ICS PTSA NEWSLETTER

May 8, 2022

See the ICS Calendar for more upcoming event dates.

CELEBRATING ICS

Sejong Cultural Society Essay Competition

Three of our 8th grade Humanities 2 students won awards in a national essay contest sponsored by the Sejong Cultural Society, a Korean cultural heritage association in Chicago. The students read Korean folktales and analyzed them in an essay up to 1000 words.

Here are the winners:

Anusha Bharadvaj (Third Place, $100 prize), Marianna Druzhkova, and Suniti Srinivasan (Honorable Mention, $50 prizes). The essays, statements and photos will be posted on their website​​​​​​​ and published in Korea Times Chicago and Korean Quarterly. Ms. Jackson supported the students who entered this contest.

VOLUNTEERING

Special Commute Research Committee

Are you passionate to reduce daily kid dropping/pickup time and make it faster and safer process? then here is the job for you. We want to reduce the current 10 ~ 15 minutes queue waiting time, and make the drop/pickup a much faster and safer practice for all the ICS families.

We are looking for 3 parents, from both middle school and high school, to assemble a special committee that study the current status quo, research options, and propose solutions.

If interested, please contact us at “Volunteer Committee” [email protected]. Thank you for volunteering, and you are making a difference.

FROM THE DEI COMMITTEE 

DEI SPOTLIGHT: Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr, (Arabic: “Festival of Breaking Fast”)is the first of two canonical festivals of Islam. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, and is celebrated during the first three days of Shawwal, the 10th month of the Islamic calendar (though the Muslim use of a lunar calendar means that it may fall in any season of the year). 

The day starts with performing a special prayer service at the mosque, known as salat al-eid. This includes performance of the Eid salat followed by a sermon from the imam. Many Muslims attend along with their families and children, dressing in their best clothes. 

A common greeting during Eid al-Fitr is "Eid Mubarak," which means "Blessed feast, festival, or celebration." 

Muslims, typically, recognize Eid by visiting family and friends, gift-giving, donating charity, making traditional dishes and sweets, wearing new clothes and so much more. 

This year, in the U.S., Eid al-Fitr begins on the evening of Sunday, May 1 and ends on the evening of Monday, May 2. 

Some of the desserts enjoyed during Eid al-Fitr is Baklava, sweat samosas, Kanafeh, and cookies called “Maamoul” that are stuffed with dates, pistachio and walnuts. 

Here is a recipe for Ma’moul  that we hope you can enjoy 

Maamoul (Date filled) cookies - Amira's Pantry (amiraspantry.com) 

REPEATED ARTICLES

Junior/Senior Prom Volunteers Needed

Volunteers needed to help with Prom on Saturday, May 28th at The Cascade Club at Redmond Ridge 23225 NE Greens Crossing Rd, Redmond, WA 98053. Sign up here.

College Financial Planning – Save Thousands on the Cost of College

Thanks to Peg Keough for educating us about College Financial Aid.

Here are the Post Webinar materials:

1.  Presentation Slide

2.  Discount Code to use College Aid Pro’s Software and/or consultation: ICS15

3.   Link to their cost calculation software

4.   Link to a recording of the Webinar

Board Seek Nominations for ICS PTSA Awards

The ICS PTSA Board is accepting nominations for the following awards to be presented at our May parent meeting.

OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR: This award is given in recognition of an individual who goes beyond the normal expectations of their job to make the learning environment fun, beneficial, and challenging.

PHOENIX AWARD: This award is given in recognition of an individual who has done an exceptional job on a task or committee.

GOLDEN ACORN: This award is given in recognition of an individual who has given outstanding service to the school community. It is to recognize volunteer service "above and beyond" a particular job description.

The Washington State PTA offers the Outstanding Educator and Golden Acorn awards. A contribution in the recipients' name is made to the Washington State PTA Scholarship Foundation. The Phoenix award is unique to ICS. 

Please nominate as many parents or staff members who you believe deserve recognition for their service. Kindly include some reasons why this person should receive the award. Note that a parent or staff member can only receive a specific award once, so please consult the ICS PTSA website to view prior years’ recipients.

Complete and return this form or simply email the PTSA co-presidents at [email protected] with your nominating information.

From The Art Day Committee

2022 Art Day - April Update

Thanks to all the signups from the parents, we now have all of our planned classes confirmed. A survey form will be sent to the students soon from the school; if required, please help your child fill out the survey.

We have a change in the class lineup. Mexican Cooking will replace the Indian Cooking session. We will provide more details in the survey form. Please help your child to adjust their choice if needed. Also, we would like to issue a minor correction to a class name - We will have Dutch Oven Cooking (not Dutch Cooking).

Help Needed!

The Art Day committee is planning a Phoenix Time event, and we need your help to lead the event. We will share the volunteer openings and if you are interested, reach out to [email protected].

Schedule

2022 Art Day is coming up on Monday, 5/23. Following is the the Art Day schedule:

1. Session 1: 7:40 am – 9:10 am 
2. Session 2: 9:20 am – 10:50 am 
3. Lunch Time: 11:00am -- 11:55am
4. Phoenix Time:  11:55am -- 12:45pm
5. Session 3: 12:55pm – 2:25 pm

Volunteers Needed for Tutoring/Homework Help

As the enlightened say, knowledge is a treasure, perhaps the only one, that spreads and grows bigger with sharing. Here is a unique opportunity for parents to share and spread their knowledge/skill/expertise with ICS students. We are seeking parent volunteers to help our students with core ICS curriculum (e.g. Math, Science, Humanities, etc.) as well as other subject areas (e.g. music, art, etc.).

If you are interested, please fill out this form with

• SUBJECT AREA you are interested in teaching with preferred grade levels, if any,
• DAYS of the WEEK and TIMES you are available,
• YOUR NAME, and
• YOUR EMAIL to use to set up a Teams meeting for the class.

If you would like to teach multiple subjects, please submit a different form for each subject area.

If you have any questions, reach out to [email protected].

Parent Meetings Second Tuesday of the Month

All PTSA parent meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month. This link will take you to the recurring meeting on Teams; you can use it for all parent meetings this school year.