MIHS PTSA News – December 5, 2021

12/5/2021 7:51 pm

Staff Appreciation Lunch

Thursday December 9th
Let’s show our MIHS teachers and staff how much we appreciate them this month by signing up to contribute to December’s Staff Appreciation Luncheon. This month’s theme is a Team Islander Chili lunch. Our teachers and staff look forward to these lunches and are truly grateful for your contributions.

Mock SAT/ACT Tests

MIHS PTSA provides 6 testing opportunities as a chance to practice a real test, become familiar with a testing environment, and help identify which testing platform is best for each individual student. All this in a ‘Mock’ situation where tests are not recorded or submitted to any high school or college organization. This is a perfect chance to ‘try out’ these tests.

Learn more about the Mock SAT/ACT tests offered by the PTSA.

Information for MIHS Seniors and Senior Families

Caps and Gowns Orders and Yearbook Submission Information is found on our “Fall Tasks for Seniors” page.

• Yearbook Senior Portraits Due December 17, 2021
• Grad Ad Submissions are Due February 18, 2022
• Senior Community Service Hours Due April 30, 2022

Remember you can also check the Seniors tab on the PTSA website for more information.

MIHS News

Schedule This Week

This week’s schedule will be the Regular Bell Schedule.

MIHS Leadership Class Donation Drives

Mercer Island Trade Inc Holiday Bazaar

Embrace the Holiday Spirit on Saturday, December 11th at Mercer Trade Inc.’s annual Holiday Bazaar! Come to Mercer Island High School from 11:00 am-3:00 pm to get your shopping on! The Holiday Bazaar is an annual event run by Seniors at Mercer Island High School from the International Entrepreneurship Class. The students bring in local small businesses and allow them the space to share their unique products with the Mercer Island community! We hope to see you there, happy holidays!

PTSA President’s Letter

Greetings MIHS Families,

Happy December! We hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving break! We have a whole lot to be thankful for this year, and being part of an amazing, involved, and generous MI parent community is top of our list. We are so grateful for all of you who contribute so much to our school community. Our kids are so incredibly lucky to have such involved and giving parents…

On that note, we are now looking for a couple of parent volunteers who would be interested in being the parent advisors for their child’s ASB class. What does this mean? Traditionally, there have been 2 parent volunteers who are assigned to their child’s graduating class, with the role of helping ASB in holding their events. Many parents are surprised to find out that it is ASB leadership, not the PTSA, that organizes and runs events such as Homecoming, Tolo and Senior Prom. Parent involvement in these events has waxed and waned over the years, as they are rightfully kid-centered and organized events, but MIHS has decided to bring back ASB parent reps to help out ASB leadership in organizing these large events.

These parent representative roles are formally called the MIHS PASS (Parent Advisor for Student Support) representatives, and their key responsibilities include:

Working with the class ASB officers and student leaders for all 4 years
Serving as the parent liaison working directly with the class staff adviser and class ASB officers and leadership class
Class fundraising activities
Mobilizing other parent volunteers to support class activities
Helping with homecoming float annually
Helping class host Homecoming Dance (10th Grade) and Senior Prom (11th Grade), and other class events
Assisting student appreciation activities

Yes, this is not exactly a small volunteer role but this is a GREAT opportunity for a parent volunteer to be involved in helping our kids throw amazing events. If you like throwing parties or are at all good at event planning, this is the parent volunteer opportunity for you. Let’s be real, we all volunteer to make sure our kids are getting the best possible school experience, so this is a great way to be involved in these fleeting high school years…. If you are interested in serving as the parent representative for your child’s ASB class year, please share your interest with us by emailing president@mihsptsa.org. Two representatives for each class year will be chosen, so it would be helpful if you could include a brief bio of who you are, which class you are interested in, and what experience you may have in running events, volunteer or otherwise. If you have questions on what exactly this role entails, please reach out and we are happy to speak with you. It’s a super meaningful parent role that past parent reps have found to be some of the most valuable experiences they have had with their kids during their high school years…

Speaking of volunteers, a HUGE thank you to Suzanne Plambeck for organizing all of the staff appreciation lunches this year. And a shout out to all the outstanding volunteers who have brought food or staffed these events. We see you quietly contributing behind the scenes and are so grateful… The last lunch for 2021 is this week on Thursday, December 9. This has been a tough year for everyone, including our MIHS teachers and staff, so please consider signing up to contribute to December’s Staff Appreciation Luncheon. This month’s theme is a Team Islander Chili lunch. Our teachers and staff really look forward to these lunches and are truly grateful for your contributions.

Finally, the Mercer Island School Board will be holding a special meeting at MIHS on Thursday, December 16, 2021. Each year, the Directors visit a few of our Mercer Island schools to tour classrooms, talk with teachers, students, administration, and connect with students and the parent community. The Directors will plan to meet with any interested parents from 9:20am – 10:00am in the Library Presentation Room. If you wish to attend please check in with the main office upon arrival. We hope to see you there!

Have a wonderful week!

Maria Alberto & Debbie Burke
MIHS PTSA Co-President
president@mihsptsa.org 

Principal’s Updates

Read Principal Walter Kelly’s November 29, 2021 letter

MIHS Counseling Center

Click here to read the November 2021 Newsletter.

Easy Tips for a Greener Holiday Season

During the holiday season, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s day, the amount of waste we generate increases by a whopping 25%. That equates to an extra million tons each week in the form of food waste, shopping bags, bows, ribbons, packaging, and wrapping paper, to name a few. In addition, our energy consumption and carbon footprint go up by 30% and 5.5%, respectively. Our decorations alone use up a staggering 6.63 billion kilowatt-hours. Fortunately, being more mindful of sustainable consumption and making a few tweaks to our regular activities can keep our wallets and the planet greener, along with helping us focus more on what the holiday spirit is all about: caring and celebrating. So here are a few easy and fun ideas to green our holidays. Click here to read more.

Community Opportunities

University of Washington | After School Online Enrichment Opportunities
The University of Washington Youth and Teen Programs is excited to offer a variety of remote courses for middle and high school students who seek after school enrichment opportunities. Courses run over 10 weeks starting in January. Visit our website for registration information and course details. www.youth-teen.uw.edu

• 3D Design & CAD Modeling (7th-8th grade) 
• Architectural Studies (9th-12th grade) 
• Exploring STEM Through a Creative Lens (6th-8th grade) 
• Sharpen Your Writing Skills (9th-12th grade) 
• Young Writers’ Workshop (6th-8th grade)