Want to pick up a full set of 6 Sifteo cubes for a possibly way-discounted price? Read on!

Sifteo has donated 3 sets of cubes to a silent auction in support of the students at the International Studies Academy (ISA), a small public school instructing grades 6 – 12, right here in our neighborhood in Potrero Hill.

ISA is special because it is committed to teaching with international relations and global diversity as core curricular components. With the intention of expanding their students’ perspectives, teachers plan excursions abroad for them each year. These trips are significant and often transformative experiences for the young travelers, most of whom have never left the state, let alone the country.

Chris Cary, ISA teacher of U.S. history, U.S. government, and economics, explained that the proceeds from the auction will help fund these international educational experiences.

“ISA serves a challenging student population. Most of the students live in the Hunter’s Point/Bayview area and experience poverty,” Cary said. “This year, our students will be traveling to Ghana to examine the origins and effect of the slave trade, to Panama to experience Latin American culture and the biological diversity of the tropics, to Germany, where they will reciprocate home stays with the students whom they hosted in October of last year, and to Washington, D.C., where students will see the nation’s capital and meet their representatives.”

When Sifteoans learned about this remarkable program, we agreed that the ISA studies abroad are a worthy cause; we were excited to pitch in and make a donation of Sifteo cubes. We thought it was a nicely appropriate auction item to support such a creative approach to education.

We asked Cary if he will be traveling with the students this year.

“I’m leading the D.C. trip for the second time,” he said. “I’m excited to introduce the travelers, most of whom are recent immigrants, to the government and its institutions.”

Rock on, ISA.

If you’re in the area, we hope to see you at the auction! The fund-raising event is from 6:30-8:30 pm TONIGHT (January 20) at the Rutter Center, USCF Mission Bay Campus. FYI, tasty appetizers and drinks will be served.