MIHS marching band begins fundraising trek
It’s now less than a year away, and the donations toward sending members of the Mercer Island High School marching band to London for the 2011 New Years parade are rolling in.
So far the MIHS band scholarship fund has received $41,000 to be put toward the trip. Members of the band who will be junior and seniors next year will be eligible for the trip, rounding out the group at 235 students.
According to Betsy Rosenman, who is helping to organize the trip, the trip is slated to cost each student around $3,000 and about 75 of the total participants have said they need scholarship assistance to go.
The band was invited to march in the 25th Silver Anniversary Celebration of New Year’s Day Parade and Festival in London. The annual event features a parade through the West End of London, ending near Parliament in Westminster.
Rosenman said the group is already working on fundraisers and planning events, such as a car wash once the weather gets warmer. Students are currently writing letters to family members, asking for donations, including pins as souvenirs. There will also be a raffle in mid-March to fundraise. Anyone interested in donating a big-ticket item can contact Lisa Thompson at lisajothompson@comcast.net. She said they hope to raise an additional $40,000 to help students.
“It’s pretty amazing how big of an undertaking this is,” said Rosenman. She said no student is required to audition for the group and that anyone who can raise the money and is a member of the band can make the trip.
While the itinerary has yet to be completely finalized, Rosenman said the students will likely have the chance to visit Oxford College, tour the city of London, Stratford-upon-Avon‚ the birthplace of William Shakespeare‚ and hopefully get the chance to see a production in London’s West End theater district.
Anyone interested in making a donation to the fund can send checks to Mercer Island High School, attention Parker Bixby. Checks can be made out to MIHS ASB, Band Scholarship Fund.
MISD renews superintendent’s contract
The Mercer Island School District has renewed Superintendent Gary Plano’s contract through 2013.
The decision was reached to renew Plano’s contract during the School Board retreat on Jan. 20, unanimously, according to board member Lisa Strauch Eggers.
“We have unanimous appreciation for all the hard work that Gary does,” said Eggers. “It was very easy for us to agree to an extension.”
“I truly enjoy working here, and I’m so appreciative of your support,” said Plano.
MISD math review continues
During last week’s School Board meeting, members of the Math Program and Curriculum Review Committee provided an update to the board on the ongoing review of middle school and certain high school math courses.
Currently under discussion is the curriculum for the accelerated fifth-grade math program through algebra II at the high school. The review committee consists of parents, fifth-grade teachers, middle school and high school math teachers, and members of the administrative team.
Since October, when the committee started meeting, they have reviewed algebra I, geometry and algebra II curricula and seven middle school math programs. The group, while still reviewing possibilities, has narrowed the search to three middle school math programs (Big Ideas Math, Prentice Hall Mathematics and Connected Math) and two high school math programs for algebra I, geometry and algebra II (Holt 2007 and Prentice Hall, Understanding the Design).
Jennifer Wright, the district’s executive director of learning and technology services, said the idea was to find a balanced approach which would fit the needs of all kids.
“The most important thing is that we don’t want to pick just one direction,” she said. Another important piece for the committee is how strong the curriculum’s online component is, which was a big selling point last year for the new K-5 Math Expressions program.
“We were very strong of the opinion that if it doesn’t have an online aspect for students and teachers, then we’re not interested,” said high school math teacher Kim Schjelderup.
The committee used a scoring rubric, developed by the group, to narrow down the field of options, including things like the online aspects, as well as whether or not the curriculum meets state and school standards for students.
The committee will do an expanded review of the narrowed choices at the end of February and is likely to make a recommendation to the Instructional Materials Committee in early spring.
MIHS student on state youth advisory board
Laura Brindley, a sophomore at Mercer Island High School, was recently appointed by the legislature to the Washington State Legislative Youth Advisory Council.
The daughter of Ralph and Kathy Brindley, she is one of 11 new appointees from 65 applicants from around the state.
The council consists of 22 high school students who advise the legislature on issues which are important to youth and their communities.
Islander poetry published
A poem by Julianne Sauvage, 9, of Mercer Island, has been selected for publication in Spider magazine. Sauvage’s poem, “Spiders,” is included on the Spider’s Corner page of the February 2010 issue. Readers were invited in October to submit an original poem about a bug.
Spider, a magazine for children ages 6 to 9, features short stories, poems, articles, art and activities .In each issue, readers are invited to submit their original artwork or writing on a specific theme, and Spider receives hundreds of entries from readers worldwide. For information go to www.spidermagkids.com/corner.
