  After hearing from students, parents, and staff, time for homework is being added.  All the students have been told, so they should be able to answer any questions.  If not, send me an email.   Monday and Tuesday are enrichment or lab days.  Wednesdays and Thursdays are when the students will have time for homework.  There are 4 options:  Tiger Time = work on homework, study or read a book.  Computer Time = time to work on the computer in the library.  Tiger Help = tutoring provided by teacher.  This can be teacher required and/or student requested.  Tiger Den = this is for students who need "motivation" to get their work done.  These students will work directly with an administrator to get their work completed.  Fridays will be DEAR/SEL time.  Starting next six weeks, the 1st and 4th Friday of each month will be a reward day for those students that are passing all subjects, that don't have behavior concerns, and that are caught up on attendance.

Starting in February, all fieldtrips will have the same criteria for students to attend.  The school will use UIL guidelines for fieldtrip participation.  Basically, this requires all students to be passing with a 70 to attend.  Again, let me know if you have any questions.

The new attendance guidelines have caused a few students to not receive credit in some of their classes last semester.  We have spoken with all students who were impacted by this rule.  Remember that all students must be in class 90% of the time in order to receive credit.  It doesn't matter if the reason for the absence is excused or not excused.  If you have questions, please contact your grade level Assistant Principal.

Did you know that our PALS program provides over 1000 volunteer hours of support each year?  If you convert that into dollars it is over $23,000 they would have earned!  Thank you, Mrs. Sindt for sponsoring this program!

Next week, 7th graders will be part of a presentation from Deputy Taylor with the Travis County Sheriff's Office Community Outreach division during their social studies classes.  The topic of the presentation is on Choices, Decisions, and Consequences.

It has been a great first week back.  Have a wonderful weekend!

The business careers class held their Tiger Case Business Competition this week.  From the different classes, the businesses were narrowed done to 16.  After presentations, students rated the students and three were selected:  "Thirst No Mow" - Shelton; "Sit Huts" - Carlton; and "Swish Nation Incorporation" - Jake.  Two parents along with myself judged these remaining projects.

 photo by Victoria H.

The EXCEL classes participated in a winter door contest.  There were some creative ideas.  There were 4 ways to win:  Best in Texas Winter, Most Creative Use of Materials, Great Diversity, and Most Artistic.  EXCEL Class winners are Moreno, Allevato, Snyder, Palmer, Martin, Cooper, Bell, Renfro, Butler, Ransom, and Chandler.

The girls 7th & 8th grade basketball teams finished their seasons as Southwest Zone Champions. So proud of these Lady Tigers.

The boys 7th & 8th grade soccer teams also finished their season.

 photo by Mandy P.

Did you know that our Fashion and Design class this semester made dresses for orphan children in Africa?  They were made out of pillow cases!  What a creative idea.

 photo by Halle K

The new year's Lone Star list is out and there are some awesome books on it.  The new Lone Star Challenge begins.  All you need to do is read 15 books off the list to participate in the next year's luncheon.  As I roamed the library during the celebration, one of the questions I asked the students was how many books a week they read.  Two was the average number!  Wow, I was quite embarrassed.  My number wasn't close to that at all!

We ended the semester with an amazing Winter Concert from our fine arts department.  The students did an outstanding job!

 photos by Ashley J.

Thank you to all the parents who participated in the Faculty Cookie Exchange.  It was so much fun selecting all the different cookies.  My favorites were the fudge and dipped pretzels!  I wish you a great holiday season and hope you are able to relax and spend time with family.  See you January 5, 2016!