A Message from Dr. Christine Trujillo, Superintendent | |
Stay Connected with Gilbert | |
The latest news and highlights around the Gilbert Community School District. | |
Fabulous 50 Project Benefits Gilbert Through Book Donations
Gale Gehling has a milestone birthday on the horizon — the Big 5-0, as she calls it. But rather than dread the day as it approaches, the parent of a Gilbert High School graduate and a current Gilbert Middle School student, is embracing it.
She’s not wallowing. She’s thriving. And through determination and a tireless work ethic, she’s giving back to those organizations that mean the most to her and her family.
Gehling is calling it the Fabulous 50 Project — her effort to give back to 50 organizations by the time she reaches her milestone birthday on Dec. 9. And one of those organizations is our very own Gilbert Schools.
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Pending Board Approval, Trent Becker To Take Over As Gilbert CSD Transportation Manager On May 1
The Gilbert Community School District is happy to announce that, pending board approval, Trent Becker will take the reins as our new Transportation Manager beginning May 1.
“I look forward to serving in this role in a growing district,” Becker said. “I’m hoping that my experience and understanding of the Gilbert culture will help me to have success in this new role.”
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Once A Tiger, Always A Tiger
With a smile on her face, Stacy Johnson exhales loudly as she stands up from a table inside the empty Gilbert High School commons area Wednesday morning. Emotionally, she held it together over a 20-minute stretch in which she was asked to play a game of, “This Is Your Life.”
She laughed. She smiled a lot. She reminisced on so many of the good times with descriptive details that made you feel like you were right there beside her in the volleyball huddle. And she reflected on those moments that make her proud of what she’s accomplished.
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The Family Business
It’s a cold, dark winter morning and Gilbert High School students and brothers Josh and Chris Fisher are out of bed and starting their day long before their peers. Their dad, Joe, has left the warmth of his bed too before the clock strikes 5 a.m., and as he ventures into the living room he sees his sons are waiting for him to leave.
This is what the Fisher family business is all about. It’s about passion, not profit. And for them, trekking to the Dan Flannery Pool at Ames High long before the sun has even peaked its head over the horizon is a gift, not something to grumble about.
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Gilbert 6th Grader Zack Langford Receives Heart Transplant
Amanda Langford is exhausted. Over the past six days, she’s slept sparingly; an hour here, an hour there, but no more as her mind races through the scenarios. As an advanced registered nurse practitioner, she understands the situation better than most and that’s both a blessing and a curse.
She’s a mom, after all, and that’s her baby — Gilbert Middle School sixth grader Zack Langford — laying in the bed attempting to recover from a surgery that saved his life. She worries. Constantly. Who wouldn’t?
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Gilbert Competition Cheer Squad Ready To Take On Nationals
Jordan Sytsma was noticeably nervous as she stood to the side and watched her Gilbert competition cheer squad prepare to perform in front of friends, family, and the entire community during halftime of the boys’ basketball game last Friday night.
This was the squad’s last chance for a full out in front of a crowd before it departs on Thursday for the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) High School Nationals and Sytsma, the Tigers’ head coach, wanted perfection.
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Gilbert Students, Community Give Back Through Mentoring Programs
Pastor Christian Johnson, who watches over the congregation at Gilbert Lutheran Church, had a smile on his face as he sat and waited for intermediate student and fourth grader Parker Main Tuesday afternoon. For one, Pastor Johnson enjoys a good school lunch and on the menu today is a corn dog. Secondly, and most importantly, he gets the chance to spend an hour with Main, who he’s mentored for nearly four years.
Soon enough Parker shows up, and he and Pastor Johnson take their lunches to the east gym where they sit with their backs to the bleachers and eat while they talk. They might shoot some hoops, or play another game afterward, whatever Parker wants.
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OUR STORY: Any Way You Slice It, Super Regionals Was A Tremendous Success For Our Girls’ Wrestling Program
Gilbert senior Brooklynn Nees was exhausted. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. She started the day with a full gas tank, but by the time she’d completed her seventh match – yes, her seventh match of the day, more on that later – nearly eight hours later at the girls’ wrestling super regional in Des Moines on Friday, that tank was bone dry.
She barely had the energy to walk to the corner of the mat where she immediately collapsed into the arms of head coach Scott Auderer. She buried her head in his forearm and then slowly wilted to the ground. Eventually, she was aided off the mat and over to the cement floor near the bleachers where she sat for some time.
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Videos, Videos, and more Videos | |
Stacy Johnson Announces Her Retirement As Volleyball Coach | After 25 years of coaching volleyball, the last 14 coming at Gilbert, Stacy Johnson has decided to retire from coaching. In 12 years as the Tigers' head coach, she won 266 matches, three conference titles, and led the program to state in 2020. | |
National School Counselor Week: Students Speak | To wrap up our video series during National School Counselor Week, we thought it would be fun to ask some of the students what they like about their counselors and what they think their counselors do all day. The responses are both heartwarming and funny. | |
National School Counselor Week: Gilbert Elementary | As we celebrate National School Counselor Week, we have put together features on the counselors in each of our Gilbert CSD buildings. First up is Gilbert Elementary School Counselor DeeDee Haselhoff. | |
National School Counselor Week: Gilbert Intermediate | As we celebrate National School Counselor Week, we have put together features on the counselors in each of our Gilbert CSD buildings. Next up are Gilbert Intermediate School Counselor Joy Sparrey and Gilbert CSD Student and Family Advocate Mel Woodin. | |
National School Counselor Week: Gilbert Middle School | As we celebrate National School Counselor Week, we have put together features on the counselors in each of our Gilbert CSD buildings. Next up are Gilbert Middle School Counselors Jenni Thomas and Hannah Gorman. | |
National School Counselor Week: Gilbert High School | As we celebrate National School Counselor Week, we have put together features on the counselors in each of our Gilbert CSD buildings. Next up are Gilbert High School Counselors Paul Jacobson and Jordan Sytsma. | |
Staff Of Stars: Debbie Gray | We ended the first semester in December by honoring longtime staff member Debbie Gray for our Staff Of Stars series. | |
During January, the Gilbert staff welcomed national speaker George Couros for a day of learning. Prior to his talk, staff members watched a video of students giving their thoughts on Gilbert CSD and the staff members. | |
Girls Basketball: Regional vs. Boone Highlights | The Gilbert girls' basketball team opened the postseason with a Class 4A regional quarterfinal win over Boone, 52-30, in mid-February. Here are some highlights from that game. | |
Gilbert: The Best Of 2022 | Episode No 5: We look back on many of the great things that happened at Gilbert Schools during 2022. | |
Meet Our Athletic Trainers | Episode No. 6: We introduce you to Gilbert Athletic Trainers Mason Finn and Kylee Schlorholtz. | |
Graham Lundt Talks Football | Episode No. 7: Gilbert Head Football Coach Graham Lundt stops in to chat about potential changes for the 2023 season. | |
Mental Health, Moving Forward | Episode No. 8: Jen Schnormeier and Jordan Sytsma stop by to talk Teen Mental Heath First Aid, and members of Moving Forward join the podcast. | |
Facilities Update with Superintendent Dr. Christine Trujillo | Episode No. 9: Gilbert CSD Superintendent Dr. Christine Trujillo is back for a second appearance on the podcast. The episode centers on a facilities update for the district. | |
Social Media Posts of the Month | |
It's National School Bus Driver Appreciation Day! We cannot thank our drivers enough for their efforts to keep our students safe each and every day! #GilbertPride #TigersTogether | |
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The Man, The Myth, The Legend: An AD by day and night, and — maybe, perhaps? — an amateur electrician. @GHSTIGERS_AD Way to save the day, Mr. Smith! #GilbertPride #TigersTogether
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Congratulations to Gilbert Middle School 7th grader Sophie Stark, who recently learned she was chosen as the winner of the Ames Optimist Club essay contest! #GilbertPride
#TigersTogether
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Gilbert Middle School Students Enter World of Robotics Through First Lego League | |
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A social media post from a Gilbert CSD parent last summer was simple enough: “Does Gilbert offer a robotics club?”
Lynne Reid, our media specialist and librarian, saw this post and ran with it. After conversations with multiple parents, Mrs. Reid came to the conclusion that we could make this happen.
Through conversations with neighboring school districts about their robotics programs, and with funding from The Rural Technology Fund and additional support from the Gilbert PTO, Gilbert Middle School began a Lego League this past fall. Mrs. Reid and Adam Smith, an ELP teacher at the middle school and high school, coached our two teams.
Mrs. Reid says the funding helped tremendously by covering the robotics kits, entrance fees, team T-shirts, supplies, and miscellaneous expenses that came with starting this program.
Each year, the First Lego League creates a new challenge for students. This year’s task was called “Super Charged.” This included looking at the types of energy and how they are created. It can be a long and tedious process for the teams, as they formulate a plan using creative and innovative ideas with the robots.
There were three parts to the competition, all of which were vital to the success of the teams. First, they needed to create an innovative project that could solve or answer a question involving current energy use. Second, the teams built a robot and then, third, they used their robot to complete missions created by the First Lego League.
“Robotics easily can lend itself to the engineering design process, which leads to higher-level thinking, problem-solving, creativity, resilience, and teamwork,” Mrs. Reid said. “Robotics helps students tap into potential they didn’t realize they had.”
The Gilbert teams met once a week for approximately two hours to prepare for the competitions, perform the coding, and prepare for the presentations.
Tyrannical Tigers, one of our teams, made it through regionals and advanced to state. It also received a judges’ award, signifying a young team on the rise. Members of the Tyrannical Tigers included: Parker Messmer, Alex Pyfferoen, Drake Wang, Henry Hibbs, Isaac Steenhoek, Ariana Dunbar, Jaida Everett, Will Bjustrom, and Zach Goldsmith.
Members of our second team, Tiger Team Six, included: Kiernan Ryan, Jack Poss, Isaac Kim, Nathan Hur, Zack Langford, Austin Bell, Chloe Larson, Tate Samuels, Lucas Martens, and Azaria Telesford.
This experience for our students has been incredibly valuable, as they learned so much about creativity, innovation, and the coding process. The program will continue during the 2023-24 school year, offering our current team members the chance to compete again and students new to First Lego League a chance to dive into the world of robotics.
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Put Others Before Yourself | |
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As we told you in our last newsletter, generosity in the Gilbert Community School District knows no bounds, and during this past holiday season the chance to give back reached nearly every single student in our buildings.
The initiative focused on Put Others Before Yourself. Through an anonymous donation by a district family, every student — kindergarten through 12th grade — was given $1 to pay it forward to someone else.
And what did you students do with their dollar bill? We’re glad you asked.
Some students donated to the Ames Library. Some donated to local churches. Some went to the Georges Niang Golf Outing, and others contributed to the Salvation Army. The Omaha Children’s Hospital also saw a donation come its way, and many more beneficial community programs were supported.
Some students combined their dollars, including entire classes, and donated back to teachers, local food banks, Toys for Tots, and for school supplies!
We are so proud of our students for showing their gratitude and taking the initiative to make the program a success!
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Congrats All-RRC Basketball Players! | |
For District Schedule: Click HERE
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Photos Around Gilbert Schools | |
All photos available to download HERE
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