Working At ISS

When we first began the turkey drive, it was very simple: purchase a turkey or ham dinner for families in need at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK). Our first year we were able to donate over 50 Thanksgiving dinners – with all the fixings! Each year, we continue to increase the amount of dinners donated.

2.7 million children in the United States have a parent in prison. The  Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program works to make sure those children are not forgotten during the holiday season. Without the generous support of individuals and businesses, this program would not have the impact it currently has on local communities around the United States. Donating gifts is one of our favorite holiday traditions!

We are always looking for more ways to support our local community. Our team has volunteered at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and held a personal care drive to benefit  The Crisis Ministry of Mercer County.

Our runners also get involved, participating in The Big Red Race, an annual 5k. All benefits from the race benefit underprivileged children in Trenton, New Jersey and neighboring communities.

To date, we have sponsored several health-focused initiatives, starting with the “See Our Schools World Tour”. This virtual race was open to ISS employees in our home and regional offices. We mapped out a virtual route around the world, landing at each of our ISS school campuses along the way. Each mile logged (whether walking, running, biking or swimming) “moved” us around the world. It took us a little over a year to span the entire globe. Not too shabby!

This year, we’re all talking about ISS Move 2.0 – the 150 Club. Recognizing that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends at least 150 minutes of exercise each week for adults, our goal is get people moving. We’re encouraging ISS staff to sign up to commit to exercising on average 150 minutes a week for the 10 weeks between April 1st and June 10th. That’s how healthy habits start! Of course, we know some weeks can be hectic, so the goal is to reach 1500 minutes by the end. Besides all of the physical rewards, participants will receive a special t-shirt and be invited to a deliciously healthy breakfast to celebrate the start (or continuation) of healthy habits. 

Knowing how to work well also means knowing how to take good breaks. Especially in the warm weather, we encourage lunchtime walks of four laps around the Princeton office building or 30 minutes of walking wherever you are! Plus, the posted daily lunch-walk sign-ups encourage a little healthy competition. It’s all in good fun and we take on whatever weather brings for these team-bonding walks.

This year, we introduced Monday Mile as part of Move It Monday, an international campaign, which encourages people of all fitness levels to get moving each week starting on Monday. Research shows that exercise can boost our mood and increase brain power and people who start their week with exercise are more likely to keep exercising throughout the week. Monday Mile is a fun way to jump start our week with a healthy dose of physical activity.

Every Monday, starting April 1st, everyone is invited to walk one mile (or 20-30 minutes, depending on your pace) at lunch. Anyone planning to walk on a given Monday is allowed to dress down that day…and show off a bit of creativity with that Monday’s dress-down theme (e.g. hat day, funky sock day, ISS colors day, twin day – you get the idea). We are attracting many walker and wacky attire!

ISS Moves goes global! Who doesn’t like a good, action-packed episode of The Amazing Race? The #ISSmoves initiative was such a success, we expanded it to include faculty at our ISS schools in 2017. Teachers and leaders at our schools around the world joined in alongside our home office staff for a tour of the world.