Today, Wednesday April 30th, 4-6PM, MPR
“The Taming of the Shrew” is a student-directed, student-acted, and
student-produced show.
Any community member who can make it is invited!
If you have any questions, please contact vandergriff_robert@asdk12.org.
It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain
I certainly have “spring fever” and I am ready for the snow to stop falling and the grass to start springing! I am very thankful for more hours of daylight and know that the students and staff are appreciative of the increased light as well. As we complete the last quarter of this school year and move into Intensives, it is important for our students to keep their focus, stay on top of their course work, and complete the school year in good standing.
The last quarter of the year always goes by very quickly. Between now and the end of the year there are some very important events and activities that will occur. Please check the calendar in this news-letter and the list of dates and activities below. We hope to see you at many of these events.
Steller had a very positive lottery in March and will be welcoming 52 new 7th graders for the 2008-2009 school year, along with a small number of students across the other grade levels. Steller will also be saying good-bye to a great group of seniors on the 20th of May at Steller’s Graduation at the Discovery Theatre. This is a very accomplished graduating class and a number of our graduates have received prestigious scholarships, been recognized for community service, and been accepted to highly regarded colleges and universities. We will certainly miss them and wish each and every one of them success and happiness in the future.
Thank you for a great school year and to each of you who have contributed your time, talent, and energy for our school . The Steller community will work together next year to complete the process for Northwest Accreditation. I invite you now, to become an active part of the process next year, and work with us to continue to make Steller a unique learning environment for our self-directed learners.
Have a great summer. Enjoy the wonders of the Alaska summer….once it finally gets here!
Karin
Although it was nice to have some time off to bond with my family after the birth of my second child, it’s also good to be back at Steller to work with all the staff and students again. Thank you all for welcoming and supporting the substitute nurses in my absence.
It’s been a pleasure to work with such a great school community this year. Although we’re all anticipating the beginning of summer, I know I’ll be glad to see many of you next year. And to the seniors who are moving out into the world, I send them our best wishes in all their future endeavors.
Spring Intensives & Travel
If your student is participating in travel or overnight intensives, the health office will need updated medical and medication information. Please check with your student for paperwork you need to review and return to the health office prior to Intensives.
Student Medication
Medications cannot be left in the nurse’s office over the summer. It must either be returned to the parent or discarded. Please pick up medications in the Nurse’s Office by 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 20th.  Remember, any medications which are not picked up by Wednesday, May 20th, 11 a.m. will be destroyed.
Immunizations
Many students will need immunization boosters before the end of school and over the summer. The immunization must be received and documentation provided to the school prior to attending classes. The State of Alaska has a strict “NO SHOT, NO SCHOOL” policy. I mail out reminder letters several months prior to your student’s immunization due date. I will mail notification letters in May to the parents of students who will require immunizations over the summer. Free immunizations are available at a variety of locations. Please contact me if you have questions or concerns.
Summer Camps for Alaskan Youth with Asthma
The American Lung Association of Alaska is coordinating two summer camps for students with Asthma.
CHAMP Camp for ages 7-12 will take place July 27th through August 1st at Camp Carlquist in Chugiak; and Limitless Adventures Camp for ages 13-17 will take place June 8th through June 14th at Eagle Valley Center in Juneau. Contact Michelle Ferreira at 907-644-6417 or mferreira@aklung.org for more information
Prom and Graduation Parties
Prom night and graduation are very soon! We want this to be a time of fond memories and not a reminder of a tragic event. Please take time to remind your sons and daughters about the safety issues and consequences of drug and alcohol use. Remind them that it impairs judgment, lowers inhibitions, and can cause alcohol overdose (read that as poisoning), and increase the risk for motor vehicle accidents. Let’s work together to keep our students safe.
Thank You
Thank you to all the families who have donated lunch and snack items this year. Our parent group has requested I contact the parent/guardian of any student who regularly uses our free lunch/snacks. We want to keep lunches/snacks available for those students who need them in an emergency and not have them used as a regular substitute for bringing one’s own lunch or not wanting to go out and buy a lunch. On the average, about six Steller students a day come to my office for a lunch or snack, and so far this year, your donations have supplied over 800 lunches/snacks. Thanks again for all your support.
Nurse Wendy
The following article was included in the latest issue of the Coalition of Essential Schools and is definitely worth a closer look!
Raising Teens: How Parents Can Bridge Societal Challenges
Parenting philosophies come and go, but old-fashioned values are still the best, says a Binghamton University nursing professor in two new books on raising adolescents.           Â
“Kids are not just small adults,” Associate Professor Mary Muscari said. “That’s my mantra. Even teenagers don’t think like adults. They don’t have that ability, those experiences.” In the latest books, Everything Parents Guide to Raising Adolescent Girls (with lead author Moira McCarthy), and Everything Parents Guide to Raising Adolescent Boys (with lead author Robin Elise Weiss), Muscari notes that although the general issues of parenting don’t change so much, new trends in society can create added challenges. For instance, more families today have two working parents, which can make it difficult to spend time together. Muscari said it’s critical to find time — and quantity counts along with quality.
“All the toys in the world will never make up for parental time,” she said. “When the job takes priority, kids see that. And that’s a really bad place to be as a kid.” Still, Muscari acknowledges that some ideas must be modernized a bit. “The good, old-fashioned family meal that we’ve long forgotten about is so critical,” she said. “If you can’t do it at night because the kids are overscheduled, do it at breakfast. Have some time when people can sit down and share and connect.”
This connection will pay off in the long term, Muscari said. When parents and children communicate well and regularly, kids are less inclined to hide their problems. If your child tells you when something goes wrong, you can get involved before a situation escalates. Communication can help keep kids safe in other ways, too, because gangs and predators don’t want a child who runs to his parents for help.
Muscari said she often discusses safety concerns with parents. It’s true that children now are more exposed to the world outside their neighborhood, she said, but fear itself can be a threat to kids.
“We can’t make these kids bubble kids, even though we have all these things that we worry about,” she said. The bottom line, she said, is that parents need to be parents. “I’m very dead against that parents as pals business,” Muscari said. “Parents are there to be guides for their children.”
Books are published by Adams Media Corporation: www.adamsmedia.com
Mary Muscari is an associate professor in the Decker School of Nursing at Binghamton University, and is an expert in child health, mental health, and forensics. She has more than thirty years of experience working with children and teens, and has written or co-authored more than 100 publications, including:
She conducts parenting workshops around the country on topics such as keeping kids safe from predators (‘live’ and on the Web), bullying, and how to raise nonviolent kids.
To Make This A Prom For The Seniors To Remember!!
The junior class sponsors the Spring Prom for the seniors and we need the help from some parents to chaperone and bring food for the prom.
 You can leave a message for Larry at 742-4961 or e-mailing me at nevada_larry@asdk12.org.
The time is here…
The time is now…
The time is so gone…
 Thank you,
Larry, Jennifer, and Troy
Our library relies on volunteers to keep it open, organized, and operational throughout each seven-hour school day. When I am not in the library, a volunteer is.
Patty Anderson
Shehla Anjum
Joe Banta
Warren Cole
Leslie Johnson
Anne Kessler
Sara Klever
Danni Koenig
Ravnit LaChapelle
Lori Ostrosky
Dotty Tessandore
Kim Tix
And our Tech Volunteer, Mark Friest
Thanks to Lorryn and Rochelle Wilhelm for the donation of new books!
The Library Closes on Friday, May 2. You’re welcome to come in and study but you may not check out new books.
LOST BOOKS:Â A Perspective
On April 12th, 39 Steller students have a total of 58 books overdue! Are you one of these people? Overdue notices have gone out, so please locate your books and return them before intensives.
If you’ve lost a paperback, you may replace instead paying the lost textbook fine. (Hmmm…$8.95 versus $25 fine.) If you calculate 58 lost books per year at $25 per book, the cost of replacing these books is nearly 2/3 of the ENTIRE library budget. It’s hard to improve the library when most of our money goes to replacing lost books. Please help!!
Danyiel and I will collect fines this spring, and again next fall during registration.
Summer Reading
The list for the Battle of the Books is available at: www.akla.org/akasl/bb/bbhome.html The Municipal Library Summer Reading Program is always fun…even for grownups. Lists are also available at the Loussac Library.
You’ve seen this website before, and maybe even used it: www.sled.alaska.eduNow this database has a new title, The Digital Pipeline. Go ahead and use it to search for information in newspapers, magazines and other sources.
Career Resources Corner
Did you get a scholarship? If you did, please tell Karen Emmel. Anchorage School District likes to have an idea of the award amounts received at each school. They’d even like to know about the awards you don’t accept. Just tally up all your awards (not counting the $50 check from Aunt Sally…) and give a single dollar amount to Karen, e.g. Janie was awarded $50,000.Thanks, Everyone!
Karen Emmel
May 6th is the final deadline to register for the June 7th SAT. Register online @ collegeboard.com
Thank you very much to all the parent chaperones who helped make this year’s Activity Night a success! We had a wonderful turnout and we really appreciated all your help! It’s an easy way for families to log their ten volunteer hours. You may want to keep it in mind for your family next year!! If you have some feedback from this year’s event, or, if you have an idea for a contest or arts and crafts activity for next year, please e-mail your student’s advisor. We’d really like to hear your ideas and suggestions.
With the school year accelerating to a close, we would like to remind you that students will soon be scheduling Year End Conferences with their advisors. These parent-student-teacher conferences serve a variety of purposes, from recapping the students’ educational experiences to setting goals for next year. Conferences are also an opportune time to get information regarding next year’s SAT/ACT testing schedules, fill out your intent to return form, or update your Steller directory information as well as other housekeeping details. This year’s conferences will be held on Wednesday, May 21 and Thursday, May 22. You or your student can schedule a conference by contacting your student’s advisor or by phoning the front office to reserve a time slot.
For students wishing to recoup lost credit or looking for enrichment courses, summer school information is now available online at asdk12.org. Summer school offers a semester of credit per session and many students find that participating in summer school allows them more freedom of choice in coursework during the school year.
Under the “Last but not Least†category, please ask your student to look under the bed and beneath the floorboards for any textbooks, library materials or other school-related items that should make their way back to Steller. Kids with outstanding fees for lost or missing books, uniforms, equipment, etc. won’t be able to get their final grades (or diplomas
We look forward to the final of weeks of school and meeting with you and your student during the conferences!
The Indoor/Outdoor Games Intensive needs some “loaner” equipment. Can you help us out?
Twenty-nine students signed up for this intensive! Since some of our students will be playing field hockey and outdoor soccer for the first time, they may not have this kind of athletic gear. Since they are “trying out” these sports during our two-week intensive, some loaner equipment would be very helpful. Contact Toni or Jim if you can donate / loan us some of our gear!