** February Events

    *February 9th - Multicultural Program

    *February 10th - 4th and 5th grade students to New Orleans for Field Trip

    *February 14th - Valentine's Day; Father & Daughter Luncheon

    *February 15th - District Science Fair

    *February 17th - Kindergarten Mardi Gras Parade

    *February 20th and 21st - Mardi Gras Break

    *February 23rd - 5th Grade Mass Choir at GHS (8:15 - 2:00)

    *February 24th - 5th Grade orientation at GCMS

    *February 29th - Leap Year!!!

Pirate Leaders of the Month

 Alisa Bethea

Ms. Bethea is a true team player who is always willing to share ideas, resources, and lend a helping hand.

She loves her students and is passionate about teaching.

 

Lelar Keaton

Ms. Keaton is a wonderful teacher’s assistant! She greets everyone she meets with a beautiful smile that just brightens your day. She loves the students and goes above and beyond to assist them in reaching their full potential!

 

Congratulations Ladies!

 

Central Elementary School Teacher of the Year

Venita Jamison Goins

First I would like to thank my colleagues for nominating me for this honor. 

My journey into EDUCATION began at Mississippi University for Women in August 1979.  Like my father and some of my elementary teachers I held in high esteem, I wanted to be a “TEACHER”. 

While attending MUW, I was assigned to a work study job at the Center for Special Children.  Through this job, I found a passion for teaching children with special needs. I worked at the Center through graduation in 1983. 

In 1983, I began my first teaching job in Shannon, MS as a special education teacher of a self-contained classroom.  After a year, I returned to the MUW Center for Special Children as a teacher for the severely profound population and taught there for four years.

My teaching career in Gulfport began in August 1988 at Central Elementary School where I taught a self-contained class of students with diverse disabilities.  After ten years, I followed my class to Central Middle School where I began teaching the Life Skills Course.  From Central Middle School, I moved to Twenty Eight Street Elementary School where I transitioned to mainstream and inclusion classes. 

Following Hurricane Katrina and the closure of Twenty Eighth Street Elementary, I returned to Central Elementary School where I still enjoy teaching.  My philosophy of education is the same as it was 28 years ago: “All students are capable of learning but they don’t all learn the same way.”  My goal as a teacher is to meet the individual needs of each student to foster success in the classroom and life.

I have been active in the Gulfport School District as a parent to two sons, William and Jamison, and in various activities from 1996 to the present.