Island School Navigator

the island school

a tri-annual publication Fall, 2013-2014

Navigator

Charting the Course

a peek at our Board Committees

Fall/Winter Events State Cross Country Meet hosted by Island School Art Day - Daniel Ho Workshop & Concert Veterans’ Day The Phantom Tollbooth - 5th grade play Final Exams

Friday, Nov. 8

• Board Committees - What do they do? … pg. 2

Monday, Nov. 11 (school holiday) Nov. 15, 16, 17

• Alumni Reception Dec. 19 … centerfold

Friday, Oct. 25 (no school)

Nov. 20-22

Trimester 1 Ends

Friday, Nov. 22

• Remembering Three Amazing Women … pg. 6

Staff Development & Teacher Workdays Thanksgiving Break

• For the Record: Island School runs a tight ship … pg. 7

Trimester 2 Begins

Nov. 25-27 (no school) Nov. 28-29 (school holiday) Monday, Dec. 2

Winter Concert

Wednesday, Dec. 11

Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences Alumni Reception

Dec. 12-13

Winter Break

Dec. 23-Jan 4

peggy@ischool.org

Wednesday, Dec. 19

(808) 246-0233

www.ischool.org

• Wonder Who’s the Longest Serving Board Member? … pg. 8

http://www.facebook.com/IslandSchoolVoyagersKauai

How Does our Board of Directors Work?

Island School’s Board of Directors has 19 members, all volunteers, and works in two different configurations: 1) the full Board decides on directions and policies of the institution, including monitoring all operations and approving budgets; 2) nine committees review activities in accord with their assignments and make recommendations to the full Board about actions to take. An Executive Committee is comprised of the officers – president (Kathy Richardson), two vice-presidents (David Pratt and Jim Guerber), a treasurer (Sam Pratt), an assistant treasurer (Charlie King), a secretary (Mary Capwell), and an assistant secretary (David Proudfoot). It acts on behalf of the full Board when necessary and also is responsible for the annual evaluation of the head of school.

Other committees are as follows:

Admissions & Marketing Chair: Debra Blachowiak Members: Danny Errico, Wade Lord, Kathy Richardson, and Sonia Topenio; staff: Sean Magoun Assignment: Primarily concerned with attracting and enrolling students. As part of this, is responsible for the administration of financial aid. In addition, oversee publications, Island School’s web page, press releases, and alumni affairs.

Development Chair: David Pratt Members: Debra Blachowiak, Jim Mayfield, Alan King, Howatt King, and Kathy Richardson; staff: Joan Shaw and Daryl Edwards Assignment: Raise funds for Island School’s operations, capital improvements, and endowment. Included in its responsibilities are building relationships with members of the community, conveying information about Island School’s mission and successes, soliciting funds from individuals and groups, writing grants to foundations and trusts, conducting an Annual Giving campaign, organizing and running the Annual Auction, and monitoring various fund-raising activities of the institution. Also, this committee oversees the publication of Island School’s Annual Report.

“Board members are always looking for potential supporters of Island School and finding ways for them to get involved. I like to invite new people to the Auction. When they see how much fun it is, and what a great bunch of people we are, they want to participate.”

David Pratt, Chair, Development Committee

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Island School Navigator

The Marketing Commitee

Building & Grounds

Chair: Wade Lord Members: Bill Cowern, Jim Guerber, Jay Manzano, David Pratt, and David Proudfoot; others: Mel Ventura; staff: Mike Goto and Bob Springer Assignment: Oversee the upkeep of and improvement to Island School’s facilities and grounds. This involves developing and regularly updating a master plan for the campus to accommodate a projected enrollment of 500 students. Recent projects include repaving a portion of the road to the campus, constructing a solar farm that produces 200 kw/hr of electricity for Island School’s daytime needs, installing wooden floors in the music room and Weinberg gym, and developing community gardens. Two major ongoing efforts are as follows: (1) planning for the construction of a math/science/robotics building; (2) changing districting for the campus from agricultural to urban center.

Academic Affairs

Chair: Mary Capwell Members: Laura Cushnie, Tanya Gamby, Howatt King, and Kathy Richardson; others: Helen Cox and Nancy Golden; staff: Bob Springer and Adrya Siebring Assignment: Look in depth at curricular directions as reflected in Island School’s Curriculum Guide and

“Rejecting new technologies is just as important as accepting them.”

Technology

Chair: Jim Guerber Members: Howatt King and Jim Mayfield; others: James Massaro and Steve Massaro; staff: Ed Eaton, Nathaniel Evslin, and Sean Magoun

keep abreast of new course offerings. Review results of standardized tests and responses to this data. Check on graduation requirements and special student needs.

Also concerned with staff qualifications, assignments, and development; special events and student activities; the annual calendar and daily schedules; and student conduct as outlined in the Student/Parent Handbook.

Jim Guerber Chair, Development Committee

Jim Guerber Chair, Technology Committee

Assignment: Be aware of the kinds and uses of technology at Island School, including hardware and software for instruction and administration, in relation to current advances in the field. Involves keeping an accurate inventory and projecting directions that promote effective and efficient learning by students and management of resources. Also requires continuous development of the staff in the use of available technology. Recent acquisitions include a cart with 30 Chrome Books. A plan for all middle and high-school students to have a computer is being developed.

Personnel

Chair: David Proudfoot Members: staff: Bob Springer and Katie Magoun Assignment: Develop and periodically update Board Policies and the Employee Handbook. In addition, deal with the myriad of personnel regulations that are David Proudfoot required of corporate entities.

Chair, Personnel Involves links with the Hawaii Committee Employers Council, Atlas Insurance (for benefits), Pension Professional (for 403b compliance), and Ceridian (for payroll). Advise on personnel matters as requested by the administration.

Island School Navigator

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Alumni

On Facebook?

CENTERFOLD

2013 - Mandy Albrecht attends Red McCombs Business School at University of Texas, Austin, on a full scholarship! She is majoring in management and finance with the intention to study hospital administration/management and then go to medical school.

Ariana Nickmeyer (at right) began her freshman year at University of California, Los Angeles.

2012 - Serena Wong spent a gap year attending Torchbearer’s Bible College on two campuses; Capernwray in Lancashire, England, and Taurenhoff in Schladming, Austria. During her year abroad she was fortunate enough to travel during breaks and visit a total of 17 European countries with a variety of international friends. She is currently attending California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA. where she received a scholarship. She is unsure of her studies and is considering studying economics or social work.

2011 - Sam Dunham spent the summer in Claremont, California, working in the Decisionmaking Neuroscience Lab at Claremont McKenna College with Dr. Alison Harris. He ran EEG tests and analyzed the data. Sam is a junior at Claremont McKenna College.

2009 – Katy Talvi spent the summer on a family friend’s fishing boat. Her main duty was head chef, although she also worked on deck. To stay challenged, she came up with some delicious recipes that she was able to cook in the tiny galley and posted them on a blog called cookingontheseawithkt.

Check it out for some tasty recipes and great adventures. http://cookingontheseawithkt.wordpress. com/. Jesse Brown-Clay graduated from Evergreen College in Olympia, WA. His Bachelor of Science focuses on ecology. He’s currently back on Kaua‘i, “re-establishing my roots” before doing some traveling.

2008 - Blaise La Madrid-Nakamura graduated with a degree in mathematics from Hawai‘i Pacific University. She is currently working on a masters degree in secondary education, with plans to teach math.

2006 - Kori Miyoshi is working as a flight attendant for Hawaiian Airlines.

2005 - Bianca Mendoza (at right) received her BA, summa cum laude, in organizational communiations from University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

She is now working on her Masters of Public Policy and Administration and working in the UCCS recruitment office. Sean Evans (at left) performed the lead role of Jean Valjean, in Hawai‘i Children’s Theatre’s summer stock production, Les Miserábles.

Another I.S. alumni in the show was Alexandria Taogoshi ‘09, and Kyle McDonald ‘11.

Join the Island School Alumni Group IslandSchoolVoyagersKauai

2003 - Krystal Peak is Social Engagement Manager at San Francisco Business Times. Her job focuses on integrating social media with the content of the magazine.You can read her latest articles at http://www.bizjournals. com/sanfrancisco/ bio/16611/Krystal%20 Peak. Congratulations to Drew Goldsman who was married to Ariana Deignan-Kosmides in September. (photo at left) 2002 – Nicole French announced her engagement to Sam Jacobszoon. Their wedding is planned for June on Kaua‘i.

2001 – Kaimana Goo lives in Mesa, Arizona, and is getting married in June, She received a Doctorate in Dental Medicine (DMD) from the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, and is currently Nicole French ‘02, and completing a one year fiancé, Sam Jacobszoon Advanced General Dentistry Residency in Arizona.

2000 – Zach Kamen is working as Line Producer on a documentary film, “Power of Pearl” (http:// www.powerofpearlmovie.com/). The documentary is about community, empowerment, sustainability, and how the pearl, the only living gem, affects our planet’s future. This project has taken him to remote locations around the world, including the Philippines, Indonesia and most recently, Australia, where he had an incredible time, “diving in dangerous waters with full body suits, hoodies, and gloves, surrounded by irukandji jellyfish (kill you within 15 minutes), tiger sharks, and STRONG currents.” Although these conditions made filming underwater a bit difficult, the results are worth it.

Their goal is to have the film finished by the next Sundance Film Festival in January. Brooke (Connolly) Henninger Brooke (Connolly) announced the birth of her Henninger ‘00, and second child, Kira Joy Aulani, husband, Rich, with their two in July. She and family are children. living in Boston, MA. 1998 – Deena Fontana Moraes and her son have been living in Bahia, Brazil, where she teaches English at the Pan American School of Bahia. She also runs their summer program, Academy Kids, which she describes as an “intersection of Island School and the Kaua‘i Academy of Creative Arts.

1993 – Mary (Moriarty) Jones has happily moved back to Kaua‘i. She and her family have taken up residence in the home of her late grandmother, Alice Paik, in Kapa‘a. She and her husband have a daughter, Alice, age 2, and 3 stepdaughters, aged 14, 11, and 8.

1990 – Tyler Kim and family are living in Montreal.

He serves as CIO at MaplesFS, an international finance firm. He was named to Institutional Investor magazine’s Tech 50 in both 2012 and 2013, which is a global ranking of “those who lead the financial services industry in technology achievement and innovation.” He visits his parents and sister, Heidi ‘91, in Honolulu two or three times a year.

ISAA News

Updates from the Island School Alumni Association Fall Round-Up Photo Booth a Hit! For the 2nd year, the ISAA Photo Booth provided fun, free, sillyness for kids and adults alike. Many thanks to our alumni for “personing” the booth: H. Peter King ‘86, Clare Petterson ‘02, Tanya (Evslin) Gamby ‘91, Dave Hubbard ‘00. Pics can be seen at https:// islandschool.shutterfly.com/27055 (password = islandschool).

Pau Hana at KBC Alumni took over the newly established Kaua‘i Brewing Company on Rice St. on Oct. 30, for a Pau Hana night. Owned by I.S. board member, Jim Guerber, with brewmaster, Justin Guerber ‘01, it has become a favorite place for ISAA to hold its monthly meetings! In fact, we like it so much … … Alumni Reception at KBC on Dec. 19 The 9th annual December Alumni Reception will be from 5:00-8:00 on Thursday, Dec. 19, at 4265 Rice Street, Lihu‘e. All Island School graduates and former students are invited to celebrate the season and see your Island School friends. Enjoy some food and non-alcholic beverages and the best beer on Kaua‘i (21 and older only - no host). Bring your spouses/significant others and your Island School buddies.

A Message From Your ISAA President, Peter King Way back in 1978, when I was a 4th grader at the tiny Island School campus in Kealia, I never imagined myself married, living on Kauai, the parent of two children, both of whom attend the Island School of 2013! I attended Island School in grades 4 through 8. After a 28 year span of living and working away from Kaua‘i, my family and I moved home in 2010, and I never anticipated the sense of community I felt then would prevail until today. This is why I have become so involved. We are the product of the values and aspirations of those who raised us - our family and our school. I’m proud to be an alumnus and parent of Island School. Come home, reconnect, and let me know how your Alumni Association can best serve you.

Finance

Chair: Sam Pratt Members: David Bissell, Charlie King, Wade Lord, David Pratt, and David Proudfoot; others: Mary Lou Barela and Phil Scott; staff: Mike Goto and Bob Springer Assignment: Monitor all financial transactions of Island School, including operations, capital, and endowment.

Involves reviewing and approving financial statements – balance sheet, operational income and expenses, outstanding tuition and fees (accounts receivable), capital expenditures and balances, and cash flow projections. Hire an investment professional to manage endowment funds and monitor activities of the fund. Contract with a Certified Public Accountant to conduct an annual audit of Island School’s financial transactions and records and prepare the 990 tax return.

Finance Committee

Membership

Chair: David Pratt Members: Charlie King and Kathy Richardson Assignment: Ensure that Island School’s Board membership is full with a diverse group of committed and industrious members, including those presently on the Board and new individuals who show promise of contributing to the success of the institution. This committee compiles a list and submits it to the full Board for comment. Potential new members are ranked in order of their being invited to join the Board. Committee members contact them and ascertain their willingness to serve.

Transitions

We mourn the recent loss of three dynamic women who made significant contributions to Island School.

Claudia Brown

Michelle McGregor

Sue Tuttle

Claudia was special to Island School in many ways. All four of her children attended Island School, and three of them are Island School graduates. With Claudia’s support, the Brown Family Foundation made substantial donations to Island School over the years, helping to get the High School established, providing funds for the renovation of Brown Hall, the building that bears the family name, and underwriting for six years the Office of Alumni Affairs, in which she took a personal interest.

Michelle McGregor taught at Island School from 1992 to October of 2007 and served as the first department head of our Middle School. Countless students learned math and science from Michelle, as well as how to cooperate and find solutions to their problems. She made it possible for middle school students to board the floating science classroom on the Rapture Marine Expedition.

A tireless and energetic leader, Michelle helped give our middle school its identity.

Sue came to Island School in 1983. During her years as a classroom teacher, she taught music to grades K-8 and was the kindergarten and second grade homeroom teacher. Her strong background in elementary and music education was put to good use for four years. After a short break, she returned as Head of School and guided us through two challenging times: the move from Kealia to Puhi and Hurricane Iniki and its aftermath. She will be gratefully remembered for her calm, capable leadership.

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Island School Navigator

Leading By Committee

by Robert Springer Head of School As well described in this issue of the Navigator, schools are systems, comprised of several complementary parts.

Students and parents are at the heart of schools, what schools are about. Graduates set a pace for students who follow. As they advance in life, building on what they have learned, they establish an institution’s reputation. Teachers prepare lessons and provide instruction, along with being involved in numerous clubs and special events.

Administrators create structures and organize processes through which education happens, and they manage support units including admissions, accounting, record keeping, fund raising, publications, food services, technology, transportation, and maintenance of the facilities and grounds. At the top of this pyramid is the Board of Directors, the planners and overseers. The Board sets the tone, charts the institution’s course, ensures adequate resources to accomplish its directions, monitors operations and effects, and represents the institution in the larger community.

Each of these groups contributes to a school’s success. Absent any one of them and an institution loses vitality and wanes. Put another way, while the institution’s mission is to educate children and young people, this is not a singular operation. It requires the combined efforts of several groups, each with a particular focus and each deserving recognition and appreciation.

Island School’s current Board of Directors has nineteen members. Over the years, 85 individuals have served in this capacity. Theirs has been and continues to be a labor of love; none receives payment for the numerous services provided.

The status of Island School today is the result of cumulative efforts of Board members past and present. Over the years, led by our Board, Island School has prospered.

Development Update What does our community really know about Island School?

Here are some facts that will help explain why financial support from our community is critical every year.

• By Board directive, Island School’s population is broadly representative of Kaua‘i’s school-aged population.

• Families come from many different social and economic conditions, including many who could not be here without financial aid and yet benefit greatly from an independent school education.

• Tuition and fees cover 80% of our operating costs, which means the remainder must be raised. Fund raising has kept us solvent from year to year.

• Island School sees itself as part of the larger community. This is why we

make our campus available to other educational and non-profit agencies, some of which are: Malama Pono, Kaua‘i Chorale, the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation (KIF), Boy Scouts of America, Kamehameha Schools, Kaua‘i Academy of Creative Arts, adult workshops, martial arts and dance classes, and more.

• Island School teachers come from widely diverse backgrounds, having earned degrees from 40 different colleges and universities from around the world.

They come here because they love to teach, even through their pay is less than public school teachers.

Every Dollar Counts! Thanks for your support! http://diamondmindinc.com/island.html

A New Summer Tradition!

“Best food at the Farm Fair!”

Thanks to the inspiration of Pepe Trask and hours of hard work by hundreds of volunteers, we raised $19,000 for class activities.

To be effective, a Board’s makeup should be varied, with different skills and perspectives reflected in its deliberations and decisions. On Island School’s Board are philanthropists, entrepreneurs, managers of various enterprises, a lawyer, retired professional educators, and parents and grandparents of Island school students and graduates. It is a lively group, congenial, hard working, and cooperative, all the while coming from different points of view; yet each is deeply committed to the idea that residents of Kaua‘i should have on island an independent school of stature for their children and young people to attend if they desire and meet the qualifications of a rigorous college preparatory institution.

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Charlie King

Charlie winces when he’s reminded that he’s been on Island School’s Board of Directors since 1981. Charlie has made an important impact on our school as the longest serving Board member, generous donor and parent.

Just after enrolling his children, Lindsay Kamm, then President of the Board of Directors, asked him if he’d consider joining. He had just left his position as Bank Manager at Bank of Hawai‘i.

“They thought I knew something about finances,” he muses. Overseeing the finances of the school has been Charlie’s top priority. As Board Treasurer for most of his Board tenure, he marvels at the progress made over the years. “I never thought I’d ever see Island School with an audited financial statement. Used to be just getting a financial statement was an accomplishment!” Under his watch, the school has been debt-free and fiscally responsible. He currently serves as Assistant Treasurer under Sam Pratt.

Charlie sent four of his children to Island School; one was in our third graduating class 1983 - before we scaled back to a K-8 school.

He has watched with interest the changes in education over the years he’s been involved, since the one-room school house in Kealia.

“We were more of an alternative school in those days,” he said.“Now we’ve become an established institution.”

His memories go back to the days when Auction tickets were only $12. “I remember Arn Nurock, Tim King and Oliver Shagnasty auctioning off their

beards at the Coco Palms one early year.“ He also remembers times when the survival of the school was in jeopardy.

“One summer, our new principal spent the entire break roofing the school in Kealia and then quit the following week the week school was starting!”

Island School is not the only non-profit organization that benefits from Charlie’s community service. As owner of King Auto Center, he has funded the Fourth of July Hospice fireworks every summer. He also serves on the board for HPA, Hawai‘i State Junior Golf Association, Hawai‘i Community Foundation, Alexander & Baldwin and Hawai‘i Foodbank. And if that isn’t enough, Charlie also serves as chair of the County salary commission and is on the State of Hawai‘i Election Commission!

Still looking ahead, Charlie envisions the continued expansion of the school’s athletic program. “I’d like to see us fielding a football team in the KIF in the next ten years.”

Island School has been most fortunate to have Charlie on our team.

Island School 3-1875 Kaumuali‘i Hwy Lihu‘e, HI 96766