The Paw Print

Welcome back to everyone's favorite newsletter, The Paw Print! With our bellies still stuffed from Thanksgiving Dinner, we are all ready to be in a jolly spirit- or eat more food for Christmas Dinner! Whichever is more your style- mine just so happens to be Christmas dinner- we hope that either way you are embracing the spirit of giving. Practice giving every day this month whether it be your piece of chocolate out of the advent calendar (maybe not so drastic!) or even just your time or helping hands, make the Christmas worthwhile for all of your loved ones.

Even though Thanksgiving has had its last gobble gobble, The Paw Print is still thankful for all of our hardworking students! Stay warm and winning, Burke County! As always, Stay #BearBuilt!

The Paw Print can be viewed every 2nd and 4th Wednesday. The newsletter features sports updates, events in the community, and fun activities for the family... so stay tuned!

Congratulations to Abby Joyner, a Burke County High School junior, for winning her Georgia 4-H State Competition! She is one of 50 members who have been selected for this honor. There are over 240,000 Georgia 4-H'ers.

Abby will will now move on to represent Burke County at the 2021 National 4-H Congress in Atlanta, GA!

Way to go, Abby!

Burke County also sends a big congratulations to Tony Gray, Emree Williams and Lucy Lane for their success in their 4-H Competitions.

*Tony Gray was a member of the Burke County 4-H Forestry Team that placed 3rd place in their contest

*Emree Williams and Lucy Lane were members of the 2nd Place Junior Cotton Bowl and Consumer Judging Teams at the District Contest.

Way to go, 4-H'ers!

The Burke County Board of Education holds its monthly meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at 5:00 p.m. at the Board of Education Office, 789 Burke Veterans Parkway, Waynesboro, GA, 30830. These scheduled meetings are open to the public.

The Agenda is accessible through Simbli. To locate Simbli, go to any of our Burke County Public Schools websites and select Simbli/Meetings in the top left corner of the page. Then, select Meetings, where the agenda will be posted each month.

On the day of the Board meeting, which is the 2nd Tuesday of each month, a link to watch a live- stream of the meeting is posted on the homepage of our district website under "Recent News."

If you miss the meeting live stream, the recording is posted on our Burke County Public Schools, GA YouTube Channel the following day.

United Way of the CSRA is a non-profit that caters to the improvement of the lives of families in need all throughout the region. They have been more than generous to Burke County community members with the help of passionate supporters.

• 22 programs the United Way funds helped residents of Burke County gain access to critical healthcare services, including mental health services.
• A total of 4,114 residents in Burke County were directly impacted.
• Over 1,800 school supply items were provided in Burke County due to the annual Stuff the Bus initiative with over $4,000 worth of school supplies this year.

So as you can see, when you invest in United Way, you help move the needle on critical issues that impact local families each and every day. Your gift helps Lead Families Forward not only for today, but for next week, next year, and the next generation.

You can choose to give a one-time donation or BCPS employees have the option to donate through payroll deduction. Our campaign ends Thursday, December 16th, so please donate today!

Questions? Please contact us - your Paw Print ladies.

If you would like to stay updated, the Bears Basketball & Wrestling schedules are posted below and their updated stats through Max Preps are linked in the photos.

The Bears Wrestling Team has a home match coming up tomorrow, December 9, in the Teaching and Learning. Center gymnasium against Washington County and Cross Creek. Come out and make some noise!

The Paw Print would like for everyone to pause for a minute as we recognize special people within the school system who go above and beyond with what they do. If you know anybody who has truly gone above and beyond to impact the lives of those around them, please let us know, so they can be featured in the Paw Print! This person can be a student, teacher, staff member, parent, or anybody else who truly makes a difference. We are all so appreciative to those of you who go out of your way to benefit the lives of others.

Former P.E. Coach at Blakeney Elementary and 2020 WJBF Golden Apple recipient, Nick Harville, started off this school year as an Assistant Principal at Burke County Middle School. The Paw Print has been informed that he has been spotted showing compassion towards students around the school. According to the students, he lights up the hallways everyday and motivates them to be nice to everybody, not matter how different.

Whenever students look at Mr. Harville he is always smiling and willing to help. He is accepting of every student and is truly supportive of their success. We thank you, Mr. Harville, for being such a joy around the Middle School!

Dr. James Epps is the principal at Blakeney Elementary, and he leaves the students excited to see him at school. From "good morning's" to high fives, Dr. Epps does not hesitate to show his students how much he cares about them. Dr. Epps is featured in Burke's BEST because he recently earned his doctorate degree in Leadership and School Reform from Union University. We appreciate your dedication to improving the lives of our students!

December 8 commemorates National Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day and National Brownie Day. Burke County families can celebrate this holiday by throwing on their best George Washington blue wool coat, matching blue buff wool breeches, and powdered wig or Spock from Star Trek elf ears and funky eyebrows and bake some brownies. When you use any of your home appliances to bake the brownies, you have to act genuinely confused with the technology because its either too advanced or super outdated... because zapping the brownies into existence is obviously a thing these days! "Live long, and prosper." -Spock

The Word of the Day is Milquetoast! The word "Milquetoast" is based off the comic strip character, Casper Milquetoast. Casper was known for being shy and timid, so the word developed that meaning. If someone is milquetoast, they are meek, timid, or generally unassertive. Casper was very milquetoast, so he preferred not to get into arguments.

We challenge you all to use this word as many times as you can this week, extra points if you use it in the right context, EVEN MORE points if you have to explain to somebody what it means!

What's a better way to celebrate National Brownie Day than making your own brownies from scratch! Attached to the graphic on the right, is a super sweet recipe to share-or not share- with the whole family! We would love to see the brownies you guys make.. so you can share with them with us on the Burke County Public Schools' Instagram and Facebook!

Instagram: @burkecountyps

Facebook: Burke County Schools

Our district app is intended as an on-the-go information source for parents & families. With the BC App, all information is brought together and delivered to one platform.

One feature of the app is that those without social media can access the district’s social media posts via the News section of the app. Additional features include access to breakfast & lunch menus, individual school calendars, push notifications, sports scores, one-click email to staff via the Directory section, and much more!

Public Information Officer

Burke County Public Schools

&

Jada Curd, BCHS Junior

Work-Based Learning

Email: ajnunnally@burke.k12.ga.us
Website: www.burkeschools.org
Location: 789 Burke Veterans Pkwy, Waynesboro, GA, United States
Phone: (706) 554-5101
Twitter: @BCPS_Bears