Home of the Gators
We have started up Friday spirit wear days. Please see the attachment with the schedule. Both in person and online students should be participating in this fun Friday day! This Friday will be sports day.
Earth Day is April 22!
The Gant Green Team would like to invite all of our students to share their love for the Earth. Send us a quick video or artwork that demonstrates the ways our Gators care for the environment and the actions they are taking to help make a positive change for the future.
Explore our Earth Week Newsletter for Green resources and information.
Happy Earth Week Gant Gators!
Help us create a rock garden in the planter in front of the office. There is a basket out front of the office with a rock kit for each student. Once your student has painted their rock please place it in the planter in front of the office.
We have gathered a few resources here to share with children and teachers about addressing these kinds of situations to our youth.
- LBUSD: We stand with Asian Americans Statement
- YouTube Music Teacher Miss Katie Addresses Anti-Asian Sentiments and sings about standing up for what is right.(for kids): https://youtu.be/ybr0ljIWxS
RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS
- Stop AAPI Hate Youth Report
- Addressing Anti-Asian Racism and Discrimination: Resources for Educators (Los Angeles County Office of Education)
- Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit (Brown University)
- “After Atlanta: Teaching About Asian American Identity and History” Liz Kleinrock (Learning for Justice - Formerly Teaching Tolerance)
- Immigrant History Initiative – Lesson Plans such as "Anti-Asian Racism & COVID 19"
- #WeAreNotAVirus: History of Asian America - YouTube playlist
RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES & CAREGIVERS
- Talking to Children after Racial Incidents (Penn Graduate School of Education)
- Supporting Kids Of Color In the Wake Of Racialized Violence (EmbraceRace)
- Talking Race with Young Children (NPR)
- Learning Race At Home: Why Colorblindness Just Isn't Enough (Psychology Today)
- Why All Parents Should Talk With Their Kids About Social Identity (NPR)
- Asian Mental Health Collective
- Asian Pacific Counseling and Treatment Centers
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.
Hello, Gator Families! My name is Alana Karlowitsch, aka Mrs."K". I've been fortunate to have taught 4th grade at Gant for 22 wonderful years. I've taught for 29 years, starting my career teaching 6th grade in Pasadena Unified. I then transferred to Long Beach Unified where I taught 5th grade at Barton Elementary.
I was born and raised in Montebello. After high school I wanted to become a veterinarian, so my first year of college was at Cal Poly Pomona. After performing a minor surgery my first year, I knew it was not for me. I then transferred to CSULB and found my calling to become a teacher. I graduated with a bachelor's in Liberal Studies and a minor in Psychology. It only took me 25 years longer to get my master's degree in Instruction and Curriculum from Concordia University. It is never too late to reach your goals!
I live in Long Beach with my husband, Joe, two daughters, Alex, 25, and Jamie, 17, and two cats named Lucky and Fudge. Both girls went to Gant, and I was fortunate to have had Jamie in my 4th grade class. Alex is a graduate of Millikan, as Jamie will be in 2022. GO RAMS!
I love teaching 4th grade at Gant because it is a special year of growth and transitions from primary years to the upper grade years and it happens to be the only year students get to learn about their state with California History! I enjoy helping and supporting my students with these adjustments so that they can meet with success in their future. I love watching them grow into confident, independent Minion scholars.
- Favorite book: Riding Freedom, biographies
- Favorite movie: The Sound of Music
- Favorite hobby: Reading, time with family
- Favorite sports team: Angels
- Favorite subject to teach: Reading and History
- Favorite subject to learn: History, Cultures and People
- Favorite dessert: Chocolate mousse
The LBUSD Office of Child Development Centers is now enrolling for our full-day and part-day state subsidized preschool program, our full-day, fee-based preschool program and our school-age care programs. Please visit our web site here for specific details regarding locations and contact information. For enrollment assistance, call 562-429-8636.
The DEI Committee's newsletter features this month's diverse celebrations, DEI committee events, and books that honor diversity and individuality. The next DEI virtual meet up will be coming up on the week of the 22nd.
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.
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:
- LBUSD Teacher and Admin Recruitment Night
- Youth and Teen Savings Accounts
- School News Roll Call - April 2021
- Spring 2021 Wellness Parent Webinars
- Los Altos Family YMCA - Super Signup Weekend
- In Person & Online Coding Classes for Kids
- Emergency Rental Assistance Program
- LBS Financial - Youth & Teen Account
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
