Earlier this year, Mr. Rob was awarded the HEF Innovation in Education Award. You can check out the blog post attached here about his award! Mr. Rob has such a passion for taking care of Georgetown and he is appreciated more than he will ever know!! With the money he was awarded through this grant and some help from the PTC, he purchased this TV, a wall mount, and a thermometer for our school. The TV and wall mount are in the office and helps monitor the cameras in school. He also purchased a thermometer for the office so we can access kids with temps and illnesses. We cannot express how fortunate we are to have him as a staff member! He genuinely cares about Georgetown and all of the students here! We love our Mr. Rob!!
If you drop your child off at school tomorrow, please be careful in the parking lot and on the sidewalks. Due to the very cold weather, the salt isn’t effective at melting the ice.
Drive slowly, walk carefully….and be safe!
Mr. Rob
The very best custodian/school caretaker in the entire world!
Each year, the Hudsonville Education Foundation selects one staff member to receive the INNOVATION in EDUCATION AWARD. This year’s recipient is our very own super custodian, Rob Thurkettle!
Rob was nominated by several staff members for his commitment to the opening and ongoing maintenance of Georgetown Elementary School. He treats our school as if it was his home — attending to every square inch on the inside and outside of the building. Rob’s passion, energy and commitment to our building is contagious.
In addition, Rob skills are in demand throughout the district to assist with many projects that come with a growing district. Every project that Rob takes on is completed efficiently, professionally and with perfection. His work at Georgetown and throughout the district helps us to be a stronger, more unified community together. I and the staff at Georgetown celebrate Mr. Rob! We are honored to work with him each and every day.
A quote from the nomination… “I will never forget the morning I saw Mr. Rob working intensely to clean water and mud from the classroom hallways. He had limited time to accomplish this task, and I could see this with his determine look and the speed of the zamboni. I was surprised when I saw him come to an immediate stop at the end one hall. When he headed back toward me, I saw that Kellan, a visually impaired autistic student, sitting proudly at the wheel — with Mr. Rob’s at his side. Mr. Rob remembered it was Kellan’s birthday, and stopped to give him a special ride — a moment that made an impact on Kellan’s life forever. This is just one example of how Mr. Rob impacts our school community on a daily basis.”
Check out our amazing custodian, Mr. Rob Thurkettle. He was the MYSTERY READER for Mrs. Stutz’s kindergarten class. Word on the street (aka hallway) is that he is a very expressive reader!
Mr. Rob submitted a grant request to the Hudsonville Education Foundation this fall. The request was for additional soccer nets for our playground areas. A few days before our holiday break began, Mr. Rob learned that his grant was accepted! Thanks to Mr. Rob, our incredible head custodian and king of fixing just about anything, we will have new soccer nets on the field this spring! WE LOVE YOU MR. ROB!
In early December, Mr. Rob and his wife became parents of a beautiful little girl named Madisson Rae Thurkettle. She arrived one month early on December 7th, weighing 5lbs 12oz, 19 inches.
Below is a photo collage featuring Mr. Rob receiving gifts from the staff during “Mr. Rob’s Baby Shower” and a precious photo of Madisson with her mommy and daddy.
We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of two more staff babies: Mrs. Boes (PK) and Mrs. VanderPloeg (ECSE). We love watching our Georgetown family grow!
I wanted to pass along some information and updates on a few topics for you as we wrap up week number 6! It’s hard to believe that it’s October already. Staff and students continue to do amazing things each day at GES. It’s awesome to see how well the kids have gotten back into the rhythm of the school year and how quickly they are making progress academically and socially after such a long break away from school. A few items that I wanted to provide information to you about;
This year for our Fall Celebrations we are looking forward to having parties in our classrooms, much like years past. Each classroom may look a little different depending upon grade level. Your child’s teacher will be communicating out about this in the near future. This year will be slightly different, in a couple of ways.
Parents and volunteers will not be able to attend. (We will miss you!)
Snacks can be sent in, but need to be store bought and individually packaged.
Games, crafts, and snacks need to be sent in 24 hours in advance (or more).
Like previous years, we will be welcoming your children to wear costumes, if they wish. One change this year is that children will be able to wear their costumes to school, and wear them the whole day. The intent behind this is to limit children gathering in the restrooms to change, and limit the number of children needing assistance from teachers and staff to get into their costumes. We invite you to send your children in a costume that includes no weapons or gore, and easily allows your child to participate in regular school routines and procedures. Can they take it off themselves to use the bathroom? Can they fit in their seat at their desk? Can they go down the slide or sit in the swings? Can they wear a mask under their “mask”? Please save bulky, or extravagant costumes for home use, and dress in a fun and simple costume for the school day. Fall or pumpkin t-shirts are a great alternative as well.
The 2020 Turkey Trot will carry on, but differently due to the pandemic. Please see this flyer for details or look for information on the district’s facebook account in the near future as well. Turkey Trot Flyer 2020 FINAL.pdf
Finally, as you know and have probably read there is a pandemic going on right now. When you see articles in the paper about schools that have to shut down because of Covid, it’s rarely because of a large outbreak of positive cases with students, but rather due to a shortage of staff after contact tracing or just staff being out in general once the flu season begins to hit. Schools normally get subs from four pools of people. First, we have our “die hard” subs that are here whenever we need them. Each building will typically have a couple of those. Next, we have our “teachers that are looking for a job still” group. Young teachers that just graduated and haven’t been hired yet. This group has been eaten up this year as every school in Ottawa County is also running a virtual school and has filled those teaching positions with what could have been these subs. Third, you have college students that have enough credits and sub on days they can (according to their schedules). Many colleges are on semi-lockdown and students are less willing (or able) to sub in schools this year. Finally, we have many retirees that will come in to sub occasionally as a means to stay connected to the district and kids. Many of that group are choosing not to sub right now as they may be more vulnerable to the virus and do not want to risk coming into a building with 600 others. All of this is to say that if you have ever considered being a substitute teacher, have 60+ college credits, and have an inclination to be around a great group of staff and students, please consider registering to be a substitute teacher at https://www.edustaff.org/
I would like to once again thank you for the tremendous start to the school year that we’ve had. I know that every bit of work that we put in here with the kids is matched (and then some) at home by you ensuring that your kids are fed, rested, and the lessons that we teach here being reinforced. It truly is a team effort both between various groups at school and between school and home in order to provide a quality education for students. We could not do what we do here for our students without your help and support! Have a great weekend and Happy October!
Mrs. Totten, our incredible STEAM STUDIO teacher, has been selected as one of the Air Zoo’s Science Innovation Hall of Fame Educator Excellence Awardees!
Mrs. Totten excels as a teacher who implements curriculum that grows passionate learners. Students in her classroom utilize Project Lead the Way materials — and their K-5 participation grows each student into an innovative, creative designer and problem solver.
We feel honored to work with Mrs. Totten every day — and as a staff, we are thrilled that she is being recognized!
If you would like a sneak peak into the Mrs. Totten’s classroom, check out her STEAM STUDIO BLOG.
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