Hot Springs Gardner MagnetSchool

No students can have enough exercises, reminders, and examples of how to embody kindness toward others and toward themselves. Second grade teacher Mrs. Nikki Anderson seized an opportunity to offer a heartwarming lesson in kindness to her classroom of rambunctious students, with big hearts and curious minds. Students discussed personal examples and experiences with unkindness and identified solutions to improve their own behavior and treatment of others. Their responses to the exercise surprised even her, and has created a lasting impact for her kids about the power of kind words and gestures in all situations.

The 35-student Gardner Sound Choir delivered holiday cheer via music and hand-written cards last week to residents of the Lake Hamilton Rehab. Gardner Music Teacher Mrs. Paula Bettis organized the visit as a stop on their way to perform at the Arkansas State Capitol. Students chose favorite songs including “All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth” for the appreciative crowd who - to the surprise of students - sang along with them. Mrs. Bettis worked with other Gardner teachers to include handwritten Christmas cards from multiple classrooms. Students delivered cards in hopes of also bringing comfort and holiday spirit to residents that could not watch the performance.

Last week, the HSSD hosted three spelling bees across the district for 1st - 8th grade students. HSSD Gifted and Talented Coordinator Mrs. Laura West coordinated the spelling bees, which are exciting competitions for students to improve their general spelling, vocabulary and language skills in a fun competition with their peers. All nine of our finalists - the top three from each bee, including Gardner 5th grader Michael Suhar- will advance to the Garland County Spelling Bee on January 24, 2019 at the Gospel Light Baptist Church Auditorium (600 Garland Avenue, Hot springs) at 9:00 a.m. HSSD Spelling Bees are held in coordination with official rules and scripts from the Scripps National Spelling Bee so that they are uniform with those hosted across the U.S.

In a first annual STEM Day, Gardner STEM Magnet School dedicated an entire Friday to STEM-related activities and projects for kindergarten-5th grade students. The idea behind this effort was to create fun, diverse opportunities for students to explore STEM topics and activities. Partners from other schools within the HSSD and the community - including the Gardner PTO, HSWCHS EAST students, Henderson State University STEM Center, and Dawson Cooperative - were instrumental in creating a successful day of memorable activities and collaboration.