Dear GMMS Parents and Guardians:
Welcome to the end of the 2020-2021 school year; a year that will not soon be forgotten. While many activities were curtailed, I am very proud to have you see some of the great artwork our students completed as well as some projects taking place in our classrooms. I am especially very proud to share the Glen Meadow virtual literary and art magazine called “Reflections” with all of you. Thank you to our art teacher Mrs. Lisa Hirkaler and Social Studies teacher Ms. Mary Ellen Cleary for putting our students’ work together in these two online formats.
8th Grade Dance: Our dance is this Friday night, June 11th, from 6 to 9 pm. Students must have a permission slip completed to attend.
8th Grade Advancement: As you have received through our School Messenger emails, the 8th Grade Advancement Ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 17, at 5;00 pm, at Vernon Township High School, at the Macerino Stadium. Tickets will be mailed to our virtual students on Friday, June 11th. In-person students will receive their tickets on Tuesday, June 15th. 8th graders should arrive between 4:30 and 4:45 pm.
One for the Books…
Reflections Magazine
You can view and download the PDF attached of Reflections Magazine, or click on this link to read the magazine through Flipsnack, a free online publishing tool that provides a “Kindle-like” reading experience. There is no need to sign in or join Flipsnack to view the magazine. I am so proud of the wonderful writing and beautiful artwork Glen Meadow students submitted this year. Ms. Cleary’s introduction gives a wonderful window to the works you will experience in this publication:
“It was once said, “The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered, there is opportunity for growth.” We have certainly had our fair share of challenges during the 2020-2021 school year. We began our year with a three-cohort hybrid model and early dismissal days, masks and one-way hallways, Zooming, Screencastifying, and Schoology, always Schoology. Despite these changes, students grew, learned, and adapted. We are proud of how far they have come. In this year’s edition of Reflections Magazine, our students reflect on the literature they have read in the classroom and the ever-evolving world around them. Several eighth-grade students have also contributed poetry and speeches inspired by their advancement from Glen Meadow to the high school. As you experience this digital version of the magazine, you will find beautiful art pieces, many created by the talented artists of Glen Meadow under the direction of Mrs. Lisa Hirkaler, a gifted art teacher.”
Art Show from Mrs. Hirkaler: Check out the below YouTube art show that Mrs. Hirkaler put together showing a sampling of students’ work.
Hugo, the Therapy Dog: Hugo visited Glen Meadow to say hello to students during their lunch periods. Hugo is a certified Therapy Dog. Students took turns hanging out with Hugo enjoying the shade with him. We thank retired VTSD teacher, Mrs. Norma Brand, Hugo’s mom, for bringing him to our school.
News from the Builder’s Club: 6th grader, Madigan VanBlarcom, entered and won the Builders Club’s Halloween Costume Contest. One of the prizes was that the winner could select a charity of choice. Madigan chose the Glenwood-Pochuck Volunteer Ambulance Corp. The Builder’s Club would like to thank everyone for their support for her fundraiser. Thanks to the students of Glen Meadow, we were able to raise $110 for the Glenwood-Pochuck Volunteer Ambulance Corp. Because we were able to raise this amount, we reached the “Pie-in-the-Face” incentive. Our co-leaders Mrs. Lopez and Ms. Grimaldi, along with Mr. Myhren, who got a “pie in the face” on “Pie Day” by his students, were the good sports who got “pied” by some Builder’s Club members.
Pop Tabs: Here are our Builder’s Club members standing with all the pop-tabs they collected from each grade level. The pop tabs go to the Ronald McDonald House that houses children who are being treated in specialized hospitals often very far from home. The 6th-grade class donated the most pop tabs and will be treated to ice pops later this week.
Dear 2020: Memoirs of a Middle School is streaming online- if you haven’t had a chance to see our Glen Meadow Original…Dear 2020…here’s your chance…There is a $2.59 fee to view the show; however, this money goes to the company providing the link. Glen Meadow does not receive any money from this streaming service. Here is the link you’ll need.
Passion Projects in Mrs. Schmidt’s class: Mrs. Schmidt assigned a project to her students to pick a topic they have a passion for or want to learn more about…and the students in her class did just that…they went deep!! Students created presentations on storyboards, made videos, Google sites, and hands-on materials, and more! Below are some of the projects students created. Here is a link to Connor Donnegan’s Google site on the Pine Peaks Project; check it out and click around, you will be very impressed by Connor’s work with his classmates.
Rocketry: a cross-curricular project: Mr. Galante and Mrs. Holderith worked together on a rocketry project that blended math and science skills. Mr. Galante built a water rocket launcher, and their students tested the rockets with various levels of water. The students loved this project! Next, the students created their own rockets using materials that Mr. Galante and Mrs. Holderith collected. Below you will see the creation of students’ own rockets. The students had fun as they tested each rocket. This project fostered a high level of engagement! All throughout the project, there were mini-lessons on math and science that were taught before and during the activities.
Sussex County Reading Program Announced: Registration for the Sussex County Library Summer Reading begins Monday, June 14th and ends on Saturday, August 7th.
The Sussex County Library will be offering both in-person and virtual programs. Registration and reading log activity will be online on our READsquared website: https://sussexcountylibrary.readsquared.com/. Participants can also write reviews, complete missions, and redeem codes for attending programs. All these activities lead to points which participants can then use to purchase raffle tickets – the new prize raffle feature allows students to pick the prizes students want to win!
For all the details you can visit the summer reading page on our website
Also, for those exiting 8th graders who are 14, there are volunteer opportunities! Please click this flier to learn about this volunteer program.
Pass it Along: Pass It Along is a non-profit organization committed to helping teenagers become confident, resilient, and compassionate through self-discovery, leadership, and volunteerism. Pass It Along is the only organization in Northern New Jersey that focuses on teenagers, providing service-learning as a part of each volunteer experience, enabling a one-on-one connection to those in the community while helping and delivering thought-provoking self-discovery workshops. This year the Pass it Along Sussex County Scholar Athletes created a motivational video for young children and adolescents, where the athletes discussed the importance of school, academics, and self-care. Check it out!
In closing, I want to say thank you to all of our Glen Meadow parents and guardians for your support of your children and all of us in this most unique school year; as our yearbook title says it all…”it’s one for the books”! Dr. Kosek and I are particularly appreciative of everything that you have been doing to support learning from home when our district went virtual in the late fall and winter months. We also appreciate all of our families that supported their Exclusively Virtual children at home this year. We appreciate your flexibility when we were following a hybrid/early dismissal schedule. Dr. Kosek and I have received a number of email messages of thanks from so many of you over the course of this year, and we appreciate all of you taking the time to acknowledge the hard work of our faculty and staff at Glen Meadow. Dr. Kosek and I hope that all of our students and their families have a restful, restorative summer. We wish all the best to our 8th graders as they embark on their high school years. We hope that all of our students always remember “The Glen Meadow Way”, respect yourself and others, take responsibility for your actions, and reach your 100%!
Have a wonderful summer…
Rosemary Gebhardt Eric Kosek, Ed. D
Principal Assistant Principal