GBW News - Thursday, March 31, 2022 - Special Edition

GBW's 50th Birthday Bash

birthday bash 1
birthday bash 2

Message from the Principal

Saturday was a very special day for our community.  We shared a lot of interesting facts about what our country, community, and GBW looked like over 50 years ago.  We also had so many special guests attend, which made this event even more meaningful and memorable. 

For those of you that missed the event, here are a few highlights:   

I shared the following quick facts about 1972:

  1. History: President was Richard Nixon and the Watergate Scandal was just starting.
  2. Culture: Popular Movie was “The God Father” and a popular song was “American Pie”.
  3. Money: Average Family Income was $12,000, average home sold in Greenbriar for $33,000, and the typical cost to attend a GBW event was 12 pencils!
  4. GBW: First Principal of Greenbriar West ES (Don Carroll) opened our doors on March 27th, 1972 with 615 students enrolled.

Our Special Guests on Saturday:

  1. Cub Scout Pack 1133 - Thank you for leading our school in the Pledge of Allegiance.
  2. Former Principals - Thank you to our former principals who came to speak at the event on Saturday: Patty Granada, Lauryn Campbell, Lori Cleveland, and John Hilkert.  The principals shown on stage on Saturday help to represent the leadership of GBW dating all the way back to 1999!
  3. Stella Pekarsksy - Thank you for attending on Saturday to share some heartfelt words about your rich history of supporting GBW over the years as a parent, PTA president, and board member representing the Sully District.
  4. Becky Baenig and Dr. Terri Edmunds-Heard - Came to show their support on behalf of the FCPS Region 5 Assistant Superintendent’s Office.  We have always felt so loved and supported by the county, and Region 5 continued to show their support at this event.
  5. Supervisor Pat Herrity - Thank you Supervisor Herrity for coming to show your support of GBW as well as the presentation of the memorial plaque you presented to our school. 
  6. GBW Alumni Staff - Thank you to the group of teachers who attended from the original teaching staff back in 1972!  It was so great to hear your special stories and memories about GBW!

During our ceremony, I shared the following GBW traits that have helped to define the legacy of our school over the years:

  1. Collaboration - Collaboration with the local government, collaboration with surrounding schools, collaboration with our parents / community, and teacher collaboration within our school.
  2. Fierce Love of Learning - I shared countless examples of our fierce pursuit of academic learning and competitions (math competitions, spelling bees, geography bees, etc).  I also shared numerous examples of our fierce love of the performing arts (band, strings, chorus, talent shows, art competitions, reflection contests, etc). 
  3. Long History of Inclusion - GBW has a long history of including all students.  Just 2 years ago, we furthered our commitment to inclusion as we welcomed more of our students with disabilities to join their neighborhood school by expanding our programming to include an ID / IDS classroom. 
  4. Community - GBW has always been a “community” in that we love our students, staff, and community in a special way that “feels like” a big happy family.  We have a long history of volunteerism, community events, and have prided ourselves in creating a strong community that is bound together by our love.

In summary, GBW is such a special school and center of our Greenbriar community.  As a principal, I was bursting with pride that I have the privilege and honor to serve in such an amazing school.  As I shared on Saturday, I will continue to uphold my 3 promises to the GBW community: 1) love our students, staff, & community; 2) hold our students, staff, and myself accountable to very high standards, & 3) continue to spread joy in our community by ensuring that learning is fun and community events continue to spread joy.