January 2023

George Ayoub

Class of 1968
Alumni Liaison

Volume 8 | Number 1

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 a publication of the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation.

Welcome to our eighth year of publishing the only consistent connection for alumni and friends of Grand Island Senior High. That makes this iteration 43 of Rise. We are happy you’re a subscriber and hope you continue to read the comings and goings of Islander alums across the globe. 

Here’s some of what you will find inside this issue: “At the Top” marks one year since Rise was redesigned and gives you an update on our … well … update. Jackie Ruiz-Rodriguez’s “On the Island” reports on how current Senior High Key Club members give back to their community. Grand Island Public Schools Foundation Executive Director, Kari Hooker-Leep, gazes into 2023’s crystal ball while newly-minted Annual Giving Coordinator but longtime GIPSF staff member, Maggie McDermott, introduces herself to readers.

As usual we’ll remember alumni who have passed recently and keep up on the lives and times of Islanders everywhere in Class Notes. An (e)Mailbag correspondent responds to Mike Monk’s November piece on barbershops. Mike muses this issue on change, specifically that while it’s inevitable, it can be a delight. Bianca Ayala reports on the success of her classroom unit on Latin America and how it has energized her students to learn more about the rest of the world. Yours truly reminisces about sweaty gyms and squeaky sneakers when Senior High alums would challenge the Islander basketball team during scrimmages between Christmas and New Years.

Keep in touch, Islanders. And remember: Keep pushing on.