MIHS News – May 16, 2021

5/16/2021 11:09 am

What’s New This Week!

Principal’s Message

Principal Kelly’s May 14 email
Greetings Islanders! 

 

As optimism increases for a return to normal social activity, it was great to hear that 87% of the Mercer Island population over 16 years old is vaccinated. We also look forward to serving as a host site for vaccinations for those 12 and over tomorrow morning.  

 

While we acknowledge and appreciate the CDC announcement that vaccinated people do not have to wear masks in most settings, we are maintaining our requirement that all students, staff, parents, and guests must wear a mask at school and school events. We believe that this abundance of caution is justified given the importance of continuing school and its related activities in the most reasonably safe environment.  

 

We will notify our school community if and when there are any changes to our policy or practice. As always, we hope to see you at an event in the near future, and we look forward to a full return to in-person learning to start next year. 

 

Respectfully,
Walter Kelly, Principal

 

Read Principal Kelly’s  May 3 letter, which includes announcements about graduation and prom, and looking forward to the spring sports getting underway, and his May 6 letter, which includes updates about Islander Hour lessons, the current outside-of-school senior game, and homework and tests.

 

PTSA News and Announcements

MIHS PTSA Awards Presentation and General Membership Meeting – Friday, May 21st at 9:30am

Please mark you calendars for the PTSA Awards Presentation and General Membership Meeting on Friday, May 21st at 9:30-11:30am.  We will be presenting MIHS PTSA awards, voting in our incoming 2021-2022 PTSA Executive Board and approving a preliminary budget for next year.  Please register here.

Graduate Grams – a Wonderful Mercer Island Tradition!

It’s time to order your 5^th grader, 8^th 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.

Now Accepting Applications for the Nancy Schaps Memorial Grant

Since 1996, the Schaps Family has funded grants that recognize a Mercer Island child who has suffered the death of a parent or who is currently experiencing the terminal illness of a parent. The Grant also includes Mercer Island children who have a parent serving on active duty with the military. The Grant award of up to $500 will be given to an elementary, middle, or high school student to be used for an activity or other purpose that will aid a child or youth’s adjustment to this difficult life change. For more information, please visit the Nancy Schaps Memorial Grant via MI PTA Council. Grant application deadline is May 30th.

Staff Appreciation

 

This week, MIHS teachers and staff were treated to a week of fun and Covid safe events!! 

 

Monday: Krispy Kreme (thank you to Faith Sandmeier for arranging) and coffee.

 

Tuesday: Lunch Homegrown sandwiches (thank you Homegrown for the discount and Suzanne Lacross for helping out), chips, cookies, drinks, and desserts.

 

Wednesday: Thank you to all of you and your kiddos who sent out a note of appreciation to staff and teachers. If you didn’t get it done, know it is NEVER TOO LATE to thank someone!

 

Thursday: Dessert Buffet of treats (featuring Island Treats, Hello Robin, and all the donated items by our amazing community)!

 

Friday: HUGE THANK YOU TO PAGLIACCI PIZZA and the Galvin Family for arranging donation of 25 Pizzas!!) chips, cookies, and drinks.

 

We would like to thank everyone who donated items: Kristin Aoyama, Alexandra Boyle, Angelica Buri, Mary Chen, Julie Ogata Ciobanu, Veronica Golden, Janet Goldstein, Suzanne Lacross, Theresa Magnussen, Jodi McCarthy, Patricia Pelter, Anne-Christine Poncelet, Monica Shah, Kelly Sim, Ana Simoes, Lynn Tonglao, Jenny Urban, Deb Voss, Dina Wampold, Tali Wang, Kirsten Ward, Diana Wiseman, Helen Wu, and Kathleen Zurawski. 

 

Thank you to our servers: Sheri Edwards, Yijiao Hong, Suzanne Lacross-Wen, Dave Montgomery, Stacy Nakata, Anne-Christine Poncelet, Pirouze Saghafi, Lynn Tonglao, Tali Wang, Julie Wilson, and Kathleen Zurawski.

 

A special thank you to Julie Wilson for helping collect, store, and manage the donations!

We are so grateful to have such a supportive community of parents without whom we could not have had such a successful week!

 

Sincerely,

Irene Geisner and Jennifer Selby
Staff Appreciation Co-Chairs

 

National PTA Reflections Award!

Congratulations to MIHS Junior Nathan Paek, who received an Award of Merit in the National PTA Reflections Competition for his Musical Composition Weltgeist. Nathan qualified for the National competition by winning the State Outstanding Interpretation in Music Composition.

 

Congratulations also to Jingyi Yang who received the State Award of Merit in Literature, and to all of our 2020-21 MIHS Reflections Contest Winners and Honorees. Click here for more information and to view submissions.

 

Presidents Letter

Dear Islander Families,

 

We hope you enjoyed this past week of sunshine!  We are encouraged and hopeful as we move into Spring, with the announcement by the District that the Mercer Island School District plans to return to school in person full-time for the coming 2021-2022 school year (pre-covid school hours, 5 days-week).  The CDC guidance and recent announcements by Governor Inslee continue to be more encouraging for those who are vaccinated as well, and children ages 12+ are now eligible to receive the vaccine. As of the most recent report available on May 14th, 89.6% of Mercer Island residents ages 16+ have received at least one dose of the available Covid vaccines.  And special thanks to MISD, Costco, parent volunteers, and Islander family participants for a very successful on-Island Covid Vaccine clinic hosted yesterday (May 15th) at MIHS!

 

We invite you to attend our final PTSA General Membership meeting this Friday, May 21, at 9:30am via Zoom Webinar. We will be voting in our PTSA Executive Board for 2021-2022, approving a preliminary budget for the coming year, and presenting our PTSA awards. We hope you can join us!  Please register HERE.

 

Winter sports have wrapped up, and Spring sports took off this past week.  The MIHS marching band performed on the field the afternoon of May 8th. This was their first and last performance for the year. They were happy to be back on the field performing in front of a well attended crowd of parents and supporters.  

 

The Class of 2021 is looking forward to some in-person events to celebrate this Spring!  The first is a masquerade-themed “Promish” event at the Newcastle Golf Club on May 22, 2021 (30 minute time slots for “pods” of 20 students). They are also looking forward to an in-person Graduation ceremony at the Islander Stadium on June 10, with the ability for a set number of family members attending.

 

Want to celebrate a special Senior (class of 2021), 8th grade graduate (Class of 2025), or 5th grade graduate (Class of 2028) in your life?  Here are some fantastic options available to send “congratulations!”. You can order a Yard Sign to benefit MIHS Cheer, order a Legacy Brick through MIHS PTSA, send a Grad Gram through MI PTA Council, and order a Customizable “Pretzel Thingy” box from Island Treats through Mercer Trade Inc., led by the MIHS international entrepreneurship class (Google Form HERE and Pay HERE).  Details for all of these are found on the Senior page of our PTSA website.

 

Go Islanders!

Debbie Burke & Stacy Nakata
MIHS PTSA Co-Presidents

 

MIHS News

Schedule this Week

This week is the Hybrid Learning Schedule.

MI Drama Boosters Presents: The Theory of Relativity

Streaming Online May 20-22 at 7pm and May 22 at 2pm

From Drama Desk Award nominees Neil Bartram and Brian Hill (The Story of My Life), The Theory of Relativity is a joyous and moving look about our surprisingly interconnected lives.  Whether you’re allergic to cats, in love for the first or tenth time, a child of divorce, a germaphobe or simply a unique individual, audience members and actors alike are sure to find themselves in this fresh new musical. Through a seemingly unrelated collection of songs, scenes and monologues, The Theory of Relativity introduces a compelling array of characters experiencing the joys and heartbreaks, the liaisons and losses, the inevitability and the wonder of human connection. 

 

Join the students of the MIHS Drama Department, sponsored by the Mercer Island Drama Boosters as they present a show about distance and connection. Click here to buy tickets.

 

General admission is $10, and students grades K-12 are $5. Proceeds will go to the MISD Drama Boosters, who are sponsoring this show. If you feel compelled to donate more money to the Boosters, please go to their website and follow their donation links.

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!

Grab and Go Meals

Grab and Go Meal pick up sites are back outside. Islander Middle School pick-up site is located outside of the main office entrance. This is a walk up site. Mercer Island High School pick-up site is located at the west driveway entrance of the school, between the grass field and the building. This is a drive-through location but walk ups are also welcome! Check out the school district’s Food Services webpage for more information.

 

Community Opportunities*

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.

Mercer Island Girls Basketball

Are you looking for a great summer opportunity for your daughter?  Would you love for her to get exercise, exposure to positive female role models and have tons of fun?!  Mercer Island Girls’ Basketball is offering a really fun opportunity for girls ages K-8th grade!!  Jr. Hoopsters Summer Camp is back!!  Come and learn from the MIHS High School Players and Head Coach, Lindsey Blaine.

 

When:                  
4-8 Graders: June 22-25, 2021
K-3 Graders: June 24, 2021
4:30-6:30pm at PEAK

 

Go to migb.org for more information. To register please click on the link for your player’s 20/21 grade level.

Questions?  Please contact Julie Newcomer at juliepnewcomer@hotmail.com.

 

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. 

 

KCLS Presents – College Application Series in Mandarin

King County Library is hosting three programs for Mandarin-speaking families to help prepare for the college application process. The first event is for students in 7^th-10^th grade and their parents; the second two programs are directed at students in 10^th and 11^th grade and their parents.  The programs will be presented in Mandarin with slides in English. 

 

All three parts of the series, March 31, April 21, and May 26 – College Application Series in Mandarin  (click into each event for more info and registration) 

You can click into any of the events and find out more about the presenter. Please register to get a Zoom link.

• Wednesday, May 26, 7:30pm – Grades, Test Scores, Essays, Activities – What Really Matters in a College Application  (for students grades 10-11 with parents) 

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.