GEMS Family Crew News

Thanks for all who joined us for the skating party at Skate Zone 71 on February 20th! We had 144 paid attendees and lots of others who came to support their skaters!

We hope you had as much fun as our families did. We loved seeing everyone have so much fun and come out to support the GEMS community. We hope to have another skating party in the future!

Below are some of the photos that were posted to the GEMS facebook page.

Family Crew would like to show our appreciation to the teachers and staff at GEMS during this week.

If you’d like to be involved with our efforts - with planning or participating please fill out this form to join our committee/volunteer list (for planning purposes we’ll mostly be working over email).

At Panera Bread (300 W Lane Ave, Columbus, OH 43201)

Grab a cup of your favorite Panera beverage and join us for a adult social hour. We'll also talk about upcoming Family Crew events. If you need to bring a younger than school age child or arrive after pre-k drop off both are ok!

Adrienne & Kristian will be there starting at 8:30 after student drop off. Look for us in our Green GEMS Family Crew tee-shirts!

Meet at the GEMS back parking lot

Please join us as we sponsor another playground cleanup to get the grounds ready for springtime!

Just in time for Earth Day 2024 “Planet vs. Plastics” we plan to clean up the back parking lot and playground, front parking lot and playground, and the lawns. We’ll also be trying to clean up the sidewalks and grassy public areas on the street near school. Grabbers, trash bags, and disposable gloves will be provided.

If you are interested in participating or want more information please RSVP here. We'll send out a reminder and if any plans change let you know first!

"There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew."

—Marshall McLuhan

We're planning some afternoon or weekend meet ups for any families who would like to join us at a local park. Adults can socialize while the kids play in the (hopefully!) nice weather.

Look for more details in late March or early April.

We'll send out a email with dates once we know times, locations, and the weather forecast!

Details for what Family Crew is planning are coming soon!

Join our volunteer planning committee here

We have funds available from the bake sale and skating party to use to help thank our teachers and staff for all they do for our students.

Need some ideas for things to do with the family? Click the button below to be taken to our always growing list of activities around Central Ohio.

GEMS Spring Break has been extended through April 8 because of the eclipse.

The Columbus area will be in over 90% totality but just north & west of us will be in full totality!

This means that while it will be almost a full eclipse and still fun to watch (safely) the best viewing will be north and west of us - the western part of Franklin County, Delaware, Union & Madison Counties. Think Delaware, Dublin, Marysville, etc. See the first link below for the complete path map.

If you plan to view the solar eclipse here are some great resources for learning about and viewing the eclipse safely.

• Great American Eclipse: Totality over Ohio
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources Eclipse Page, the ODNR has a number eclipse related events scheduled
• National Geographic: Solar Eclipse 101 video

• Solar Eclipse Across America: Safe Viewing Information

There are many ways to view the eclipse safely from Glasses to Pinhole Cameras.

Instructions for Pinhole Cameras:

• NASA/JPL: How to Make a Pinhole Camera
• Solar Eclipse Across America: Pinhole and Optical Projection

Solar Eclipse Viewing Glasses can be found in many locations across Columbus and online including:

• COSI
• Ohio History Center Store
  
• Columbus Libraries (after March 18) limited to 4 per family
• Meijer
  

• Kroger
  
• Walmart
  
• Menards
  
• Lowes
  
• Cracker Barrel
• UPS Stores
  
• Great American Eclipse
• National Eclipse
• American Astronomical Society has information on what is safe to use and links to online sellers.

If you plan to purchase glasses please make sure the seller is listed on the website and brand is identified. There have been reports of fakes being sold.

Kristian may be contacted at ovekma@gmail.com

Adrienne may be contacted at AdrienneMarieStevens@gmail.com

We can also be reached via text at ‪(380) 799-6690‬

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