•  If you haven’t already, subscribe to our website:  kingshillschool.org., go to the site and follow directions for subscription.  As new things appear on the site you will be automatically notified.

Ashley Bouzianis, a volunteer, has been working hard on it.  Lynda Holmes, parent, will be working on it, too.  It’s also a good way to check the school calendar.

• February birthdays were: Zinnia Lugo (4) and  Martin Burgos (23).

• March birthdays are:  Mr. Pete (4), Ms. Marla (7), Justin Ramdhanie (8), Shalom  Fenton(11), Jessica Belardo (12—Sweet 16), Sinead Miller (26)

• Read Across America Day…Tues., March 2 in honor of Dr. Seuss birthday.  It’s a good day to spend some time reading together…we’ll be joining millions around the world.

• Sue Lakos, will be our guest visitor at the all school meeting on Wed., 3/3 at 1:15 pm.  She will be vaccinating King, our orphan lamb, and talking about the care required beyond just feeding a lamb.

• Several students and teachers will be at the Agricultural Fair Awards Night –Fri., March 5 at UVI Great Hall, 6:00 pm.  You are invited, too.

• Poetry OutLoud…Heather , winner of our school competition, goes to St. Thomas on Sun., 3/7 for the territory-wide competition.  It begins at 3:30 at Reichhold Center for the Arts in St. Thomas.  We’re all voting for you, Heather!

• Wed., March 10, there is a College Fair at Country Day School from 1:00 – 2:30 pm. Ms. Sue is taking her SAT prep class.  Parents are welcome to attend.  

• The concert this month at Island Center is Fri., March 12 featuring Bjorn Ranheim, cellist, and Calin Ovidiu Lupanu, violinist.  You are welcome to attend with us.

• Spirit Week – March 15 – 19.  Students are divided into teams for the week and collect points for their team by completing various activities or tasks.  Points come through academics, sports, community service, games,  T-shirts…..  Within the week is also:

1. Job Shadow Day – Wed., 3/17.  If you know of someone willing to share their job with a student for the day please let Janie know.  The students have already listed their interests and we would like to make the best possible fit for them.
2. Shadow Our Students (SOS) program at UVI for 11^th and 12^th grade students.  Sponsored by the UVI Student Government. Begins at 7:30 AM on Thurs., March 18.  Pre-registration required through Ms. Sue by Thurs., March 4.
3. Solar Car Competition on Fri., March 19 at Wendy’s Restaurant in the Sunny Isle Parking Lot.  2 teams from the 8^th grade will be participating.  Come cheer us on!

• Spring Break is scheduled for March 22 – March 26.

• Events Committee met today, the 25^th.  The committee consists of:  Bonnie Anderson,  Karen Brin, Diego Conde,  Jan Dretzke, Marla Mazar Carr, Carol Nelson,  Leigh Reedy, Eliza Schierloh, Jacky Whitcher, Carolyn Williamson.  Ashley Bouzianis is the chair.  They will be meeting every other Monday.  Contact anyone on the committee or the school office with offers of help.

• Ms. Jan, Ivan Emanuelli, and Jordan LaCoss spend alternate Tuesday afternoons volunteering at the Animal Shelter

• Seven groups of 4 students continue to rotate every Thurs. lunch time to help serve at My Brothers’ Table in Frederiksted.

The VI Council of the Arts recently approved a grant that will provide students the opportunity to create a clay tile wall.  This spring event will unveil the student’s creation and exhibit professional art available for auction benefitting the school.  Food, beverage and entertainment are planned for the event.

Potter Sarah Hayes will be teaching a 10 week clay class for all Kingshill students, every Friday beginning in March through the end of the school year.  Each student will make a 12×12 inch tile to be installed on the side of the classroom building in a patchwork quilt design.

Because there will not be a graduating class this year, this celebratory event will be held in lieu of customary graduation. 

* If you are able to give time or goods to the event, we would appreciate your help!  Please contact Ashley Bouzianis ashley.bouz@gmail.com.  The event committee will meet every other Monday starting Monday, March 8 at 5:15 p.m. at the school.  New volunteers are always welcome to attend!  Thank you.

Susan Cissal truly understands the difficulties many of her students face every day. 

Born in Arlington, Virginia, Ms. Sue struggled through grade school because of her undiagnosed dyslexia. “I was the daydreamer, I was distracted and a terrible reader,” she said, referring to herself as “a square peg trying to be fit into a round hole.” 

After overcoming many obstacles on her educational path, Ms. Sue is now a teacher at the Kingshill School in St. Croix and has had a very successful 20-year career.  

Despite constantly being told by educators that she was lazy and overly social, Susan knew that she was intelligent. “I vowed to become a teacher in order to help kids like me… to give them better self esteem than I had.”

When she was in high school she recalled her counselor saying that they didn’t think she was “college material.” But Sue continued to reach for her goal and moved in with her sister in Winter Haven, Florida, so that she could attend Polk Community College. After attending that school she transferred to Northern Virginia Community College and then to Radford Virginia Community College, where she graduated with a bachelors of science in education.

 After working briefly in the states Ms. Sue found it was hard to secure a job because the work field was “saturated with teachers.” Schools were also hungry for educators with experience living in other cultures because many students were coming in from Asia after the Vietnam War.  Susan knew she had to find a way to expose herself to this kind of experience, so she joined a local missionary group and asked them to send her anywhere. Well, you guessed it: Sue Cissel was sent to St.Croix, U.S.V.I. in 1980 to teach kindergarten at the United Methodist School.  Her assignment here was supposed to be temporary but in her words, “I ended up falling in love in a couple of ways.” “First of all, I fell in love with the people and culture, then I met my husband.”

She married William Cissel, a historian native to St. Croix and began teaching off and on at

many other schools here, including 5^th grade at St. Patrick’s and kindergarten at Good Hope School. She and her husband are also raising two sons, the oldest having ADHD and dyslexia.

When asked if she ever thought she’d end up teaching high school students she immediately replied, “Thirty years ago you couldn’t pay me to THINK I’d be teaching middle and high schoolers. I was afraid they were smarter than me.”  

Eleven years ago, Susan joined Janie Koopmans at the Kingshill School, a school built for middle through high school children with learning disabilities. She is still teaching at Kingshill today, making differences in the lives of students just like her… exactly what she vowed to do all those years ago when she was a struggling “non-college material” elementary school student.

     “Ms. Janie has influenced me greatly in my education.  She’s very kind,” said Dale Donowa, an 11^th grader at the Kingshill School.

     Ms. Janie Koopmans, principal of Kingshill, has made a positive change in many students’ lives.  Being the oldest sibling in an entire family of teachers, she knew ever since childhood that education would be central to her life.

     When asked about how her career has affected her personal life Miss Janie replied, “Teaching is my personal life! There is no distinct line. Teaching is my life!”

     After getting both her BA degree with a double major in geography and elementary education,  and her masters in Special Education, she and her husband, Pas. Rod Koopmans moved to the Sultanate of Oman, located on the southeast tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Ms. Janie taught elementary school science and music in an English-speaking school while her husband helped start the first Christian churches in the area.  After living there for four years they moved back to the United States. Then, 13 years ago, they decided to make St. Croix their home.

     Miss Janie decided to take her first few months or possibly years off from teaching in order to get adjusted to her new home but only four weeks into living here a young dyslexic boy’s parents approached her for help. They had heard about her experience through the grapevine and wondered if she would home school their son so that he could attend Country Day School in the future. Miss Janie, of course, agreed to help and by the end of that school year had four more pupils who had been struggling in other St. Croix schools. Within a year, every student was able to attend and thrive at the island’s larger, more mainstream schools. This was the start of Kingshill.

     Thirteen years later, Miss Janie still pours her heart, her love and her time into the Kingshill School, a small facility that still focuses on students between 7^th and 12^th grade with learning disabilities. 

     In her lifetime this woman has helped so many students get the education they crave and deserve.  One of the pieces of advice that she shares with her students is, “You can do anything you want to do. You can do it… it takes a lot of work, but…”

     Miss Janie has put up with many things such as a desk being thrown at her once by a child with emotional difficulties, but over all, she has been able to appreciate the “tiny little rewards that reaffirmed why I became a teacher.”

2)  Tomorrow morning The First Lady will be speaking on Ann Golden’s radio program (station WSTX).  Mrs. deJongh has asked Abigail and Dale to join here on the program to speak about the competition in which they were involved.     I believe the program begins about 8:45.  A TV station will also be there to film.

3)  Following the radio program, Bonnie Anderson has arranged for her Journalism class to interview Mrs. deJongh at the radio station (not on the air). The class consists of:  Jessica Belardo, Emile Brin, Dale
Donowa, and Heather Petersen.

4)  The team representing the school before the judges at the Ag Fair is:  Shalom Fenton (7th) , James Clifford (8th), and Heather Petersen (9th).  The judging occurs sometime after 3:30 at the Fair grounds.
Ms. Sue is the faculty advisor to the group.
Our booth is #28….same place as last year.  Students and faculty will be on hand at various times during the 3 Fair days….as well as our lamb, King.

Ms. Marla’s Art History Class with the help of Ms. Jan’s class have also entered the sawhorse competition.  Look for “The 3 Little Pigs”!

5)  Friday morning students will be attending the Art Show at Good Hope School.  We leave by bus at

9:15 and return by 11:00.                                             

6)  Also, Friday morning, 3 students have been selected to have breakfast

with Senator Sanes.  Also at the breakfast will be NASA astronaut Leland Melvin.  The students attending are:  James Clifford, Jakeem Phillip, and Roger Whitcher.  Ms. Janie will also attend.

7)  This week is Secret Valentine Week.  Planned by 10th grade girls, Jessica Belardo, Nadia McCanless, Abigail, Vidale, and Eboni Watts.  Students have drawn names of fellow students to secretly treat during
the week.  Friday afternoon there will be a Valentine Party when names are revealed followed by water balloon volleyball and yummy desserts. Thank you to parents who have already signed up to help with desserts!

It’s a great week!!  Hope yours is, too!

Wednesday, February 10 - Abigail, Ms. Nora, and Janie accepted the 2nd place award in the Healthy VI School Video Competition at Government House. They are pictured with First Lady Cecile deJongh and Commissioner of Education LaVerne Terry.

Heather Petersen, Emile Brin and Jessica Belardo waiting to interview the First Lady, Cecile deJongh, outside WSTX radio station.

Dale Donowa, Abigail Vidale, and Janie outside WSTX radio station before the students join the First Lady, Cecile deJongh, on Ann Golden's morning talk show.

Heather Petersen was awarded $100 for National Poetry OutLoud school-wide competition. She will compete in St. Thomas on Sunday, March 7.

2 –  The mid-year reading evaluation is happening this morning at
10:00.  For those students who need more than an hour, arrangements
are made.

3 - Wendy Garcia is the new member of the School Board.  Jan Dretzke
is the faculty liaison.  Other Board members:  Bob Scarlata, Francine
Cruickshank, Rod Koopmans, Bonnie Anderson, Eliza Schierloh, and Eric
Jacobs.

4 – The Journalism teacher, Bonnie Anderson, is back on-island.  Her
classes resume this week on Tuesday and Thursday, 5th period.

5 - My Brothers’ Table group this week is:  Josh, James, Eboni, and
Peter.  Is anyone free to drive this week?  Our time is Thursdays
11:30 – 1:30.

6 – The concert Friday morning at Island Center is made possible by
the Landmarks Society.  The performers are:  Ira Spalding, vocalist,
and Chika Jenkins, piano.  This is open to all students.  We leave the
school about 9:30 and return at 11:30 AM.

7 – The new Student Council will hold its first meeting today.  The
Student Council for the 1st semester consisted of:  Shalom Fenton,
James Clifford, Elle Abraham, Zinnia Lugos, Jakeem Phillip, Ivan
Emanuelli, and Quentin Grogan.  We decided to change student council
members with each semester so that more students had a chance to
experience it.

8 - Any parent who might have some time to spare with helping to set
up our Ag Fair exhibit on Friday, Feb. 12th (or anytime that week)
would be welcomed enthusiastically!

9 – We are also looking forward to the solar car competition.  This is
a competition open to 7th and 8th graders. We have the kits (3) for
the cars but would love to have more expertise on hand!  Please call
the school office if you would be able to help. 

10 – Wed., Feb. 10, our team of students responsible for making the
First Lady’s Health Initiative Video last Spring will be recognized.
Our team of writers/designers, Abigail Vidale and Dale Donowa, under
the guidance of Nora Santana took second place. The award ceremony is
scheduled for 5:00 PM at Government House.  A cash award of $375.00
will go to the team members and $625.00 will go to the school.

11 – Wed., Feb. 17, at 1:00 PM is the time our participating students
will be judged in the National Poetry OutLoud competition. Students
memorize 2 poems:  one of 15 – 25 lines, and a second one that is
pre-twentieth century.  There are 6 areas of evaluation including
presentation and voice.  This competition is open to all 9th – 12th
grade students.

12 – Many of you are willing to work on a event committee and
others have indicated you will help on the side.  This month we will
try to set a time for and initial meeting that works best.   Thank
you!   Thank you!

Tomorrow Friday at Shoy’s Beach.
We will leave the school at 9:30 a.m. and return in time for pick-up at 2:15 p.m.
Students should bring their own lunch and plenty of water/juice, towel, swim wear, sunscreen, hat, etc.

Student Government voted to use tomorrow as the Beach Day … a reward for all their hard work with the Ag Fair plus everything else that’s been going on!  The students  had to make the choice between tomorrow or next week Friday.  In addition, they had to poll their classmates as to which beach and how to arrange it.  

Thanks to Student Government members:  Heather Reedy, Jakeem Phillip, Quentin Grogan, Ivan Emanuelli, Roger Whitcher, and Reena Tarver.