MIHS News – November 29, 2020

11/29/2020 2:38 pm

What’s New This Week!

MIHS Schedule This Week:

This week’s schedule returns to the standard Red Learning Day Schedule.

Principal Video

See Principal Kelly’s November 24 video.

PTSA News and Announcements

PTA Reflections Art Contest Submissions Due Monday, Nov 30th

The theme for the 2020-2021 program year is “I Matter Because…” Students submit their completed works of art in one, or all, of the available arts categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, and Visual Arts. 

 

Deadline for submission: Monday, November 30, 2020 

 

All submissions (including Visual Arts pieces) will be electronic this year. Click here for guidelines and instructions on how to submit your artwork.

 

Questions? Please email reflections@miptacouncil.org and reflections@mihsptsa.org.

 

The MIHS PTSA is looking for a Reflections Chair! The Reflections chair will collaborate with the Outreach Team and will be responsible to collect the students’ artwork and coordinate the submissions with the MI PTA Council. For more information and to apply for this position, please email outreach@mihsptsa.org.

Island Books Gift Card Extravaganza!

Purchase Island Books gift cards – 15% is donated to your designated school’s PTA/PTSA
When: December 1-4, 2020
Where: Island Books – 3014 78^th Ave SE, Mercer Island | 206.232.6920 | islandbooks.com

Support MIHS PTSA by purchasing Island Books gift cards between December 1-4. 15% of the sale will benefit Mercer Island PTAs/PTSAs! Purchase as many Island Books gift cards as you’d like (no limit!), and there is no minimum/maximum dollar amount for each gift card. 

 

Make a list! Teachers, kids, friends, family, coworkers, babysitters, and yourself – give the gift of future shopping, while supporting your school and our beloved local book shop. Private shopping appointments are available to spend your gift cards. Call Island Books to arrange a time. 

 

Four easy ways to purchase Island Books gift cards:

• Online: https://www.islandbooks.com/island-books-gift-card (mention MIHS PTSA in the “message” portion of the form)
• In-store: mention MIHS PTSA, open weekdays: 9 am – 7 pm
• Call: 206.232.6920. Credit card purchases only. Be sure to mention MIHS!
• Email: (orders@islandbooks.com) with the number of gift cards, the dollar amounts for each card, and the school name(s) to receive fundraising credit for each gift card purchased.

This district-wide fundraising event will be the only Island Books Mercer Island School District PTA/PTSA fundraiser this school year. Thank you for purchasing Island Books gift cards to support Mercer Island school PTA/PTSAs December 1-4!

 

Contact Julia Hokanson (julia.hokanson@gmail.com) or Paulette Denman (paulette@snookus.com) with any questions. 

Staff Appreciation Thank You

This month, we showed gratitude for our MIHS teachers and staff with hand-written thank you cards and some pre-packaged snacks. We would like to thank Kirsten Aoyama, Blair Destro, Rachel Lennington, Jodi McCarthy, and Julie Wilson for helping out this month.

 

MIHS staff members are working very hard to make remote learning a success. Please consider sending your child’s teachers or staff members an email this Thanksgiving season to personally thank them for their hard work.  

 

Sincerely,
Irene Geisner and Jennifer Selby
Staff Appreciation Co-Chairs

Mock SAT/ACT Tests

Over the course of the school year, 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.

Register and/or learn more about the PTSA sponsored Mock SAT/ACT tests.

Information for MIHS Seniors and Senior Families

Yearbook Senior Portraits Due Monday, December 7, 2020
Custom senior portraits are optional. The MIHS yearbook staff will use the school ID photo if they do not receive a senior portrait submission from you. Instructions for uploading your photo are located here.Email miseniorportrait2021@gmail.com with questions.

 

Yearbook Grad Ads Due Monday, January 4, 2021
Senior grad ads are optional. They are personal pictures and reflections by you or other family members regarding graduating seniors. Ads can include a student, a team, a club, or any collection of students to celebrate graduation from MIHS. Instructions for submitting your Grad Ad request are located here.  Contact mihsyearbook2021@gmail.com with questions.

Presidents Newsletter

(November 22 letter)

Dear MIHS Families:

 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families this week!  This is a short week at MIHS due to the holiday. We have much to be thankful for – and that includes having such a strong, caring PTSA that is supported by so many parents in our school district. Because of this generosity we are able to help support our students, teachers, and staff members – which is especially important right now.

 

One way PTSA offers support is by providing grant opportunities for teachers and clubs. Thank you to our MIHS PTSA Grants Committee members:  Deb Voss, Irene Geisner, Kym Otte, and Jennifer Sargent, for reviewing the grant requests.  A total of 9 grant applications were received for MIHS, and 8 were approved and funded.  The Mercer Island Schools Foundation (MISF) funded many of the grants submitted. While the MISF has exhausted their grants budget for the year, there are still MIHS PTSA grant funds available, so a second round of grants will be offered in January. Grant recipients will be notified soon and we will post all PTSA awarded grants on our website.  Thank you so much to all the MIHS PTSA donors past and current!

 

The Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) met earlier this month. As a group, they spent time identifying what to focus on in the next months. Also, Principal Kelly presented the high school’s school improvement plan for 2020-2021. There was good feedback, idea sharing, and suggestions. The three main objectives are:

1. All Students Will Demonstrate Proficiency on the Essential Learning Objectives in Each Course
2. Students Will Identify a Trusted Adult at School
3. Students Will Identify a Peer Group at School

If there is something you would like addressed with the administration, please reach out to one of your grade level PAC representatives. You can find their names here. 

 

As the holiday gift giving season begins please consider supporting our MIHS PTSA by purchasing Island Books gift cards between December 1-4. This is a District Wide event, and will replace the individual school Island Books fundraising events for this year. You can purchase as many Island Books gift cards as you’d like (no limit!), and there is no minimum/maximum dollar amount for each gift card. The PTSA will receive 15% of the sale.  Please remember to specify “MIHS PTSA” when you make your purchase!

As Thanksgiving nears, and amidst this pandemic, we are counting our blessings and focusing on the positives. Thank you to this caring community and the many teachers, staff, and volunteers who make a difference every day in our students’ lives. We are truly grateful and once again wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Debbie Burke & Stacy Nakata
Co-Presidents MIHS PTSA

MIHS News

MIHS Drama Presents The Outsiders

Based on S.E. Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders brings us the coming-of-age story of Ponyboy Curtis, a young man who finds himself caught in a social divide between the Greasers and the Socs. Through his family, fellow Greasers, and unexpected friendships, Pony courageously faces loss, life, death, and hope for the future. Join the MIHS Drama Department as they present a unique, virtual production of this play. Stream this play from home between December 3 and 12. Click here for more information and how to support the Drama Department.

Counseling Department Newsletter

The MIHS Counseling Department’s November newsletter is available on the Counseling website. The newsletter has important information for all grade levels and covers information about the post-secondary application process and planning, upcoming events, scholarship updates, Advanced Placement (AP) test registration, PSAT information, Financial Aid information, and so much more! Please visit the website each month for important updates and information.

Grab and Go Meals

Check out the school district’s Food Services webpage for more information.

Community Opportunities*

*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.