Teacher Feature: Yelena Sinitsky

Yelena Sinitsky has been teaching for over 36 years, both abroad in Russia and in Indianapolis. She teaches MYP and DP Mathematics and is one of the longest-tenured teachers at ISI. She also heads the Timmy Club, along with student leaders, which raises money for Timmy Global Health.

Favorite memory:

My favorite memory from my time at ISI is the success of the Timmy Club and watching students learn to love service and giving back.

In my early years at ISI, I wanted to do something to show our students that life here is not like what everyone else around the world is experiencing. So, I worked to create a service club in partnership with Timmy Global Health to create ways for students to give back.

To my surprise, it ended up being very popular with students. To this day it is the largest club at ISI. It’s inspiring to see the students work so enthusiastically to not only help the international community but also create bonds with the Indianapolis community and each other here at ISI.

Favorite thing about ISI:

The students and parents make ISI so special. The support I receive from the parent community is unmatched. Over my time here, parents and students have continued to honor me with their trust, support, and enthusiasm for any Timmy event. 

I have loved watching students develop a love and passion for service and community work, creating successful careers in that field or bringing those skills learned in organizing events into other fields. I’ve loved seeing alumni return to help with Timmy events continuing to build on the culture at the school and creating their own legacy. 

What makes you proud to be a Gryphon?

What makes me proud to be a Gryphon is seeing the incredible things our alumni accomplish after ISI. When students come back for events and share their stories of how well they do at school and the positive effects they have on the world, it makes me proud to be a piece of that education. 

I was also incredibly proud to be named one of the Hoosier Heroes through Indiana Dollars for Scholars. It was such an honor and a big joke with my students and me, considering I still can’t properly pronounce the word "Hoosier"—even after living here for 30 years.