Veteran's Day at ISC

Today is Veteran's Day, a day we honor our men and women who have served in armed forces. At ISC, we had several events that occurred. Mr. Bentz represented us well as he was honored to play "Taps" at the Veteran's Day program at Cummins Plant 1. A Jaguar Journal reporter attended and was welcomed at the event, speaking with one of the veteran's in attendance. Below is a picture of Mr. Bentz, preparing to perform:

This afternoon, Mrs. Taulman organized an incredible convocation for our students. It started with the presentation of the American Flag by Art Club students who created this amazing flag.

Next, Col. Richmond from Camp Atterbury inspired us with an amazing speech that left our students literally in awe. He talked about our veteran's and men and women in service, but also challenged our students to find their passion and be accountable to one another.

Following his speech, Mrs. Taulman played the Red Skelton version of the Pledge of the Allegiance, in which every word is described and explained. Then, Christy N. and Mr. Bentz lead the students and faculty in the National Anthem.

Mr. Bentz wrapped up the convocation with a small history of the musical composition of "Taps". He played "Taps" for the students and faculty, leaving many in tears.

Many thanks to Mrs. Taulman, Mr. Bentz, Christy N., Mrs. Plattner's Art Club and Col. Richmond for bringing this wonderful day to our students!!

Monica

Guitar Club debuts....and I learned how to Twitter!

Mr. Bentz started a musical club, a guitar club. This is open to anyone with a guitar who wants to learn or, if you are advanced, continue on. Beginners to experts welcome! This will be every Thursday, 8am, in the computer lab. Feel free to join in! See Mr. Bentz for more details!

Journalism Club is off and running as well. Mrs. C is thrilled because she can hand over the Jaguar Journal. Tomorrow will be the first completely student ran Jaguar Journal. They will also be doing yearbook as well. Students will receive a paper copy at the end of the day on Friday's (every Friday!) and we will continue to send it out to the parent list as well.

Guess what? I am a tweeter! ISC is on Twitter...follow us at https://twitter.com/ISC_Jaguars
I will tweet updates about the school day, sports updates from sporting events as they are happening...Just a fun way to stay in touch!

As always, check out our Facebook. In addition to the official school Facebook site, there is also a ISC Sports group and a Parents/Staff group.

Monica

Changes at ISC!

Friday was a rough day at ISC. The staff learned that Mrs. Nobbe, our founding Head of School, would be leaving ISC in November. Mrs. Nobbe has a family member who will now require daily care and she is this family member's guardian. It is hard to lose someone who has been so important to ISC, but family always has to come first! I know all the staff wishes Mrs. Nobbe the best and she is in all our thoughts as she starts this new path with her sister.

What could have been a very hard time for ISC was made into a smooth transition with the announcement that Mrs. Staggs has stepped up to assume the role as the interim Head of School. She has been in the position of IB Coordinator and Student Services previously for ISC. She knows our students and knows our staff. She is the IB "guru", as I call her, so that process will continue without a beat, which is very important for our students.

I wish both Mrs. Nobbe and Mrs. Staggs the very best as they both start new and very different challenges.

ISC Jags Thrill the World!

ISC students had the opportunity to practice and prepare for the Thrill the World event, a world-wide attempt at the largest number of people around the world simultaneously doing the Michael Jackson Thriller Dance. Locally, Childhood Connections, a local child care resource and referral agency, was sponsoring the event, with proceeds going to their incredible program. Thanks to Coach M, Mrs. Plattner and Miss Knipstine, students at ISC had multiple opportunities to join in and learn the dance.

Saturday was THE day! Check out our pictures below of our zombie Jags...
Taylor B.'s mom gets her zombie-fied!

Mo and Taylor B.

Christina and Lacy

Mrs. Plattner, Alice Knipstine (Miss Knipstine's sister) and Miss Knipstine

Our ISC Jag Zombies rocked the Thriller dance in rehearsal and were pumped and excited as they took off to be part of the worldwide event! Congrats to all of them for representing our school with pride!!!

More to come.....Monica

Iron, Golf and a Battle at Gettysburg.....

Lots to say and show....

Today is a "No School" day. Our teachers and staff are at orientation to IB, learning more and more about the curriculum we want to bring to our great students. So today, the teachers will be the students and our students get to sleep in!

Our girls golf team has really come together. The girls are having a blast. Our schedule was a bit hampered by the fact that local schools go off-schedule of IHSAA and do golf as a club sport in the spring. So had a great deal of scheduling difficulties. But Coach Friend and Coach Frazier have been fantastic and the girls have had a great time...check out the photos below:

We have had some great history stuff going on too. In case you didn't see the fantastic writeup in The Republic, Mr. Bentz, who is our music teacher, did double duty as History Sub and brought in his Civil War artifacts. The students had a fantastic time. They got to do a reenactment of the Battle at Gettysburg. (I found myself drifting out to listen, which is crazy because I normally HATE history, but the passion and the enthusiasm Mr. Bentz and the students were showing was contagious!) See some pictures below....

Some of our art students had an opportunity to take part in the Columbus Iron Pour. Thanks to a generous donation, the students got to learn about something so incredible and beautiful. See pictures below of the scratch blocks and also the finished products with some of our students....

Upcoming at ISC...

Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 30 - Jaguar Tennis vs. Central Middle School, 5pm, Donnor Park

Club Friday!

It is Club Friday at ISC! Here are some photos of today happenings....


Warren Baumgart stopped by to hang with our Drama Club.

Clarese is clearly enjoying Games Club with Mr. Worland.

Our FIRST EVER Computer Graphics club loved being able to play in the computer lab!

Mrs. Gaff talks about Alice, the computer graphics program they are working with.

Club Friday was a smashing success again! See you next week!

Monica

Lots of great stuff this week....

Tuesday, we kicked off the week with "Put Your Nose in a Book" day. Students all across Bartholomew County spent 20 minutes reading starting at 10:00am. Here are some of our readers....

Mrs. Nobbe and Mr. Stack's class read something other than Algebra!



























Two of our students got comfy for their break from English class to read.






Nathaniel and Connor were really into their books!

Isaac is reading the Twilight Book Series, much to Mrs. Hauersperger's delight!

Wednesday was a big day for ISC Athletics. Our Boys Tennis team went to Indian Creek. While the trip ended with a defeat, our boys were fantastic! Coach Klei and the boys have worked so hard and it really showed! Check out some of the pictures....

Alexei showed off his backhand!

Alex and his serve!

Congratulations to our Jaguar Tennis Team! We are very proud of you!!!!!!!

Monica

What a great Friday to lead up to the holiday weekend!

We had a great Friday before the holiday weekend. Everyone was in good spirits! But our science kids in first and second period got a special surprise. Captain Caroline Coffey and 2nd Lieutenant Michael Gifford came in from Wichita, Kansas to talk with our students. But there was a little more to it than that, as 2nd Lieutenant Gifford is the brother of one of our students, Taylar G. AND she had no idea he was coming in! Check out the video below:

They talked about how science plays into their roles in the Air Force. The kids had great questions! Thanks to both for coming and Ed and Deb Wilson for arranging it!

This week, ISC has their FIRST EVER sporting events. Our tennis team will be at Indian Creek on Wednesday and Brownstown on Thursday. If you can come, do and support your Jaguars! Otherwise, stop in here to see the results!

Lunch program is a great success! The food is fantastic (I ordered all week!) and there is plenty for an adult or child! Remember to send in orders on Thursday for the next week!!

Monica

Mrs. Nobbe and Mr. Stack....live on WCSI 1010 tomorrow!

Be sure and listen to WCSI 1010 AM tomorrow and hear Mr. Stack and Mrs. Nobbe talk about the International School of Columbus. They will be on between 8:30am-9:00am.

Don't forget....Mrs. Hauersperger is signing up driving volunteers for next week. We need drivers September 8-11 and September 14-18 for the swimming session. We need drivers 1:15pm-2:30pm. The second session is 3:00pm-3:4opm. If you can help, email Mrs. H at bhauersperger@internationalschoolofcolumbus.com

Happy Birthday to Taylar G. today!!! She is out sick :( But we wanted to give her a shout out!

Little Caeser's Pizza Fundraiser money is due tomorrow morning, at the very latest!

Monica

Introducing our new lunch options....

With no food service, our students have been brown-bagging it or eating from the variety of choices from our vending machine. Now we are giving our students one more choice....

We have entered into an agreement with the Kitchen Manager at Columbus Christian Church to provide us a hot box lunch option! I have heard from many kids at Columbus Christian that the lunches are awesome! We are very excited to have this option available to our students. They will have choice of an entree along with choice of drink, accompanied by side items. It will be a nutritious lunch! And we are able to provide it for just $3.50! That is a great deal for a delivered hot meal option!!!

ParentConnect is online. Stop by the office to pick up your student's login and password. You can track attendance, grades, discipline and even visit's to the clinic!

It is nearing time for the swimming unit in PE. Mrs. Olibo, our PE teacher, is in need of parents to help transport to Total Fitness. If you can help, call the school....314-7078.

Our sports program is currently selling Little Caeser's Pizza Kits to raise money for athletics! Stop by the office and order a yummy kit!!! They are delicious (my fave is always the crazy bread!!!), but it also for a great cause!!! Orders are being taken until September 2!

Monica

More Science Happenings....

Our 7th grade Science class is a hands-on learning experience. Today, Ms. Gaff and her class hypothesized what would happen when you put M&M's in water. Here is her explanation:

The students believed that the colors would blend. They were very certain. Their reactions were awesome and showed how much they grasped the concept of the properties of the M&M....

And this was typical of the students...seeing their minds work and when the concepts come together....it is really exciting!!!

Monica

ISC First Annual Cheer Clinic!!!

Our sports program at ISC is underway! In the past week, Cross-Country and Boys Tennis started practicing. Our new tennis coach, Steve Klei is fantastic and is going to be exactly what our program needs to be successful! Coach Ed Wilson, cross country, has started a really solid, fundamental program that will undoubtedly be the foundation of a great program.

Coach Melanie, our cheer coach, kicked off her season with a cheer clinic on Saturday! Talk about spirit....check out the pictures of our girls strutting their stuff!!!

They were loud and proud!!!! We have a GREAT group of girls!!!

Monica

Gummy Bears were flying!!!

This week, our 7th grade science students worked on the process of developing an experiment and then implementing it. Their mission: create an aparatus to launch a gummi bear....here are some of them hard at work:

Here three of the students are testing their launcher....

Using only popsicle sticks and rubber bands, these two students make a great launcher!

Here is another launcher....

It is important for me to note....The only person injured in this experiment was me, when one flew by my head at an amazing rate of speed :) No gummy bears were hurt in the process of this scientific experiment!

This week, we also had our first parent organization meeting. Carpooling was discussed along with other great topics. If you couldn't make it, be sure and check out the first e-newletter heading out to students sometime this weekend! There will be a recap there!

Friday started Club Period. I sat in for a little bit on the International Club and it was really interesting. Be sure and ask your student what club they attended each Friday. It is going to be a really neat experience for them and a great way to start a conversation with them. I know I take any help I can get to get my teenagers talking!

Monica

Greetings from interesting places....

The school has been welcomed by so many businesses and people in the community, but the one that the kids were most excited about?????

Yep....you guessed it. I have been told about this and asked if I saw it by so many kids and it just was so cool for them! We do appreciate the welcome!

So, we have a few days under out belts and things are going great. One of the best things about the small school environment is that we really get to know all the kids. If there is a problem, you know immediately. Their personalities are so diverse and, in just two days, we are really starting to see how neat they all are.

For those who read my blog, the parent meeting is being moved to Thursday night, 6:30pm. We found a lot of conflicts with Wednesday for parents and we want to make it as accessible as we can!

Be sure and support our ISC athletics by buying a Little Caeser's Pizza Kit. They are great pizza's and for every item they sell, $5 goes to the ISC Athletics for uniforms and fees. Stop by the office and check it out!!!

Monica

First Day of School was a success!

Sorry to not have blogged much lately, but to say we have been busy at ISC would be the understatement of the YEAR :) But busy is good! I thought I would give a peek at our first day!!


We started the day with a fantastic ribbon cutting ceremony with Mayor Fred Armstrong and the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. The kids were on hand, along with board members, staff/faculty and parents. It was very emotional for many of the parents and board members who have been on an incredible journey for all this time, seeing their dreams and hard work become reality. But it was a very happy moment for all!

This is Mrs. Nobbe and one of the members of the Chamber.

Here are two of our students, with our certificate for the school.

Mrs. Knipstine with the 8th grade English class.

Mr. Worland with one of his 9th grade History classes.

Sra. Akingboye with a Spanish 1 class.

Mr. Stack going over class rules with is Pre-Algebra class.

Ms. Gaff and one of her Science classes.

One of our students at his locker.

A group of kids eating lunch in the Art Class together.

Lunch time in the Commons Area.

Check out our floor art courtesy of Mrs. Katz!

For me, one of the greatest things was seeing an entire school of new kids meeting and becoming friends. There was no kid eating alone. I saw kids sharing lunches and exchanging cell phone numbers to chat over the weekend. It was a great energy and a wonderful day.

Gotta give my hospitality shout out to Beth H., our Family Liason, who provided a wonderful cake, drinks and even a snack for the kids to take to class after the ribbon cutting so they could share in the festivities. She is going to be a great asset to the school. Her first order of business is carpooling. We have had so many additions to the roster in the past week, organizing this before school was not feasible. But now, we can rock and roll. She is having a meeting on Wednesday, August 19th at 6:30pm. If you need carpooling, please attend. But also, if you don't need it, but would be willing to help another family in your area out, let us know!!!

I promise to be a better blogger :)

Monica

Miles to go before we sleep....

There have been some late nights lately :) With much to do, sometimes the 9-5 just is not enough! Little details to hammer out, things to put into place....there is just a lot to do!

Last night, as we left, I was standing in the drive, looking at the sprinkler move back and forth, and my favorite Robert Frost poem came to mind, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening. The poem has so many underlying meanings and it was a favorite of mine to dissect in college. But it also is just a very beautiful poem you can just read and enjoy. But it was the end of the poem that suddenly hit me....

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The school looked so peaceful and calm, but there is so much to do! It is coming together, but there are still a lot of "little things" to do.

Tonight, we are putting together teacher desks and knocking out some of those little things! If you are able, come tonight and help out!

Tomorrow is the Open House. As we have invited interested students and anyone in the community, we are holding off moving the student desks in until Thursday to accommodate anyone who would like to come and participate.

Thursday, we will be moving in the student desks and chairs during the day and evening. Please feel free to come help if you are able!

Friday is the first day of school!!!!! it is kind of like the end of one race as we move into the next!

And Friday night....I WILL SLEEP! :)

Monica

Look at where we are....

So, let's compare. I took this picture today at the school. It looks so nice as we are nearing the home stretch. The fencing is up, covering the ugly meters. The sign is on the building. The old loading dock and overhead doors are gone and replaced with bright windows and a nice, grassy area for our students to relax. As I was thinking of it, it got me thinking about the graphic rendition of what the school was going to look like. I wanted to see how different they were, even though I know there is still some work to do outside. Check this out:

That is AMAZING! It is almost identical to the rendition! What was once a vision is becoming a reality and it is just amazing.

This weekend, much has been going on at the school. Jason Owens and his crew generously came in and painted the interior exposed brick. It was fine before, but now it looks GREAT! It brightens those rooms up 100%! Thanks so much for doing that!!!

Joe H. and Ed W. finished the fence out front and it is gorgeous!

Dave C. set up the common area (we call it the flex area). This will be used for peer tutoring before and after school, lunch area, open class area, meeting area.....we will utilize this area a great deal. It is really neat seeing things come together.

Lots going on this week, leading up to our Open House on Wednesday night and First Day of School on Friday. We will have a ribbon cutting with the Mayor and Chamber of Commerce on Friday so families are invited to attend!

Monica