ASD Message re safety

The Anchorage School District is sending out this message to inform all parents and other guardians that [Friday] morning there was a reported attempt to abduct a fifth grade student who was walking to school. This follows a similar incident that took place a week ago. The student involved [Friday am] was able to get away and is safe, but it is clear that our entire community must come together to assure that all of our children are safe traveling to and from school. An announcement was made at all schools [Friday] and students should have received a flyer with safety tips to bring home. Please talk with your student about how to stay safe and help ensure that all students get to and from school safely.

Here are some safety tips:  See flyer HERE

Remind children

* Stay with a group.
* Always walk with at least one friend, two or three is even better.
* If a stranger offers you a ride, say “NO!” and stay far away from their car.
* If a stranger follows you on foot, get away from him or her as quickly as you can. You can run and yell loudly, “HELP!”
* If a stranger follows you in a car, turn around and go the other direction.
* Never leave school with a stranger.
* Tell a trusted adult if a stranger is hanging around the school, playground, or public bathroom.
* Leave items and clothing that display your name at home so a stranger cannot read it and use it to talk with you.
* If you arrive home alone, call your mother, father, or other trusted adult to let them know you are home and all right. Keep the door locked, don’t open the door for strangers, and don’t tell strangers that you are home alone.
* Never accept things from a stranger.
* If a stranger asks you a question, don’t talk to them.
* Run away.
* Don’t go anywhere with a stranger.

Rideshare/Carpooling needed!

We’ve got several Steller families who’ve reached out recently to ask for help with ridesharing or carpooling.

There have been a few attempts at establishing a network of individuals willing to help other families but it’s gone to the wayside. Do you have an extra seat in your car when you drive to or from school? There are plenty of reasons to rideshare! Please contact stellerrides@gmail.com if you’d like to help our Steller community in this way or if you need help!

Steller Recycling Club

Hello! My name is Rachel Curtiss. I am a senior at Steller and I recently started the Steller Recycling Club. One of the major goals of this club is to recycle non-paper items at Steller, a goal which was recently achieved. Each week, members of the Steller Recycling Club separate the cans, bottles, and glasses to be brought to the Recycling Center. Currently, all of the members of the club that can drive are seniors, which brings up the question of sustainability of this program in the coming years. I’m reaching out because we need parents who would be willing to participate in these biweekly drives. If anyone is interested in helping, please email me at curtiss.racheld@gmail.com. Thanks for your time!

News From the Nurse

Parents this is your opportunity to get your students vaccinated for free – Steller will not be having a flu clinic this year.

These sites are in partnership with MOA and will be providing vaccines to ALL – ASD students, staff, parents/siblings not enrolled in ASD and any Vaccines for Children Program (VFC) eligibility. See attached flyers HERE and HERE.

Other schools that are providing Flu Clinics during Parent Conference are listed below and are willing to vaccinate neighboring schools. (Flu vaccines at these schools are limited to ASD students and any insured adults only).

Eagle River High School (10/25 11:45-7)
West
Central
Gruening (10/26 1-7 pm)
Goldenview
Mirror Lake Midddle School (ASD students only)
Polaris (10/26 9-3 pm)
Romig
Wendler (ASD students only)

Sister City Informational Meeting October 11

Dear Students and Parents,

Steller Secondary is privileged to be hosting a sister school exchange this year through the Alaska Humanities Forum. Five students will be selected to travel to a rural Alaskan village and experience living in another cultural setting for a week. We will be traveling to the village of Noatak, an Inupiaq village of roughly 600 people located in northwestern Alaska. During a week in rural Alaska, our students will spend the days taking part in cultural activities relevant to our setting; creating digital stories to document our experiences, and spending time with our host families. While students are on their exchange they will have daily time set aside to focus on homework from Steller Secondary so that they don’t fall behind in their classes.

Students from our Sister Schools will come to Anchorage and take part in similar activities, in our urban setting in the spring and will stay with your family. Students and families need to be aware that there is a lot of hard work involved with this program, and there will be work to complete outside of school before and after travel. Additionally, students and families need to understand that Sister School Urban Rural Exchange is providing more than a $1,000.00 scholarship for each student – there is no cost to students or families for this experience.

For this reason, commitment is essential. We are looking for self-motivated, creative, curious students who would love to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity and are capable of being responsible for their classwork while they are traveling. If you are interested, please fill out an application packet and submit it to the office, on or before October 26th, 2017. Late applications could result in a candidate not being selected as a traveling ambassador.

There will be an information meeting on Wednesday, October 11th during lunch in Relo #1 for students that are interested. If your student is selected, more information will follow. Should you have more questions, please feel free to call or email Rosa Hohnstein at: Hohnstein_rosalie@asdk12.org

Parent Group Meets Tonight 6:00 pm

The Parent Group meets tonight (and every 2nd Tuesday of the month) at 6:00pm. See draft agenda HERE. All inquiries regarding Parent Group should be directed to stellerparentgroup@gmail.com. We welcome you to join in the conversation and bring your ideas for fundraising, community engagement, and, in general, just making Steller stellar! We still have vacancies for leadership and we could really use your help. We hope to see you there. 

Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The deadline is fast approaching for youth volunteers to apply for local, state, and national recognition through the 2018 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

This program is a wonderful way to celebrate students for their community service – and to elevate them as models for their peers. This year’s student application deadline is November 7, 2017, and our young volunteers are encouraged to apply. Awards are open to students in grades 5 – 12 who have made meaningful contributions to their communities through volunteer service in the past year. Middle level and high school volunteers are honored in every state, and top honorees earn cash awards and an all-expenses-paid trip with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C. Qualifying honorees also receive President’s Volunteer Service Awards. The following links provide more details that may be of interest:

How to apply

about the program

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards complete details HERE.