Viajes seguros, safe travels, to Mr. Elger, Señora Vazquez, Ms. Ferguson and their 17 PGIA student travelers as they are on their way to Mexico for a week of Spanish language immersion, arts and local culture. Exploring Chichen Itza, snorkeling in the Cancun Underwater Museum MUSA and in the cenotes of Mexico's Yucatàn Peninsula, swimming with whale sharks....and, of course, que estarán hablando en español! Jealous anyone? I am!
Good night everyone,
Today was a day that began for me when I was in second grade and discovered the artist/crazy mathematician MC Escher. We took a day trip to The Hague to visit the Escher Museum and saw many of his original works. There were also many interactive exhibits that were simply fascinating. So so so so cool! We saw the church where Farenheit is buried, the grave of Spinoza, the congress buildings for the Netherlands, a beautiful park, cool sculptures around the city, and an antiques market. We ate a leisurely lunch in a huge square and enjoyed people watching. We travelled back to Amsterdam and had dinner at De Food Hallen, the same place we ate on our first night because it was that good. We all tried different things tonight and everything was oh so yummy. We are all going to miss the food! Tomorrow, Vanshika will be with her aunt, Donovan will take the girls shopping, and I will visit with a Dutch family we were close with during our time in the Republic of Georgia. We will all meet at the Pancake Boat for a canal cruise and all you can eat pancakes! Until then...hugs and misses from Amsterdam.
Lots of love,
The Amsterdam Girls
Peter Gruber International Academy Class of 2016
Sunday, May 22, was a glorious day at VI Montessori School and Peter Gruber International Academy. Seventeen bright and beautiful graduates of the PGIA took their final walk as high school students. These 17 promising young people are ready, nervous, anxious, excited, scared - you name it - to start the next chapter of their lives.
All 17 students will be attending university in the fall. They were accepted to over 50 universities and received scholarships of over $4 million.
Marcus Norkaitis leads the class as Valedictorian. Naren Advani is Salutatorian. Nicholas Figueroa was chosen by his class as the class speaker. Jessie Wyatt was awarded the Masjid Nur Organization's International-Mindedness Scholarship. Mrs. Elger had the honor of addressing the students as their choice for teacher speaker - not a dry eye in the house! Mr. David Edward Garcia, a "pent-lingual" teen motivational speaker and comedian was the keynote speaker...and he was a hit!
Imani Sidiropolous-Kearney returned to the PGIA from her first year at Johnson and Wales to graduate with her classmates. Imani attended Johnson and Wales during 2015/2016 to complete her senior year of high school and begin her undergraduate studies.
Our graduates will be attending:
We managed to complete the skin diving and two first confined water training dives on Tuesday. All students successfully demonstrated their water skills. Here are some pictures from our first day in the water. Our first encounters included a squadron of 4 squid and this spider crab. Looking forward to another set of dives today and tomorrow. - Marc Corbeil, Math Teacher and Scuba Instructor.
Good night everyone,
We began the day with emotions of children...bliss, glee, and terror! We spent three hours biking in the park, one of the largest in the city. Two of us were fairly novice riders, hence terror. Three of us were gleeful. And one of us was experiencing pure bliss! This was the reason she came to Amsterdam. It was also great people and dog watching. We returned the bikes and grabbed lunch. We walked the long way to the Anne Frank House shopping, seeing tulips, and taking in mathie sights along the way. We waited in line and then experienced sadness, grief, and empathy as we toured the home. "It was definitely a learning experience," said one student. "It made it real," said another. It impacted me greatly...there really are no words. We then went to Donovan and Klaus' house for a typical Dutch home cooked meal. Their neighbor, Ms. Kitty, came over for dinner as well. She began telling her story of being in an internment camp in Indonesia when she was a child and coming to the Netherlands as a refugee. Amazing conversations ensued over delicious food. We left the apartment and went shopping because the stores were open late. Tomorrow we have a busy busy day ahead. We are definitely making the most of our experiences here. Misses to each of you and hugs from the Amsterdam girls.
Take care,
Elizabeth
Good night everyone,
What an incredible day we've had! We started off at the I AMSTERDAM sign...such a cool landmark. We then visited the Van Gogh Museum...breathtaking. We ventured across the street to a modern art museum that provoked varied reactions among the group and prompted some interesting discussions. We headed to a market for lunch but ended up eating at a cafe to avoid a light shower. We then took in the market and walked to one of the biggest squares in Amsterdam. We explored the red light district which is also the medieval center and discussed many math related landmarks. Again, very cool discussions ensued. We shopped and bought various treats on our walk back to the hotel. We rested for a bit and then headed to dinner at an Indian restaurant. Delicious! Tomorrow we visit a local museum, the Anne Frank House, go to Donovan's house for dinner and shop, shop, shop! It was a long day of walking and seeing lots of sights. It was also a little cold. The girls were all amazing troopers and are really soaking up the experience in very unique ways. I'm really enjoying seeing this experience through their eyes. I'll send more pictures tomorrow but enjoy these for now!
Hugs from Amsterdam
Good night everyone,
We are here safe and sound. We were greeted by Donovan. We took a train in to the city and then a tram to our hotel...which is so cool and artsy. We all love it. We showered, which felt amazing! Donovan then walked us to the Food Hall which used to be a tram repair shop. Gorgeous architecture. The hall had every kind of food you can imagine and live music. It was awesome people watching and AMAZING food. We soaked it all up. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the grocery market to get a few things for breakfast. Cool choices and delicious looking fruit. I then tucked everyone in with goodnight hugs and off to dreamland we are heading.Tomorrow we are visiting the Van Gogh Museum first. I'm not sure what all Donovan has planned after that but I know it'll be amazing. All six of us are in love with the city...a bit colder than we thought but still really awesome!
I'll write more tomorrow.
Hugs
Mrs. Elger
Beijing, China
From Mrs. Stocking!
Our second day was full of flavorful cuisine and lots of history. We went to Tian'an men Square, saw theMausoleum of Mao Zedong had a Yunnan cuisine for lunch and visited the National Museum of China. We packed up our day after making our own dumplings for dinner. Enjoy the photos!
Bon Voyage to our "Math in Amsterdam" End Session group. They are off for a week in Amsterdam with former PGIA Math Teacher (and self-proclaimed Math Geek) Mr. Donovan Carroll. Mr. Carroll has developed a program called, you guessed it, Math in Amsterdam! Five of our PGIA students are traveling with Ms. Elger to meet up with Mr. Carroll in Amsterdam and get their own personal course, direct from the Master! They return to PGIA campus with Mr. Carroll in tow, to bring his math skills back to St. Thomas for another week of Math in St. Thomas?!
Mr. Carroll will also be presenting a Mathemagics presentation on campus June 6 or 7 - watch for details.
Safe Voyage, to our PGIA international travelers!
On Saturday May 21st, three of our students competed in the VI Ultimate Flavors Culinary Competition: Eyad Hamed, Aneesh Chandiramani and Anna Lola Williams. They were given a list of ingredients and expected to prepare a hot appetizer that would impress the judges. Just before cooking time a secret ingredient was announced and the students were expected to incorporate this secret ingredient into their already decided appetizer. The secret ingredient was bok choy.
Our team prepared fried shrimp with a curry-cilantro sauce accompanied by a bok choy salad topped with toasted peanuts. Not only did they wow the judges, but the judges commented that their dish was very "grown-up" for their age level and they were impressed at how well they communicated with each other and worked together.
As the results rolled in we did not hear our name called for 3rd place, we did not hear our name called for 2nd place but we did hear our name called for 1st place! Out of six schools that have actual culinary arts programs at their institutions we came out on top! Congrats to these three students! It was an honor to coach and mentor them. Go Volts!
Submitted by Ms. Weichman - way to go Coach Weichman!
The Spring Magic Production: a Celebration of Music and Dance was a true success. Ballerinas, tap dancers and jazz dancers dazzled the crowd. Piano players also performed melodiously and were a wonderful addition to this year's celebration.
Our programs begin in September and continue through May. The students meet once a week to learn a specific dance genre and work towards creating a showcase at the end of the year to share their newfound skills.
We have an amazing group of talented performing artists sharing their gifts with our VIMSIA youth. A special thank you to our instructors: Jessica Alvarado, Mary Capellas, Katie Zaytoun, Luba Dolgopolsky and Artistic Director Helen Sidiropoulos for putting this magical production together. The instructors would also like to thank all administrative staff for supporting the programs, teachers and students throughout the school year. It takes a village!
Four students in Ms. Morrison’s Upper Elementary class did not want delayed library funding to deprive them of their favorite authors' latest books, so they took matters into their own hands. Alexander, Adam, Audrianna, and Kaeo are organizing a bake sale for Monday and Tuesday May 23-24. Their class will decide which titles to purchase with the proceeds.
Read More
NASA's Community Outreach event is tonight under the awning at VIMSIA. The event starts at 5:00 and should wrap up by 8:00. What a great opportunity to have a photo op with an astronaut and chat with NASA engineers. All are welcome to attend - no admission fee.
Our six NASA guests arrived on island Saturday and have been busy preparing for the week ahead. They spent the day with us here at VIMSIA today. MIddle and High School students from around the island joined our PGIA students for a full day of NASA Science. In addition to these NASA engineers, Dr. David Morris and Andy Watts brought solar telescopes so that the students could see the transit of Mercury across the sun.
While the older students were busy going through their NASA rotations throughout the day, a NASA astronaut made his way to visit the elementary students.
Visit the school website for information on the week's schedule for NASA.
Ms. Hess's Class gets a visitor!
Screenshot of open ebooks app
Open eBooks is a new nationwide program with the goal of putting popular and award winning digital books into the hands of in-need children for free. Because the USVI is considered a rural territory under federal guidelines, our students qualify for this program.
Every student will receive a note with instructions and access codes. This program is currently accessible only through android or apple apps used on tablets and phones.
Ms. Schlesinger has gone to elementary and PGIA classrooms to introduce the program to the students. Younger students will also have access to encourage family reading.
For more information, go to openeBooks.net.
Please email kschlesinger@vimsia.org with any questions.
Happy Reading!
Ms. Keating displays the gift her students made for her as part of their going away party on Tuesday.
It has been so lovely having Ms. Keating, who retired a few years back after 35 years in the Lower Elementary classroom, back on campus for the past several months. We are so grateful that she was able to help us out by heading up Ms. Serje's classroom during her leave. We love you Ms. Keating. You are forever woven into the fabric of VIMSIA.
Are YOU ready for Art is a Verb?! Any guess what this student is cutting out of wood? Come to Art is a Verb THIS FRIDAY @ 6pm to see if your guess is correct!
Ms. Ferguson and her PGIA Art students cordially invite you all to our 3rd Annual "Art is a Verb" interdisciplinary art show.
All proceeds go to the PGIA Arts Department for productions, costumes and art projects. Feel free to share this poster with friends, family & our community.
Concession stand will be open for light refreshments.
On Friday, April 15, our lower elementary students from Ms. Keating and Ms. Hess’ class had a “Going Out” trip to Vessup Beach. After hiking down to their final location, they enjoyed lunch under the shade of the National Park trees, spying objects in the water from the dock, and participating in individual and team-building activities. From the joy on the student’s faces when they returned and from the photos below, it was a fun afternoon for all!
VIMSIA is proud to host a group of six NASA scientists and engineers for a Student Science Day during our regular school hours. Students will see and experience great science and tech throughout the day courtesy of our NASA guests. Topics to be covered include: Environmental Engineering, Applied Physics, Medical Science, Structural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Software Development and Computer Science.
Register for events and/or read more about NASA's visit and how they will be reaching out to USVI students and educators during the first week of May.
VIMSIA students Amir, Aidan, Kinze and Chris competed at the U.S. Chess Federation National Championships over the weekend. As a team, these two 4th years and two 6th years were competing against Middle and High School teams from around the country. There were 1,460 players at the event. The VIMSIA team competed against about 30 teams that were in their section. They came in with a solid 9th place - with trophies awarded up to the top ten finishers. Looks like we are going to need that big trophy case! Way to go Volts. Interesting factoid - these four students are also USVI Territorial Soccer Champs. IB Learning trait = "Well Balanced", and so many more!
Kudos to our Chess-letes and thanks to Mr. Allen, Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Gever for being there for them.
Shout out to 5th year Annabelle , who was also to attend but was unable to make the event due to travel difficulties - you'll get 'em next time Annabelle!
The St. Thomas/St. John Chess Club members are in the midst of their first day of competition at the U.S. Chess Federation Scholastic Nationals in Atlanta.
Mr. Gever is sending us updates as they come in. Looks like a good first round for Chris.
There are 38 states with close to 1500 students participating!
One more round today, 3 rounds tomorrow and 2 on Sunday. We will try to keep you posted!
Virgin Islands Montessori School and Peter Gruber International Academy - a Montessori and International Baccalaureate Toddler through grade twelve private school in the beautiful U.S. Virgin Islands. Ask for Admissions 340-775-6360.
VIMSIA 6936 Vessup Lane, St. Thomas USVI 00802 info@vimsia.org Phone: 340.775.6360 Maps and Directions Staff Portal
