July 2022

George Ayoub

Class of 1968
Alumni Liaison

Volume 7 | Number 4

Welcome to Rise, the voice of Grand Island Senior High alumni and friends. We show up every other month in over 7,000 in-boxes bringing you news, views, and memories of GISH. Rise is published by the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation.

Here’s what you’ll find inside: Meet Kari Hooker-Leep who has been named the GIPS Foundation’s new Executive Director. She is just in time for the Harvest; that’s the spectacular new Foundation event scheduled for September 22, 2022. Annual Giving Coordinator Alicia Lechner has all the details. Jackie Ruiz-Rodriguez gets up to date on Senior High’s Gear Up program. Finally, our friend Traci Skalberg says good-bye to the Foundation in her last Shaking the World piece.

As usual we’ll remember Islanders who have passed recently, celebrate successes in Class Notes, and see who has reached an Islander Milestone. All that and the musings of Mike Monk, Class of 1967, as he recounts sneaking into the 1967 World Series at Boston’s Fenway Park; Abbey Kutlas-Prickett, Class of 2014, who writes beautifully about the gifts of quiet and reverence; Bianca Ayala, Class of 2005, who details part of her journey towards a Masters Degrees in Educational Leadership; and yours truly, who reminds us all of what the GIPS Foundation really does.

Enjoy. Keep in touch. And remember: Keep pushing on.