James Geddes Elementary showcases Math Madness, Fine Arts night and family reading events

Principal Wells and staff from James Geddes Elementary School presented highlights to the Gettysburg Area School District board, summarizing recent student and family engagement activities.

Principal Wells said the school is running a Math Madness fundraiser that combines a PTO fundraising drive with classroom activities to build math fact fluency. "It's our biggest fundraiser for our PTO," Wells said, and he described a classroom bracket competition to raise donations. As incentives, Wells said the school plans a short trip to Gettysburg College where students will meet the collegebasketball teams and receive recognition for math improvement.

Crystal Nolte, the general music and choir teacher, described Fine Arts Night, presented as part of Music in Our Schools Month. Nolte said the event combined art, library, music and physical education for kindergarten through fifth grade, using The Day the Crayons Quit as a theme and ending with a rainbow finale featuring students assigned class colors. "Bright and colorful artwork created by kindergarten through fifth grade students...filled the lobbies and hallways," she said, and the school held a book fair alongside the program.

Wells and Nolte stressed family engagement: the school is holding a family reading night run by reading specialists and classroom teachers where every participating student will receive a book. Wells noted the fine-arts events drew large crowds and thanked the board for its support.

Ending: The board received the report and several members applauded staff and encouraged trustees to attend school events. The presentation included student performances at the meeting and an invitation to view on-site student artwork still displayed at the school.