The Au Gres-Sims School District

With all the joy and excitement that the holidays bring it is often easy to not plan for what is coming up when we start the new year in January. At the building level we will return on Tuesday, January 3rd and pick up where we left off, with a few days of school before we close out the 1st semester of the school year, something Mr. Zeien will touch on in more detail in next week's newsletter. At the district level, January is comparatively much more of a beginning.

Though the school year runs from the end of the August through the beginning of June, the affairs of the school board run on the calendar year. The new year will officially start on Tuesday, January 3rd (January 2nd is the federally observed New Year's holiday) and that means the beginning of a new board of education. For the November mid-term election Au Gres-Sims had 4 available board seats, of which 3 were filled. Previously appointed board members Laura Storey and Matt Dewyer were voted in for the first time, and registered write-in candidate Chris Brandimore received the requisite number of votes as well. These three elected board members will begin on January 3 and will serve a 6-year term of service to the students, staff, and community of Au Gres-Sims. That does, however, leave one vacancy still to fill.

Beginning in January we will have an open seat on our Board of Education, with only 6 sitting members. This vacancy necessitates a board process of appointment for the final policy-directed position. The process will include the sitting board members interviewing interested candidates in a special board meeting on Monday, January 9th starting at 5 pm. This interview is not a guarantee of placement onto the board, but rather an opportunity for the sitting board to get to know the candidate to determine the ability to work together for the good of the district. This is also very much about the candidate doing the same. When the board does find a willing candidate that they can work with and approves them for appointment that person will serve our district for a 2-year period. Should they want to extend their stay on the board they may run for the seat in the November 2024 election.

The continuity and synergy of a school board is critical to the effectiveness of a school district. I encourage registered voters of the Au Gres-Sims community, whether they have students in the district or not, to consider serving the district we all call home. The deadline for submission is Friday, January 6th. To register your interest please submit a written statement via email to me at mingc@ags-schools.org or via mail to:

Office of the Board of Education

c/o Chris Ming

310 S. Court St. PO Box 648

Au Gres, MI 48703

I receive weekly publications from a source called The Child Mind Institute. It covers a multitude of topics covering every aspect of the well being of children. Recently, they’ve posted some businesses who provide special holiday resources for kids and businesses who give a portion of their sales back to the Child Mind Institute. Below are a list of some of these resources for the holidays that support great causes for children.

“Happy Jack”, which is a brand that raises awareness and funds mental health non-profits. https://happyjacksworld.com/

“Presently”, a company that creates “mindful” jewelry to help make anxiety and mental health more manageable. https://www.thinkpresently.com/

Some other companies that support the Child Mind Institute by giving portions of their proceeds back include:

TINTS Eyewear (https://tintseyewear.com/)

Barkeater Kids (https://barkeaterkids.com/)

Scen-ties (https://scenties.com/)

Planet B (https://www.zennioptical.com/coco-and-breezy)

Red Tabletop (https://redtabletop.com/pages/celebrating-you-collection)

AmazonSmile (https://smile.amazon.com/ch/80-0478843)

The holidays are an exciting time for children and families, but they can be challenging and overwhelming, too. Festivities such as family get-togethers can tax kids' ability to behave, while talking to relatives can be hard on kids who are shy. And when family changes, such as divorce or family deaths occur, holidays can be painful reminders of these events. For some tips on how to make the holidays easier for kids and families, go to the following website:

https://www2.childmind.org/webmail/908232/1231953060/3671c94680d7b5c5c2b0bedf90f82ad89cf063e1ea0618e74f87f45cfa0f5fae

We are about to head into a much needed break! However, every teacher will tell you that coming back from break can sometimes be a bit tricky. Taking time away from our daily routine in school can cause a bit of a vacation fog, or what some may call the “brain drain!” Note -this can completely happen to adults too!

Luckily there are a few tips that you can do at home to help prevent that brain drain and even help the transition back to school a bit easier for you as well on that first morning back to school. The key to these tips are to not ever make them feel like the students are “doing school work.” They are simple activities and questions in regular conversation that can keep brains working and active! These ideas come from an education blog that supports student learning!

5 tips for learning during the holiday break

1. Keep to a routine. Keeping up a similar method during the break will help keep your child focused. All learning activities or reading should occur in the morning when kids are fresh. Be careful to avoid words like homework, learning, or requirement. We want to essentially sneak in some learning under the guise of fun. Instead, suggest your child pick a book and read aloud while you make breakfast. Let them know each day in the morning they will be doing a fun activity with you or on their own to share daily. That way, they know what they will be doing each day and it keeps them to a routine. That routine for just a small part of the day during the break can help reduce vacation fog.

2. Explore your surroundings. Make a word game in the car while driving to the in-laws during the holidays. Your child can read signs on the road or turn it into a fun math game. Make a bingo card of fun words to spot while driving!

3. Ask math questions. “If your toy costs $4.95, how much change do you give the cashier?” Math can be in everyday life activities. Purchase a math workbook and complete four math problems on a daily basis. Play War with a deck of cards and have your child identify greater than/ less than. Challenge older students to find geometric shapes in everyday items.

4. Write twenty minutes a day. Keep a writing journal. Ask your child to write to someone or write about a topic of interest in the journal. Even better, have them write about their vacation, their plans, and their goals. Check out some amazing writing prompts for students here. 31 fun writing prompts for middle school kids. Younger children can illustrate their writing and share with family members. Try these fun writing prompts for younger children. 50 Quick Writing Prompts for Elementary

5. Focus on a specific learning idea. Identify your child’s challenge areas in learning and create exercises to strengthen their skills set. If they struggle with math facts; make a game out of flash cards. Do they struggle with reading fluency or comprehension? Have them read aloud in the car or while you cook. Ask them questions such as "who, what, when, where, and why?" about what they have read aloud. If they make a statement about something they've seen on tv; ask them their opinion and encourage them to research the topic.

Remember, incorporating these practices into things that you already have planned are simple ways to keep students engaged and they won’t even realize that they are actually learning!

Finally, I would like to wish all of our Au Gres-Sims families a happy and joyous holiday season!

This winter season their has been a dramatic increase in the number of reported cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), something that had previously been primarily an infant and young child disease that is now popping up more frequently in older children and adults.

Attached is the MDHHS Tip Sheet on RSV, providing more information about this virus and what to look for.

The Health Department is predicting an increase in the number of COVID, seasonal flu, and RSV cases during the holiday season as large groups gather indoors to celebrate the festive season. AGS has home COVID test kits available for free in the main office.

If you would like any home COVID tests please contact the main office and arrangements can be made for pick up or to be placed in your child's backpack.

Just a few more days to go before the winter sports season takes a holiday hiatus. Make sure you are getting into the gym to support our Wolverine hoopsters!

Did you know that Au Gres-Sims has a hockey team? Well, we are part of a hockey cooperative anyway with Tawas Schools, a program that enables our AGS students to play high school hockey. Cooperative programs like this one with Tawas, and the boys and girls soccer cooperatives with Standish-Sterling allow for more opportunities for our students and are a great way for kids to play what they enjoy and meet new people in the process.

Next Week's Schedule of Events:

Mon. 12/19:

• 6p MS Boys Basketball HOME @ Whittemore-Prescott

Tue. 12/20:

• 6p V Girls Basketball HOME vs. Bay City All Saints
• ~7:30p V Boys Basketball HOME vs. Bay City All Saints
• 7p V Hockey HOME (Tawas Bay Ice Arena) vs. Bay Area Thunder

Wed. 12/21:

• 6p V Hockey HOME vs. Cheboygan

The Wolverine Wake-Up is a student written publication that comes out weekly and shares the reporting of our own high school students and their interpretation of what is going on the in the world. The teacher sponsor and editor-in-chief is Mr. Luke Freeman. Thanks for reading.

We are adding a new section to the Wake-up and couldn't bring it all together in time. We look forward to premiering it next week in a special Christmas edition.

The Wolverine Wake-up (sorry, no link this week)

From their own mouths, the words of Au Gres-Sims students about what Green Infrastructure means and how they are sharing that message. This video was made to raise awareness as part of the Lake Huron Forever ArcGIS Storymap, a collaborative project to keep our shoreline and waterways beautiful.

In an effort to provide the academic support that our students need, the middle and high school will have drop-in after school tutoring starting next week. The tutoring will run after school until 4:30 on Mondays and Thursdays in the Cyber Cafe. Students are invited to drop in to work on their homework and/or get help from a teacher on a particular topic.

Dates for Tutoring the next few weeks:

• Mon. 12/19

Important dates for December for the Au Gres-Sims School District.

DECEMBER

• 19th: Board of Education Special meeting (5:45p start for budget hearing)
• 21st: Elementary Christmas Program
• 22nd-January 2nd: Holiday Break

Important and note-worthy events taking place in Au Gres and Arenac County

• Saturday, February 18th - Arenac Community Funds Trivia Night (Arenac Community Center, Standish)

Job Opportunities at AGS

• We do not have any vacancies at this time.

We are also always on the lookout for substitute teachers. If interested, please inquire with Mrs. Miller in the district administration office, (989) 876-7157 and she will put you into direct contact with Laurie Crane at ESS-WillSub

Email: web@ags-schools.org
Website: www.ags-schools.org
Location: 310 South Court Street, Au Gres, MI, USA
Phone: (989) 876-7150
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuGresSims/?ref=br_rs
Twitter: @agsschools