Plainwell Community Schools - Today's Learners Tomorrow's Leaders

Attention Community Retirees and Senior Citizens! Reminder, we are just one week away from the Lifelong Learners Holiday Celebration! Join us at PCS to celebrate the season with cookie decorating, refreshments and fellowship on Tuesday, December 19 at 1:00 PM at Plainwell’s Performing Arts Center (PAC). Following the event, our Lifelong Learners are invited to attend a “Sneak Peek” of the 2023 Holiday Spectrum Concert. The rehearsal runs from 3:00-6:00 PM at the PAC and will provide a preview of the concert which is filled with marvelous holiday music by the PCS Band and Choir Programs. We look forward to seeing you at this fun and festive event! For more information on our upcoming Lifelong Learners programs, please visit plainwellschools.org/page/lifelong-learners.

We are excited to share the Plainwell Middle School Students of the Week! We are proud of your hard work and dedication. Way to go, Trojans! Gavin (8th Grade): Gavin consistently follows class expectations and demonstrates Plainwell PRIDE. He is patient with his peers and shows leadership to ensure his group gets the work done in a timely manner. Olivia (7th Grade): Olivia consistently brings a positive attitude and a strong growth mindset to class everyday. She is eager to learn new things, and always willing to help others. Maggie (6th Grade): Maggie always enters class with a kind heart and a smile on her face. She always does her best on her assignments and is willing to help those around her. Maggie has become a quiet leader in the classroom and is a model for others students to follow. Throughout the year, we look forward to continuing to share our outstanding Middle School Students of the Week! GO TROJANS!  Special thanks to our Student of the Month sponsors: Fly Inn, Mayor's Joint, Barbed Wire Cafe and Taqueria San Francisco. We greatly appreciate your support of PCS and our students - Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders!

She’s back! It was lots of fun at Gilkey Elementary this morning as the Geckos had a special visitor…Snowflake the Elf returned and went on a great adventure throughout the building. What a fun way to start the day, the hallways were filled with joy and laughter from all the Gilkey Geckos.

Plainwell Robotics Club had a great weekend! The PRC High School teams made a strong showing at the Napoleon Tournament on Saturday, December 9 where the following teams found success: - Team "Blitz" (Blayne Withrow, Isaiah Looney-McPhillips, Walker Clippinger and Matt Clippinger - coach) were tournament finalists and earned the Think Award, given to the team that demonstrates the most consistent and effective use of coding techniques and programming skills to solve the game. - Team "Black Soul Monsters" (Aiden Mallory, Clay Walker, Rori Rosati and Jim Mallory - coach) earned the Create Award which recognizes a creative engineering design solution for one or more of the competition challenges. - Team "Nuclear Reactors" (Aiden Glass, J.D. Fritz, Ayden Young, Hiro Nguyen and Shannon Fritz - coach) were awarded the Build Award, which recognizes a well-constructed robot that is constructed with a high degree of attention to detail in order to hold up to the rigors of competition. The Build Award also comes with an invitation to the State tournament. - Cooper Elementary team "No Nello" (Harper Bates, Nevin Berneis-Emmons, Keagan Lyon and Kate and Matt Bates - coaches) finished tied for 7th place at their tournament in Jenison. - Cooper Elementary team "Cobras" finished in 40th place at their tournament in Jenison. Way to go, PCS Robotics - PLAINWELL PRIDE!

Ms. Hannig's second graders at Gilkey Elementary studied Christmas Around the World, where they had a special (and yummy) project from France. As a class, they made French Yule Logs. What a fun learning opportunity for these Gilkey Geckos!

Congratulations to the Boys Swim and Dive team who finished 5th out of 13 teams at the City Sprints Invite this weekend. Highlights from the weekend include: - The Dive team of Phil Mathis, Aidan Ranger and Brandon Courtney finished 3rd - Sam Harper won the 100 Im event - Ben Sparks was 4th in the 50 back - The relay team of Ben Sparks, Nolan Lindsay, Henry Cox and Brayden Triemstra finished 6th - The 200 free relay team of Ben Sparks, Henry Cox, Brayden Triemstra and Sam Harper finished 4th - Other medal recipients included Joseph Hoffman, Davis Nooney and Alex Steele Great job to the Swim and Dive team, TROJAN PRIDE!

The Renaissance High School students started their Gone Boarding class that Mr. MacQueen is piloting. This week the students spent some time riding different types of longboards to help them determine which type of board they want to make in the class.

In Mrs. Puzevic’s second grade class at Cooper Elementary, students had fun working with quotation marks! We 💙 seeing the unique ways our students are learning - Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders!

In Mrs. Amaezechi’s 4th grade class at Starr Elementary, they learned about how volcanoes are made. In class, they created their own volcanoes using flour and water, where they came up with various conclusions to study different types of volcanoes. What a fun and creative way for these 4th graders to explore science.

Earlier this week, Plainwell VFW Post 9377 recognized some of the PHS Trojans! Congratulations to Plainwell High School students - Audra Huberty, Olivia Huberty (not pictured) and Hiro Nguyen who received awards from the Plainwell VFW Post 9377 for essays they submitted for the Voice of Democracy competition. Audra's first place essay will be entered in the district VFW Voice of Democracy competition. In addition, the VFW Post 9377 awarded PHS Teacher, Andrew Hansen, with the Teacher of the Year award. Congratulations to these students and Mr. Hansen - Trojan pride!

Reminder!!!! Join the PHS Girls Basketball team to support local families in our community during the holiday season. As a team, they will be collecting monetary donations that will go 100% towards the sponsorship of families in our community this holiday season. The goal is to provide families with a full Christmas dinner and gifts under their tree. There are two ways to donate: 1. Please join us TOMORROW (Friday, December 8)at the Plainwell Girls Basketball game where they will be collecting monetary donations to support their Holiday Giveback! 2. Donate online by scanning the QR code. Please see a Girls Basketball player or coach for more information! Thank you in advance for your support - Go Trojans!

The Plainwell Wrestling team pulled off a couple of great wins last night over Wayland 34-32 and Grand Haven 43-33. A few wrestlers started the season with unbeaten 2-0 records: Madison Nieuwenhuis, Thomas Almaguer, Austin Gyorkos, Marco Vega, Rickey Lynch and Adin Young. Landon Crapsey and Micheal Gonyeau came out with powerful wins as well. Our JV and Girls teams wrestled tough throughout the night. This Friday both our JV and Girls teams head to Delton and East Jackson for more mat time. The Varsity team will travel to Allegan on Saturday. GO TROJANS!

Congratulations to Esther, Essie and Lance, as they are Plainwell Middle Schools' "Book and a Bonus" winners this month. "Book and a Bonus" is a new MS reading incentive program that is sponsored by Ransom District Library. Students can enter by reading books at their level and reporting them to their ELA teacher. After the report, students are given a slip to put into the "Book and a Bonus" raffle box in the library and a student is selected as the monthly winner. Thanks to the generosity and support from Ransom District Library, this month we awarded THREE winners! Keep up the great reading PMS students! Special thanks to Ransom District Library for your ongoing support of PCS and the “Book and a Bonus" program! PLAINWELL PRIDE!

The Plainwell Middle School Robotics Club had success this past weekend at the Napoleon Tournament. Highlights include: - Team "HOW 'BOUT NO" (Anne, Lucas, Mason and Eva) took second place overall. They are coached by Marcus Anderson and TJ Wilkinson. - Team "The Chosen One" (Mia, Bryce and Tavi) were in the tournament winning alliance. With this win, the team has been extended an invitation to the Michigan State Championship Tournament in February. They are coached by Julie Williams and Summer Rosati. Way to go PRC participates - PLAINWELL PRIDE!

We are excited to share the Plainwell Middle School Students of the Week! We are proud of your hard work and dedication. Way to go, Trojans! Cam (8th Grade): Cam is a great student, a leader among his peers, and someone that other people genuinely want to be around. He is a force for positivity in our school and a good friend to many. Cam shows Plainwell PRIDE in all that he does! Sylar (7th Grade): ASylar is always so friendly and helpful. She can be counted on to greet everyone with a smile, and always offers to help when possible. Sylar makes every class she is in better, because she encourages others to do their best. She is a friend to everyone around the building and is always willing to lend a helping hand. She exemplifies the "P" for positivity in our PRIDE acronym and we are proud to have her as our student. Isabel (6th Grade): We have so many amazing students at Plainwell Middle School and Isabel is a shining example. I'm not sure if I've ever met a more friendly kid than Isabel. She always waves at me and says "Hi" when she sees me. She ALWAYS has a smile on her face! She exudes our PRIDE trait of Positivity. Isabel does this while also working hard on her academics and creating positive relationships with peers. Great Job Isabel. Throughout the year, we look forward to continuing to share our outstanding Middle School Students of the Week! GO TROJANS! Special thanks to our Student of the Month sponsors: Fly Inn, Mayor's Joint, Barbed Wire Cafe and Taqueria San Francisco. We greatly appreciate your support of PCS and our students - Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders!

Last week, the 8th grade band and 8th grade choir had an amazing trip to Chicago. They went to Navy Pier, The Color Factory and Hamilton. It was a wonderful experience for all!

LAST DAY TO ORDER! Just in time for the holidays…Plainwell High School Boosters has created an online store with new Plainwell gear. Place your order by visiting https://plainwellcommunity.itemorder.com/shop/home/. 🎄 Shirts, sweatshirts, hats, bags, blankets, pants/shorts…and more. 🎄Orders can be shipped to your home or you can pick up at T Shirts Printing Plus on W. Main. 🎄The store closes 12/4/23 at 11:59pm. 🎄Orders will be shipped/ready for pick up 12-17 days after the store closes. 🎄Money from each sale will go directly back to the booster club. 🎄NO LATE ORDERS ACCEPTED!

Congratulations to the Boys Swim and Dive team who competed in their first meet of the season over the weekend at the Cereal Bowl Relays. The 500 relay team of Brayden Triemstra, Alex Steele, Sam Harper, Austin Susens and Henry Cox finished 3rd overall. The Dive team of Brandon Courtney and Phillip Mathis finished 3rd and Sam Harper qualified for State in the 200 free. The boys swim again on Wednesday at Otsego for the SCC relays and then in Grand Rapids next Saturday. GO TROJANS!

Beginning tomorrow (12/4), we will begin accepting donations for the 2023 Plainwell Volunteer Christmas Project and there are several opportunities to donate through December 15. Throughout the district, we are collecting donations for the food drive and many buildings have special opportunities for their students to participate in donating, please check for communications from your students building for more information. Thank you in advance for your support of the Plainwell Volunteer Christmas Project!

Great day for Trojan Cheer as the Middle School, JV and Varsity teams all took 1st place at the Cheer Fest competition at PHS! Way to go Trojans, Plainwell Pride! 💙