Story Archive
2007-08

The Week of November 11 - 14, 2008 at ISM

! VETERANS DAY, 11/11/08:

We began the week on a high note with our moving Veterans' Day Flag-Raising Ceremony on Tuesday, November 11th.  All of our students gathered on the front lawn at 9:00 a.m. for this event, which was led by Seaside High School's ROTC Color guard who presented the colors in a very professional, solemn fashion.  Our own talented Ms. Peggy Brown, Grade 3 instructor, then sang a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem once the school's United States and California flags were hoisted to the top of the flag pole.  Stepping up next to the podium to share his thoughts on the day was none other than the Honorable Congressman Sam Farr, Representative of California's 17th Congressional District, whom we were very pleased to have in attendance to help us celebrate this national holiday.

One of the absolute highlights of the morning was 5th grader Kasey Barker's report about her uncle, Marino "Lefty" Cursi, a veteran who earned a Purple Heart for his valor in World War II.   Lefty died in 2002, but Kasey interviewed her aunt Wilma for an oral history project and shared her report with all assembled at the flag pole on Tuesday morning.  Kasey did an amazing job as she was extremely poised, articulate, and calm in her presentation, as if she had done many such speeches in front of 400+ people before!

Earlier in the year, Associate Head of School Eric Pearlstein tasked all ISM students and staff to illustrate their dreams on "dream flags", which were appropriately unveiled as the concluding element of Tuesday's celebration.  The flags, strung in rows and attached to large wooden poles, were unfurled to form a "dream flag tunnel" and all students were invited to walk under the flags and honor the dreams contained above them.  It was truly a moving experience for all of us, to include staff, students, visiting parents, as well as Congressman Farr!   We were also pleased that photographer Vern Fisher of the Monterey County Herald captured two wonderful pictures of the Veteran's Day event, one of a collection of ISM students looking at the Dream flags and a second one of Eric Pearlstein speaking with Congressman Farr during the conclusion of the event. Both pictures were published the following day in The Herald on Wednesday, November 12th on page A2 of the main section, should anyone be interested in seeing the photos themselves....or I have a copy in my office!

Following the conclusion of the Flag-Raising event, ISM students in grades 5-8 were invited to join Congressman Farr in the multiuse room for a discussion of the importance of community service, which is a requirement for 8th graduation from ISM.  Sam Farr has enjoyed a 14-year tenure as a representative from CA's District 17, so his perspective on community service is a particularly personal and rich one.  We were all amazed at the easy-going and engaging manner in which Congressman Farr inter-related with our students, who enthusiastically peppered him with many thought-provoking questions for nearly an hour.  Upon his departure, Congressman Farr even mentioned that that was one of the best Q&A sessions that he had ever experienced visiting a school!

	Associate Head of School Eric Pearlstein talks with Honorable Congressman Sam Farr under the display of ISM student "dream flags".
	Special moments shared during Grandparents/ Grandfriends Day.

! GRANDPARENTS/GRANDFRIENDS DAY, 11/13/08:

Nearly 100 Grandparents and "Grandfriends" then joined us on campus last Thursday morning for a celebratory day in their honor.  This event was sponsored by the Family Association and chaired by parents Janice Barker, Shelly Houseman, and Venus Watson.  As of last Wednesday afternoon, 62 RSVP's had been received, but actual event attendance was higher by nearly 40 visitors, to include  folks who traveled from the Bay area, Fresno, as well as Oregon state!   Attendees were welcomed into the multiuse room decorated with a fall theme and enjoyed tasty refreshments of muffins, coffee, and tea.  With the sweet help of 3rd graders from both Ms. Peggy Brown and Mr. Michael Mills' class, the accumulated grandparents were introduced to the ISM original songs of: "Welcome, Welcome to ISM", "We are ISM", and the "3 P's and the R". 

In addition, the Monterey Peninsula Sunrise Rotary Club, as part of their Dictionary Donation program to area schools, selected ISM 3rd graders for the second consecutive year to receive a personal paperback copy of the Webster's Dictionary for Students.  Club President Jeff Haferman and Publicity Director Joe Mateo (a grandparent of ISM student Riley Mann) were on hand to present the dictionaries to four 3rd grade students, Finnegan Barry, Tara and Jenna Mann, and Mykah Watson-Chatman, chosen to represent their classmates.  These dictionaries are for the students themselves to take home and use to support their continued education.  Join us in gratefully thanking the Monterey Peninsula Sunrise Rotary Club for their generous donation of these 40 dictionaries to our students.

Following this presentation, Executive Director and Head of School Lou Perske, thanked the grandparents and grandfriends for their enthusiastic attendance at the event and encouraged them to continue to remain active and supportive of their grandchildren and family friends, that that relationship benefits the students so greatly, as well as ISM as a whole in terms of enhanced volunteer and financial support.  In addition, Mr. Perske presented a brief history of ISM, its philosophy and approach, and fundamentally what makes ISM unique and successful.   The event then concluded on a warm note as attendees enjoyed a beautiful Powerpoint slide show presentation set to music, which highlighted our students engaged in classroom and field trip activities.  It set a lovely tone for the grandparents and grandfriends to then head out to the classrooms to visit their special students.

Grandparents Day activities in the classrooms ranged from interviews, art activities, talent shows, and more.  We received very enthusiastic feedback as the grandparents/ grandfriends departed saying they particularly enjoyed viewing students in the Spanish classes and were thrilled to receive art gifts from the Kinder and Grade 1 students. Each person as they departed chose a parting gift of either an ISM cookbook, published several years ago, or a goodie bag with an event button and candy.  The response was really overwhelming and we are very much thinking about adding this special day to our list of annual campus events.  Many thanks again to the Family Association for designing this event and specifically to chair Janice Barker, and Shelly Houseman and Venus Watson for bringing the vision to life; It was such as rich event in terms of curricular, historical, and personal perspectives!

! ISM WINS $20,000 GRANT FROM MONTEREY REGIONAL PARKS DISTRICT:

We received the great news last Friday morning that ISM had received a grant in the amount of $20,000 for the "enhancement of ISM's Children Garden and Nursery" form the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District.  This grant had been successfully submitted by ISM's Counselor Neli Volante!  Her concern about vandalism that ISM's garden had sustained since last Spring led her to inquire about possible grants in September.  With a mere three days to complete the grant following her inquiry, Dr. Volante was a "woman on a mission" collecting the needed data, soliciting letters of support from community supporters, and submitting the application prior to the deadline!

We are thrilled about the opportunities that this infusion of capital will allow us to do to: enhance the ISM garden (both here and possibly at Hayes Park), grow organic produce, engage students in habitat restoration on the Peninsula, and strengthening ties with local organization supporting organic agriculture and habitat restoration.  We are extremely proud of Dr. Volante's efforts in securing this grant!

! 19 MILES :

6 a.m., Saturday, December 6th: The morning air was chilly, yet full of excitement, for this was the morning that ISM's Associate Head of School, Eric Pearlstein, was going to don his walking shoes, grab his iPod, and set off on the Monterey Recreation trail, beginning at Palm Avenue in Marina, to walk a total of 19 miles!

Why, you ask? Because he had issued a challenge to all of ISM's students that he would walk one step for each minute read during this past fall's Read-A-Thon fundraiser. ISM students read a whopping grand total of 103,435 minutes which equates to approximately 19 miles.

At 6:00 a.m. with the sun yet to rise, Mr. Pearlstein set off of on his grand trek with the support of a cheering squad composed of Board trustee Alastair Rodd and his two children, Coleton and Ariana and their dog, Moonlight, ISM Counselor Neli Volante, Operations/HR Director Lisa Griffin Burns, and walk coordinator Janice Barker. We documented the moment with a few key photos and then Mr. Pearlstein was off....supported by the "Rodd Squad", who accompanied him for close to a mile. Janice Barker, whose car was loaded up with water and snacks for Mr. Pearlstein's day, served as the event's primary cheerleader and communications coordinator. She met up with Mr. Pearlstein at every cheering station throughout the day!

Mr. Pearlstein accomplished this walk with blazing speed, arriving at the first cheering station (Starbucks at Sand City) by 7:15 a.m. He kept up the remarkable pace all day long, essentially averaging 12 - 13 minutes per mile and arriving back at ISM at the impressive time of 3:15 p.m.

We wanted to thank those adults and students who championed Mr. Pearlstein's efforts by coming out to meet him at a cheering location and/or walking part of the journey with him. In addition to the Rodds, they are:
* ISM Parent Ellen Gaucher and son Fletcher (Gr. 1) who used their investigative skills to track down the fast moving Mr. Pearlstein;
* ISM instructors Paul and Elizabeth Lane, who walked with him from Windows on the Bay to Lovers Point;
* ISM Parent and Book Fair Co-Chair Yvette Satchell and daughter Emma (Gr. 5). Emma accompanied Mr. Pearlstein for approximately a mile on Saturday;
* ISM P.E. instructor Robby Fabry;
* The entire Gaucher family (Ellen, Paul, Riley (Gr. 6), and Fletcher (Gr. 1), who ensured that Mr. Pearlstein had a "cup of Joe" to energize him on the last leg of his trip;
* ISM Counselor Neli Volante, who joined Mr. Pearlstein for some necessary fueling up; and lastly,
* ISM student Kasey Barker (Gr. 5), who walked the entire last leg of the journey with Mr. Pearlstein up Broadway Avenue from Del Monte. Along the way, they discussed the real reason why there are buttons on the poles at intersections...that they really do not signal light changes, that they just provide a distraction for people waiting to cross intersections.

Mr. Pearlstein and Kasey completed the journey and arrived at ISM by 3:15 p.m., looking remarkably fresh and fit! Due to Mr. Pearlstein's success in accomplishing this goal, we realize that some folks who came out to support him missed him throughout the day. We thank them for their support as well.

Mr. Pearlstein, after refreshing at home with a healing soak in the hot tub, returned to ISM at 6:00 p.m. and a gathered group of supporters cheered his success. His arrival at ISM on Saturday evening also marked the kick-off of the Scholastic Book Fair from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Shoppers browsed the shelves, made holiday gift purchases, and enjoyed book readings by students Emma (Gr. 5), Kasey (Gr. 5), instructors Peggy Brown, Sally Burns, and former instructor Chantel Touryan. Thank you to Book Fair Co-Chairs Janice Barker and Yvette Satchell for their efforts in support of the Book Fair on Saturday and throughout the weeks until it closes on December 17th!

All around, it was a great day and another reason to celebrate the amazing commitment made by members of the ISM community on a continual basis.

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