DP Art Class Visits Tony Romano's Studio

Thank you Tony!

Bienvenidos to our Spanish Exchange Students

8 students from Casvi-Boadilla school in Madrid, Spain arrived on island Wednesday for their six week visit to St. Thomas and the PGIA. They were met on the basketball court by their host families and a myriad of welcome posters! Our six PGIA Spanish Exchange students are now hosting the Casvi student that housed them earlier this year. Lots of smiles and hugs all around. The students were sincerely happy to see each other and the Casvi students are very anxious to “Go to the Beach!” Any families that are part of an excursion related business and would like to volunteer to take these visitors out for some Caribbean adventure - please, let us know! We are actively looking for great (and inexpensive) things for them to do while not in school.

DANCING INTO BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Wednesday afternoon was a Black History celebration through music and dance!

Lower Elementary teacher Jessica Di Franceso, students Lilly Tulk, Erica Simcic, Natasha Webster and Morgan Tolud participate in a traditional basket dance with Mama Azia. 

 "The Echo People" vocalist and drummer, Ital Anthony explaining Moko jumbies to an assembly of children.

Students Lilly Tulk, Patricia Cannon, Erica Simcic, Morgan Tolud and Evelyn Wilson wait for instructions from Mama Azia.

Mr. Gribble Introduces Disc Golf

The PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) and EDGE (Educational Disc Golf Experience) has awarded the Peter Gruber International Academy a $700 grant toward the purchase of supplies and curriculum to add disc golf to our school program.  It will be introduced in the 2019 End Session program, “Sports, Summits, and Seas – Healthy Lifestyles” led by Mr. Stocking and Mr. Gribble.  Last weekend, some of the staff came out to try out the new equipment.

Outdoor Space Benefits

This week everyone has been raving about Ms. Summer's newly created outdoor space. By rearranging plants and providing a comfortable rug, Ms. Summer was a able to create an inviting outdoor space for her children to work. "Some of the oldest photos of Maria Montessori are of her working with children in an outdoor space" Ms. Summer recalled. Dr. Montessori described the ideal learning environment as having an indoor space with an adjoining garden, believing that children work better in a natural environment promoting a healthy lifestyle, and boosting mental acuity and creativity while strengthening relationships.

Sixth Graders Visit PGIA

This week Zia Gibbs, Zach Mitchell, Erica Simcic and Miles Tolud were welcome into the PGIA as guest visitors to familiarize themselves with the program and have an opportunity to get a foot in the door.

Sushi Anyone?

Students in Ms. Mattingley's lower elementary class have been working on group cooking projects. Here you see Lily, Nicholas, and Jocelin preparing sushi for their classmates.

NCCE Student In-Service

On Thursday, December 13, 2018, PGIA students in grades 7-10 had the unique opportunity to take part in Digital Citizenship workshops from the National Center on Computer Education (NCCE). These workshops took place at school on Thursday and Friday.

These pictures show some grade 7 students working with the professional presenters (from the Pacific Northwest). They built circuit boards using bananas! And also learned many other topics of digital citizenship, including some neat tools for school and being safe online.

Science Club in Action

Science club in full swing thanks to Ms. Kessler.

Robotics and Cyber Security Class - go STEM!

I can’t even begin to say how much I love that we have this class. No words needed - just check out below. Thanks Ms. Hoffart and Mimi - you guys are great!

Thursday Theater with Ms. Christensen

A note from Ms. Christensen:

I had a wonderful time with these students!!! They catch on really fast and are enthusiastic!

I did mention that there is optional homework this week. 

If appropriate for each individual family, I told them to watch one or all of the following:

• •Newsies (on Netflix) for the song “seize the day”

• •Annie for the song “it’s a hard knock life”

• •The greatest showman for the song “This is me”.

We’ll be working on those songs with scene work and choreography and hopefully present them in a final performance.

Pre-DP Dance with Ms. Helen

Here is just a taste of some of the cool things going on in Ms. Helen’s Pre-DP Arts Elective Class. 24 9th & 10th graders meet twice a week to shake, rattle, roll and apparently “flip”. Can’t wait to see them perform!

Exercise Science Class welcomes Synergy VI

From John Hairston, VIMSIA Enrichment

4:28 PM (17 hours ago)

Bethany Miller and Bonnie Barr of Synergy Fitness and Wellness Center are heroes in physical education today. Bethany came as a guest speaker for an Exercise Science class at VIMSIA. A former Athletic Trainer turned Physical Therapy Assistant, she explained and guided our class through a Functional Movement Screen- exploring mobility and stability in our student athletes. It was an illuminating and entertaining day of class, and we are thankful for their involvement.

Sewing Class: Recycle T-Shirts into Chew toys!!

Ms. Stephanie’s After School Sewing Class

A note from Ms. Stephanie: For our class, we partnered with the Human Society of the Virgin Islands to take discarded T-shirts and make them into dog toys.  I am going to donate these back to Donna at the Humane Society.  The kids had so much fun and we’re going to do it again before the semester is out.

Taquitos de Pollo

As the DP 1 Spanish class explores cultural identity and living a healthy lifestyle, students collaborated and made "taquitos de pollo", while communicating in Spanish in the kitchen. "Taquitos de pollos" are Mexican appetizers made from  shredded chicken seasoned with chile, cumin, garlic powder and topped off with Mexican blend cheese wrapped in small flour or corn tortillas. Students enjoyed the "taquitos" while practicing their Spanish language communication skills. ¡Que viva el español!

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Pam Enlge, Director of Advancement and parent at Virgin Islands Montessori School & Peter Gruber International Academy (VIMSIA), visited the Lower Elementary classes to share a bit of her Peruvian culture. Children learned about typical Peruvian dances such as “la marinera” and “musica negra” and learned about the many ways Peru’s rich culture is found in textiles, food and in songs. Children listened to “El Condor Pasa” and learned about the “lost city of the inca”, Machu Picchu.

Hispanic Heritage Month started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lydon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15.

The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18 respectively.

College Visitors: NYU, Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt University

Admissions representatives from Vanderbilt University, New York University and Johns Hopkins University presented to PGIA students today!  They shared information on each of their institutions, the college admission process and facilitated a great Q&A.  The opportunity to connect with colleges is very important for students here in the Caribbean.  This group will also provide a session open to the entire Virgin Islands community tonight at 6PM here at VIMSIA.  We are so pleased to be able to provide this type of programming to our students and community!  

Gardening in Enrichment

From Pierre-James, Gardening Enrichment: We first added some shade, to protect the plants from the hot noon sun. When cleaning up the old pots, we found one with a bunch of little papaya trees, we transplanted each one to separate pots, they are doing great. So far none of the seeds we got from Home depot have sprouted - a little disappointing. We sowed basil, cherry tomatoes and Spinach. Luckily Martin gave us some mystery seeds from Dominica, they have sprouted nicely and we transplanted them yesterday. Yesterday everyone also received a baby basil that they took home to watch grow and care for. We have also sowed some passion fruit seeds, lettuce, arugula, bell peppers and dill. Next week will try our luck with corn as well.

Spanish Class Skypes With Valle Verde School, Guatemala

Yesterday students in Upper Elementary Level 3 Spanish received a unique opportunity to hold a Skype session with Colegio Valle Verde in Guatemala. Each school presented about their country for approximately ten minutes in their second language. Students showcased native foods, plants, songs and native costumes! The connection to Valle Verde was made through Ms. Engle, Director of Advancement, whose Goddaughter Fabiana Garay, attends the school in Guatemala. With the help of new Spanish teacher Ms. Stephanie Miles, students prepared presentations and were able to ask children of their own age different questions and answers. The highlight of Valle Verde’s presentation was a performance by first and second year students who played two songs on the Marimba, Guatemala’s national instrument declared in 1978. Our sincerest appreciation to Valle Verde coordinators Sra. Ruth Nuñez and Sra. Torene Genovese. VIMSIA looks forward to continuing this new partnerships in years to come.

Kalyn Fahie Speaks On Domestic Violence

This week at Virgin Islands Montessori School & Peter Gruber International Academy, Mr. Stocking’s Grade 11 and 12 Diploma Programme Global Politics classes welcomed Mrs. Kalyn Risker Fahie to speak on the topic of domestic violence. The students are studying the topic in relation to a unit on Peace and Conflict. Mrs. Risker Fahie has many years of experience working in this field, even starting her own domestic violence non-profit organization in Detroit, Michigan called Sisters Acquiring Financial Empowerment (SAFE). She currently works for the VI Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Council (VIDVSAC) as their Program Liaison. Mrs. Risker Fahie explained the evolution of this conflict within our society as well as the Duluth Model, which covers various power imbalances that can occur in relationships. The students were also able to gain a deeper understanding of how groups work in coordination with government agencies to help address serious problems within communities.

For more information please visit: https://www.vidvsac.org

The National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233 www.TheHotLine.org

Family Resource Center, Inc. (FRC) St. Thomas (340) 776-3966 http://frcusvi.org

National Teen Domestic Violence Hotline, Text and Online Chat www.loveisrespect.org 1.866.331.9474

VI Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Council (DVSAC)  www.vidvsac.org 340.719.0144