MIHS News – May 9, 2021

5/9/2021 11:09 am

What’s New This Week!

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 and voting in our incoming 2021-2022 PTSA Executive Board.  Zoom link coming soon.

Mercer Island High School PTSA Awards

It’s Time to Recognize Those Amazing Individuals and Organizations That Have Served the Students and Families of MIHS! 

MI PTA Council Awards Nominations due: Friday, May 14th

 

Each year, the Mercer Island High School PTSA recognizes outstanding volunteers and educators (including committees, departments, or programs) whose creativity, innovation, dedication, and hard work make a difference for MIHS and our students. These awards are meant to reward those individuals or groups who stand out among all of the great volunteers at MIHS. Awards may be given for outstanding work during this school year or for a person’s continuing dedication and service throughout his or her tenure with the Mercer Island Schools.

 

Please submit your nominations for the following MIHS PTA awards categories:  Golden Acorn Award, Outstanding Educator, Senior Volunteer Service Award, Volunteer Service Award, Outstanding Community Partner, and Outstanding Advocate. 

 

You can find a full description of the awards and the nomination form HERE.

MISD Enrollment Survey

In preparation for next year, the District is making staffing and service delivery decisions based on student enrollment at each grade level and school. Please answer the survey linked below to provide the District with data needed to prepare for 2021-2022. 

 

Intent to Continue Enrollment Survey 2021-2022

 

• Please complete this survey by Friday, May 14 by 5:00 pm.
• If you know one or more of your children will not be returning we kindly ask that you still complete this survey.
• For families with more than one child in MISD, please fill out one survey for each child.
• We prefer that you complete the survey, however, if we do not hear back from you we will assume you are returning in-person.

Principal’s Message

Read Principal Walter 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.

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

PTSA News and Announcements

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.

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.

 

MIHS News

Schedule this Week

This week is the Hybrid Learning Schedule.

MI Drama Boosters Presents: The Theory of Relativity

Streaming Online May 13-15 & 20-22 at 7pm and May 15 & 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*

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.