It is with excitement that Guinyard-Butler continues to progress with its theme “Achieving Academic Greatness…Preparing OUR Student 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 2018-19 school year has been productive for faculty, staff, and students as we are committed to making teaching and learning our priority. We are utilizing data to drive instruction, best practices, and accountability to ensure the success of our students and our school.
The School Improvement Council continues to work to increase parent and community involvement. GBMS strives to keep parents and the community involved through parental contacts, letters, Remind 101, the local newspaper, and PowerSchool Parent Portal.
We were fortunate to implement Pro-Teams with the enrollment of twenty-eight students. The mission of this program is to produce students who exhibit the potential for success aware of the skills needed to complete college and consider education. Along with Pro-Teams, we were able to partner with Teacher Cadets at Barnwell High School to provide eighth graders with the knowledge and experiences in the life of a high school student. Teacher cadets also received opportunities to observe classes and complete internship hours.
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. Also, students participate in the annual STEAM Fest. This year we were privileged to have representation from twenty-two businesses, universities, and professional societies to present and provide hands-on STEAM learning experiences. Also, our students received the opportunity to experience a hands-on learning opportunity through the Beta Box mobile stem lab. Students built and programmed self-driving cars through this experience. Finally, GBMS created a STEAM Work Room with funds provided through a grant. The STEAM Work Room is utilized for students to work on science projects and conduct investigations. Seventh and eighth graders are responsible for completing a science fair project annually. Mentors (engineers) assist students with questions regarding projects and the process by meeting with them monthly. GBMS hosts its Career Fair annually. This year there were twenty-five representatives from businesses and universities to provide knowledge of educational skills needed for careers, as well as duties and responsibilities, salary ranges, among much more.
The guidance department implemented the Warpony Career Café, which provides business representatives with opportunities to talk with students regarding careers and schools during lunch.
GBMS students are afforded the opportunity to begin high school with three credits which includes: Algebra 1, English 1, and Spanish (virtual).
GBMS believes that education is paramount for our students; however, we also believe in the importance of giving back. Our students were determined to “take a bite” out of hunger by sponsoring a service-learning project, which resulted in the collection of 884 can goods for the local food bank in the community. This bank provides hot meals to approximately 600 families in need each month. Twenty-two students were inducted into the Junior Beta Club, and five students were inducted in the National Junior Honor Society. Our students experience the opportunity to participate in grade level field studies annually.
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.
Dr. Tywana Branch, SIC President and Dr. Jessica Brabham-James, Principal
