July 2023

George Ayoub

Class of 1968
Alumni Liaison

Volume 8 | Number 4

Welcome to Rise, the voice of Grand Island Senior High alumni and friends. We show up every other month in over 9,000 in-boxes bringing you news, views, and memories of GISH. Rise is a publication of the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation.

This is the fourth issue of 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” looks at a busy Grand Island Public Schools calendar even though it’s the middle of summer. Avery Rogers gives us her inaugural “On the Island” column, which is her looking ahead to what promises to be a busy senior year for the newest member of the Rise family. Grand Island Public Schools Foundation Executive Director, Kari Hooker-Leep, details the plans for the Foundation to lead the work in updating the Hall of Honor wall at GISH in her “Making Your Mark” piece. Annual Giving Coordinator, Maggie McDermott, has everything you need to know to be part of the Second Annual Harvest, the wildly successful gala started last year to widen the circle of opportunities for Grand Island students.

Mike Monk's “Distant Mirror” column has a quiz for you. Bianca Ayala takes us to this summer’s Power Camp. Sarah Kuta chronicles the joys of traveling alone. My column this time is a remembrance of what’s important as we remember lost classmates.

We have a Milestone and a letter in the (e)Mailbag as well as In Memoriam, Reunion gatherings, and the lives and times of Islanders everywhere in Class Notes.

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