Advocacy Updates
Legislative Summary
Washington State PTAs were active in the recently concluded legislative session. Here is a summary of WSPTA’s legislative wins this session:
- School counselor funding at all grade levels
- Statewide youth tip line for mental health and safety funded
- Funding for two days of paraeducator training
- Flexibility in Learning Assistance Program funding
- Broadband and devices funding
- Seismic funding
- Lead in drinking water legislation
- Emergency waivers for graduation requirements
- Changes to College in the High School
- School meals/lunch co-pays for K-12
- Mitigating climate change
- Dismantling systemic racism
Click here to learn more about WSPTA Advocacy and here to read a summary of the 2021 legislative session.
Wear Orange event at Mercerdale Park and Farmer’s Market
Sunday, June 6, 2021 from 10am-12pm.
In response to the horrific Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018, the Mercer Island School Board passed a resolution against gun violence to reiterate our district’s commitment to safe schools and our larger community. Three years later, gun violence continues to be a national problem, and since the pandemic, gun sales have surged. Additionally, accordingto the Seattle Police Department, there have been 147 shootings reported this year citywide as of 5/13/21, compared with 115 in all of 2020.
Every day, more than 100 Americans are killed by gun violence, alongside more than 230 who are shot and wounded, and on average there are more than 13,000 gun homicides every year; and Americans are 25 times more likely to die by gun homicide than people in other high-income countries. Washington state has 781 gun deaths every year, with a rate of 10.2 deaths per 100,000 people. Washington has the 40thhighest rate of gun deaths in the US.
On Friday, June 4th, WA State has proclaimed Gun Safety Awareness Day. This day coincides with national Wear Orange day and a weekend of advocacy and activism to promote gun violence awareness. In years past, there have been city-wide events, including a gun violence prevention march but this year, we still work to end gun violence and honor the lives lost and survivors of this violence.
This year, on Mercer Island, we will host a masked gathering on Sunday, June 6th at Mercerdale park at 10:00am and distribute Gun Safety information and orange ribbon pins to those who are interested during the first two hours of our Farmer’s Market.
Please join us at Mercerdale Park on June 6th or at the Farmer’s Market between 10am – 12pm by wearing orange and showing your support for continued efforts to end gun violence and keep our communities safe! When you wear orange you are showing your support to:
- Rally together for gun violence prevention education
- Promote safe firearm storage
- Normalize the conversation of, “Do you have guns in your home, and if so where do you store them?”
- Prioritize suicide and gun violence prevention in our schools
- Advocate for gun safety laws and policies locally and nationally
For questions, please contact lorics@usa.net.
Information for Senior Parents
Thanks to all who have volunteered to help with the Senior Gift Give-Away distribution. There are still a few time slots available. Click here to sign up.
PTSA News and Announcements
Graduate Grams – a Wonderful Mercer Island Tradition!
It’s time to order your 5th grader, 8th grader or graduating Senior a Grad Gram, a 30-year Mercer Island community tradition! Each Grad Gram is personalized, printed on parchment paper and mailed on your behalf to the student’s home. Anyone can order a Grad Gram to send a congratulatory message to their deserving graduates.
Proceeds from Grad Grams sales supports the Mercer Island Community Scholarship Program which is run by the MI PTA Council. This annual scholarship program honors graduating MIHS seniors that are identified by MIHS teaching staff. To raise funds for the scholarships, Grad Grams are sold to the community at large.
Students love receiving these personalized certificates from family and friends. Each Grad Gram is $6 – order yours today! Orders are accepted through June 16th.
Presidents Letter
Dear MIHS families,
Here we are in the final stretch! Our MIHS Seniors graduate Thursday evening, just as our Juniors, Sophomores and Freshman begin preparing for their final classes and exams.
Though the school year is winding down, don’t forget the PTSA will be hosting a webinar presentation, Surviving Senior Year, on Wednesday, June 16th at 7pm. This program is aimed at helping inform families of juniors (and other students) who have not yet experienced the joy and stress of senior year. We will present a brief slideshow followed by questions answered by a panel of “experienced” parents who have survived to tell their tales. To join us please register HERE and to submit your questions prior to the webinar please email us at President@mihsptsa.org.
Please come support the amazing creative work Mercer Island students have done this year! The Mercer Island Fine Arts Council is celebrating our students and our Fine Arts teachers with virtual gallery displays and performances of art, music and drama. You can learn more and join in the Virtual Fine Arts Showcase, June 7-13 at mifineartsed.org.
We want to THANK ALL OF YOU who volunteered with PTSA this year. Thousands of volunteer hours have been spent helping to make MIHS an exceptional school for our students, families and staff. Some of you helped with a single program while others have volunteered more extensively. We are thankful for you all! Your time and energy adds warmth, enrichment and opportunity to our school community and it’s our hope that each of you feels appreciated and recognized for all of your hard work and generosity!
THANK YOU to each and every MIHS family for finding a unique way to support our school community! Students, teachers and staff all benefit from our collective ways of giving back, everyday. Thank you to all of you who inspire and support our students every day!
Final best wishes to our MIHS seniors as they graduate and to all students as they prepare for their final exams!
Go Islanders!
Debbie Burke & Stacy Nakata
MIHS PTSA Co-Presidents
MIHS News
Mercer Trade Inc. Online Store
Graduation Treats
Hello Mercer Island, happy graduation season! As we wrap up this crazy year, celebrate the graduates of the class of 2021, 2025, and 2028 with a customizable “pretzel thingy” box from Island Treats! Boxes will be themed to match the student’s next step (e.g. College/University, MIHS, IMS) and contain 4 pretzel thingys each. To purchase a box first fill out this Google Form and then go here to buy your box(es). Thank you for your support!
Community Opportunities*
Volunteer Opportunity for High Schoolers – Join the MICF Student Board and Help us Market the Directory
The MI Community Connection Directory is an effort of MI Community Fund and partner organizations to help spread the word about board opportunities with the intent to be inclusive and provide a “directory” of community organizations who want to embrace the mission of diversity and inclusion to attract a broader representation of our MI community to board and leadership positions.
MICF is formalizing its program for student volunteers, which they’ve named the MICF Student Board. Expanding its board to include some younger, student voices is one more way they are working toward board diversity. Students who volunteer will be exposed to the workings of the MICF board and will hopefully learn and grow from the experience. MICF Student Board members will not only get a great title for their resumes, they’ll also get signed volunteer hours.
For more information, please go to MICF Student Board Information – Sign Up Now – Google Docs, which includes a clickable link to the Google Form for high schoolers to indicate their interest.
League of Women Voters Climate Action Survey
Parents and students, we need you for climate action! Did you know that Mercer Island has a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030? This will require civic engagement! Mercer Island CAN has a mission to ensure that every Islander is aware of the climate goal and has an opportunity to contribute ideas and have input. Please help by taking this short survey before the end of May: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MICAN2021
Together we can make our community and world a better place. You can learn more and get involved by visiting Mercer Island Can!
Mercer Island Can! is a project initiated by and part of a multi-city climate effort of the League of Women Voters of Seattle-King County.
Ergon Student Exchange – Host Family Needed!
Host Marco, an Italian exchange student, and give your child a friend to share life with
There are now reasons for hope, with mass vaccination speeding up in the United States. Marco shares this hope and looks forward to his dream coming true of his exchange at MIHS in the 2021-22 school year. Click here to learn more about Marco and how to become a host family. Also, visit www.ergon-se.org or e-mail info@ergon-se.org for more information.
MIYFS Newsletter Relaunched
MIYFS has relaunched its newsletter, the MIYFS Monthly. You can find great community information and resources in this newsletter. Click here to sign up.
*Mercer Island High School PTSA (MIHS PTSA) and the Mercer Island School District have neither reviewed nor approved the programs, personnel, activities or organizations announced in these flyers or websites. The participants agree to protect, indemnify, and hold harmless the district and MIHS PTSA, including elected and appointed officials, employees, agents, staff and volunteers, from any and all claims, liabilities, damages, expenses, or rights of action, directly or indirectly attributed to the activities. Permission to distribute this information and or flyers should not be considered a recommendation of the programs by the school district or by the MIHS PTSA. These are neither school district nor MIHS PTSA sponsored activities.
For additional news, please click on What’s New on our website, where you can scroll through all of our news posts.
