Author Archives: Sarah Burke

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

2021-2022 Steller Parent Group Budget Passed

October 25, 2021

Dear Steller Community,

At the start of the 2021 school year SPG established a Finance Committee that includes:

  • SPG Chair, SPG Treasurer, SPG Treasurer Elect, Member at Large, and a Teacher. 

The Committee presented the budget at the Steller Parent Group meeting on October 14, and shared it to the wider community by email October 18 (Vote for Steller Parent Group Budget 2021-2022).  All members of the community were invited to vote on the Draft Budget, which contained the provision that we will revisit the Budget in January or February in light of new budget needs (particularly Travel Intensives) and fundraising plans. 

A total of 44 people voted, with 38 votes for and 6 against thereby passing the budget as presented. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the process, and for the feedback we have received. 

Since the SPG Meeting a group of students as well as one parent have stepped forward to help plan fundraising activities, and we have received a few suggestions from the community as well. 

We are working hard to figure out how to meet our fundraising needs and especially support Travel Intensives, which we believe are at the heart of Steller values, while respecting the fact that many in our community feel overextended and time constrained in their own personal lives. It is our hope to plan a few smaller, easier events so that time commitments might be more reasonable for volunteers, and so that the financial ask of our community is not burdensome as well. 

We hope to share our plans with you shortly and welcome anyone who would like to join us. Particularly if you have experience with running auctions, which we would still like to consider as a possibility. 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out at chairstellerparentgroup@gmail.com 

Warm regards,

Kirsten

Alaska Youth for Environmental Action Summit Applications due ASAP

2021 AYEA Youth Organizer Summit Application

Each year Alaska Youth for Environmental Action hosts a fall Youth Organizer Summit, bringing together young Alaskans from across the state to gather and discuss issues in their communities and gain skills to address those issues. During the YO Summit, we also decide upon and start planning our statewide campaign for the year. The summit is scheduled for November 11-15th over Zoom and applicants are expected to attend the summit in full. 

Please see our website for more information about the Youth Organizer Summit and our expectations for attendees. Applications are due by October 22nd.

Know a teen excited about climate and racial justice? >>> Nominate by Oct 22

Interested in becoming a YO as a teen yourself? >>> Apply by Oct 22

Thanks for sharing this cool opportunity Chandra (apologies it’s so late being posted).

Kirsten

 

Banned Book Week At Steller

Amelia, 8th grade, Anika, 12th grade

More than 40 students participated in the drawing. To participate, they completed a form reflecting on a banned book they had read and what impact it had on them. We had three drawings a day for the week of Banned Books (Title Wave gift card (donated by Title Wave), Banned Book (donated by Title Wave), TOB gift card (donated by SPG)) for a total of 15 winners. 

We had lots of great questions and discussions in the library about book banning and censorship when students saw the display. Students were most curious to explore why the books had been challenged/banned. Advisors also noted that the optional advisory activities elicited curiosity and discussion. Becky’s Advanced Composition class used the topic of banned books for their persuasive essays. Becky reported that students were very passionate about the topic and gave excellent presentations in class. Some students (5 completed the recommendation and permission slip, 10 completed the recommendation) followed up even more and created “Customer Recommendations” that were displayed at Title Wave Books and in the Steller library.

Thank you to Ashley for organizing this great event, and all the students who participated! 

Steller Parent Group