Blue Jay News

January 20, 2023

A Message from the Administrative Team

Greenwood Students and Families:

Welcome back! The 2nd semester starts next Monday, January 23 and we are excited to have students and teachers returning to Greenwood.

Congratulations to our boys’ basketball team on a 3rd place finish in our annual Blue & Gold Tournament. Our Blue and Gold Tournament and Pink and White Lady Classic tournament went well, and we are honored to have these feathers in our cap in the community. Thank you to Coaches Darren Taylor and Mike Percival for their work on these tournaments.

On Tuesday, February 7th at the boys’ basketball game, we will not only honor our seniors but also former Director, Dr. Janice Duncan. Please plan to attend the game on Feb. 7 to show your support for our team and pay tribute to Dr. Duncan. A reception during the game will occur on the stage with light refreshments.

Do not forget to bookmark the Greenwood website and download our APP to stay current on the latest events, news, and other happenings. To date, we have had 558 downloads of the Greenwood app.

The second annual Greenwood Showcase will occur on Thursday, March 30. This event will “showcase” student projects, performances, and fine art displays as a way to celebrate the talented students at Greenwood. More information will be forthcoming.

Ronda Cox has served GLS for over a decade and we appreciate her commitment to our school. Ronda is currently experiencing the onset of symptoms from an inherited disease, Huntington’s, and may be out of the office more frequently in the coming weeks. Please be patient with Ronda, and the rest of the office staff, as we work to accommodate. Keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

For the 2nd semester, the secondary classes (6-12) will be implementing a revised electronic device policy. Please see the details below:

GLS Electronic Device Practice
Effective January 30, 2023
January 23-30 will be an informative week for students and teachers to become familiar with the new practice.

The GLS electronic device practice will be in place to support the learning environment in the classroom and support our educators in the academic setting. This is a valuable teaching practice intended to reinforce the respect of our instructional time and provide consistency throughout our classrooms.

Expectations

During class, all devices must be placed in a student’s locker, backpack, or purse. Examples of devices are, but not limited to, cell phones, air pods, smart watches (may wear, but not use in class), iPods, iPads, computers. To be clear, there are times that devices are used as a part of the instructional process. The instructor will determine when the device is used for this purpose.

Consequences

First and foremost, classroom management techniques will be used in the classroom prior to instructors taking a student device for the first time. If students continue to use the electronic device in question after redirection from the instructor, the following practice will be in place:

o First offense: Teacher will take the device and keep until the end of the class period.

o Second offense: Teacher will take the device to the office for the student to pick up at the end of the day and the offense will be documented as a second offense.

o Third offense: Teacher will take the device to the office for the parent to pick up at the end of the day and the offense will be documented as a third offense.

o Fourth offense: Student will receive discipline in accordance with the scope and sequence in the handbook for Disrespect of Authority.

o Fifth offense: Student will receive discipline in accordance with the scope and sequence in the handbook for Disrespect of Authority. Student will not be allowed to bring the electronic device for the remainder of the semester.

o Subsequent offenses incurred will be reviewed by administration and can result in enrollment probation.

Offenses will be documented once it comes to the office and offenses will be cumulative school wide. For example, if a student phone comes to the office from Mrs. Hopkins class and then again from Dr. Snodgrass’ class, that would be the student’s third offense.

Emergency communication when a student’s device has been confiscated will be filtered through the office.

Go Blue Jays! GO Chiefs!

Ron & Jeni

Jamie Alford in Top 3%

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Great news—one of your students just reached Premier Distinction, the highest degree in the National Speech & Debate Association Honor Society!

Please join us in congratulating Greenwood senior, Jamie Alford on this outstanding achievement!

Fewer than 3% of NSDA members earn Premier Distinction prior to graduation!

This milestone is a celebration of the hundreds of hours Jamie has spent preparing, practicing, and competing to hone their communication and leadership skills.

5th Grade Fun Day

5th Grade fun day was just that…. So much fun. We enjoyed catching up with friends, eating pizza, and playing learning games all day long on January 4.

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Concession Stand Sign Up

Greenwood Booster Club Greenwood High School Basketball Concession

Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. If signing up for middle school service hours, parents and child should sign up together. Thank you!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0c44aca62ba3fe3-greenwood

If you have questions, you can contact Tona Hetzler at tonahetzler@missouristate.edu

Gifts For Greene Valley

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Here are some photos of the gift drop off from the Greene Valley State School holiday service project with Dr. Hammerschmidt’s first grade & the sophomore class.

Thanks to the Clark family, Collin (10th grade), Cooper (Greenwood grad), and parents Bill and Natalie for organizing this donation drive, wrapping and delivering Christmas gifts for 10 years now.

We were also able to provide breakfast for all the teachers/staff again as well!

This school is located on Pythian Street behind Evangel College and has approximately 60+ children who all have significant disabilities and special needs. The children range in ages from 5 to 21 years old. All are referred from public schools in Springfield and the surrounding areas and are funded by State Board of Education. They have a PE coach and a speech teacher and have contract therapies for PT and OT.

Greene Valley is so very grateful every year we are able to do this, and they look forward to it!! They love these kids so much and for them to witness a bit of joy in the kids they effortless care for, is ALWAYS a gift to them.

Thanks to everyone who donated gifts and for the breakfast!

New Year, New Greenwood Debate Success!

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Some very dedicated Greenwood Debaters spent part of the semester break competing at the first tournament of 2023 hosted by Lebanon High School.

Huge congratulations to each student who completed the competition – because all of those students came home from Lebanon with at least one trophy and two of those students earned tournament championships!

Jamie Alford was the tournament champion in International Extemp and a semi-finalist in Informative Speaking. Jamie also paired with Fatima Aslam and defeated teams from Springfield Catholic, Bolivar, and Glendale on their way to third place in Varsity Policy Debate. Fatima was also sixth in International Extemp and a semi-finalist in Original Oratory. Also, Romi Kim placed 5th in United States Extemp.

Our first year (novice) competitors also excelled against quality competition. Ethan Duff and Marcus Ryan finished 3rd in Novice Policy Debate. Ethan was also the tournament champion in United States Extemp! Tristan Khoshyomn just missed another championship with the 2nd place award in International Extemp. Gyan Grewal finished 5th in Informative Speaking.

During the spring semester the Blue Jay debaters will be working toward a strong finish to the invitational season and hope for several national qualifiers this year! Go Jays!