DEI

Volunteer opportunities for Acalanes DEI – get involved! We are looking for new people to join our efforts and get in on the highly relevant work of DEI. Email us! We have a spot for everybody and the time commitment is low.
 
Arshay Cooper is coming back! And this time he joins us in person. The three hundred (yes – 300!) of you who turned out for his 2020 speaking engagement know what a special night this will be when Arshay joins us on Monday, Sept 19 from 6:30-7:30pm. Block off your calendar now! Additional details on this event are included in the Student Activities section below.
 
Questions, comments or thoughts to share? Contact us.
 
We are social: Follow us on Instagram: @acalanesdei 

We belong together: DEI is looking for a handful of volunteers to round out our committee and it is important to us that it is a good reflection of our community-at-large. Plus, we have exciting speakers lined up for this fall and it will be a good time welcoming them to Acalanes. We could use help with social media, communications, photography, membership recruitment, data analysis, speakers, and also a few liaisons to work with other parent groups and support student activities. Reach out and let’s talk about which role fits you best.
 
Did you hear about the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)? ACP will help families that might not otherwise be able to afford high-speed internet. If you know families that might qualify, help spread the word.
 
We are social: Follow us on Instagram: @acalanesdei 

Endangered animals, skiing, model UN, Jewish culture…we support the work of many of our student clubs! Every student belongs at Acalanes, and their interests help form meaningful connections on campus. Talk to your student about joining or starting a club. Bonus – clubs meet during the school day so students can work it into their schedules. Learn more here. 
 
Let’s Cheer!  ACA debuts first female football player.
 
As many of you may have recently seen, Acalanes has its first female football player on the JV team this year. Lucca DeBiasse and her teammates will help to kick off our Dons football season soon and as they do, we are reminded that football has the power to bring us together. Check out this inspiring trailer for “First Down”, a gripping short film on an underdog, all-girls, high school tackle football league that shows why girls also belong in pads and how players empower one another on and off the field. “We all have different backgrounds, but when we get on the field together we are all the same…we want to do big things and make this history.”
 
We are social: Follow us on Instagram: @acalanesdei 

APC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee extends a warm welcome to all our families and invites you to connect with our committee.
 
We look forward to participating in a number of Fall activities including:

• Latine Heritage Month
• LGBT History Month
• United Against Hate Week (a Tri-City collaboration)

We will host a kick-off meeting soon, but in the meantime, we can use a few more parents to help with our communications and social media. No experience needed and low time commitment. Click here to find out more.
 
Follow us on Instagram: @acalanesdei 

Do you enjoy sharing interesting information about different people and cultures? Please volunteer to help us with communications for next year! Email us here or visit our Acalanes DEI website. Other committee positions are open too!

Thursday, June 2, 6:00pm. Save the Date for the third Angelversary of Miles Hall‘s death. Please help us turn Pain into Purpose with a Miles For Miles: Walk For Justice and Rally. Meet at Remembrance Park between Lilac Dr and Newell in Walnut Creek at 6pm and walk together to Civic Park (1.3 miles) for a special event to honor Miles at 7:15pm. Park at Las Lomas High School.

In honor of Jewish Heritage Month we spotlight Ralph Kuznitzki, a 15-year-old Jewish refugee living in the US during World War II. He was housed at the Ft. Ontario refugee camp near Oswego, NY, where he was able to attend local schools. Kuznitzki wrote this composition, The Flower and I for a high school English assignment.

Notice something different at this year’s Met Gala? The historically exclusive fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY has come under fire recently, with fashion experts agreeing that exclusivity is outdated. “Because of the industry’s interest in selling aspirational, unattainable fantasy, it may never be able to change until cultural standards of beauty steer away from thin and white…” writes USA Today.

Do you love reading this section of the newsletter every week? Are you curious about different people and cultures? Please consider volunteering for one of our communications spots for next year. For more information, email us here or visit our Acalanes DEI website. Other committee positions are open too!

According to the National Coalition on Mental Health andAging, about 80% of older Americans are in good mental health. However, experts agree that social isolation among our older population can affect their physical health. For information on the topic including intervention, watch this video or find more information on their website.
 
You’ve heard of activist Cesar Chavez, but do you know about Filipino American hero Larry Itliong? It was actually Itliong who reached out to Chavez about creating a union joining Filipino and Mexican farmworkers, who would later go on strike and change California’s labor history forever.
 
Anxiety is treatable. This is the takeaway in the movie Angst, produced by IndieFlix and its non-profit arm the IndieFlix Foundation. “People see anxiety as a personal failing rather than a medical condition.” The film features gold medalist Michael Phelps who suffered from anxiety and depression as a young person. “I just didn’t like who I was,” he told a boy in the documentary.

Do you look forward to reading this section of the newsletter every week? Are you curious about people and cultures different from yours? Then help yourself and your students by volunteering to fill in one of our communications spots for next year. For more information, email us here or visit our Acalanes DEI website. Other committee positions are open too!

Wednesday, May 11 from 6:30 to 8:00pm via Zoom – Social Emotional Wellness and Mental Health for Asian American Tweens/Teens, hosted by Moraga School District, Campolindo Parent DNI and JM DEI Committee. Click to Register.

Saturday, May 14 at 7:30pm at the Lafayette Library – Gold Coast Chamber Players’ Cultural Crossroads: Black and Indigenous influences on Dvořák in America Pre-concert interview at 7:00pm. Tickets online: $15-45. Their short “About Us” video features our very own (soon-to-be-retired) Stanley music teacher extraordinaire Bob Athayde.

And speaking of music… Ever hear an amazing song and you can’t get it out of your head? Filipino American musician Toro y Moi’s just-released music video “The Loop” is one of those songs. In this fun San Francisco video he rides on various modes of transportation including in a jeepney, those little yellow GoCars, even skateboards.

Colorado State University tight end Trey McBride is expected to be selected in the NFL draft this week, making him the first NFL player with same–sex parents. His parents, Kate and Jen, said they focused on building character and instilling confidence in their five boys. “More important than [Trey] playing in the NFL or anything is he’s a good human. He’s a good kid. That’s most important,” Kate said.

Why about gender with youth? Friday, May 6 at 6pm, join us for a movie and conversation to support and to learn how to be better allies to our LGBTQ+ youth. Sign upor get more info.

Know any young writers? The Young Writers of Color Festival is upon us! The YWCF encourages artists to explore projects about joy, happiness and resilience responding to their current moment. Nata

And speaking of the arts, Pacific Northwest Ballet is part of a rising generation of gendernonconforming ballet dancers. Apprentice dancer Ashton Edwards is breaking barriers, questioning traditional ballet’s rigid gender roles.

Congratulations go to Alyssa Nakken! A coach for the San Francisco Giants, she made history last week becoming the first woman to take an on-field role in a Major League Baseball game.

The city of Oakland is helping to fund a $28 million grass-roots effort to help residents of East Oakland mitigate climate problems. With the help of Planting Justice, a nonprofit focusing on economic justice, local residents have started by planting fruit trees in the Sobrante Park neighborhood.

This month, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Deaf West Theater opened a “radical” and “extraordinary” new production of Beethoven’s Fidelio at Walt Disney Concert Hall conceived for both hearing and deaf opera goers.

Facts corner: A study published recently in the journal Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences offers new genomic evidence that the Muwekma Ohlone tribe’s presence in the Bay Area dates back 2,000 years or more.