Greeting GTers and parents of GTers! Here is the tentative 2011-12 calendar. Please see the section at the end about out revised attendance policy for this year.
Please direct any questions to Mary Beth Kepple: misskepple@mbkepple.com
Fulmore GT 2011-12 Calendar
Fall Semester
8/29 Monday: First GT Meeting! (all meetings are from 3:45 to 5:15) Year overview by GT
officers, team-building activities, planning for the time capsule for Fulmore’s 125th anniversary.
9/12 Monday: GT meeting : continue with time capsule plans
and make preparations for the GT Awareness teacher luncheon.
9/12 Monday: GT Parent meeting (5:30 to 6:30 in the library): dates and trips and estimated
costs will be announced. This meeting is for parents of current GT students and
for parents interested in beginning the GT nomination process for their student.
9/19 Monday: GT meeting: Filming for the Fall media festival. Students will plan short films and
film them during this meeting.
10/3 Monday: GT meeting: Editing film for the fall media festival- Goal: for groups to have a
finished film to submit to the Fall Media Festival
10/17 Monday: GT meeting: Poetry and pumpkins: Students will visit the pumpkin patch on South
Congress and record their experiences with poetry.
10/21 to 24 West Texas Trip: McDonald Observatory
10/31 Monday: GT meeting (Undecided) Reverse trick-or-treating, where we give candy or
homemade gifts to businesses on South Congress.
11/7 Monday: GT meeting: Unseen in Austin photo adventure: groups will team up and go take
pictures of usual and over looked things and places on South Congress.
11/21 Monday: GT meeting: Miss Kepple’s sister will be visiting from New York, where she
attends Fordham Law. Students will have question and answer time about what
it’s like to be a law student and living in New York.
12/5 Monday: GT meeting (undecided)
12/10 Saturday: Enchanted Rock Day Trip
12/19 Monday: GT Winter Potluck
Spring Semester
1/9 Monday: GT meeting: (undecided)
1/23 Monday: GT meeting: (undecided)
2/13 Monday: GT meeting: (undecided)
2/24 to 26 Port A Trip
3/5 Monday: GT meeting: Found Poetry scavenger hunt: Students will travel in groups around
South Congress and take pictures of words or phrases that will later be compiled
into found poetry.
3/19 Monday: GT meeting: (undecided)
4/2 Monday: GT meeting: (undecided)
4/21 Saturday: McKinney Roughs Day Trip
4/16 Monday: GT meeting: (undecided)
5/7 Monday: GT meeting: (undecided)
5/11-12 Friday to Saturday: GT McKinney Falls camp-out and Barton Springs swim
5/21 Monday: Last Meeting: (Undecided: Bus to Zilker? Stacey Pool? Potluck?)
Other outings and events will most likely be announced. Students are welcome to suggest activities to our 8th grade GT officers: Emily, Logan, Moira and Maisie. In-town trips would be ideal, especially ones accessible by CapMetro.
Types of meetings: New for 2011-12
GT Meetings: MANDATORY The meeting dates are listed above. All participants in the Fulmore GT program are expected to attend. Please see the attendance policy below. The reason we have an attendance requirement is to encourage students to make a commitment to GT.
GT Meetups: OPTIONAL Meetups are more casual than actual GT meetings. Every Monday when there is not a GT meeting, there will be a meetup. Now there will always be a place for GTers to hang out on Mondays! Activities at meetups will be self-guided, such as crafting for our fund-raisers: 1st Thursday booth, Etsy experiment, Farmer’s Market booth, film projects, etc. If meetups become too popular (more than 20 GTers), we will have to consider some kind of RSVP system.
Attendance policy: GT students must have a minimum of 85% attendance rate at GT meetings to be eligible for GT trips and outings.
Your GT facilitators LOVE our school’s fine arts programs and the extracurricular activities our students participate in. We understand that there will be conflicts from time to time, and that’s okay! Our goal is not to put students in a position where they feel pressure to choose between GT and other extracurricular activities.
If a conflict arises, we need to know the Friday BEFORE the Monday meeting. If a message is sent to Excuses on the Ning by 5 PM on Friday, you will be able to make up the absence by attending two meetups. If no notification is given, an extracurricular absence cannot be made up. GTers, please remind your peers to send notifications, too. For example, if you know there is a mandatory band workshop, choir practice or journalism deadline that conflicts with GT, remind your buddies to message Excuses on the Ning. The Excuses account will be managed by GT facilitators and our Technology Officer, Moira.
Excused school absences can be made up with attendance to two meetups as well. To prove a school absence is excused, you should submit a parent/guardian letter to the GT box in Miss Kepple’s room. We just need a simple note. Unexcused school absences cannot be made up.
Only two meetings for the year can be made up this way. We only have 10 meetings in the Fall semester and 9 meetings the second semester.
