Hello to all parents, guardians, families, friends, and students of 1504!
We hope that you all had a relaxing November Break, spent with your students, families, and friends doing the things that matter to you most. To those that celebrate Thanksgiving, we hope that it was a time of merry company and wholesome food. With Thanksgiving past, we are now full steam ahead towards the December holidays and the end of our first semester! Winter is already in the air and on the ground, and in just a few short weeks, we will be saying some temporary goodbyes as we depart for Winter Break and the coming new year.
Before we close things out for the holidays, let's take some time to reflect on the past month of November, the programs we have been engaging through, and begin our preparations for the end of the semester in the hall.
Wing Wars
At the very beginning of the month of November, the 1504 students participated in an annual first semester tradition known as Wing Wars. For the week of Wing Wars, the four wings of 1504 engaged in a series of competitions designed to see which wing would reign supreme and take home this year's Wing Wars Champions title (along with the promise of a pizza party).
From October 29 to November 2, our students competed for the glory of their wings in challenges including mural painting based on each wing's elemental theme, a dodgeball tournament, and Kahoot online quizzes. Throughout the week were also the hall's Key Game (an elimination-style game based on catching your assigned target without their room key) and competitions for each wing to complete the afternoon Rolling Check as soon as possible.
Everything came to a dramatic conclusion in 04's most hallowed Wing Wars event - the Iron Chef Cooking Competition. On the night of, representatives from all four wings took to their kitchen spaces with their pre-selected ingredients and the special sabotage ingredient of pomegranate and got to work preparing meals for the panel of RC judges. 04 A-wing took a casual approach of serving steak tacos, food-truck style with a very creative pomegranate and lime drizzle. Meanwhile, 04 B-wing served plates of mac and cheese prepared in a pomegranate reduction. Continuing with the homely, comfortable trend, 04 C-wing served homemade chicken and waffles, using a special pomegranate-based syrup. Finally, 04 D-wing attempted to sway the judges with a complete meal of burgers, stuffed peppers, and potato wedges along with a pomegranate juice.
This year's Wing Wars was a hard-fought struggle on all sides, with tensions rising and excitement almost boiling over, but ultimately it fostered a great sense of teamwork and camaraderie in each wing, as well as a healthy sense of sportsmanship throughout. At the end of it all, 04 C-wing took home the prized distinction of being this year's Wing Wars winner, with 04 A-wing in second place, 04 B-wing in third place, and 04 D-wing in fourth place.
November Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs
Throughout the month of November, two consecutive installments of our Tuesday night Res Life programming were dedicated to educational programs specifically geared towards fostering our students' senses of being inclusive leaders. In addition to imbuing within our students a passion for the STEM fields, IMSA also prides itself upon the efforts we undertake to instill within our students an appreciation for our the cultures, experiences, and traditions of all people. This appreciation also comes with the understanding that we as a society and even as an academy can still do much better when it comes to being truly culturally competent. There is always more to learn, and there is always more that can be done to make all people feel welcome.
To serve that end, some of the major campus-wide events this month included the annual diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings that many of our students took. For example, on November 7, all of IMSA's senior class underwent a training session centered around the topics of gender and sexuality, beginning with an educational lecture by guest speaker Nat Duran from Constellation Collective, who went into much of the base-level vocabulary and concepts related to gender and sexuality. The program then held a screening of the MTV documentary "The T Word," presented by Laverne Cox, following the stories of several transgender individuals and the many challenges they face for their identities. Finally, the Senior DEI training concluded with small group debrief discussions about the material covered and how we as an IMSA community can do better at supporting all individuals on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
Similarly, all IMSA juniors underwent a DEI Training on November 14, this time concerning the topics of race, incarceration, and disempowerment of minority communities in America. IMSA juniors viewed the documentary, "13th" by Ava DuVernay, and engaged in a related discussion with peers. The film traces a 150 year-old history of race, incarceration, and disempowerment of minority communities in America. By the end of the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights Movement, the United States saw an end to legal segregation and the introduction of the Voting Rights Act. What followed, however, was a more surreptitious form of racial control: open violence and discrimination were replaced by the racially-coded rhetoric of “law and order” and the “war on crime.”
These mandatory trainings for our students are just two examples of the various ways the IMSA community has sought to educate itself on the pressing cultural issues of our day and age, all the while fostering greater appreciation for our many differences and how they can make us a more unified community. This work will hopefully continue into our everyday interactions throughout our hall and campus as we strive to be better leaders and more inclusive citizens in every aspect of our lives.
Winter Break
Although we have just returned from November Break, Winter Break is fast upon us, so we must begin our preparations now for it. The halls close at 5:00 pm on Thursday, December 21st, and reopen on Sunday, January 7th at 3:00 pm. (There will be a $25 fee for every 5 minutes a student is here after 5:00 pm on Thursday, December 21st, so please plan accordingly!)
The Winter Break presentation linked above is a resource that helps break down the expectations leading to winter break check-outs. Each required date/time for cleaning, room inspections, and packing is to ensure the student is entirely ready to go when they begin the departure process. Please review the slides thoroughly, as we want to ensure everyone has time to ask follow-up questions, submit permissions, and meet the expectations before leaving for Winter Break.
To list some of the most important parts, however:
- Students with Final Exams must complete their checkouts from the hall within 24 hours of their last Final Exam.
- The only exception to the 24 hr. policy is for students that are signed up for the Downstate Buses and students with other siblings at IMSA.
- Students who DO NOT have Final Exams will need to be checked out of the halls by 9:30 pm on Monday, December 18th.
- All students must sign up for a sign-out slot with their RC! Sign-up sheets will be posted in each wing by the first floor entrance/bulletin board by Monday, December 11
- All students must pass a room inspection conducted by an RC before departing campus. Room Inspection guidelines are the same as all prior breaks.
- All students must complete their Wing Clean assignment and have it checked by an RC before departing campus. Wing Clean assignments will be posted in each wing by the first floor entrance/ bulletin board by Monday, December 11
- Parents or guardians must give permission (by emailing 04staff@imsa.edu for the following reasons:
- If the student is taking the ATC shuttle.
- If the student is carpooling with another IMSA family (Please provide the family name!).
- If the student is signing out with grandparents, siblings, family friends, etc. (Please provide the name of the individual!)
More information about everything related to Winter Break (Downstate Bus, ATC Shuttles, other sign-out information) can be found in the presentation linked above, so please give it a thorough read!
Otherwise, that's all from us for now! Reach out to us at 04staff@imsa.edu with any questions or suggestions!
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