Home of the Gators
Gant Families, are you excited to put together a fabulous year of fun, educational, and IN-PERSON programs for our kids in the 2021-2022 school year? Then join the PTA Board as an elected member! Serving on the PTA provides a great opportunity to give back to your school and community and helps provide students with many opportunities to enhance their school experience. If you might be interested, click to see the roles and responsibilities for all positions. Nominations due in to Genn Billish at VP@gant-pta.com by February 26.
The Bethune Supply Drive will be held from Tuesday, February 16, through Friday, March 5. Please see the above flier for additional information, including the Amazon Smile Charity List link. Additionally, we will have a bin outside the front of the school for drop-off donations.
If you have any questions, PLEASE DO NOT contact the front office! Email Liz Gillies at recsec@gant-pta.com, and she will be more than happy to help!
Who Was Mary McLeod Bethune?
As Gant is currently collecting supplies for LBUSD’s Bethune Transitional Center, we wanted to highlight the champion behind the name. A child of former slaves, Mary McLeod Bethune set out to receive a proper education but also strove to help others from disadvantaged groups become properly educated as well. She was a true champion of racial and gender equality.
Due to her lifelong effort to help even the most vulnerable populations of children receive an education, the Long Beach Unified School District named their center for unhoused children in her honor. At the center, children receive access to health care, counseling, personal and school supplies and more.
“The world around us really belongs to youth for youth will take over its future management. Our children must never lose their zeal for building a better world. They must not be discouraged from aspiring toward greatness, for they are to be the leaders of tomorrow.”- Mary McLeod Bethune
Week 3 of Black History Month is here!
Happy learning, creating, and celebrating, Gators, and happy Black History Month!
Join the 33rd District PTA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference featuring Farzana Nayani, author of Raising Mutiracial Children: Tools for Nurturing Identity in a Racialized World. Topics are: Fostering Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the PTA and an overview on DEI concepts; moving forward in the DEI Journey.
Click here to register!
We are proud to announce that Sydney R.-N., after taking first place in the visual arts intermediate category at Minnie Gant, also took first place at the council level, and then first place at the district level.
Her artwork, All The Possibility, now moves on to the state level. Sydney will represent Minnie Gant and our entire district in the State of California.
We are all proud of Sydney and hope you join us in wishing her luck as she competes at the state level.
More about past Gant student achievements and events here.
Hi! My name is Maria Heck, and I teach 5th grade. I’ve been teaching 30 years, and the last 20 years have been here at Gant in 4th and 5th grade.
I’m a product of Long Beach and have lived here all my life. I’ve been married for 31 years, and our four children all attended Gant. I have five grandchildren and am so lucky to have Keira in 1st grade and Oakley in kindergarten here at Gant, too. Minnie Gant has been a part of my life for 30 years!
You might see me riding my bike through the neighborhood or walking my dog, Carl. I’m so eternally grateful for our school and our families! We are truly a village. I can’t wait to see you all back at school, hopefully soon! Stay healthy and safe.
Love,
Mrs. Heck
(aka “Mimi “)
- Black History Month
- Lunar New Year
- International Day of Women and Girls in Science
- Presidents Day
- Day of Remembrance
- World Day of Social Justice
Black History Month
Week 4 of Black History Month is here!
- Voices of LBUSD has provided an amazing site with incredible interactive learning resources for our students, families and teachers. Don’t miss the art and music virtual museum tours!
- Feb 27: Aquarium of the Pacific's African American Festival. The Aquarium of the Pacific hosts its 19th annual African American Festival, celebrating the rich diversity of African American and African cultures. This virtual event will feature African and African-American music, dance, storytelling, crafts, and historical displays. Festival performances will include Mardi Gras second-line dancing, hip hop and break dancing, tap and modern dance, soul-pop fusion music, and West African drumming, dancing, and storytelling with Baba the Storyteller. This event will be streaming live from the Aquarium of the Pacific Website Saturday 2/27 from 10:00am - 3:30pm.
Day of Remembrance
On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 allowing the US military to forcibly remove and imprison 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry solely on the basis of their race. The Day of Remembrance is a reminder to be vigilant and defend the civil rights of anyone targeted by prejudice.
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Feb. 27 at 2pm - Remembering History. Empowering the Next Generation. Register Here
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Feb. 22-27 - Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute "DOR 2021" offerings, ending in a live Zoom event. Link here
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"Baseball Saved Us" (read aloud version, for younger readers)
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George Takei's TED Talk "Why I love a country that once betrayed me"
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Other nationwide events: https://jacl.org/events/day-of-remembrance/
Share Your Story
What have Gant families been celebrating this month? We want to share your story and pictures -- please send photos and stories of how your family is celebrating this year to dei@gant-pta.com.
Bookshop
Please visit Gant’s Bookshop for diverse book recommendations
Interested in joining our DEI Committee?
Please fill out this simple form and we will contact you for our first meeting.
Any questions about DEI could be sent to dei@gant-pta.com
It's a hard time to be a kid right now. It's a hard time to be a parent and guardian right now. Minnie Gant students and families deserve all the support we can give them. Here are some resources we hope can help.
Making Sense of Current Events
"Talking to Kids About the Violence at the U.S. Capitol" | CommonSenseMedia.org
"How To Talk To Kids About The Riots At The U.S. Capitol" | NPR.org
Gant Staff and Resources
This pandemic has brought unprecedented change and uncertainty into all of our lives. If you are in a difficult position, we encourage you to PLEASE ask for help! You can reach out to our counselor, Laurie Wheels (lwheels@lbschools.net), or our principal Cassie Fanton (cfanton@lbschools.net) with any needs you may have. Your privacy is paramount and any discussions will be completely confidential.
LBUSD Family Resource Centers
LBUSD Family Resource Centers are available to support students' and families in so many ways – from student mental/behavioral/emotional health to parent workshops to food/clothing resources, referrals, health care, and more. Please reach out!
Website – https://linktr.ee/LBUSDFRC
Instagram – @lbusdfrc
LBUSD Special Education Community Advisory Committee
The LBUSD Special Education CAC is open to everyone who wants to help students with exceptional needs obtain an appropriate, high-quality education, including parents, teachers, persons with disabilities, service providers and other concerned community members. A calendar of meetings and topics, including distance learning and sibling support, can be found here.
California State PTA Resources
Click the Peachjar icon above for current after-school and community flyers of interest to Gant families:
Free Parent Webinar - Understanding Anger
You Matter! Weekly Newsletter
School News Roll Call - February/March 2021
Walk and Roll Long Beach
Shop at Amazon Smile
Download the BoxTops app; scan receipts when you buy BoxTops products.
Bullying defined:
"A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending themselves."
(D. Olweus)
Click to Report a Bully
Please share any photos you have of students in school activities with our PTA Historian to be used for promoting school activities. Any student in a photo must have turned in a permission slip.
View school events in your Google calendar by subscribing to the Minnie Gant Elementary calendar.
The SchoolMessenger app delivers communications from the school district and Gant all in one place.
Chromebook and Hotspot Tech Support
562-315-8083
