It is with excitement that Guinyard-Butler continues to progress with its theme “Achieving Academic Greatness…Preparing OUR Students to Walk in Their DESTINY!” Guinyard-Butler Middle School prepares our students to walk in their destiny in the areas of academics, athletics, and the arts. The 2019-20 school year has been productive for faculty, staff, and students as we continue our commitment to teaching and learning in the midst of unprecedented times experienced through the current pandemic. Our students, faculty, staff, parents, and stakeholders have proven to be resilient, determined, and equipped in the midst of uncertainty and adversity. Guinyard-Butler Middle School has made great gains, and it is due to the expertise, commitment, and dedication of our students and stakeholders. We continue to utilize data to drive instruction, best practices, and accountability to ensure the success of our students and school.
The School Improvement Council continues to collaborate with school officials to increase parent and community involvement, enhance academic achievement, and support student activities. GBMS strives to keep parents and community members involved through parental contacts, letters, Remind 101, the local newspaper, and PowerSchool Parent Portal.
We were fortunate to implement a club, “Girls Who Code.” This club is designated for female students to work in teams to design a computer science impact project that solves real world problems. Pro-Teams continued to be a success with the enrollment of twenty-six students. The mission of this program is to produce students who exhibit the potential for success with the awareness of skills needed to complete college with the consideration of majoring in education. Along with Pro-Teams, we continued our partnership with Teacher Cadets. This partnership continues to serve as an asset for GBMS through mentoring opportunities, observations and student teaching. The Math Counts Club continues to create opportunities for students to enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills along with skill and drill. The Math Club traveled to the University of South Carolina -Aiken for the Annual Math Counts competition. We were pleased to have students to place overall in the competition.
GBMS students are exposed to STEM opportunities throughout the school year through various programs. The STEM Lab provides our students with potential career options as they partner with a classmate to complete STEM-based modules. The STEAM Work Room is an asset for the student body to assist with various STEAM projects. The STEAM Room is utilized for students to work on science projects and conduct scientific investigations. Seventh and eighth graders are responsible for completing a science fair project annually. Mentors assist students with potential topics of interest, formulating hypothesis, and assisting with questions regarding projects as they conduct research. GBMS hosts its annual Career Fair and Project STEAM. This year there were twenty-five representatives present at the Career Fair from various businesses and universities to provide knowledge of educational skills needed for careers, as well as duties and responsibilities, salary ranges, among much more. We were fortunate to have twenty-four judges representing numerous businesses and industries present to judge science fair projects.
The guidance department continues to utilize the Warpony Career Café, which provides students with opportunities to speak with business representatives regarding careers and post-secondary education during lunch.
GBMS continues to offer English 1 and Algebra 1 to students, which affords them the opportunity to begin high school with two credits. We believe that education and culture extend beyond the school building, therefore our students experience the opportunity to participate in grade level field studies annually. As a result of academic excellence, we were fortunate to have sixty-seven students inducted into the Junior Beta Club, and fifteen students were inducted in the National Junior Honor Society.
We look forward to the continued support of our parents, community members, and stakeholders as we continue to prepare OUR students to walk in their Destiny.
Mrs. Brandi Robinson, SIC President
Dr. Jessica Brabham-James, Principal
