Author Archives: Sarah Burke

Thank You for Your Generosity

Last week Steller Outreach Group students, with the support of Steller Parent Group, launched our fundraising campaign “Steller Cups for Kids” and it was a great success! 

Despite the cold weather we had almost a dozen student and parent volunteers before and after school each day, passing out coffee/cocoa along the pickup/drop off line, and sharing with parents how they can donate to our check-writing campaign.

If you would like to learn more about how Steller Parent Group uses the funds we raise please see here. 

We are grateful for the generous donations we have already received and will be running “Cups for Kids” until December 15th (although we happily accept donations at any time throughout the year!). 

There are three easy ways to donate:

  1. Write a check to Steller Parent Group and drop off or mail to the office.
  2. Use this QR Code
  3. Visit the Steller Website

Cups for Kids Fundraising Campaign

Dear Steller Community,

Tomorrow is the first day of the Steller Cups for Kids Fundraising Campaign!

Students will be handing out coffee/cocoa before and after school all week, sharing their stories of how Steller Parent Group funds have affected their experiences at Steller, and collecting donations.

You can  make a donation in person or from the comfort of your own home.

To make sure traffic flow is smooth and safe parents are welcome to:

1.Park in the main parking lot or along the road, and join us for a little visit in front of the school. 

2. If you prefer we can bring a coffee/cocoa right to your car in the drop off/pick up line.

During these three days please make sure you are extra careful as you drive through the drop off/pick up line and help keep our students safe. 


The Fundraising Campaign will be happy to collect donations until December 15!

For more information about Cups for Kites please see our post on the Steller Parent Group Website, and while you are there, don’t forget to subscribe to Flash so you can stay up-to-date on Steller Parent Group events, volunteer opportunities and more. 

Use this QR Code and donate now! 

Warm regards,

SPG Fundraising Committee and Steller Student Outreach

 

 

Zoom Link for Seussification of Romeo and Juliet

Join us for the “Seussification of Romeo and Juliet” on November 18 at 6:30 pm on Zoom.  Directed by peer teacher Taylor Stewart, you’ll enjoy talented students, constant costume changes, and lots of laughs.  

Join the Zoom link:

See you there! 

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Nov 18, 2021 06:30 PM Alaska

Topic: Stellar School Play

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://asdk12.zoom.us/j/98334755953?pwd=aENGd2VHdExIcGRBU1ZUSElkTm9QQT09

Webinar ID: 983 3475 5953

Passcode: 857747

Write-a-Check Fundraiser “Steller Cups for Kids”

Steller Parent Group and the Steller Student Outreach Group are planning our first “Write-a-Check” Fundraising Campaign from November 22 to December 14. 

Your support is critical. As you may know, SPG has not been able to do any fundraising since January of 2020 due to COVID. We hope to take the pressure off of parents and students to organize, buy and sell things or attend events, and simply to ask you to donate what you can. ($25 to $50 per family is suggested and would help us meet our goal of $6000). 

———- Three Easy Ways to Donate ————-

  • Write a Check to “Steller Parent Group” and drop off between the 22  and 24, or leave in the SPG mailbox before December 14. 

  • Steller Parent Group Website 

  • In person (using Square)between November 22 and 24 

Steller Students will be handing out coffee/cocoa along the drop off/pick up line outside and sharing their stories of how Steller Parent Group funding has positively impacted their experiences at school on the following dates:

Monday November 22 Tuesday November 23 Wednesday November 24
8:10 to 8:30 8:10 to 8:30 8:10 to 8:30
2:15 to 2:40 2:15 to 2:40 2:15 to 2:40

Other ways to Donate

Your everyday purchases can also generate donations to our school and support SPG!  See here for more information about Fred Meyer and Amazon community donations. 

 

With your generous donations and support, Steller Parent Group will be able to continue providing the following kinds of things for Steller Students, Staff, and Families (these are just examples, actual expenses are requested and approved throughout the year):

SPG Operational Expenses
  • Insurance
  • Website/Flash
  • Fundraising expenses
SPG Hosted Expenses
  • Back to School BBQ 2022
  • Staff appreciation Fall and Spring
  • Ice cream social
School Hosted Expenses
  • Senior Breakfast 
  • Activity Day
  • Steller Olympics
Grants
  • Intensives
  • Travel intensives
  • Program support (ie travel expenses for Band, books, and art supplies)

If you would like to volunteer to help before or after school please see the form here.

We thank you for your generous support!

Students from Steller Outreach Group and Leigh Anne

SPG Fundraising Committee – Amy Dummann and Dee Dee Zobian

 

100% of your donations benefit the Steller Community, and are eligible for tax deduction (Tax ID 06-1760342). If you would like a receipt please contact stellerpg@gmail.com

“The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet”

Join us for the “Seussification of Romeo and Juliet” on November 18 at 6:30 pm on Zoom.  Directed by peer teacher Taylor S, you’ll enjoy talented students, constant costume changes, and lots of laughs.  

Join the Zoom link at 6:15 to make sure to appreciate the full performance at 6:30 pm. 

See you there!  

Submitted by Taylor and Becky

Update on Warmth And Welcome Committee

Dear Steller Community,

Some parents have asked for help: They have to drop their children off at school considerably before the doors open, and as it gets colder, this becomes more difficult for students. Under normal circumstances  students have been welcomed into the school and trusted to remain in the lobby following the school Philosophy of Responsible Freedom. However, district COVID protocols and general safety, make this not possible this year. SPG has been working with Steller Staff to see if we can find some sort of resolution to this difficulty and support our students.

Over the last month we ran a sign up sheet for the Warmth & Welcome committee. Parent and guardian volunteers were invited to sign up to be present in the student lounge at the front of the school to help build and support out Steller community,  while respecting COVID safety practices.

We would like to extend a warm thank you to Amy D. who has volunteered for several morning shifts.

Now that it has turned very cold we would like to continue the Warmth and Welcome Committee, and grow it to have a large number of volunteers.

We see Warmth and Welcome as an opportunity to:

  • help out families that are struggling with transportation issues,
  • maintain COVID safety,
  • for parents to have access to the school and to get to know each other and the students,  

And we hope this can be a positive community building option during difficult circumstances.

Parents are also welcome to sign up to be present during the lunch hour to help promote safe mask wearing.  Again, we believe this is a great opportunity for parents to see and participate in the positive energy the school has during the day. 

If you are interested in volunteering please:

  1. Sign up using Sign up Genius Here
  2. Sign the ASD Volunteer Form
  3. Attend a brief Orientation with Maria

Once we have a few volunteers we can talk about how to deal with absence etc.

Steller Parent Group thanks you on behalf of the lager parent body and Steller Staff. 

For questions please contact Kirsten at chairstellerparentgroup@gmail.com or Maria

We have many volunteer opportunities! Please check the volunteer page of the SPG website regularly for updates! 

Warm regards,

Kirsten Tschofen

Updates for Steller Parent Group Meeting Tuesday, November 9

Thank you to everyone who attended the October SPG meeting, and participated in the vote for the SPG Budget.  All students, staff, parents and guardians are invited to attend SPG meetings, share their voice and participate in our votes.

As always, if you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Kirsten

Join Zoom Meeting

https://asdk12.zoom.us/j/95891436576?pwd=ekcwTUxweGRub0YzSDZuaGdLZ3RhQT09 

Meeting ID: 958 9143 6576

Passcode: 975378

One tap mobile

+12532158782,,95891436576# US (Tacoma)

+13462487799,,95891436576# US (Houston)

Dial by your location

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

Meeting ID: 958 9143 6576

Find your local number: https://asdk12.zoom.us/u/abaFYwOeSd

 

Steller Parent Group Meeting Tuesday, November 9

Thank you to everyone who attended the October SPG meeting, and participated in the vote for the SPG Budget.  All students, staff, parents and guardians are invited to attend SPG meetings, share their voice and participate in our votes.

As always, if you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Kirsten

Join Zoom Meeting

https://asdk12.zoom.us/j/95891436576?pwd=ekcwTUxweGRub0YzSDZuaGdLZ3RhQT09 

Meeting ID: 958 9143 6576

Passcode: 975378

One tap mobile

+12532158782,,95891436576# US (Tacoma)

+13462487799,,95891436576# US (Houston)

Dial by your location

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

Meeting ID: 958 9143 6576

Find your local number: https://asdk12.zoom.us/u/abaFYwOeSd

 

AI Learning Opportunity for Steller Students

Steller Secondary School students are invited to an exciting project mentorship opportunity available to students of all programming levels, AI + Humanitarian Aid.

Our global landscape of humanitarian issues has grown increasingly complex, and often, artificial intelligence can help supercharge the development of real solutions. No problem embodies this more than Predicting Refugee Displacement in Somalia with Weather Pattern Analysis where students analyze recent weather patterns in Somalia to predict the movement of climate refugees. Combining political theory, environmental justice, and computer vision, this AI + Humanitarian Aid focus will be the newest addition to our project-based curriculum taught to 4500+ students from 75+ countries.

Applications for our Winter 2021 Program are open– the deadline to apply is November 15th.

Interdisciplinary AI Project Mentorship Opportunity (Beginner-Friendly) by MIT Graduates

Inspirit AI is a 25-hour enrichment program that introduces middle and high school students to fundamental artificial intelligence concepts in order to work through socially impactful projects in areas including art, healthcare, education, and more. Developed and taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford and MIT, students receive a personalized, interdisciplinary learning experience with a student-instructor ratio of 5:1, and custom curriculum appropriate for complete beginners to more advanced students. 

Applications for our Winter 2021 programs are now open. 

For our high school program, you can find more course information here and our HS application here.

For our middle school programs, you can find our flyer here and our MS application here.

Please contact Program Manager, Aidan Goltra at arg2198@columbia.edu or call our team at +1 (240) 226-1366 with any questions. Thank you!

NB SPG/chair has no affiliation with this program or personal knowledge, but wanted to share the information in case it was of interest to some students.

Regards,

Kirsten

 

Warmth and Welcome Volunteer Sign Up

Dear Steller Community,

Some parents have expressed concerns that have to drop their children off at school considerably before the doors open, and as it gets colder, this may be more difficult.  

SPG is working with Steller Staff to see if we can find some sort of resolution to this difficulty.

Over the next month we will be offering a sign up sheet for the Warmth & Welcome committee. Parent and guardian volunteers are invited to sign up to be present in the student lounge at the front of the school to supervise students in the time between 7:30 at 8:10.  Staff will always available to help if needed.

Parents are also welcome to sign up to be present during the lunch hour to help promote safe mask wearing and positive social behaviours.

If you are interested in volunteering you must:

1) Sign the ASD Volunteer Form (found in the office)

2) Attend a brief Orientation with Maria

3) Change on the sign up form as soon as you know you won’t be able to attend, or by 6:00 am at latest the day of your shift. 

If you are a parent that needs to drop your child off early, we encourage you to check out the link to see if anyone has signed up so the doors will be open. Unfortunately, if there isn’t a volunteer, or they need to cancel for unforeseen circumstances, we will not be able to open the doors.

Steller Parent Group thanks you on behalf of the lager parent body and Steller Staff. 

For questions please contact Kirsten at chairstellerparentgroup@gmail.com or Maria