The GMS Community Association proudly presents a celebration of photography, childhood and community at the 2016 GMS Green & White Bash on Saturday, April 23 from 7-11pm.

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The GMS Gymnasium is transformed into the Greensboro's swankiest art gallery featuring photography by your child and other GMS students. Patronize the exhibit while you admire the incredible work produced for our "Through a Child's Eyes" fundraising exhibit.

Ticket prices start at $35 but we hope you'll take a peek at our fun combo packages, too! Are you more like Ansel Adams, Annie Leibovitz or Steve McCurry?

What fabulous gallery social would be complete without exquisite wines, savory fare and more shopping opportunities...

• Heavy hors d'oeuvres, Dessert and Dancing. Cash bar.
  • Menu by local fave, Savory Street Catering
• Silent Auction featuring luxury items, unique experiences and, of course, artwork!
  • Browse the on-line catalog and start bidding early. Highest on-line bid will be our starting bid at the event.
• Fun Photo Booth - snap some memories with friends, props and a sense of humor.
• Blind Wine Pull - $20 a ticket to take your chance at an elegant rosé or a daring cabernet
• Gift Giving Wall - surprise a teacher with a tangible wish list item for the classroom
• The evening begins with a festive performance by the crowd stopping GMS Middle School Music Ensemble and ends with you on the dance floor moving to your favorite DJ request.

GMS Student Art Show

Youth Art Month takes place annually, traditionally in March, to celebrate the value of art education for all children.  Please join us in our celebration of the arts by attending the GMS Student Art Show & Reception on Tuesday, March 15 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.  The art show is hosted by Mitchell & Bartlett Orthodontics, a true supporter of children's art and artists in the local community. Their office at 5314 West Friendly Avenue.  This is the third year in a row that they have hosted a GMS art show. Thanks to Dr. Kelly Mitchell and her mother Sharon for being such gracious hosts.

These are just a few of the artists in Lower Elementary  that will be exhibiting their work.

Lower Elementary Self Portraits

Imagination is more important than knowledge.  - Albert Einstein

Self Portrait of Elizabeth

  Self Portrait of Albert

Self Portrait of Mahinda

Self Portrait of Mary Grace

Upper Elementary Illuminations

Upper elementary art students have been using their art studio time to work on scenery for Medieval Faire Fare performance on Wednesday, March 23. As a result these talented artists will not be exhibiting a lot of their art work at the show.  You can look forward to their art work displayed at the performance.  Take a look at their Medieval illuminations they created in art.

Primary Art

Primary students enjoy taking their art home right upon completion, therefore they will not have their work displayed at the art show. However,  please frequent the gallery hall located outside the front office to view some of their latest printmaking works.

I'm not sure what the draw is for basketball but on every level at GMS this sport  is the number one activity that our students can't wait to play!  Their excitement brings me a lot of satisfaction as their PE teacher - whether its watching the Lower Elementary students finally catch on to dribbling for more than one bounce or seeing a child light up after they have repeatedly thrown a basketball up in the air towards the backboard and hoop then finally it falls through the net. The very first time a child makes a basket is usually a big moment for them, and it makes me smile every time!  We also have Lower El students that play on basketball teams outside the school who show a lot of skill and promise from a very young age. I enjoy watching all of the students develop their skills over the course of the year.

Often the kids get on a kick to see who can dribble for the longest or how many times they can dribble in a row. Recently, I watched one middle school girl dribble for 15 to 20 minutes in a row and the celebration in her voice when she told me, "That's my new record," was noteworthy.

Just as the Middle School basketball season comes and goes with a lot of excitement so does the thrill of playing basketball during PE class.

In the words of basketball legend, Michael Jordan, "Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."

Look what has hatched in the art room! 

Lower elementary art students have been learning about life cycles in their classrooms and this prompted our current art project.  Large eggs were created out of paper mache.   Students learned an inexpensive and natural way to make paper mache.  They may want to create this recipe at home.   It is a simple recipe of equal parts of flour and water.  I usually start with 1 cup flour and 1 cup water.  Mix to get a paste like consistency and add water if too thick and flour if too watery.  The students enjoyed mixing the recipe and getting it just right.  So fun and so messy!  Take a look at the process.

The following week they created either a snake or a caterpillar hatching out of their egg.  This has been a great lesson for students to practice patience while working on a 3 dimensional  art project that took many weeks.  They are excited about completing their final art piece.  Be on the look out for these marvelous creatures!

Students have also worked on scenery for their upcoming program about life cycles.  Here is a sneak peek of one of their pieces.

“I want to live in a way that lines up with my values."

Volleyball begins right after our winter holiday break for students in the Elementary and Middle School. The classes focus on teamwork and communication in volleyball. Lower El is working hard on basic serves and hits. Upper El is playing without the need of a training ball (they are using one of the 2 pictured below) and middle school is midway through their ISL competitive volleyball season. Go Panthers! Championship game is Thursday, February 11.

Volleyball is a great team sport and makes the kids rely on their fellow team players in a way that other sports don't. It is rarely the case that a player can just hit the ball hard and score a point. In volleyball players must be able to hit the ball with some accuracy or at least be able to bump the ball straight up to set it for the player who can hit it over the net.  Communication is essential to success! Sometimes it is challenging enough for youngsters to just get a good hit on the ball. But the other big challenge is to have enough confidence in your teammates that they will assist in the volley in order to get the ball over the net.  In the end, whoever wins or loses doesn't matter, because the main lessons are about teamwork and good communication.

Following our unit on volleyball, we will move directly into basketball season. March Madness... here we come!!!

Thanks, Terry

Educating the Whole Child Research confirms that students perform better in school when they are emotionally and physically healthy. They miss fewer classes, are less likely to engage in risky or antisocial behavior, concentrate more and attain higher test scores.

January was a busy month in our Spanish classes, but we also had time to learn about Día de Reyes (Three Kings Day), a Spanish tradition  celebrated on January 6 (the 12th day of Christmas) that commemorates the story of the three wise men who traveled from afar bearing gifts for the newborn Jesus.  Hispanic children often set out symbolic goodies for the Kings and hay to feed their camels as well as a place to leave their shoes. When morning arrives, children discover that the camels ate the hay, and there are wrapped presents waiting beside their shoes.

Rosca de Reyes

Did de Reyes observance comes to a close with another Spanish Christmas tradition: a typical breakfast of Roscón de Reyes, a ring-shaped cake decorated with fruits symbolizing the precious gems that adorned Los Reyes Magos' clothing.

Our kids observed this tradition by sampling the Roscón de Reyes.

Griffin, Beck, Alexander dressed up as The Three Wise Men.

Willa delivering the Holiday cards to Well Spring Retirement Community made by Lower El students

Luke and Ryan very excited about the Rosca de Reyes

Javier, Mahinda, Komei as the Three Wise Men

Andrew, Albert, Mohamed enjoying the Three Wise Men Day

Middle Schoolers also enjoyed the Rosca, pictured Chloe and Theo

Bella and Lola ready for the Rosca

Greensboro Montessori School Elementary Spanish lessons practice vocabulary for shopping "en el mercado."

Today we were happy to welcome Adele Hyman and her father Michael Hyman for a quick visit to see her former classrooms.  Adele attended our school as a Toddler (under the tutelage of retired GMS teacher, Linda Baggish) and was also a Primary student with Isabelle Bangham.  In 2000, Adele left GMS when she and her family moved to England.  She is now living in Massachusetts, and recently completed a travel study in Italy for 9 days.  She was in town to visit her grandmother who is living at Wellspring Retirement community and to participate in a day of service at the Greensboro Children's Museum, who will be honoring her grandfather, Jerry Hyman, one of the co-founders of the museum.  Like so many Montessori alumni, Adele is interested in learning about the world through travel, and has a commitment to service.  She is happy to be participating once again in this annual event at the Greensboro Children's Museum.

We are always happy to see and hear from GMS alumni.  Montessori alumni often write or visit to share their experiences.

This Holiday Edition of the Physical Education blog is all about keeping kids active to build stronger bodies and stronger minds. First and foremost, it is important for parents to set an example by being active and making fitness a priority in your home.

In PE class at this time of year, we try to do a variety of activities inside and outside so that we can keep the students engaged and moving. While we are outside we enjoy soccer and flag football, and while we are inside the students love to scale the climbing wall in pairs. Check out our photos below from this month's activities.

Keeping the children active during the holiday season is especially important due to the overeating that is typical at this time of year.

Its no secret that physical activity also improves brain functioning. As you can see from the sample brain scans below, a mind on exercise is an active mind!  Look at the brain functioning after just 20 minutes of walking.  Getting kids to move helps strengthen and stimulate their brains. This is why so many recent research studies are showing increased fitness = improved academics.  Note: The blue color represents inactivity in the brain.

Here are a few tips that might be some help  during the holidays to keep your kids active.

The following are tips from www.raisesmartkid.com in an article entitled The Benefits of Exercise on Your Kid's Brain.

1. Set example to kids by being active yourself. Engage in a lot of walking, running, biking or playing sports. A study suggests that preschool kids whose moms are active also tend to be active themselves. According to Esther van Sluijs from the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine who made the study, parents affect their kids in three ways – by acting as role models, by helping them to be active, and by being active with them.
2.  Make fitness a priority in your home.  Set limits on watching TV, playing video games, and being in the internet.
3. Make fitness fun.  Engage your kids in fun sports or other games which he loves.  Also, don’t limit your kid to playing traditional sports.  There are video games like Dance Dance Revolutin that can be played actively.
4. Encourage your kid to walk.  Don’t use the car if you and your kid are going to places where you can walk to.  Look for opportunities to walk, find places to stride like a mall, and stairs to climb.  Build you kid’s walking muscles so that distances that used to be far for him will feel near.  Make your child get used to and love walking.  This will benefit him throughout his life.
5. Encourage your kid to run.  Teach him the joys of jogging.  Run with your kid, or make it a social activity, with friends or relatives.
6. Encourage your kid to use wheels.  Not wheels of a car, but bikes, scooters, rollerblades or skateboards (make sure they have adequate protection like helmet, elbow pads, long pants).  On his next birthday, give him one of these gifts instead of another video game.
7. Encourage your kid to dance.  Dancing is one thing some kids enjoy more than conventional exercise.
8.  Encourage some competition.  If your kids have other family members or friends, make them compete with each other in a fun way.  For example, there’s always the running race (give the  younger kid a distance advantage), but you can think of other creative contests like who can do the most jumping jacks, skipping rope, etc.
9. Go to regular outings.  Take a hike.  Explore a nearby park.  Enjoy the outdoors. Remember to bring a ball or a frisbee.
10. Don’t be too strict about an active life.  Although a regular routine of being active is what’s best, perfection is not your goal.  When your kid has a busy day, try to get him to do his best to be active, but if this is not possible, schedule longer activity days when he has more time.
11. Parents of teens should be cautioned against having their kids play contact sports like football. According to Dr. Robert Cantu, chairman of the Department of Surgery at Emerson Hospital and co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Boston University School of Medicine, kids under the age of 14 should not be involved in collision sports. Teenagers who played contact sports often already show signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease caused by multiple blows to the head. The symptoms are personality changes, memory loss, depression, even dementia.