Gilbert families, let’s play a game of Did You Know …

Did you know the Gilbert Community School District has its very own One Stop Shop? Located inside Gilbert Intermediate and run by our Student and Family Advocate Mel Woodin, One Stop Shop is available to all Gilbert students, families, and staff members who are looking for clothing and various other items. There is no cost for these items.

What are some of the items in the shop? It’s stuffed full of things like coats, shorts, pants, T-shirts, sweatshirts, shoes, boots, and socks. There are stocking caps and gloves too.

A new addition this year is sports apparel, such as jerseys, uniforms, shoes, and cleats, and there’s even some equipment, such as baseball and softball bats.

In addition to students and families, Mrs. Woodin says coaches are encouraged to contact her if they have athletes who are in need of items. If she has it, she’ll pass the items on to the appropriate school.

“This is open to everybody in every one of our buildings,” Mrs. Woodin said. “If someone is looking for a size and we don’t have it, we have generous donors and we can usually find what students and families need. If there’s a player who doesn’t want to buy new shoes, they can reach out to me, and even if there are families who are having trouble finding the means to register their kids for sports, I can help out with that as well.”

Mrs. Woodin says she’s always willing to take donations of new or gently-used items. She’s more than happy to accept Gilbert gear that isn’t specific to a year. Currently, she’s most in need of pants for younger children, such as sweatpants and leggings. And there’s always a need for adult-sized clothes that would be suitable and fashionable for high school students.

“We’re always looking for nice stuff of high school kids, things they would wear,” she said.

This past August, Mrs. Woodin ran a PE shoes exchange during Back To School Night, and many families took part. Because PE shoes aren’t worn every day, and because many of the kids quickly grow out of the shoes, she simply set up a large section of PE shoes and families could exchange what they had for a different pair.

“It’s less waste,” she said.

Mrs. Woodin says that if you would like to receive items from the One Stop Shop, you can reach out to her directly by email at woodinm@gilbertcsd.org, or you can reach out to one of our building counselors. All inquiries are strictly confidential.

If you would like to donate items to the One Stop Shop, please email Mrs. Woodin.

Intermediate Winter Service Learning Project To Benefit One Stop Shop

The Gilbert Intermediate Lighthouse Leadership Team is currently overseeing its building’s Winter Service Learning Project, which is focused on winter warmth.

Students are collecting donations of new or gently-used winter clothing — coats, hats, gloves, scarves, snow boots, and snow pants — to donate to One Stop Shop. Once the Gilbert shop has the items it needs, the remainder of the items will be donated to the Clothing Closet at Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames.

The Gilbert Intermediate drive is currently up and running and it will end on Friday, Dec. 15. If you would like to donate items, please bring them to the Gilbert Intermediate office.

On November 7, Gilbert Community School District voters will go to the polls to vote on a variety of things, one of them being the Bond Referendum offered by the school district.

The proposed $35 million bond would include a new elementary school, as well as additions and renovations to our other three buildings — the intermediate, middle school, and high school — as well as the addition of a new practice track and field to replace the old track currently at the intermediate.

There are a number of ways voters can find information on the Bond Referendum and have their questions answered, including by clicking HERE to view our Bond Information website.

In addition, Superintendent Dr. Christine Trujillo will host several community informational meetings leading up to the vote. Those dates can also be found by clicking HERE.

Gale Gehling Opts To Give Back In Milestone Year

Gale Gehling has a milestone birthday on the horizon — the Big 5-0, as she calls it. But rather than dread the day as it approaches, the parent of a Gilbert High School graduate and a current Gilbert Middle School student, is embracing it.

She’s not wallowing. She’s thriving. And through determination and a tireless work ethic, she’s giving back to those organizations that mean the most to her and her family.

Gehling is calling it the Fabulous 50 Project — her effort to give back to 50 organizations by the time she reaches her milestone birthday on Dec. 9. And one of those organizations is our very own Gilbert Schools.

“I’m being intentional about giving,” Gehling said on a recent visit to Gilbert Elementary. “I have 20-some organizations that I’ve given to already, so I’m getting there. And hopefully I’ll exceed (50 organizations).”

Gehling and her family — husband, Ryan, eldest daughter, Olivia, and youngest daughter, Jasmine — recently began collecting children’s books to donate to Gilbert Elementary. In less than two weeks, through her own collection and the donations of others, she had more than 1,000 books to donate.

“You think that, someday, you’ll save them for your grandkids, but then you realize they’ll have their own library,” Gehling said. “I have discovered in these last two weeks since I started gathering books, there is a need in our community.”

Gehling and her family donated enough books to Gilbert Elementary for every student — nearly 400 in all — to choose one book to take home and keep. And the goal is to do that each month through the end of the year.

“We’ll see if we can do it every month,” Gehling said. “I just think it’s pretty cool. I realized how much the cost has gone up for the book orders and I would not want somebody to go home without books.”

Because there is such a need, Gehling has made it her mission to keep the donations going. She’s constantly on the lookout for new donations and says a bin will be set up outside Gilbert Elementary for those that wish to join the cause. She says community members are also welcome to leave donations on the porch of her house at 3324 Preston Circle in Ames.

“The more books the merrier!” she said.

In addition to Gilbert Elementary, Gehling also contributes to other organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of Story County, Raising Readers, Ames Public Library, Little Libraries, The Bulldog Book Cart, Martha’s House of Hope, and multiple local food pantries. The goal is to collect at least 500 children’s books each month.

“We all have the potential to impact a person, cause, and community and this is my year to be extra intentional about it,” Gehling said.

This is just one more example of how our Gilbert CSD students and families go above and beyond for the betterment of the entire community. We cannot thank the Gehling family enough for its work and contributions to our district!

We celebrate all of our volunteers during National Mentoring Month

Pastor Christian Johnson, who watches over the congregation at Gilbert Lutheran Church, had a smile on his face as he sat and waited for intermediate student and fourth grader Parker Main Tuesday afternoon. For one, Pastor Johnson enjoys a good school lunch and on the menu today is a corn dog. Secondly, and most importantly, he gets the chance to spend an hour with Main, who he’s mentored for nearly four years.

Soon enough Parker shows up, and he and Pastor Johnson take their lunches to the east gym where they sit with their backs to the bleachers and eat while they talk. They might shoot some hoops, or play another game afterward, whatever Parker wants.

Pastor Johnson and Parker get together weekly and it’s a visit they both look forward to.

“Parker is an amazing kid,” Pastor Johnson says. “I love his energy, his creativity, and his spirit just lifts me up. And I love to be in the school too. To see the teachers, the staff, the kids; it just lifts you up.”

Pastor Johnson is one of 30 individuals – students and community members alike – who take part in the YSS School-Based Mentoring program, according to Gilbert Mentor Facilitator Erin Wimmer. Now in its 22nd year, the program is so popular, in fact, that there are four boys on the waiting list, biding their time until a mentor can be located. 

The YSS School-Based mentoring program is for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and there are a number of Gilbert High School students that serve as mentors alongside community members. Wimmer says sophomores, juniors and seniors can apply to become mentors and it’s a great way to give back to younger students.

“I do my best to recruit people who are interested in spending time once a week with younger kids in the school,” Wimmer says. “It’s being there for them, being a positive role model in their lives, and it enriches your own life too.”

January is National Mentoring Month and today – Thursday, Jan. 26 – is Thank Your Mentor Day. This month serves as a chance to raise awareness for how one conversation, one experience, and one mentor can change a young person’s life, according to the website mentoring.org.

Wimmer has witnessed many beautiful connections over the years, and nearly 50 percent of the mentors stay with their students for at least two years. Some, as in Pastor Johnon’s case, maintain that connection for even longer.

“I’ve been here for eight years and one of the most impactful stories came in my first year,” Wimmer said. “At the end of every year, we ask the mentees what having a mentor means to them. Usually answers are: it means I can play games with somebody, or it means I have somebody to talk to, or it means I can skip outside recess when it’s cold outside. But my first year, a student responded to that question with: it makes me feel less invisible. I will never forget that.”

The YSS School-Based Mentoring program is just one of several ways that our students are afforded the opportunity to connect and make a difference in the lives of their younger peers.

At the high school this past fall, Assistant Principal John Ronca spearheaded a new program called Tiger Den, in which seniors can mentor freshmen in the building. Being new to the high school can be scary and intimidating for ninth graders, and the Tiger Den’s mission is to help alleviate that strain.

“Freshmen always seem a little bit timid, so this was an opportunity to create a program where seniors can sign up and help,” Ronca says.

Sixty seniors committed to the program, and while it’s voluntary for freshmen, Ronca says every member of the class signed up to take part. Each senior was assigned two or three freshmen to mentor, and the group gets together once a month during Success Center to talk and play games. Ronca envisions a growing program in the coming years..

“The goal was to have freshmen get to know at least one senior they could count on, whether they had questions about classes, behavior, culture … they could talk to a senior about those things.

“The program is simply helping freshmen assimilate into the culture of the high school with the seniors, and the program has been really good. I think the seniors and freshmen are really enjoying their time, and any time you can get older students to help mold the younger mind, that’s a plus.”

Students at the high school have one additional way to help mold the minds of the next generation and that’s as a Tiger Helper at the intermediate building. During the first semester, more than a dozen students took part and logged more than 160 hours in classrooms with younger students.

Any high school student with a study hall can sign up to be a Tiger Helper and each individual stays in the same classroom throughout the semester. It gives the students a chance to bond with both the students and staff and build relationships that may last long after the semester ends.

Whether it’s through the YSS School-Based Mentoring program, the Tiger Den program, or the Tiger Helper program, our students are reaping the benefits. For the mentors, these programs teach dedication and responsibility, and the chance to give back can heighten one’s own self-esteem. And for the mentees, it’s one more friend with a shoulder to lean on, or someone to smile and laugh with.

Any way you look at it, it’s win-win.