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Lanier Live was Electric Last Night!

Thank you to all of our teachers for making the evening so successful. We appreciate your hard work, planning, and time!

Thank you to all the families who supported our school and your student(s). We are lucky to have such engaged parents!

Finally, a special shout out to @cityofsugarhill Mayor Branden Hembree, who spent the entire evening with us. Our relationship with you and the City of Sugar Hill can not be overemphasized.

Students from the Lanier Middle School Black Student Association worked to plan, Implement, and collect donations to complete a Thanksgiving dinner for 20 families (turkey included, just not pictured). These donations will go to the North Gwinnett Co-Op just in time for the holiday.

Pictured above from left to right: Jacub Aziz (8th), Jehu Pearson (8th), Alanna McClure (8th), Jedida Vedina (7th), Kacy Willis (8th), Naziyah Graham (8th), Tia Samuels (8th), Sophia Florence (6th)

Congratulations to 8th Grader Emma Seymour who became the 2024-2025 Lanier Middle School Spelling Bee Champion last night during Lanier Live!

The Lanier Middle School cheerleaders are running a Bedsheet Fundraiser. The fundraiser runs thru December 20th. Order now for the holidays!

We apologize for the mix up with the times last night. We have posted the Orchestra concert to our YouTube channel and itis linked below. We will also be posting the Chorus and Band concerts as soon as they are ready,.

Each week we will post a question for students to discuss with their adults over the weekend. Questions can be funny, serious, or thought provoking, but each week provides a new occasion for a family discussion. Students will have opportunities to write about some of these topics as well as earn extra credit in language arts for their participation.

Part 5 in our series from the article "What Parents Need to Know About AI" will look at 5 effective ways for parents to support students with AI. Parents should engage with students about how AI is used, promoting healthy learning habits and critical thinking. Encouraging students to focus on their process rather than just the outcome will help them grow intellectually, ensuring that AI supports their growth rather than doing the work for them.

But how do they do that?

The guide below gives parents 5 easy and effective ways to use AI with their child. Scroll down below for links and a more information about each idea.

You'll notice that most of these suggestions reference Google Gemini. That's because Gemini can pull information from academic textbooks with OpenStax, an educational nonprofit initiative of Rice University and has the ability to pull information from images. It also preformed the best out of three chatbots we tested when testing it out with the prompts below. Note that at the time of publishing this post Google is for ages 18+ so adults need to be working with their child when using this tool.

School AI, however, is a safe, student-facing chatbot that can be used by your child to help them as they work on their assignments or learn more about the topic they are studying.

Here are 5 ways you and your child can use AI at home ...

1. Build background knowledge with chatbots Use chatbots like Microsoft CoPilot, ChatGPT and Google Gemini to help you understand concepts yourself. Sample Prompt: “I am a parent helping my 6th grader study. Explain photosynthesis to me in a way that helps me understand and teach it to my child.”
2. Get instant homework help Use Google Gemini to assist your child with homework. Ask the AI to guide them without giving them the answer. Sample Prompt: “My child is struggling with this math problem 3x+5=53 on her homework. Can you help her solve it without giving her the answer?”
3. Create study guides with digital or written notes AI assistants like Google Gemini can identify text from an image and turn it into a study guide. Sample Prompt: After uploading a picture of written notes. “Create a study guide for my student using these notes.”
4. Get “just right” resources in seconds Utilize the academic textbooks Google Gemini can pull information from with OpenStax to create resources on any topic. Sample Prompt : “@OpenStax I am a 9th grader. Please teach me about atoms.”
5. Introduce pre-programmed AI tutors

• SchoolAI’s Spaces allow your child to interact with safe, subject specific GPT-powered AI tutors.

AI is reshaping the landscape of education and daily life, presenting both challenges and opportunities for parents and children alike. By understanding its implications and actively engaging with their children's learning experiences, parents can help prepare them for a future where AI plays an integral role.

Students participating in Clubs and Teams will have their group picture taken on Wednesday, December 4th for the yearbook.

Complete and Pass 10 Reading and 10 Math lessons in iREADY and be eligible for a Pizza lunch as well as having your name in the lottery for the Video Game Bus on December 20th. Competition begins November 18 and lessons must be completed by December 14.

We would like to urge you to disable the digest option in your Parent Square account settings for Lanier Middle School. Many of our communications are time-sensitive, and we don’t want you to miss any important updates. Your attention to this matter will ensure you stay informed and connected with all school activities and announcements.

Thank you for your consideration!

Parents now have the option to be notified in the ParentVUE mobile app if their student’s grade fall below a preset threshold. Follow this link for more information.

At Lanier Middle School, mornings are an excellent opportunity for students to receive extra support in their core subjects. With that in mind, for the 2024-2025 school year we will target each core content area on a specific day of the week. If your student needs additional support or needs assistance in a Connection class, they can see their content teacher to arrange an additional day that works with the teachers morning schedule. In order for students to attend morning tutoring, they need to arrive at 8:05 AM.

Beginning with the 2024-2025 )school year (Effective July 1) GCPS will be implementing fines for damaged and lost Chromebooks and power cords. Please discuss the importance of taking care of the equipment that has been issued to your student.

*A device could have multiple damaged components such as broken hinges as well as a cracked screen, this would result in a fine of $50. $25 for each damaged component.

Currently we have about 37% of our families using the Parent Square App. This is a great and easy way to stay connected to all things Lanier and GCPS. Consider downloading it this weekend.

Keep up to date with all the great things happening at Lanier Middle School by joining our social media platforms. See the Bottom Banner of this newsletter for Links to our Twitter, Facebook pages OR see the "Let's Be Social" section of the Lanier MS Homepage for links to all our social platforms including Instagram and our YouTube Channel. It is here you will see many more pictures and videos of all the activities and events happening here at LMS!