The Playground Action Team is made up of parent volunteers from JSIS.  The team meets monthly to plan improvements for the playground at JSIS.  Please contact us if you would like to join the effort.

Current team members include:

Adriana AlfaroZierten                   Lucie Campbell

Cheri Gail                                   Julie Pellegrino Gilbert

Kim Lokan                                  Janel London

In addition, the Playground Steering Committee provides guidance to the team on a regular basis.  The Steering Committee Members are:

Kelly Aramaki                 Joanne Uhlenkott

Cheri Gail                      Kim Lokan

Janel London                David Saxen

·         Janel London - Project Coordinator/Facilitator and Member of Steering Committee and Playground Action Team. Mother to 5th grade and 2nd grade Japanese students, as well as 4 year old. I believe recess provides a time for burning excess energy, re-energizing, social time and some solitude...  Students need a variety of play opportunities from active to passive activities, group to individual activities...  Given the small playground at JSIS we need to be efficient in the use of our space.  I also see value in providing a welcoming public amenity to the southeast corner of the Wallingford neighborhood -- a place for families and friends to gather.  On a professional level I manage environmental compliance aspects of transportation projects, as well as manage consultant-based contracts.       

·         Cheri Gail - I am focusing my efforts on getting donations from the Mariners and Sounders for the net structure and soccer fields.  I am passionate about this project because when we looked at schools, the only flaw I noticed with JSIS was the asphalt playground.  I have a second grader in the Japanese program and a new born baby so we are likely at JSIS for a long time, plus we live in the neighborhood and can walk to the playground...  I am a nurse practitioner and first aid has come in handy dealing with all of the abrasions my child gets playing four square.

·         Kim Lokan - parent of Kaia Roast, a 5th grader.  Ever since Kaia was too tall for the monkey bars and into handstands in the first grade I've been interested in improving the JSIS playground.  I am an architect and love to envision improving spaces. In researching the history of our playground I've learned that we have one of the smallest playgrounds in the school district, regardless of the size of school.   Our playground was reduced almost by half during the renovation of the building 10 years ago.  While we gained a beautiful gym in the renovation, it is clear that the south playground was not given much attention.  The existing play structure predates the renovation.  I see a lot of opportunities for the playground to reflect the global curriculum and strong community of neighbors, kids and families that use it.  

·         Adriana AlfaroZierten - parent of 2nd and 5th graders.  Joined the team after serving on the JSIS PTSA Board previously and wanting to participate in a project that would benefit the school and the community in the long term. I feel passionate about creating a nurturing and fun environment for our kids to grow, even after they have graduated from this school! My professional background is in project management and I have served on the Board of other non-profits in the Seattle area.  

·         Julie Pellegrino Gilbert - Parent of Alex 3rd Grade Spanish and Katie K – 2011.  I got involved with this project because I feel strongly that our school needs to promote healthy physical play during a child’s day.  The existing playground is inadequate for what our growing student population will require and is extremely small – the smallest in the School District!  My professional experience was a Strategic Account Manager for 10 years at a computer infrastructure company providing hardware and logistic services for network deployments.