Is it worth it? An Alumni's Point of View.

As an alumna of GMS, I can be the one to say that all of the money, and all of the time and effort that you as parents are putting into your children’s education at this stage of their life, is 100% worth it. I attended GMS from the age of three to the end of 3rd grade, and now being a junior at GHS, it has helped me tremendously. I believe that with this style of education it allowed me to become a stronger student in the long run, as we were all allowed to strive with our strong points, while at the same time, strengthen our weak ones. I am still friends with several of the students that I attended GMS with, and believe me when I say that we are all advanced in something. I for one, excel in mathematics, as I began high school level math in the 7th grade, and several of my other friends are also in advanced levels of math, as well as English, history, and variations of laboratory sciences. As of currently, I believe that all of the students that attended GMS with me are within the top 25% of our graduating class of 439 students, all with outstanding GPA’s. I mention this to further prove that all of the effort you parents are putting towards your children’s education in this critical time period will only strengthen their drive to learn and succeed in years to come.

The opportunities and memories I had while in GMS are ones that I will always remember; as they’re ones I know that not many others can say they’ve had. We had the opportunity to learn at a very young age how to cook, as well as manage money when we were able to go to the co-op to get monthly snacks (which was the coolest when you were chosen to go). We learned life skills early, and I’m highly thankful for that now as I am getting ready to go to college and I won’t have to call my mom every 2 days asking how to clean something or how to cook whatever. The learning style is what puts this wonderful school apart from the others, due to the fact there were several different ways to learn one single topic, since some students needed to be taught differently, whether it be auditory or visually. Looking back now I realize that I took it all for granted, and yes I can use the excuse that I was just a child, but it is still disheartening. Figuratively, I had the opportunity to learn the world at my fingertips, and being so small I barely chipped the surface of just our county, and I will regret that for the rest of my life.

The two women that I have to thank for giving me such a spectacular education, and that helped build me into the person I am today are Shannon Jeter and Pat Landau. To this day they are the best teachers I have ever had, as their drive to make sure that every student succeeds is outstanding and admirable. Shannon not only taught me how to do long division, but she also taught me that being myself is something that I shouldn’t shy away from doing, but rather embrace it. I only learned just 3 years ago that Pat was left handed like I am, and that I was originally supposed to have another teacher but last minute I was changed into her class. So even if my speculation that she did that because I was left handed is wrong, she still taught me that it is possible for lefties to function in a right handed world. Every year I strive to prove that the time and work that they put into helping me further my education was not a waste, and I hope that I’ve made them proud.