Megan Amelia

Second London ISA Alumni Reception

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On Sunday, 21 January, ISA held its second alumni reception in London at the trendy Graphic Bar in Soho. The event connected ISA students, faculty and staff from the past five decades for an evening of fun and shared reminiscence of their time at the school.

There were around 40 attendees in total, 34 of which were alumni. These were mostly students who had attended ISA in the past 10 years, and it was especially exciting to have someone who attended from 1977-1985. Representing current ISA staff were Director Ed Greene, Admissions & Advancement Director Julia True and Alumni & Advancement Officer, Matt Jasinski. It was also a pleasure to see David Monk, the former Head of Upper School and Claire McQuillen, the former Assistant Head of Upper School, attend the event. 

ISA Alumni at our London Reception. Credit: Matt Jasinski

Receptions such as these provide a fantastic opportunity not only for old friends to catch up but for alumni to make new friends through their shared connection to the school. The next reunion will be held in New York on this coming Sunday, 4 February.

For Julia, who has worked at ISA for 20 years, the real pleasure of the reception was seeing how students had grown into successful young adults.

“What was lovely about the reception was spending time with these young adults in the height of their career. I saw them start ISA as children, so it has been an honour and a privilege to see them grow into adults. That’s what makes these events special.”

“It was also amazing to see the shared connection between students. They may not have known each other before because they attended school at different times, but there was still a common feeling between everybody who shared a connection through their time at ISA.”

For Matt, the London reception was a success and he is excited about the opportunities to host future networking events for alumni and current students.

“It was a great experience to return to London for our second ISA Alumni Reception. We were able to both catch-up with alumni who attended last year, as well as meet some new faces who were attending for the first time. I am really looking forward to hosting our first reception in New York City and know that it will be as fun as our London receptions have been.”

“In addition to expanding these receptions, we are continually thinking of ways to engage our Alumni Community with our current students. To this end, we are currently planning a career series for our grade 10 students. A number of alumni at the London reception expressed an interest in participating, as it would be a great chance for them to give back to ISA.”

If you would like more information about this or our other alumni offerings, please contact Matt at alumni@isa.nl.

Written by Megan Amelia
Megan Amelia

Author Colson Whitehead Visits ISA

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On 6 December, Colson Whitehead, author of Pulitzer-prizewinning novel The Underground Railroad, visited ISA for a Q&A session with the grade 12 Theory of Knowledge class. Recently, the students have been discussing art as a form of knowledge. The session was a unique opportunity for students to meet an artist and consider his role in the process of creating the artwork.

Sofia presents Colson Whitehead with her artwork.

The Underground Railroad tells the story of Cora, an escaped slave from a plantation in Georgia, who makes a bid for freedom by following the Underground Railroad, which is represented in the novel is an actual subway system. While he didn’t intend the book to have a didactic message, Colson explained that he depicted brutal violence inflicted on slaves because he felt a responsibility to portray the cruel treatment of his ancestors. 

One student raised the issue of slave auctions today and asked if there were any lessons that the book can teach us. Taking a realist view, Colson answered that the book was by no means a manual. According to Colson, we will always have literal slaves and people who live slave-like experiences under capitalism, as they are trapped in an economic system which oppresses the poor. This, he said, will continue “until we’re robots on Mars.”

Grade 12 student Sofia was inspired by her experience of reading the novel to create her own piece of artwork; a drawing of Cora, peering at the outside world from the attic through a small hole. Sofia was invited up to the front of the discussion and presented the drawing to Colson; she felt that, as he was her inspiration, he deserved the original piece.

Written by Megan Amelia

Megan Amelia

Hispanic Community Fundraising

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Following the earthquake in Mexico in September, ISA’s Hispanic community came together to raise funds to help those affected by the disaster.

A key aspect of the fundraising efforts was the Hispanic Community Solidarity Breakfast held on November 1st. The breakfast was kindly supported by the Mexican embassy, who loaned the decorations and sent their representative, Mr Jorge Delgado Sumano, to speak at the event. The breakfast was a great success, selling over 220 tickets and attracting a large crowd.

The Hispanic Community Solidarity Breakfast. Credit: Olga Bolhuis.

Both the Upper School and the Lower School held bake sales to raise funds. Staff, parents and students across the school worked tremendously hard to make these sales a success. The Upper School bake sale alone raised €548.35, a fantastic achievement that the students can be proud of.

As a result of the combined efforts of the solidarity breakfast, the upper and lower school bake sales and personal donations, the Hispanic community raised a fantastic total of €3834.65.

The funds will go directly to UNICEF Mexico, an organisation who specialise in relief efforts for children and families in the hardest hit regions of disaster, providing them with life-saving resources. This is a fantastic example of how our ISA community can come together to do something truly amazing.

Some of the ISA community. Credit: Olga Bolhuis.

 

Written by Megan Amelia