Great Start to March

We had the amazing opportunity to have Merry-Go-Round Theater spend part of an afternoon with us last week performing selected middle level student work from around the State as part of the Echos Writing Program. The energy and enthusiasm from our students during the performance was outstanding. Some of our students were recognized for their creativity and original works. Abby Marchesani was recognized as the "Showcased Author" and has had her piece performed throughout the State. Hannah Mazzoni was recognized for her "Excellence in Writing" and Eyad Zahran was recognized as an "Honorable Mention".

Students of the Month

Continuing to celebrate those that carry themselves in a way that we can all be proud of, last week we recognized our new ‘Students of the Month’ for March. We continue to have students, who through their actions and character, help to create a positive school environment. Choosing ‘Students of the Month’ isn’t about grades and athletic or musical prowess, it’s about demonstrating all of the qualities that we value and celebrate - exemplary work ethic, citizenship, character, compassion, honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility, optimism and/or leadership in creating a positive school environment. As a school community we are extremely grateful for students who day in and day out show up, work hard, do their best, and make our school a better place.

This month we recognized 6th graders Inna Guleva, Emma Krigbaum, Ben Korzeniewski and Angelo Vrabel ; 7th graders Lauren Battaglia, Ryan Fassinger, Austin Michalkow and Vivian Raposo ; and 8th graders Vincent Firenze, Lana Hussein, Peter McMahon and Elsa Propper. Well deserved and congratulations to all!

6th Grade Students of the Month for March

7th Grade Students of the Month for March

8th Grade Students of the Month for March

Positivity Project

For the first two weeks of March our P2 efforts focused on the 'CHEERING OTHERS' SUCCESS' and the character trait of LOVE OF LEARNING. At home we encourage you to have a conversation with your child and think about the different ways that we can promote the importance of LOVE OF LEARNING in our lives. To help you make connections here is the link to the Positivity Project Character Trait Card for LOVE OF LEARNING.

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St. Baldrick's
Our St. Baldrick's event at West Genesee Middle School took off in 2014 as a result of our students looking for a way to support and stand with fellow students and members of our community who have been impacted by childhood cancer. A conversation became an idea and that idea has now become an event. Since 2014 we have raised over $57,000 for childhood cancer research. This year our St. Baldrick's event takes place on Friday, March 15th. 

Through our efforts as a school community we are going to raise awareness, raise some money and have some fun all in an effort to help fight childhood cancer. Please support Team Wildcat in any way that you can and help us make a difference in the lives of children across the country. It's all about "The Power of WE!"

Event link: https://www.stbaldricks.org/events/WestGenesee

We are grateful for your continued support of our students and staff. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Email: sdunham@westgenesee.org

The Power of Attitude

Turning the calendar to March brings with it the optimism that spring may in fact be right around the corner. This is the time of year that feels like winter will never end and the sun shines for only an hour every fourth day (and we are usually inside at work during that hour on that day!). We often refer to this time of year as the "doldrums". The doldrums are defined as "a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression." This is the time of year where we all need to give a little extra TLC to the people around us by checking in with them to see how they are doing and really taking the time to listen to them. Everyone has 'something' going on in their lives that we may know nothing about. It reinforces just how important having strong relationships and making connections with other people are, especially important this time of year. 

So while we may not be able to control the weather we do have the incredible power to choose our attitude each and every day. So when we have to deal with some adversity, when things may not go as planned or when you have to brush snow off of your car in April, the most important question is HOW are you going to respond. We have a choice each day to be a Tigger or an Eeyore. Will you focus on the positive in the day and maybe even find the silver lining in a negative situation, or will you allow negativity to swallow you up and have you focus on the worst in things? There is much in life that is out of our control, but we all have the incredible power to choose our attitude. Keep it simple: Be a Tigger! Even during the doldrums.

The Positivity Project kept us focused on the Tigger theme this week as we put the spotlight on the character trait of ENTHUSIASM. P2 continues to provide a steady and powerful framework to help us strengthen relationships within our school community and make meaningful connections with our students. At home we encourage you to have a conversation with your child about ENTHUSIASM and think about the different ways that we can all bring ENTHUSIASM into everything that we do. ENTHUSIASM is contagious! To help you make connections, here are the links to the Positivity Project Character Card for ENTHUSIASM. 

We are grateful for your continued support of our students and staff. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Email: sdunham@westgenesee.org

Fast Forward Into February

We officially kicked off the month of February last week with our annual Science Fair. The Science Fair is always a terrific opportunity for our students to apply the Scientific Method in a unique way to answer a question for which they must seek out answers to satisfy their own curiosity about the world around them. This year we had eighteen more projects than last year and we saw outstanding work from our young scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs from all three grade levels. Congratulations to all of our students who had the courage, drive and commitment to participate in this year's Science Fair! 

Positivity Project

P2 continues to provide a steady and powerful framework to help us to strengthen relationships within our school community and make meaningful connections with our students. The last few weeks we focused on the character traits of PRUDENCE and SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE. At home we encourage you to have a conversation with your child about PRUDENCE and SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE and think about the different ways that can demonstrate these traits as we go about our lives. To help you make connections here are the links to the Positivity Project Character Trait Card for PRUDENCE and Character Trait Card for SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE. 

Students of the Month

Staying on the theme of positivity and celebrating those that carry themselves in a way that we can all be proud of, this week we recognized our new ‘Students of the Month’ for February. We continue to have students, who through their actions and character, help to create a positive school environment. Choosing ‘Students of the Month’ isn’t about grades and athletic or musical prowess, it’s about demonstrating all of the qualities that we value and celebrate - exemplary work ethic, citizenship, character, compassion, honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility, optimism and/or leadership in creating a positive school environment. As a school community we are extremely grateful for students who day in and day out show up, work hard, do their best, and make our school a better place.

This month we recognized 6th graders Aiden Ruge, Calina Olson, Evan Perkins and Penelope Ruge; 7th graders Cooper Corcoran, Dillon Collier, Lamees Hussein and Kelly McManus; and 8th graders Conor Cook, Maria Girazov, Andrew Mauro and Elizabeth Quinn. Well deserved and congratulations to all!

6th Grade Students of the Month

7th Grade Students of the Month

8th Grade Students of the Month

We are grateful for your continued support of our students and staff. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms
Email: sdunham@westgenesee.org