Happy holidays to all Griffin Middle School families! May your holidays be
restful and full of joy!

Michelle Gayle, Ph.D. and the Faculty & Staff of Griffin Middle School


Hats Off To................
Hats off to our wonderful and talented band and Chorus members as our
Winter Concert was awesome! Special thanks to Mr. Whitfield and Mr. White
for their leadership in music education at Griffin Middle School!

Hats off to our PTO for a highly successful Silent Auction! Special,
special thanks to Mrs. Maria Smith, our Silent Auction Coordinator. Mrs.
Smith took this project on and ran with it as she called on community
partners to help our school! Special thanks also to Mrs. Atchley,
Ms. K. Williams, Mrs. S. Berrian, and Mrs. J. Keel for all of their hard
work leading up to the auction and on the night of our auction.


Let's keep our Tigers learning over the holidays!
I hope that you saw Griffin in the spotlight on the Monday night news! Our
teachers, reading coach, and parents were on WCTV news talking about our
Annual Gift of Literacy and our Turn Off the TV Night! Please encourage
your child to read their Gift of Literacy book over the Winter Holidays! I
have continued to share the research about daily reading because it is so
important that all of our students read each day! Readers are leaders at
Griffin Middle School and in our world!

Some of our teachers are also giving assignments for students to complete
over the holidays. Please ask your child about these assignments.


Wonderful Websites for our Tigers!
If you have children in school (any age) and you have internet connection
at home, you HAVE to go to the following web address:
http://www.internet4classrooms.com

There is wealth of information and activities right at your fingertips
including links for K-12 teachers (large collections of kid safe websites),
assessment preparation (help kids prepare for the "big" assessments),
online practice modules (step by step tutorials for learning applications,
daily dose of the web (this page changes each day but includes interesting
sites for our students), and so much more!


The Instruction Technology page of the Leon County Schools websites has
wonderful links for students and adults. There are amny categories found
on this page includng the following:

        *general websites
        *reading
        *general math
        *specific math
        *math fact practice
        *social studies
        *science
        *planning
        *fun sites for kids

Please check this site out at the following web address:

http://intech.leon.k12.fl.us/LIFE/Teachertools/Teachertools.htm


Beat Holiday Stress
You can help your adolescent beat the holiday stress by following these
tips:
Limit TV and Video games- It's very easy at this time of the year to allow
the TV and video games to become the baby sitter.  But children who are
stressed need some type of physical activity or exercise.

Remember routines- For parents of small children, this is especially good
advice.  During the holidays children will find their routines disrupted.
When a routine is broken, stress can result.

Nutrition- Ever notice the lines at the fast food restaurants as it gets
closer to the holidays?  They are getting longer because parents typically
are too busy to go home and cook a nutritious meal.  Plan at least one
healthy meal as a family everyday.  And don't forget to toss in a healthy
snack while you're visiting the mall.

Family traditions- Many people fail to underestimate how important
traditions are to themselves and their children.  Family traditions offer
great comfort and security for children when everything in their lives is
being disrupted by the holiday season.

Rest and relaxation- Everyone, especially children, needs to take a "time
out" over the holiday season to rest and relax.

Laugh- Laughter is still the best way to beat stress and change everyone's
mood from bad to good.  Take time to read with your children, or find a
holiday joke book with family humor at your bookstore or library.

Looking Ahead
Dec 21, 2006 -Jan 2, 2007 Winter Holidays
Jan 3, 2007   Teacher Planning Day
Jan 4, 2007   Tigers Return at 8:20 AM
Jan 15, 2007  Martin Luther King Holiday, NO SCHOOL