Please attend the Japan parent meeting on January 30 at 6 pm in Becky’s room if you have a student interested in traveling to Japan for the May intensives in 2019.

It is a busy time at Steller and we need you to help make the next month successful. Here are ways that you can be involved and volunteer in the next couple of weeks.

1. Thursday, Jan. 25, 6:00-7:30-First Semester Passage Share-All community members are invited to come hear about the cool Passages students completed last semester.

2.  Friday, Jan. 26th, 7-11-Middle School Aurora Ball-We still need parent volunteers to make this event happen. Please email Leigh Anne at bonney_leigh@asdk12.org and indicate if you can volunteer from 7-9, 9-11, or for the whole dance. We also need donated baked goods. Please bring them to the office the day of the dance.

3. Saturday, February 3rd, 10:00-12:00-February Freeze-up-This is a major fundraiser for Steller and the whole Anchorage community is invited to participate in the 5kilometer or 1 Mile run/walk. Please register for the event and share the link with friends and family. The link to register is https://www.athlinks.com/event/steller-february-freeze-up-226348. Many of you have also volunteered to help with bib pick up and race day set up, but we do need a volunteer to tend the fire during the run and lots of donated firewood dropped off at the Abbot Community Center. Please email Leigh Anne at bonney_leigh@asdk12.org to volunteer or let us know if you have firewood. We hope to see you all in the next couple of weeks. -Steller Staff and Teachers

Why go to All Pro Dads at Steller?  This is a chance for dads and kids to connect over breakfast and discuss relevant topics of things our youth face today. Dads will get a chance to see their kids’ point of view on these topics and the kids will be able to hear their dads’ point of view.  This will be through one on one discussions and via group discussion.

At the next meeting, Cyber bullying.  Our next All Pro Dads Day is this Friday, January 26th at 7:30 a.m. We will finish no later than 8:20 a.m.  Please RSVP at https://allprodadsday.com/chapters/10664 so we can make sure we have enough food for all.  See you then!

Have you ever wanted to:

· walk through the ruins of the Roman Forum and the Acropolis in Athens?

· crane your neck in awe inside St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel?

· look deep into Greece’s mythical past in Delphi?

In December 2018, Simone and Svetlana will be leading a travel intensive to Italy and Greece! The next meeting will take place in Simone’s room on January 26, 2018 at 12pm. Please come to learn more about this awesome opportunity to visit two of the most unique places in the world. Feel free to talk to Simone and Svetlana about all the details!

Do not forget to bring your bowls! We will be serving beef chili and potato leek soup.

There will be

• 2pm – 4pm prep on Thursday, and

• 9:00am – 12:45pm set-up, serve, and cleanup on Friday.

We need at least 2 parent volunteers for each of these times! 

Please contact Emma Kramer at emmakkramer@gmail.com or Kari Hall at arvidkarihall@gmail.com if you are available to help at either of these times. Hope to see you there!

The Steller February Freeze Up is coming up quickly. Invite friends and family to register through Skinny Raven. We’ll need firewood for the large fireplace at the Abbott Loop Community Park shelter on February 3, enough to keep a fire going from 8-12. Coordinate with Becky to deliver wood to the shelter.

Hello Steller Community!

January 22-26, 2018 is a week chosen to build our world to be a better place, one act of kindness at a time. “The Great Kindness Challenge” is designed to create a kinder world. Why does kindness matter? Simply put, kindness creates happiness. Experiencing and performing acts of kindness provides an increased sense of self-worth, greater happiness, and optimism. It is also known that decreased feelings of helplessness and depression can be achieved. Kindness and generosity can be contagious. It can boost one’s self-esteem, improve relationships and boost a healthy well-being.

Conducting simple acts of kindness and implementing it into our daily lives can give an overall perspective and outlook that can improve on a biochemical level in the brain of positive feelings due to elevated levels of happy hormones also known as endorphins. Students who perform kind acts experience significantly bigger increases in peer acceptance, which is related to a variety of important academic and social outcomes, including reduced likelihood of being bullied. It is also reported that a better sense of belonging and improved self-esteem by performing small acts of kindness toward their peers and community increases self-worth. A single act of kindness can influence countless more in return.

Have fun and try to complete as many acts of kindness as you can. Your Kindness Matters! Attached is a Simple List of Acts of Kindness that are easy to implement. It could be as simple as saying good morning to five people, saying thank you to a good deed, stepping up for someone in need, or saying “hi” to someone who looks sad. I encourage everyone to participate in “The Great Kindness Challenge”. This national program is a terrific way to promote kindness in our community. The challenge also matches perfectly with the ongoing efforts to meet the social and emotional needs of the whole child.