Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

A NEW YEAR, AN EXCITING TIME!

Greetings All:

I would like to take this time to say Happy B-Lated New Year, and welcome back your child to another semester of IMSA. The start of the year is especially busy for us, and it is said that the Spring Semester goes by much faster than the first semester. I would like to take this time to share some important information about some exciting events coming up this semester. 

WELCOME OUR NEW WING GUIDE

1502 C wing has a new Wing Guide this semester. Megan Smiley is a Junior and is especially excited to serve as a guide and bring unity to our wing. I am excited to see the fun activities which Luselena and Megan have planned for the girls for the remainder of the year. Following are some events we have planned for the rest of the month

• Feb 10th: IAT Testing (Focuses on Multicultural Diversity)
• Feb 17th: Stereotyping Workshop
• Feb 19th: Chinese New Year Door Decs "What Animal are You?"
• Feb 23rd: Meet the Tutors Night Hall Event (French Toast will be served)
• 1502 C - Hot Cocoa Study Night
• Feb 24th: Sex in a Fishbowl (Hall Event)
• Feb 26th: Roommate Wars, solving roommate conflicts

INTERSESSION: STUDENT PERSPECTIVES

Intersession is a week before classes begin and is a time students can spend a week involved in activities they are interested in, and normally are not classes during the spring semester. Michelle Zhu, 1502 C sophomore, had the opportunity to do a movie trailer with the ISP team. Like many students, Michelle had a lot of fun filming and acting with other people. She shared that she had an incredible time because it was extremely fun and gave her a chance to do what she loved with others. On a similar note, Senior Jackie Wu did two intersessions; one in Bioinformatics and an afternoon of Taste of Chinese Cuisine. According to Jackie, her second intersession was memorable because a large part of it was spent off campus eating. "The last day was especially fun because we went to Chinatown and had dim sum, then spent the rest of the day walking around." When it came to recommendations for intersession, Jackie had only good things to say about her time during Taste of Chinese Cuisine "Intersession is a week with lots of opportunities to have fun, so I would definitely recommend people to pick weird intersessions or ones that go off campus. In my 3 intersessions, the most fun ones were always the ones that went off campus. 

TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

In addition to creating and mentoring minds of future generations so that they may use their skills and education to advance human condition, IMSA also takes pride in recognizing and celebrating diversity. An excellent way IMSA does this is introducing students to memorable guest speakers. The first week of February, the academy was honored to have three of the original airmen speak of their experience during World War 2.  For those who are unfamiliar with the Tuskegee Airmen; during the war and drafting, African American men wanted to prove their allegiance to the country by fighting alongside other solders. Unfortunately, due to racism and prejudice which plagued the country during that time, many African Americans were turned down from fighting in the war. Even within the military, African American men were still subject to Jim Crow laws, and the military was heavily segregated. The Tuskegee Airmen was the name given to the first and only African American Pilots, which included both fighter and bomber pilots. Eventually the Tuskegee Airmen included everyone who served as support personnel to the pilots. Currently there are not many Tuskegee Airmen present to share their experiences, and the chance to listen to three different perspectives was memorable for IMSA Faculty and Staff. Below is the Tuskegee Airmen with all IMSA students present at the event.

EXTENDED WEEKEND INFORMATION

February 12th is the first extended weekend of the semester. I would like to take some time to review the check-out procedures during these types of weekends as we have not had a regular extended weekend in several months. Residential Counselors will start to check out students between noon and 4:45 pm. Students who will be picked up before noon must get a clearance card signed from their residential counselor. A signed clearance card indicates that your child's room passed clean room inspections and they have finished their assigned wing clean. 

For students who are leaving after noon, they will be required to pass room and wing-clean inspections prior to being checked out. Students will be checked out from their respective RC Office, in this case, it will be 1502 for our 02 residents. After 4:45, students will be sent to the 1501 hall to be picked up. There is a fee past 5 pm students are picked up. If you have any questions regarding extended, please do not hesitate to call or email.

RELAY FOR LIFE: GET INVOLVED! 

This is the first year IMSA will be involved with Relay For Life in support for cancer awareness and raising money for cancer research. This is a great way for students to get involved in raising awareness and to team up with other IMSA students in the fight against cancer. I've created an IMSA team for our wing, and I am extending this invitation to parents who wish to walk with us. The tentative date is Saturday, May 16th from 6 pm to May 17th. If you wish to join our team, please visit: 1502 Relay for Life