Category Archives: Parent Group

Quyanas to our Staff!

ASD is currently running a unique way to recognize staff for their efforts to support our children in their learning.  The website describes it this way:

Quyana (ku-‘ya-na) a Central Yup’ ik word for thank you, is also the name of our site-based award of appreciation. You can give this award to any employee or volunteer in recognition of achievement, service or dedication.

Thank you to the students and parents that have taken the time to write a few words for our staff.  To see what others have written visit the site here. 

If you would like to say your own thank you please go to this link and write your Quyana. 

Warm regards,

Kirsten Tschofen 

Chair, Steller Parent Group

Student Nutrition Committee Meets Tuesday, December 8 at noon

Steller Parent Group would like to invite parents, staff and students to join the Student Nutrition Committee.  The purpose of this group is to ensure that all Steller students have access to healthy and balanced meals – especially during this pandemic. 

Starting in October 19, all ASD students enrolled in the National School Lunch Program are eligible to pick up free breakfast and lunch through a special emergency program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

Steller Secondary does not have a school lunch program and is not registered as part of the NSLP and so our students are not eligible for this program. 

We would like our Steller students to be eligible to participate in this program.  Our committee plans to explore ways to address this issue.

If you are interested in helping please join us for a planning meeting on Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 12:00 to 1:00pm.  Email Kirsten at chairstellerparentgroup@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

Sincerely, Kirsten Tschofen Chair SPG

Holly Rinehart, Chair Student Nutrition Committee

Quyanas to our Staff

ASD is currently running a unique way to recognize staff for their efforts to support our children in their learning.  The website describes it this way:

Quyana (ku-‘ya-na) a Central Yup’ ik word for thank you, is also the name of our site-based award of appreciation. You can give this award to any employee or volunteer in recognition of achievement, service or dedication.

We thought wouldn’t it be a lovely way to recognize the extra work Steller staff has been doing for us if we managed to write a Quyana for every staff member at Steller? I think it is so much more meaningful if the thank you is specific and comes from someone who knows the staff member.  This is where you come in.  Would you be willing to write a short thank you to one or two staff members? It only take a few minutes, and is such a nice gesture as we wrap up our second quarter. 

If you are willing, let me know and I can share our list of everyone who has already been thanked, and then go to this link and write your Quyana. 

Warm regards,

Kirsten Tschofen 

Chair, Steller Parent Group

#StellerGives: Update

During the typical holiday season, there is a drumbeat for gift giving – to friends, family, colleagues, and clients (to name a few!). This year, however, global and local circumstances may put a damper on excessive shopping. Indeed, as people seek ways to cut down on gift giving, they may instead focus on how to make a difference.

On December 1, hundreds of thousands of civic-minded individuals around the world will celebrate #GivingTuesday by donating to their favorite nonprofit organization or cause, and spreading the word to encourage more giving. According to â€œGiving Tuesday and Beyond”, 38 percent of those who donate to charity said that they are more likely to do so during the holiday season.

Here at Steller Secondary our community is known to be extremely generous — we have started highlighting all the ways our students and families give back to our school and the community at large with their time, talents and donations through the #StellerGives campaign.  Please continue to share your stories by emailing them to chairstellerparentgroup@gmail.com and we will highlight them through Flash and the Student Showcase on the website.

We also humbly ask that you consider donating to Steller Parent Group as part of your giving plan this year, if you feel you are in a position to do so.  This year, the Steller Parent Group has decided to introduce a direct donation appeal for families that would like to offer support since we can’t hold any in person fund-raising events. All donations go directly toward supporting Steller students and projects. There is a Donate button at the top right of the Steller Secondary website page for quick and easy payments (scroll down to the bottom if you are reading this on your phone).

This year Steller Parent Group has funded:

  1. $1100 to purchase Art Supplies while students are learning at home. 
  2. $125 for a Banner in the school entrance. 
  3. $700 for Staff Appreciation gifts.
  4. $640 for Hand Sanitiser Stands
  5. $1600 for Student Nutrition support on school re-entry.

When you shop using Amazon Smile with Steller Parent Group as your designated charity or using this link,  SPG receives money back to support student programs at Steller Secondary.  Want to know more about how we use the funds we raise? Visit here. 

Kirsten Tschofen

Chair, Steller Parent Group

 

 

 

Steller Parent Group Meeting December 8, 6:00 to 7:30

All parents/guardians, students and staff are automatically part of the Steller Parent Group and welcome to attend meetings, share ideas and vote on decisions.  This month in addition to regular updates from Reed, staff, and OpGroup we will be discussing the progress of the Student Nutrition Committee, updates on the #StellerGives campaign to recognise the contributions of Steller students, staff and families to our school and the wider community. We are still accepting funding requests as well. 

You can find the Agenda here, and previous Meeting Minutes on under the “Parents” tab of the website, here.

We look forward to seeing you!

Kirsten Tschofen 

Chair, Steller Parent Group

Use this Zoom link to join:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://asdk12.zoom.us/j/94394820644?pwd=ZkNYV3B3dXA2OFBKME9ZQVZkN2hDZz09

 Meeting ID: 943 9482 0644

Passcode: 693295

One tap mobile

+13462487799,,94394820644# US (Houston)

+16699009128,,94394820644# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location

     877 853 5247 US Toll-free

     888 788 0099 US Toll-free

Meeting ID: 943 9482 0644

Find your local number: https://asdk12.zoom.us/u/abixuyvn6

Welcome to the NEW Steller Flash

Hello Steller parents/guardians, students and staff.  Welcome to the updated website run by Steller Parent Group. 

The purpose of this website is to provide information to prospective students about Steller, highlight student achievements, and provide up to date information about SPG activities, OpGroup advisory information, school events, and other relevant information as submitted by community members. Our goal is to have at least one member of every family, and every staff member, subscribed so that no one misses out on important information. 

Please note the SPG Website/Flash is meant to complement the district website asdk12.org/steller and emails sent directly from the office.  For official communication from the school and district please visit Q to update your contact information and settings to receive their communications via email, text or call. 

Here is a quick tour of what you can find on the SPG website:

  1. Parents: Everything you need to know about Steller Parent Group – Welcome from the Chair, FAQ, Meeting Agendas and Minutes, Volunteer Sign Up, and how to make a request for funding. 
  2. Student Showcase: We will highlight student work and accomplishments here.  We welcome submissions from teachers, parents/guardians and students themselves for accomplishments both in and out of school. 
  3. Sign up for the NEW Steller Flash to receive updates right to your inbox. 
  4. Submit article: we welcome article submissions from anyone in the community. 
  5. Donate directly Steller Parent Group to support Steller students.  Find out more about how money is used under  the “Support Steller” tab. 
  6. Steller Flash can be found here – this is what you will receive in your inbox when you subscribe to Steller Flash.  Our goal is to send updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 
  7. You can also follow the OpGroup Instagram Account directly from this website. 

If this is your first time receiving a Flash update we encourage you to visit the site, and spend some time reading previous posts so that you are current about what is happening around school.

If you are new to Steller you might find the information under “Prospective Students” interesting background about the school’s history and philosophy. 

If you have subscribed to the NEW Steller Flash in the last three weeks, but haven’t received this “Welcome to the NEW Steller Flash” in your inbox your email client may be filtering or blocking our emails. Email clients like Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo filter incoming messages into spam or junk folders to keep unwanted mail out of inboxes. Unfortunately, these filters sometimes mistakenly move legitimate messages like the NEW Steller Flash into the wrong folder, which means subscribers sometimes miss out on important information.  This article from Mailchimp has good suggestions on how to fix this problem depending on what client you use. 

We also encourage you to join our private Facebook Parent Group, follow our public Steller Secondary Facebook Page, and follow the OpGroup Instagram account. 

Warm regards,

Kirsten Tschofen 

Steller Parent Group Chair 

Subscribe to NEW Steller Flash list by Wednesday!

Update from Steller Parent Group

Dear Steller Community,

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed to the NEW Steller Flash list.  We already have 104 subscriptions! Our goal is to have at least one member of every family, and every staff member, subscribed so that no one misses out on important information. If you haven’t already, please visit the website and enter your email address in the Subscribe box (at the bottom of the page on your phone, or to the right on a computer). We will discontinue the old list on Wednesday, November 25.

To learn more about how Steller Parent Group communicates with you please visit here. 

Student Directory is a new online directory for parents, students and staff to be able to contact each other directly. You must create an account and add your information using the access code CGYJAU when prompted. Add the information for each student and then download the app to be able to access contact information from anywhere. 

The next Steller Parent Group Meeting is on Tuesday, December 8 6:00 to 7:30 via Zoom.  All parents/guardians, staff and students are automatically part of SPG and we welcome your participation. If you would like the link please email chairstellerparentgroup@gmail.com. For Meeting Minutes and Agendas please visit here. 

As always, we are happy to hear from you at stellerparentgroup@gmail.com

Warm regards,

Kirsten Tschofen

Chair, SPG 

*Please note the SPG website/Flash is meant to complement the district website asdk12.org/steller.  For official communication from the school and district please visit Q to update your contact information and settings to receive their communications via email, text or call.