VIMSIA Students Complete a New Mural on Campus to Celebrate Caribbean Life

VIMSIA students collaborated with visual artist Gerard Pefung to complete a mural on campus.

Pefung is a Cameroonian-born, Brooklyn-based visual artist who showcases original art and ideas inspired by the history of hip hop and the rich culture of Africa. VIMSIA approached Pefung while he was creating another mural on island. Visual Art teacher Sarah Cornette, with the support of VIMSIA, invited him to work with the 11th-grade students to develop a mural highlighting Virgin Islands culture.  Students Sy Sebastian, Yashamay David, and James Walgenwitt worked extensively with Cornette and Pefung to create symbols of their personal history and Caribbean traditions.

The entire 11th-grade class created drawings for the project, which were then folded into the final image; from cruise ships to fish to the VI flag, the wall bursts with vibrant color and movement.  

 "The design phase was my favorite. It allowed us to share our ideas and collaborate with each other to make one cohesive piece. In this phase, we got to learn more about one another and what parts of our culture were most significant. In the end, we got to incorporate something important that represented us, and I chose a Moko Jumbie," says Sebastian.

Walgenwitt says, "I hope when a person comes across the mural, it's inviting to everyone and helps convey all the great parts of the islands and our culture." 

The students also wanted to include their pressing environmental concerns, represented by a plastic bag and bottle on the seafloor. The mural's location is significant to the project, as it is right in the heart of VIMSIA's campus.  Everyone and anyone who walked by was invited to participate in the painting, including elementary students and staff members.  

"The more people who have a hand in creating the mural, the more joy our whole community will receive from it," remarked Cornette, who has led community-created murals worldwide.

So many details to notice!

VIMSIA Celebrates 8th Annual Signing Day

On Monday afternoon, VIMSIA celebrated their 25 seniors in the Peter Gruber International Academy and the paths they are taking after high school. Collectively, the members of the Class of 2022 represent acceptances to over 100 colleges and universities and have received almost 5 Million in merit scholarships. 

This was the 8th annual VIMSIA Senior Signing Day event, which is modeled off of the national event - College Signing Day, first held on May 1st, 2015, as a part of the former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher initiative to “inspire every student in America to take charge of their future by completing their education past high school, whether at a professional training program, a community college, or a four-year college or university.”

The ceremony included three guest presentations for scholarships and awards. Romaine Carter presented an award of $2500 to Vidhika Khemani on behalf of the local St. Thomas Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. On behalf of WAPA, Tracie Wells presented Amir Ottley with the $60,000 VI Water and Power Authority Alva C. McFarlane Scholarship. Sgt Contavious Miles honored Bianca Cambell’s enlistment into the US Army.  She also received recognition and awards from the US Army, US Navy, and US Air Force at the event. 

All Students were welcomed onto the stage individually with their families to sign certificates demonstrating their commitments. The class of 2022 will be heading off to Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Bradley University, Denison University, Duquesne University, Florida Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Hofstra University, Howard University, Kent State University, Morgan State University, Nova Southeastern University, Orange Coast College, Penn State University, Pepperdine University, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, Santa Barbara City College, Spelman College, The United States Army, University of Central Florida, University of San Diego, University of the Virgin Islands, and Western University (Ontario, Canada) 

Link to the Facebook album with photos of the event!

Ms. Judi Shimel of the St. Croix Source covered the event as well!

Senior Art Show - a feast for the eyes!

On Friday, Ms. Cornette and her Senior Visual Art students hosted their art show on campus. Attendees were treated to hor d'oeuvres and the opportunity to bid on selected art pieces, with the proceeds going directly to the artists!

Congratulations:

Rohan

Mimi

Savannah

Summer

Audrianna

Tianna

Helen

Thomas

Orin

Chase

Cici

Layla

Rhael

Bella

PGIA Senior Bianca Campbell Sworn into US Army

PGIA senior Bianca Campbell has completed her enlistment process and was recently sworn into the US Army.
PVT Cambell will complete her basic training this summer before starting her assignment as an Automated Logistics Specialist. Congratulations, Bianca!
We are proud of you and thank you for your service!

PGIA Runners Participate in CARIFTA Trials

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!

Sailor Emma Walters Participates in Orange Bowl Youth Regatta

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

Museo de la identidad - Grade 11

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.

Mexican Independence Day - Pais Presentations

On Thursday, September 16th PGIA students in Sra. Gonzalez and Sra. Bordieri’s classes gave presentations about Spanish-speaking countries as a part of a cultural celebration. Students also learned about Baile folklórico and even got up on stage to participate.

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

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.

VIMSIA Sailing Team Launched This Week!

VIMSIA is happy to announce the launch of the Sailing Team and Program this week, coached by Tyler Rice! While the competitions are only open to 9th-12th graders we have younger students training so they are ready to take up the ropes. Our students will be sailing 420s. Their training days will be Monday and Friday after school and Saturday starting at 9:00 am.

Coach Tyler Rice was born and raised on St. Thomas. He attended Montessori for elementary school and then moved onto Antilles school through graduation. At Antilles, Tyler was honored with the Headmaster’s Award and Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was part of the sailing team at the St. Thomas Yacht Club competing World-Wide and leading the Antilles Sailing Team at many District and National Championship Regattas. Tyler was recruited to Brown University where he Double Majored in Environmental Studies and Economics, all the while competing on the Varsity Sailing Team and receiving the Academic All-American award his senior year. Tyler is a certified yoga and tai chi instructor, a commercial US Coast Guard Licensed Captain, sailing instructor privately and at the St. Thomas Yacht Club, and is avid in nonprofit outreach throughout the Caribbean. Tyler will also be the Antilles sailing coach this year, too.

Mitochondria are Still The Powerhouse of the Cell - Grade 11 Biology

The Grade 11 Biology students created a labeled model of a bacterial cell this week with their teacher Mr. Pozen.
After following two simple instructions: Create a model of a bacterial cell and of an animal cell and Explain how each of the organelles inside of the cell work together. The class then divided up the work, assigned each person to help with different parts of the lesson, and then taught each other about the 2 different types of cells.
Mr. Pozen says, “I love seeing what students create when they are given ownership in their learning.”

Theory of Knowledge Exhibitions

Grade 11 students recently carried out their Theory of Knowledge Exhibitions. The Theory of Knowledge Exhibition is an important assessment for the IB. Students take the concepts they have learned about knowledge itself and apply them to real-world situations. Each student chooses a prompt about knowledge and then connects it with 3 real-world objects to create arguments about how knowledge exists in our world. I am so proud of the kids and their innovative ideas about knowledge in the world around them. Discover how the imagined ideas of the elusive mermaid caused human exploration of the sea or how the inevitability of bias causes one to see time differently from a busy city street to a swaying hammock between two palm trees. These ideas open your mind!

End Session Begins

VIMSIA's End Session began Today!

End Session is a unique adventure in learning created specifically for our Peter Gruber International Academy students (7-11th Grade)

This year we are offering 8 amazing courses!

VI Nature Explorations

Wellness Retreat

Sustainable Farming

SCUBA

Joy of Sailing

Chemistry of Cooking

Activism & Creativity

STEAM Patterns & Problem Solving

Senior Signing Day - Presenting the Class of 2021

Last week, VIMSIA celebrated Senior Signing Day. This event is inspired by Mrs. Michelle Obama’s “Reach Higher” initiative to inspire every student in America to take charge of their future by completing their education past high school, whether at a professional training program, a community college, or a four-year college or university. As a part of the event, students were inducted into the VIMSIA Alumni Association by some surprise guests!

To see where our students are going next year - check out this post.

Photo Gallery

Our seniors received recognition in the Daily News multiple times!

Pop Up Science Fair!

PGIA hosted a pop up science fair and invited students from the Montessori Elementary classes to view their work.

PGIA Students Named Scholar and Finalist in National Cyber Scholarship Competition

The National Cyber Scholarship Competition (NCSC) is a rigorous 48-hour online cybersecurity competition sponsored by The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF). Qualifiers competed against over 5000 other high school students in challenges such as solving computer security problems and capturing and defending computer systems.

Qualifying for the competition is an excellent achievement within itself. In total, 50,000 students nationwide sought to qualify for the NCSC, with just 10% meeting the requirements!

Our Qualifiers and Finalists

Congratulations to all our students who qualified for the National Cyber Scholarship Competition and won their badges! We’re so proud of your achievements and for representing VIMSIA

In particular, we would love to celebrate the achievements of the following students:

Amelie Zucker, a 9th grader, has been named a Finalist in the National Cyber Scholarship Competition. In recognition of her achievement, Amelie earned an invitation to participate in the Cyber Foundations Academy – a multi-week online program based on the nationally recognized SANS Foundations training course and certification – valued at more than $3,000. A huge congratulations!

Mimi Boumedine, an 11th Grader, has been named a Scholar in the National Cyber Scholarship Competition. In recognition of her achievement, Mimi has earned a college scholarship as well as an invitation to participate in the Cyber Foundations Academy – a multi-week online program based on the nationally recognized SANS Foundations training course and certification – valued at more than $3,000. 

This is in addition to the 10 PGIA students who were previously named semi-finalists (Gabe, Audrianna, Vidhika, Sakari, Natalia, Destiny, James, Ian, Divina, and especially notably Lindsay, who received the Silver award recognition and was almost a finalist), and six Bronze award recipients Sy, Maia T., Ariana, Kai, Chase and Noah. Ms. Hoffart says, “ Most of our students were competing in this type of competition for the very first time - I can't wait for next year!”

We’re so excited to hear about our students’ experience at the Cyber Foundations Academy and where their cybersecurity skills take them next! If you are interested in competing in the competition next year, you can qualify by signing up and playing in CyberStart America – one of the qualification paths for the National Cyber Scholarship Competition.