December 15-20, 2024
Good morning Cannon families,
This week, we celebrated Computer Science Education Week, or CSEd Week, which is celebrated the second week of December each year. The largest learning event in history, Computer Science Education Week aims to get K-12 students interested in computer coding. At Cannon, engaging in computer science and coding tasks goes far beyond one week a year! Computer science teaches problem-solving and analytical skills, and is an essential skill in the K-12 STEM career trajectory, with many scholarships out there dedicated to this area of study. We hope to improve computer literacy among all scholars at Cannon!
Thank you to our families that participated in our campus Parents Night Out this past Friday! This school fundraiser supported enhancing STEM teaching and learning practices in Specials. A HUGE shoutout to our Specials teachers - Coach Maegen Hood, Heather Hagar, Jenny Rios, and Deborah Mattox for organizing and facilitating such a fun time! They raised - $740 to support our STEM mission in Specials!
We heard the Grapevine-Colleyville Education Foundation prize patrol bells at Cannon this past Friday! The Grapevine-Colleyville Education Foundation spread joy throughout the district, as they delivered more than $43,000 in Star Teaching Grants! We are so grateful for the ongoing support of GCEF and the impact they have in the classroom. We can not bring creative, out-of-the-box ideas to Cannon without the generosity of grants and fundraising! Please help me congratulate our two award winning grants at Cannon!
Strengthening Foundational Skills through Purposeful Play - Kindergarten Team
Making Math in Engaging through VR - Tricia Jones
We also held our annual Spelling Bee this past week! Please help me congratulate all of our participants, organizers, and facilitators - Kyleigh Whitsell, Melanie Gable, Paula Zeh Brock, Alejandra Paniagua! After twelve rounds, our spelling winners were named. 🎉Congratulations, to our Spelling Bee Finalists🐝!
First Place - Emaan Tareen
Second Place - Sawyer Burgett
Third Place - Emma Mroz
Congratulations to our second and third grade STEM Habit of Mind Hall of Fame Inductees for Communicating Clearly! STEM teaching and learning is an instructional approach to learning and development that integrates the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Through STEM education practices, students develop key skills including: problem solving, creativity, and critical analysis. We are PROUD to honor our scholars for exhibiting STEM thinking, and we can't wait to celebrate our next group of inductees this Friday.
November 11-December 13 - Cannon Holiday Food Drive
Our Staff will be in Holiday Attire all Month, feel free to have your Cub(s) join in!
Monday, December 2-20 - Kindergarten-4th grade Gifted & Talented (GT) Referrals Open in Skyward
Monday, December 16 - Kindergarten Candy House Challenge - Cannon Cafe 8:00am
Click here - Fast Pass Kiosk Check-In
December 17-19 - ❄Student Holiday Shopping - 🐧Penguin Patch! More Information to Come..
*This is not a fundraiser. A small percentage will be gifted to the campus, which will be added to the Principal Activity Fund to support field trips and staff morale.
Thursday, December 19 -STEM Habit of Mind Hall of Fame Ceremony (Kinder, 1st, & PE) - Communicate Clearly - 2:35 pm Cannon Amphitheatre
Thursday, December 19 - Cannon Christmas Choir Concert 6:30-7:15 pm Cannon Cafe
Friday, December 20 - ❄ Winter Holiday Parties! Parents/guardians with approved background checks are welcome to attend and help with grade-level winter parties. Sign Up HERE for your FAST PASS Kiosk Check IN. More information to come from your grade level teachers.
Friday, December 20 - Student EARLY DISMISSAL 11:45 - HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
⛄❄December 23 - January 7, 2025 WINTER BREAK! ⛄❄
January 6-10 National School Counseling Week
Wednesday, January 8 - 🐾Cubs Return to school!👟Please remind parents to send students in sneakers - especially on PE days!
Wednesday, January 8 - Report Card 2 Posts in Skyward ; Progress Reports will be available in Skyward this week. To view your student’s progress report, please follow the instructions below:
Visit www.GCISD.net and click “Quick Links” at the top of the page
Click the Skyward icon and the “Log In Here” box in the middle of the page
Click “Progress Reports/Report Cards” on the menu to the left
Choose 2024-2025 Report Card 2”
Thursday, January 9 - Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
Friday, January 10 - 🐾Wear your Cannon Cub Spirit Gear! ☮♥🐻 OR GLOW GEAR!
We will host our Middle of Year Glow Pep Rally for our scholars on Friday, January 10th! Students are welcome to wear glow in the dark clothes, headbands, wristbands, and/or make up, but please do not send glow sticks.
Friday, January 10 - 🧢$1 Hats off to Learning; 🤠Students may pay $1.00 to wear a hat on this day. All proceeds go to decreasing overall grade level costs for field trip experiences.
Friday, January 10 - PTA Principal Coffee 9:15-10:00
Friday, January 17 - 🐾Wear your Cannon Cub Spirit Gear! ☮♥🐻
Monday, January 20 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No school for students and staff.
Thursday, January 23 - STAAR Interim Testing - Closed Campus
Friday, January 24 - 🐾Wear your Cannon Cub Spirit Gear! ☮♥🐻
Friday, January 24 - CAN PTA Movie & Meeting Night - 6:30-8:30
*Camp Information Fair Included
Monday, January 27 - Cannon CEC Meeting - 3:30-4:30
Tuesday, January 28 - STAAR Interim Testing - Closed Campus
Wednesday, January 29 - STAAR Interim Testing - Closed Campus
Friday, January 31 - 👵100th Day of School - Show your age!
Greetings,
We hope this finds you doing well and getting ready for the holidays!
We are emailing you today regarding our annual STEAM Carnival in hopes that you will share this exciting opportunity with your students. Every year we host the three-day event here at ESC Region 11, where students can create a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, or Math project and share it with other students. Participating showcase students will have one day to present and explain their projects to over one thousand students who will pass through the Student Showcase Zone each day during our STEAM Carnival. Any showcase nomination that is accepted, will receive six free tickets to attend the STEAM Carnival, lunch for showcase participants, and exclusive Midway time!
Sounds good, but when will this take place?
The Steam Carnival will take place on March 3rd, 4th, and 5th. The last day of the Carnival will be extra special this year as we are expecting not only our Region 11 superintendents, but representatives from the Texas Education Agency to be in attendance. We would love to include an invite to Career and Technical Education students to present their showcases on Wednesday, March 5th.
Interesting, but how does this work?
Nominations for showcases begin with completing the STEAM Carnival Student Showcase Submission Form and then submitting it to the Showcase Committee. We will accept nominations now until Friday, February 14th. If your students’ showcase is selected, you will receive a confirmation email with further details no later than Wednesday, February 19th.
What would make a good Student Showcase?
In the past, we have had kindergarten students present their homemade kaleidoscopes, middle school students launching catapults, and high school students who are National Champions in F1 and Solar Car racing---the possibilities are endless! Drones! Esports! Robots! Plants! There are so many great ideas!!! We do recommend that showcases have as much interaction as possible with our attendees to enhance the Carnival experience for everyone.
That’s awesome, but what can I expect during the Student Showcase?
For showcase students, the day is broken down into two parts. The first part of the day will be spent showcasing the projects to the students across the region who will be attending the Carnival. Attendees will arrive throughout the day at scheduled times between 8:45 and 11:15. The final group of attendees will go into the Midway at 11:15, marking the second part of the day: the breakdown of the student showcases. During this time, we will provide lunch (two slices of pizza and a bottle of water) for each student showcase member. All showcase students will enter the Midway at 12:00, the Warehouse Zone at 12:45, and the self-paced Final Act at 1:30. This schedule will allow exclusive time for our showcase students to get the complete Carnival experience, load up, and return to campus.
OK, but I still have questions.
Please feel free to contact Kellye Irvin or Tom Call for any questions not answered on the website or in this email.
We hope to hear from you soon!
Thank you and have a great day!
Kellye Irvin
Digital Resources Support Specialist
O: 817-740-7619
Tom Call
Director of MIS
O: 817-740-7704
Nominate a Deserving Employee for Stars of GCISD
Do you know a GCISD employee who goes above and beyond for students and staff? Nominate them for the Stars of GCISD program! Every nomination is also shared with the nominee’s supervisor and they are entered for a chance to be honored as the district’s Star of GCISD! Submit your nomination now at www.gcisd.net/starsofgcisd.
Cannon Elementary: A GCISD STEM School
Email: tina.garrett@gcisd.net
Website: https://can.gcisd.net/
Location: Cannon Elementary School, West College Street, Grapevine, TX, USA
Phone: 817-251-5680
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cannonSTEM/
Twitter: @canSTEM