NEWS - GIPA · The entire GIPA Board would like to extend a sincere “Thank you!” to Ted Ballard and Monica Steinmuller for their tireless years of service to GIPA. While you will

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HAVE ANSUMMER!AWESOME

This year’s Gala was brilliantly co-chaired by Catherine van den Bossche-Duque and Melinda Agostini-Wild. Melinda and Cather-ine would like to sincerely thank each of the families, sponsors and businesses who made the Gala possible with their atten-dance, monetary contributions, sponsorship of di�erent components of the evening, and donations for the ra�e and silent auction.

A big thank you as well to all of the volunteers, to the fabulous decorations team for creating a magical setting, and to each of the Coral Reef Senior High School student volunteers.

To take advantage of some of the special silent auction items still available, please visit www.gipa.org. And you can see more moments from this magical evening courtesy of photographer Gisèle Widmer at the GIPA Gala 2018 online photo album.

On Saturday, April 7, 2018 at the Cocoplum Women’s Club in Coral Gables, our annual GIPA Gala delighted guests with an evening of fun and fundraising under “1001 Lights”, the theme of this year’s event.

While every component of the evening was a memorable highlight of its own, the touching speeches from GIPA Board members, principals and teachers gave voice to the heartfelt gratitude our community feels toward outgoing GIPA President Ted Ballard and toward each of the other Board members who are stepping down at the end of this school year after years of devoted service.

THIS YEAR’S ANNUAL GIPA GALA DELIGHTS GUESTS WITH ‘1001 LIGHTS’

GERMAN INTERNATIONAL PARENT ASSOCIATION | MIAMI-DADE COUNTY | JUNE 2018

NEWS

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Newly elected GIPA President Matt Lines and his wife, Mirela.

When the votes were tallied, Matt Lines was announced as the new GIPA President beginning with the 2018-19 school year. Matt will take over for outgoing President Ted Ballard, who has held the position for the past six years. Monica Sarmiento will continue in her role as Treasurer, and Sarah Wrede will assume the role of Communications Manag-er from Monica Steinmuller, who has held various positions on the board for the past eight years. Congratulations to Matt, Monica and Sarah! For a list of all GIPA Board mem-bers for the 2018-19 school year, please see page 6.

The entire GIPA Board would like to extend a sincere “Thank you!” to Ted Ballard and Monica Steinmuller for their tireless years of service to GIPA. While you will be greatly missed, we do hope you’ll continue to stay in touch and involved with GIPA as much as possible.

After the Spring General Meeting, the Family Fun Day festivities began. Guests young and old enjoyed a variety of food, fun and entertainment, and GIPA parents were also able to purchase the annual GIPA Book.

Thank you to everyone who attended and made it a truly fun day!

Undeterred by the inclement spring weather, GIPA families arrived at the German American Social Club on Saturday, May 19, 2018 for the Spring General Meeting and Annual Family Fun Day/Maibaumfest. As in years past, the German Consulate General of Miami generously provided Ko�ee and Kuchen (co�ee and cake) for all of the guests.

At 12:30pm, GIPA President Ted Ballard opened the Board’s Spring General Meeting, one of two Board meetings during the school year at which all GIPA members are welcome. At this year’s Spring meeting, GIPA members heard from and voted on candidates who wished to be considered for the open Executive Board positions of President, Treasurer and Communications Manager.

GIPA ELECTS NEW EXECUTIVE BOARD FOR 2018-19 SCHOOL YEAR, AND ANNUAL FAMILY FUN DAY/MAIBAUMFEST ATTRACTS STRONG CROWD

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Fourth and fifth graders enjoyed dancing, drinks and pizza at the annual Valentine’s Day Dance. A big “Thank you!” to our parent volunteers who made it possible.

In what has become a beloved tradition for GIPA’s fifth graders at Sunset, many of families hosted exchange students from Adenau, Germany in February. In addition to learning about their host families and practicing their English skills, the German exchange students enjoyed an action-packed two weeks, including trips to many Miami cultural landmarks as well as a visit to GW Carver Middle School. Our fifth graders will now travel to Adenau on June 7th to stay with their new friends and experience daily life in Germany. Viel Spaß!

Congratulations to GIPA fifth graders Dieter Manstein and Carlos Beckmann on their First Place & Third Place wins, respectively, in the Sunset Elementary School Science Fair. Additional kudos to Dieter who went on to win a Superior Gold Medal for his science project at the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Elementary Science Fair.

The past four months have been a whirlwind of activity here at Sunset Elementary! To catch you up on our news, we hope you’ll enjoy this visual recap. We wish you and your families a restorative, adventure-filled summer. See you in August!

JUNE 7Last Day of School

AUGUST 20First Day of School

AUGUST 181st Grade Welcome PicnicDetails TBA



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Sunset parent Milli Metzker organized a GIPA fundraiser through Kids Kreations, a company that prints children’s artwork on a variety of products (like the water bottles shown above) which parents then purchase, and the profits are shared with the fundraising organization. Our kids were happy to show o� their creativity for a great cause!

GIPA coordinated a Dunkin Donuts heart-shaped donuts fundraiser to celebrate Valentine’s Day and Karneval. Sunset parents placed orders for their child’s classroom in advance, and GIPA volunteers delivered the donuts on Valentine’s Day. It was a sweet surprise for students in all of Sunset’s international magnet programs!

Sunset’s annual World Fair Day was held this year on Wednesday, May 23rd. Due to scheduling constraints, Deutschland Global was held on the same day. It was an action-packed day for students and teachers, including a large group of parent volunteers, many of whom devoted the better part of their day to the event. Each classroom was assigned a country, and parents decorated the outside of the classrooms in advance to set the global scene. On the day of the World Fair, students enjoyed exploring the hallways to purchase handmade goods and country-themed food and snacks. As if the day wasn’t busy enough, fourth and fifth grader students also competed in a soccer match in the morning. All money raised from the classrooms will be donated to a variety of charitable organizations. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves, learned a lot, and walked away with some fun souvenirs!


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On Friday, May 25th, Sunset’s fifth grade classes participated in a promotion ceremony at the University of Miami’s Watsco Center. German Consul General of Miami Annette Klein presented several GIPA students with special recognition for their achievements. GIPA congratulates each and every one of our fifth graders on their hard work and achievements and wishes them a smooth transition into sixth grade.

Our Sunset German library team, in coordination with their counterparts at FIPA and SIPA, hosted this year’s International Book Fair. The IBF is an opportunity for students to purchase their required German summer reading as well as other German books they’d like to read. Thank you, ladies!

Congratulations to Sunset’s third and fifth graders, all of whom passed the German A1 (third grade) and A2 (fifth grade) exams! These exams are the first step on the path to attainment of the Deutsches Sprachdiplom (DSD), which qualifies students to study at German-speaking universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.


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THE GIPA BOOK IS HERE!Congratulations to the intrepid 2018 GIPA Book team for capturing a year full of memories for our children and putting them into a book that children and parents alike will cherish for many years to come! Hats o� to:

EDITOR: Catarina KrolCO-EDITOR: Ana NarberhausART DIRECTION/DESIGN: Kirsten EisfeldtDEDICATION DESIGN: Jasmin HenschelPHOTOGRAPHY: Gisèle Widmer, Aixa Montero & Kirsten EisfeldtAD SALES: Ana Narberhaus, Catarina Krol & Carolina van HeelACCOUNTING: Emilia Hing

PRESIDENTMatt Lines

CO-TREASURERDagmar Moral

VP CARVERtbd

GOVERNMENT RELATIONSYvonne Visser-Guerrero

WEBSITE & DATABASEArt Gleason

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR & GALA CHAIR

Catherine Duque

TREASURERMonica Sarmiento

VP SUNSETMilli Metzker

VP REEFtbd

SCHOLARSHIPKristina Bujakiewicz

SOCIAL MEDIADiana Moll

SPONSORSHIPSMelinda Wild

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGERSarah Wrede

VP WEST LABtbd

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATORHelga Dienes

GIPA BOOK EDITORCatarina Krol

ADVISORTed Ballard

MEMBER AT LARGEMichaele Garcia

Maria Angelica Pfeifer

2018-19 GIPA BOARD MEMBERS




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Congratulations to GW Carver’s eighth grade International Studies (IS) students, all of whom passed the Deutsches Sprachdiplom (DSD) I exam this spring! In the photos above, students practice giving their DSD I presentation to Carver parent volunteers.

Herr Hecker and our GW Carver students don't just like science, they LOVE it! On May 2nd, Herr Hecker, a prominent science entertainer from Germany, visited the 8th grade IS students.

JUNE 7Last day of school

CARVER

AUGUST 20First day of school

AUGUST 256th Grade IS/IE Welcome PicnicDetails TBA



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By Paula GarciaCoral Reef High SchoolThe German National Honor Society participated in a recent charitable drive for children in Venezuela. Members collected books as well as supplies such as first aid kits, vitamins, and clothes. Due to the improvements made to the German National Honor Society, members were able to participate in their first multi-club drive alongside many other honor societ-ies. Our members were glad to have had the opportunity to help the less fortunate and look forward to other opportuni-ties in the future.

GERMAN NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY HELPS VENEZUELAN CHILDREN

By Paula GarciaCoral Reef High School

Every year, Coral Reef juniors wait for a very important day: the ring ceremony. The ring ceremony is a big event where juniors are presented with their rings. It’s a beautiful, emotional ceremony as the juniors place the rings on their fingers together. Though we may all be very distant and not know each other, the ring ceremony helps unite the class of each year in some way. Families of the students were there as well, waving from the bleachers.

REEF JUNIORS RECEIVE THEIR CLASS RINGS AT ANNUAL RING CEREMONY


CORAL REEF


After all of their hard work this year, our eighth graders enjoyed a few moments to let loose! in front of a camera

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On Friday, May 25th, Reef students were honored for a variety of academic achievements in a joint ceremony held at Coral Reef Senior High School.

Deputy Consul General Almut Henkelmann-Siaw of the German Consulate General of Miami presented 14 students with certificates for their participation in the Deustches Sprachdiplom II (DSD II) exam taken last December. Ten of the 14 students passed the exam this year, and six of them at the highest C1 level.

Next up, Dr. Veronica Valdes inducted the newest members of Reef’s German National Honor Society (Delta Epsilon Phi). Dr. Valdes also presented the Honor Society’s graduating senior members with honor cords that they’ll wear on graduation day. Additionally, this year’s German Honor Society president announced the new board for the incoming 2018-19 honor society.

Finally, parents, students and administrators were all treated to a fantastic traditional German luncheon following the event, courtesy of GIPA’s Reef VP, Daniela Kuczurba. Special thanks to board member Michaele Garcia for her endless assistance in preparing students for the DSD exams and in helping Dr. Valdes with various classroom preparations throughout the year.

REEF STUDENTS RECEIVE RECOGNITION, AWARDS AND DSD II DIPLOMAS


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GIPA Scholarship Coordinator Kristina Bujakiewiez, along with GIPA President Ted Ballard, were pleased to present GIPA’s 2018 Scholarships to the following Coral Reef High School German IB students:

1st place ($1,000): Tarah Anasseri 2nd place ($750): Sidney Kordy3rd place ($500): Bibi Soraya Moghani

Applicants for this year’s GIPA Scholarship completed a lengthy applica-tion process that included a teacher evaluation, scholarship essay and essay presentation, scores from German testing, GPA from their German courses, and GIPA service hours.

Congratulations to Tarah, Sidney and Bibi!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR THREE 2018 GIPA SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

CONGRATULATIONS TO GASC’S 2018 ERIC DIETSCH MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS, TARAH ANASSERI AND HELEN BALLARDOn Wednesday, May 9th, in a ceremony held at the German American Social Club (GASC), two Coral Reef High School seniors received the organi-zation’s annual Erich Dietsch Memorial Scholarships.

Tarah Anasseri and Helen Ballard, who began their German studies together twelve years ago as Sunset Elementary School first graders, each received a $1,000 scholarship toward their continuing studies in college. Both Tarah and Helen will be attending the University of Florida this fall.

Special thanks to Marina Urban and the entire GASC for their generosity and hospitality during the wonderful event and for making these opportu-nities available to our children.

Congratulations to Tarah and Helen!


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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2018 CORAL REEF HIGH SCHOOL IB GRADUATESHerzlichen Gluckwunsch! We are immsensely proud of your achievements and

know that you have very bright futures ahead of you.


Documents

NEWS - GIPA · The entire GIPA Board would like to extend a sincere “Thank you!” to Ted Ballard and Monica Steinmuller for their tireless years of service to GIPA. While you will