Black History Month Presentations

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As they do every year, the Upper Elementary students worked very hard for the entire month of February to research, write an essay and prepare a speech about a black person that has made a significant contribution to society.

Lower Elementary and Full Day Primary students were invited to these presentations on Wednesday under the Solar Awning. They walked around listening to Upper Elementary students’ performances of the biographies they prepared.

The following notable people were represented this year!

Kwane Alexander. Performed by Amar

Mohammed Ali. Performed by Jahan

Wally Amos. Performed by Jakobi

Maya Angelou. Performed by Kiere

Josephine Baker. Performed by Morgan

James Baldwin. Performed by Jeremiah

Chuck Berry. Performed by Rowan

Simone Bile. Performed by Evelyn

Chadwick Baldwin. Performed by Eli

Octavia Butler. Performed by Rhea

Bessie Coleman. Performed by Kareena

George Crum. Performed by Mason M.

Frederick Douglas. Performed by Luca

Emile Milo Francis. Performed by Mason G.

Leyma Gbowee. Performed by Mae

Kamala Harris. Performed by Akella

Mathew Henson. Performed by River

Mahalia Jackson. Performed by Tanya

Lebron James. Performed by Hassan

Mae Jemison. Performed by Arielle

Michael Jordan. Performed by Will

Percy Lavon Julian. Performed by Tendaji

James Lafayette. Performed by Milo

John Lewis. Performed by Aidan

Nelson Mandela. Performed by Gabo

Garrett Morgan.  Performed by Chayne

Barack Obama. Performed by North

Jessie Owens. Performed by K’Myi

Rosa Parks. Performed by Xander

Rhianna. Performed by Delilah

Paul Robeson. Performed by Mensah

Wilma Rudolph. Performed by Aven

Bill Russel. Performed by Oliver

Peter Salen. Performed by Amor

Nina Simone. Performed by Avalene

Harriet Tubman. Performed by Jordan

Madame CJ Walker. Performed by Shaneya

Phillis Wheatley. Performed by Chloe

Oprah Winfrey. Performed by Lamy’r

Stevie Wonder. Performed by Asa

Granville T. Woods. Performed by Grey

Malcolm X. Performed by Aiden

Just a "Fraction" of Pizza

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Everyone in Ms. Satter’s class received a fractions lesson recently using the Montessori fraction metal inset material. Of course, during the lessons pizza was referenced several times, so the children were treated to pizza last Friday to celebrate fractions. Lots of happy faces!

PGIA Runners Participate in CARIFTA Trials

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On Saturday, February 25th six of our PGIA students participated in the CARIFTA qualifying trials Saturday at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School.

Miles Tolud
Malachi Webbe
Aysia Frett
Maia Tolud
Joaquin Hawkes
Ariana Tyson

These students all competed in different events attempting to qualify for the CARIFTA games in Jamaica in April. We are still awaiting the results from officials with regards to qualifying.

Below you will find photos taken by Dionne Sinclair.

VIMSIA recognizes hard work and dedication of our student-athletes, and would like to encourage students to get out and try track and field and other sports!

VIMSIA Sailors compete in Buccaneer Blast Regatta

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From the Article:

USVI junior sailors compete in Buccaneer Blast Regatta

A half-dozen junior sailors from the St. Thomas Yacht Club competed over the weekend in the 13th annual Buccaneer Blast Regatta, held in Key West, Fla.

The highest-finishing Virgin Islander in the Optimist Championship division was St. Thomas’ Audrey Zimmer- man, who finished 30th overall with 80 points. She had one top-10 finish in six races, coming in seventh in the third race.

Other USVI junior sailors competing in the Buccaneer Blast were:

• Howard Zimmerman of St. Thom- as finished 43rd overall and third in the White fleet with 106 points. His best finish came in the first race when he came in 11th.

• Emma Walters of St. Thomas finished 44th overall with 107 points. She had two top-10 finishes – a sixth place in the fourth race, and 10th place in the third race.

• Coby Fagan of St. Thomas finished 57th overall with 121 points. He had the best finish among the six USVI sailors — a pair of fourth places, in the second and fourth races — but his fin- ish was hampered by disqualifications in the first and third races.

• Mariana Brunt of St. Thomas finished 60th overall with 131 points. Her best finish was seventh place in the third race.

• Samantha Anderson of St. Thomas finished 92nd overall with 184 points. Her best finish was 30th in the sixth race.

Florida’s David Coates, a member of U.S. Sailing’s junior national team, won the Opti Championship division. He won twice and finished second in two other starts for a total of 10 points. He finished one point ahead of fellow Floridian Daniil Riabykh (11 points) and seven points ahead of third-place finisher Wylder Smith of Connecticut (17 points).

MEET THE PGIA MOOT COURT TEAM

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Introducing VIMSIA's Moot Court Team - This week our Moot Court Team participated in the first territory-wide event of the season. They learned how to make a notice of appearance to the court and practice their introductions. VIMSIA is one of ten participating schools and looks forward to preparing for competition later this spring. Participating students: Jackson Auchincloss, Riddhi Atmaramani, Ella Popple and Amelie Zucker. A special thanks to our volunteer attorney coaches (and VIMSIA parents): Dionne Sinclair, Ariel Smith and Matthew Hodge. To learn more about the VI Moot Court Program, click here.

Holocaust Remembrance Day - January 27, 2022

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A Message from Mr. Ott,

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day in 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. This camp was the largest in a massive system of concentration camps designed to systematically murder Jewish people, and others, in the most horrifying and industrial manner ever imagined by human beings. Over 1.3 million human beings were systematically murdered in this one complex of camps alone; men, women, children, simply for being human beings, for being Jewish, for being a communist, for being Roma, for being "other".

Though this event seems distant, the ideas that drove ordinary people to commit the most heinous and evil acts against other human beings are sadly with us to this day. Antisemitism, racism, bigotry, prejudice, and fascistic and authoritarian ideas and mindsets still find life in our communities, in our society, in our world.

We remember this brutality because we need to because it is imperative. We remember this moment in history so that we find the courage to stand up for others who have less power; to call out racism, prejudice, bigotry, and antisemitism where we see it. We remember because we must act because we must bring light into this world desperately in need of it.

We remember and act because what happened in Germany so long ago, can and has happened elsewhere in our world. It can happen anywhere. I leave you with the words of Martin Niemöller, a German Lutheran pastor who witnessed the rise and fall of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. His words speak to the cowardice of ordinary Germans who refused to stand up and speak up against the growing evil in their society.

"First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me"

Light up the darkness amazing people!

PGIA Student Band Begins with Inaugural Class

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Ms. Byrd working with the grade 7 students who are the first group of our future PGIA student band.

These students and program will eventually grow into the grade 7-12 PGIA band and music program.

Sailor Emma Walters Participates in Orange Bowl Youth Regatta

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PGIA student Emma Walters participated in the Orange Bowl Youth Regatta in Miami as a part of Team ISV. “The Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta brings world-class sailing talent to South Florida in a five-day event that has become the largest international youth regatta in the U.S. and South America for sailors ages 8-18. Featuring more than 700 sailors from 20 countries, past regatta participants have achieved notoriety in the sailing world, including U.S. Junior Women's singlehanded champion Sophia Reineke, who competed in the 2013 event.”


Opti Championship Fleet Results:

Coby Fagan - 47th overall

Audrey Zimmerman - 48th overall

Emma Walters - 66th overall

Howard Zimmerman - 71st overall and 2nd in White Fleet (age 10 and under)

There was a total of 196 boats in their fleet.

Laser Results:

Tanner Krygsveld- 6th

Alejo di Blasi - 45th

Robert Richards - 48th

Total of 92 boats

420s Results:

Caroline Sibilly/Katherine Majette - 15th

Winn Majette/Caitlin Briggs - 32nd

Total of 73 boats.

Photos are of the entire Opti Race Team and coach and of Howard and Agustin after getting his award.

Opti Racing Team

Library Concierge Check-out Returns!

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Order your print books ahead of time, and pick up your order on the car deck.

To reserve books, go to our library and log in to your student account.

Full instructions are available through the library page and in the classroom folders on Google Classroom

Happy Reading!

Books can be dropped off and picked up in this new cabinet on the car deck.

Museo de la identidad - Grade 11

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The Grade 11th Spanish B students participated in "El museo de la identidad", after weeks of studying the overarching IB topic of Identities (Las identidades) and subtopics such as culture, traditions and languages. Students conducted presentations in Spanish about something that represents their identity and visited each other's stands in the classroom museum. They chose a wide variety of topics such as moko jumbies, Mardi-gras, Zydeco music, fishing, boat living, Quadrille, Carnival, and, of course, food (arroz con leche, pasteles, saltfish or tutmanik) to name some. The results were great quality Spanish speeches explaining how and why those things relate to their identity.

Spark Academy Newsletter

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Our Spark Academy after-school program had an amazing first week. All of the students are getting to know each other’s interests, familiarizing themselves with the program, and are exploring their activity areas. We are excited to see the program continue to grow as the school year progresses!

STEM

During orientation, students were introduced to all the exciting STEM activities available at Spark. This week they engaged with Cubelets. These robot blocks help teacher important problem-solving skills such as collaboration, engineering, design, and computational thinking. Next week, we will bring out the microscopes to explore their environment at a microscopic level!

Let’s Get Physical!

Towards the end of each day most of our students spend their time on the field or under the Solar Awning. They are allowed to choose a sport or join in on a staff facilitated activity. This week student added a new challenge to soccer using the scooter boards.

Arts, Crafts & More

Students have free but monitored access to a plethora of art supplies. The VIMSIA School T-Shirt competition sparked an interest in design. The younger students were introduced to Magic Model clay - a unique lightweight modeling material.

Reading

To our delight, we found that every student in our program has already developed a love for reading. They were thrilled to see that we were located right next to the library and had free access to it! One of the highlights for the week was watching the older students willingly and patiently assist the younger students with navigating the library and checking out books.

What’s to come?

We will be starting on our garden after Fall Break! Students have already begun brainstorming and it will be the epitome of biodiversity with all their great ideas.

Beach Clean Up Takes Away Over 100 Pounds of Trash from Vessup.

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On Friday, October 1st, PGIA students taking Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Systems & Societies went to Vessup for a beach clean-up along with their teachers, Ms. Kessler, Mr. Huston, and Mr. Pozen, during the second half the of the day.

The 47 students did an excellent job collaborating and powering through the heat of the day. They ended up picking up 122.12 pounds of trash and collected data about the types of marine debris that they will share with UVI. UVI will then use this information to support its goals of creating new legislation/mending current legislation to support our ocean's marine ecosystems.