News

With gratitude, the GIPS Foundation acknowledged the outstanding generosity of its staff, who presented 10,000 reasons, one for each student, to invest in student opportunities. A significant highlight of this year's campaign was the heartfelt gesture from Joel and Terry Wiegand, who provided a $5,000 matching gift for all new or increased donations to the Foundation during this year’s campaign.

Volume 10 | Number 3

Welcome to Rise, the voice of Grand Island Senior High alumni and friends. We show up every other month in over 9,000 in-boxes bringing you news, views, and memories of GISH. Rise is a publication of the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation.

Second-grade students across the district are exploring the world in greater detail, thanks to the “Microscope Marvels” Classroom Grant, funded by the GIPS Foundation. This project provided digital microscopes to all 36 second-grade classrooms, transforming how young learners experience science. McKenna Supencheck, second-grade teacher at Dodge, said about this grant, “I think it's awesome to use grants for things like this so we can do hands-on things, because we're teaching and we're talking all the time, but being able to provide an actual experience where they can see things and remember… they will remember this for a long time.”

Volume 10 | Number 2

This is Issue #2 of our tenth year of publishing the only consistent connection for alumni and friends of Grand Island Senior High. That makes this iteration 56 of Rise as we reach a decade of bringing the comings and goings of Islander alums across the globe.

At Shoemaker Elementary, first graders are gaining confidence and improving their reading skills, thanks to the “Decoding Our Way Through First Grade” grant, funded by the GIPS Foundation. This Classroom Grant provided a collection of decodable books to help early readers strengthen their phonics skills and develop a lasting love for reading.

Thanks to a Grand Island Public Schools Foundation Classroom Grant, Grand Island Senior High and Walnut, Barr, and Westridge middle schools recently hosted Bobby Truhe of KSB Law for a thought-provoking presentation on digital citizenship. Truhe used humor, real-life legal cases, and compelling statistics to highlight the responsibilities and risks tied to social media use.

Thanks to a GIPS Foundation Classroom Grant, students at Newell and Lincoln Elementary Schools brought their imaginations to life by creating clay monsters inspired by the book “Where the Wild Things Are”. Over 535 kindergarten through fifth-grade students participated in this hands-on project, led by artist-in-residence Nancy Fairbanks. Fairbanks taught students about clay and guided them through the process of working with it, encouraging creativity and self-expression as they crafted their own unique monsters.

At their January 15 meeting, the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors elected Kelly Enck, President; Paul Hoos, Vice-President; and Shane Wissmann, Secretary/Treasurer. The board elected Yetzira "Yetzy" Calvillo Bermudez, Robert Alexander and Jennifer Worthington as new board members.

Volume 10 | Number 1

We'll start our roster of what’s inside this Rise in the Galapagos Islands, where Wandering Writer Sarah Kuta found some spectacular and unique animal species on her continued journeys across the face of the Earth. “On the Island” correspondent, Alex Weaver, gives us some inside information about GISH seniors embarking on their own journeys into the college and scholarship application process. Abigayle Frazier-Hansen brings us up to speed on said scholarships, highlighting those connected to former Senior High teachers and the impact they have made on students.

The Grand Island Public Schools Foundation is offering Major Saver cards through participating elementary schools. Students will receive their sales information packets on January 9 and 10 and sell the $15 discount cards until January 20. Profits from the Major Saver cards directly support the participating schools. Grand Island Public Schools has received over $174,000 in proceeds from these sales since 2016.

Volume 9 | Number 6

We start things with “At the Top”, where we’ll revisit some holiday ideas and traditions at GISH. Kari Hooker-Leep’s “Making Your Mark” piece is all about volunteers. The Grand Island Public Schools Foundation Executive Director makes the argument -- rightly -- that volunteering is a labor of love. Mike Monk's “Distant Mirror” piece this issue chronicles his fantasy baseball league, which just celebrated year 45. My “I’ve Been Thinking” column recalls the “thinking” lessons I learned at Senior High and how they are still important, perhaps even more so in a modern world filled with more information and less truthfulness.

For the 2024-2025 school year, 14 grants totaling $12,091 were awarded through the Classroom Grants process. Grants range from $50 to $2,500. The Janeth Davis Memorial Fund generously provided funds to expand the Classroom Grant program. 6,346 students will benefit from a classroom grant this school year.

Volume 9 | Number 5

Here’s some of what you will find inside this issue: Say hello to Alex Weaver, our new “On the Island” correspondent. I’ll leave it to Alex to introduce himself in his column, where he also fills us in on a summer filled with preparation for the new school year. Abigayle Frazier-Hansen gives us the deets on what’s happening at the GIPS Foundation office.

During the 2023-24 school year, Engleman Elementary received a Classroom Grant from the GIPS Foundation, facilitating an extraordinary journey through the cosmos for its first-grade students. Through a collaboration between Catherine Klanecky, Jennifer Ehlers, Amy Samuelson, and Emily Craw, the grant brought to life an enchanting experience with a portable planetarium from the Explorit Center, integrating lessons from both Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) and Science curricula.

The start of school brings excitement and nerves, but for a few staff members at Grand Island Public Schools, the year started with a humbling surprise. During the district’s all-staff welcome back assembly on Monday, August 12, the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation celebrated and honored six educators as part of their Teacher of the Year awards. The award winners represent different categories, which include: Elementary School Teacher of the Year, Middle School Teacher of the Year, High School Teacher of the Year, Specialist of the Year, Staff Member of the Year, and Administrator of the Year.

Volume 9 | Number 4

Here’s some of what you will find inside this issue: “At the Top'' underscores the notion that as GISH is in some transitions, so too is Rise. You’ll also have a chance to meet two new writers -- Mike Bockoven and Abi Hansen -- for the newsletter and bid adieu to a third. Part of that transition will be an addition to the Rise lineup: “Islander Trivia.” Each issue you’ll get the chance to test your memory (or your Google search skills) with some questions specific to our alma mater. Good luck.

During the most recent round of Classroom Grants, the GIPS Foundation awarded a grant to Starr Elementary to establish the "Stallion Sharing Stable," a project aimed at providing essential supplies and resources to families in need at Starr Elementary. This grant underscores the Foundation's commitment to fund opportunities for students that are not available through the school district's general budget.

The GIPS Foundation recently awarded a Classroom Grant to Howard Elementary School to acquire three sensory stations, providing educators with invaluable tools to cater to diverse learning needs. We had the opportunity to speak with Deb Glover, the counselor, and Amy Hannah, the social worker at Howard Elementary, who shared their excitement about the grant and the positive impact it is poised to make.