Gator Bytes. Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey. J.R. Gerritts Middle School * 545 S. John St. * Kimberly, WI *

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Gator Bytes Dec. 20 2017 Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey J.R. Gerritts Middle School * 545 S. John St.

I have heard that some parents have had questions or concerns about why we are taking these steps and wanted to provide our families with more information. December 22 Early Release 11:20 Dec. 25-Jan.

Release 11:20 One of our teachers was recently diagnosed with Mast Cell Disease, similar to Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.

When mast cells function normally, they keep a person healthy.

1 Gator Bytes Dec Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey J.R. Gerritts Middle School * 545 S. John St. * Kimberly, WI * Please Help JRG Become Fragrance-Free You may have noticed in previous newsletters that JRG is attempting to limit fragrances in our school. I have heard that some parents have had questions or concerns about why we are taking these steps and wanted to provide our families with more information. December 22 Early Release 11:20 Dec. 25-Jan. 1 No School January 2 Wrestling Begins 3:10-5:00 PM January 2-4 Girls Basketball Tryouts 7th Grade 4:30-6:00 8th Grade 3:10-4:30 January 8 ROCKS Tubing 3:15-8:00 PM January 19 End of Quarter 2 Early Release 11:20 One of our teachers was recently diagnosed with Mast Cell Disease, similar to Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. This is a rare disorder but one that has significant consequences to the person with the diagnosis. Mast cells are necessary for life and play a major role in our body s immune system. When mast cells function normally, they keep a person healthy. With Mast Cell Disease, the body has too many mast cells and they are very reactive, which in turn causes an autoimmune reaction (essentially, the body is attacked by its own immune system). The disease is often misdiagnosed, and comes with a long list of possible triggers and symptoms. In the case of our teacher, we need your help with a specific trigger that causes significant and at times debilitating symptoms - fragrances such as cologne, after shave lotion, perfume, perfumed lotion, fragranced hair products, and/or similar products. By reducing exposure to these triggers, symptoms will also be reduced. We are asking our families for any and all help they can provide in reducing fragrances coming into JRG. Your assistance in minimizing or eliminating fragrances can help not only this teacher, but also other students who have sensitivities and allergies related to fragrances by improving indoor air quality (please see the American Lung Association for more information on indoor air quality). If you have questions, please feel free to contact us. We appreciate your support! Eric Brinkmann, Principal Kathy Verstegen, RN, District Nurse Wrestling and Girls Basketball Begin January 2 Wrestling begins January 2. Practices will run daily from 3:10-5:00 PM in the wrestling room. Girls Basketball tryouts will be held January 2-4. Girls must be present all three days. 8th grade tryouts will be from 3:10-4:30; 7th grade tryouts will be from 4:30-6:00. Please see the letter from Athletic Director Mary Hammen on page 4 of this newsletter for detailed information concerning the tryout process. All athletes must have a current athletic form on file prior to their first meet/game. The form can be found on our website under the Athletics tab in Student Activities or by clicking here. Mr. Hoerth s Ex. Tech Photo of the Week Winner Theme: Animals Congratulations to this week s winner: Tyler Vieth

2 Gator Bytes J.R. Gerritts Middle School Page 2 Congratulations To Our Talented JRG Musicians! Our holiday Band and Choir concert was a great success once again. Thank you for all of your hard work and outstanding performance!

3 Gator Bytes J.R. Gerritts Middle School Page 3 Junior Achievement 8th Grade Technical Careers Challenge Junior Achievement 8th Grade Technical Careers Challenge in collaboration with Fox Valley Technical College will be held on Thursday, February 22, 2018 from 1:30-6:00 pm. JA Technical careers Challenge is a real-world experience that allows teams of middle school students to work with a business person to compete against one another as they manufacture or provide a service. Don t let your students miss out on this awesome career exploration opportunity! Please see pages 6 and 7 for more information and visit to register. Registration for the School year The registration process for next year s 8th graders (current 7th graders) at JRG will start February 26th. Current 8th graders will register for high school courses at another time. This is a change from previous years, when registration was done during late December for 7th graders. The reason for this change was to give students a better opportunity to understand their needs for next school year. Guidance counselors will meet with current 7th graders in February to begin the registration process. More information for 7th and 8th grade students and parents will be shared closer to that date. If you have any questions, please contact your student s guidance counselor or Assistant Principal Rob DeLain at rdelain@kimberly.k12.wi.us. Emergency Medications Please be aware that emergency medications that are provided for use during the school day will not be accessible before or after school hours. Parents and students must plan ahead to have emergency medication available during school activities such as clubs and sports. If an emergency arises and a student does not have their emergency medication available, 911 will be called. Weather Cancellations and Delays Winter is right around the corner. If weather conditions dictate that there will be no school or a delayed start, a decision to keep the schools closed is usually made by 6:30 a.m. Parents with students in school receive a direct call, text and/or from our auto-call system since that is the fastest way to communicate with thousands of parents at one time. As a reminder: If you have a new phone number or address, please update your information in the Infinite Campus parent portal or contact your school s secretary to update the portal. Announcements are also sent to local TV and radio stations. Please tune to local stations such as these rather than call the school directly: WAPL-105.7FM, WHBY-1150AM, WKFX-104.9FM, WEMI-91.9 FM, WGEE-1360 AM, and WOZZ-93.5FM; and WBAY-TV2, WFRV-TV5, WGBA-TV26, and WLUK-FOX11. If other school events, such as concerts or sporting events are also cancelled because of weather, they are typically communicated through these stations as well. The District s website and Facebook page are not our primary way to communicate school closures, so we ask parents to listen to the auto-call messages or tune in to the radio and TV stations listed for the timeliest updates. The Kimberly Area School District does not discriminate against pupils on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability or handicap in its educational programs or activities. Federal law prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, sex, religion or handicap. J. R. Gerritts Middle School 545 S. John Street s Kimberly, WI (P) (F) (E) JRG@Kimberly.k12.wi.us

4 Gator Bytes J.R. Gerritts Middle School Page 4 Message About Athletic Tryouts From Our Athletic Director Dear Parents and Athletes: Tryouts for the girls basketball program will be held soon, and we would like to share more information about the process. This is an exciting time, but can also be a time of high emotions and tensions for parents, players, and coaches. JRG offers two teams at each grade level, but because the numbers of girls interested are usually high, we must use a tryout system for this sport. We hope to answer some of the questions you may have about this process. The tryout period will last 2 to 4 days and will be held in the large gym at JRG. The 8 th graders will practice 3:10-4:30 and 7 th graders 4:30-6:00. Players must attend all tryout dates. Tryout dates: Tuesday, Jan. 2nd 1 st day of try-outs Wednesday, Jan. 3rd 2 nd day of try-outs (some cuts will be made this day) Thursday, Jan. 4th 3 rd day of try-outs (final cuts could be made, or if needed we will have a 4 th day of try-outs). Friday, Jan. 5th IF NEEDED- 4th day of tryouts and final cuts. Coaches will inform students if this fourth day of tryouts will be held. Each practice session will last about 1 ½ hours. We will keep a total of 30 players. Once the teams have been decided the coaches will divide the players into 2 equal teams. Many factors will go into the decision on whether or not a player makes the teams. Our coaches do the best they can to fairly evaluate all the players. Coaches use the same rating system for all students, and we often bring in additional coaches from middle and high school to help us evaluate players. Some of the factors considered are: 1. The player s fundamental basketball skills including shooting, dribbling, passing, defense and court awareness. 2. How the player functions as a teammate and leader. 3. The player s attitude and effort. Students who do not make the team are encouraged to continue working on their skills and to tryout again next year.. Almost every year, we have students who make the team in grade 8 who did not make the team in grade 7 because they continued to play and work on their skills. There are many ways to improve, such as playing in other organized leagues or by attending one of the many camps that are offered in our area. Feedback Available To Players Who Do Not Make The Team If a player wants to know what they could work on to better their chances next year we encourage them to ask the coaches. They can either approach the coach after practice or set up a time to meet with them the next day at school. We encourage you to allow the athlete to have this discussion, as it is a great life skill. If you have questions about this process, please feel free to contact me. Respectfully, Mary Hammen Athletic Director/Physical Education Teacher (920)

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Gator Bytes. Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey. J.R. Gerritts Middle School * 545 S. John St. * Kimberly, WI *

Gator Bytes. Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey. J.R. Gerritts Middle School * 545 S. John St. * Kimberly, WI * Gator Bytes Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey J.R. Gerritts Middle School * 545 S. John St. * Kimberly, WI * 920-788-7905 Dec. 13 2017 Yankee Candle/Cherrydale Fundraiser Pickup December