The Soccer Field is Looking Very "Bright"

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Out of chaos comes opportunity.

The Story of the Lights:

VIMSIA's soccer field is now lit with LED lights. Thus the electricity consumption is nominal. The poles supporting the lights are discarded utility poles from the hurricanes...recycled poles. 

And that’s not all this very “GREEN” field has to boast about:

• The retaining wall and seats on the south side of the field are built from discarded poles from the hurricanes...recycled materials;

• The poles and lights were installed by Haugland Energy... donated labor;

• The field is watered with water captured in our road run-off collection system. The system not only waters the field but reduces the road run-off into the ocean from surrounding roads...an environmental system helping to preserve ocean quality;

• The pump system and lighting are powered by our solar system and battery storage system, (off grid system)...no energy payments to WAPA.

Pit fall: the lawn mower used to mow the field is gas powered.

But, maybe we can fix that, too. CAS hours anyone?

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.

Mimi Presents at ASLO in San Juan

This week PGIA 9th grader Mimi Boumedine, along with six other St. Thomas high school students, presented at the international ASLO (Association for the Sciences of Liminology and Oceanography) 2019 aquatic sciences meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Mimi shared her student team's research on fish preferences for natural vs. artificial coral reefs. She and her team built artificial reefs, then observed which fish preferred their reefs vs. the natural ones, categorizing by species and age. Their research was conducted this past summer with the Youth Ocean Explorers program at UVI. The presentation was given at a special high school poster session initiated and organized by none other than Dr. Michele Guannel, Assistant Professor of Biology with the Virgin Islands Institute for STEM Education Research and Practice at UVI.

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.

Talia Feshbach Named National Merit Scholarship Finalist

Talia Feshbach, a senior at VI Montessori School & Peter Gruber International Academy, has been named a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program.  Last fall, Talia's PSAT score qualified her as a semi-finalist out of 1,600,000 test takers.  She was recently named as one of 15,000 finalists and hopes to be one of 7,500 students nationwide to receive a scholarship. Finalists will be notified in March if they are scholarship winners.  Congratulations Talia!  

Off to Vienna!

Yesterday this group of five 10th graders left Saint Thomas for their journey to Vienna, Austria. They will be representing the Peter Gruber International Academy at an IB Montessori school in Vienna. They are staying with host families and attending school on a daily basis. Go international education! 

Student Thank-a-Thon

With the help of Peter Gruber International Academy students, the Advancement Office held its first student run Thank-a-Thon to show our donors some #KINDNESS and love this Valentines season. It's because of our amazing supporters that #VIMSIA is able to continue to provide students with quality education and create a love for learning unlike any other. Thanks to all who volunteered, helping us reach out to over 150 supporters of our school and embracing our #cooltobekind theme! 

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.

African Drumming

In honor of black history month Ms. Bolinger's primary class learned about African drums! Check out this impromptu moment with Jacob Mills and Ali Baynes singing and drumming to "I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas.”

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.

Indirect Measurement Exploration

The 9th grade MYP math class, under the direction of Mr. Gribble, went out to explore campus on Thursday to investigate indirect measurement. Education for Life!

A Night at The Museum

Upper Elementary Wax Museum presentations were a hit Thursday night.  Students prepared first person narratives from past to the present for family and friends. Each student dressed up in character and delivered their speeches flawlessly all while pretending to be a wax statue. It is an interactive presentation held at VIMSIA in honor of black history month.

As a culmination of 6 weeks work these notable personalities came to life to share their stories representing a diversity of backgrounds of social activism, education, literature, medicine, sports, NASA and the entertainment world. 

Boys Varsity Basketball Takes Off

The Varsity Boys Basketball Team kicked off the season Tuesday night against Charlotte Amalie High School. The VOLTS played tough but eventually came up short 53-40. It's an exciting team this year. We have a core group of committed boys that have been participating for a while - Teon Persaud, Greg Christian, Jalen McClean, Teagan Kappel and Jayvyn Potter. A few more VIMSIA students decided to join - Jimson St. Louis and Drake Nemeth. We've welcomed a senior from GIFTT Hill - Patrick Hendrickson. And we've also welcomed four students from Seventh Day Adventist - Angel Khatib, James Nosty, Mauricio Francis and Austin Sterling Jr. 

We play Friday night vs IEKHS at IEKHS. Game time is set for 5:15. Please keep checking our school website for game schedules as updates come out regularly. And please come out and support us!
The Varsity Girls Basketball Team's schedule is set to be announced next Monday. Please check for their schedule as well and please come out and support us!

I would also like to thank a few other students that make our season possible. Radiance Peets keeps the official score book for us during games. Daicya Dawson video records the games. Chelisia Morton helps out as an assistant coach for both varsity teams. 

GO VOLTS! 
Coach Stocking

Theater Elective Workshop with Lisa Aqui

Some of the students who welcomed Lisa Chamely-Aqui to theater class on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning, Lisa Aqui, parent and Board of Trustee member who has a background in theater performance, worked with theater students as a volunteer presenter. Theater Elective students in 2nd and 3rd periods were taught concepts about staging, articulation and projection, blocking scenes and having the right body language for their characters.

Thank you, Lisa!

12th Annual Poetry Out Loud Winner Adia Thomas

3rd place: Kira Mitchell, 2nd place: Caroline Gaskin, 1st place: Adia Thomas

Under the direction of Virgin Islands Montessori and Peter Gruber International Academy (VIMSIA) Middle Years Program English Language and Literature teacher Melissa Bump, six high school students participated in the annual Poetry Out Loud competition with hopes of winning and moving on to the territory-wide competition scheduled for March 9, 2019 in St. Croix. Contestants included: Caroline Gaskin ‘20, Bianca Campbell ‘22, Kira Mitchell ‘21, Vidhika Khemani ‘22, Layla Richman ‘22 and Adia Thomas ’21. Each student was required to prepare, memorize and recite two poems from the Poetry Out Loud Anthology.

This year’s winners: 3rd place Kira Mitchell, 2nd place Caroline Gaskin, 1st place Adia Thomas. The VI Council on the Arts will provide an all expense paid trip to St. Croix for Thomas and Bump.

Poetry Out Loud provides a great opportunity for students to truly connect with poetry through memorization and internalization of the poet’s message. It is also a fabulous opportunity for students to gain public speaking experience. 

The winner of the territory competition will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington DC in April to compete in the national competition. There are numerous award levels in DC, the most impressive being the $20,000 awarded to the national champion. In addition to the financial benefit, Poetry Out Loud opens fantastic doors for that person. Some national champions have even performed at the White House. 

All 6 competitors - Caroline Gaskin ‘20, Bianca Campbell ‘22, Kira Mitchell ‘21, Vidhika Khemani ‘22, Layla Richman ‘22 and Adia Thomas ’21

Axel Bartsch 2019 Youth Model Award Winner

Congratulations to senior Axel Bartsch for winning the 2019 Youth Role Model Award presented by the University Bound Program. The award is given to a Diploma Programme senior who has maintained a minimum 3.5 GPA, has displayed leadership qualities, excelled in music or athletics, is active in their church or community and plans to attend a post-secondary institution after graduation. Congratulations!

PGIA Honor Students Announced

Congratulations to all of the students who ended semester 1 on Academic Honors!  

These are students who have earned an IB 6-7 average in their core IB classes. The list of students is attached, and will be hung around campus. Your hard work and diligence has paid off.  Nice work!

Honor students were awarded Honors Certificates.

Off to Madrid

PGIA students in Madrid, Spain just got back from their second fabulous excursion of the week. They went to El Escorial-the royal palace of Phillip II-with the entire 8th grade class on Tuesday and later on also visited Toledo. The group plans to visit Madrid and the Prado Museum on Monday.