Danielle Gallagher – Page 6 – Acalanes Parents Club

School Nurse

April 30, 2023

ALCOHOL: Please take a look at this site. There is so much that is “normalized” about alcohol use, but I encourage you to send a strong message discouraging our underage students from using. Parents, please discuss with other parents how you can support creating opportunities for your kids to have fun without the dangers of alcohol use.

Visiting college campuses? Check out their Student Health & Wellness Centers. It’s a great idea to know where it is BEFORE your student may need it. These health centers are specialized in care for the college age population and have many expanded programs to support students and are especially helpful when being away from home and parents for the first time. I always recommend that students go there in the fall to get their flu shots. Can’t visit physically? Check out their websites!

A new nutrition infographic on my website: 5 Ways to Use Chickpeas

Berries are back in season! This week’s nutrition hack: Slow-Cooker Steel-Cut Oatmeal. Place 4 cups of water and 1 cup of steel cut oatmeal in a slow-cooker at night. Add 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Enjoy hot oatmeal in the morning – top with fresh berries! Hack: Make enough for several days-reheat as needed.

Dvora Citron, RN, MS
dcitron@auhsdschools.org
925-280-2970 x7128
IG: acalanesschoolnurse

Wellness Center

April 30, 2023

May is mental health awareness month! We celebrate this month to destigmatize mental health issues, provide support and generate awareness of what mental health means for all of us.

Destigmatizing mental health issues has played a huge role in making mental health care more widely accessible to those who need it. The implementation of Wellness Centers in AUHSD is largely in part to widespread efforts to normalize mental health and provide support at school, where students spend a huge portion of their time.
Mental health comes in all shapes and sizes. Many people assume that mental health struggles are a matter of pathology but, in reality, someone may have mental health challenges without ever receiving a diagnosis. When thinking about mental health in broad terms, a perfect analogy for understanding is a car. Cars need regular maintenance to make sure that things run smoothly for as long as possible and when things come up, a car needs to be checked out to get things back to baseline. Mental health is extremely similar in the sense that if we are not taking care of our mental health, it is more likely that things will come up. If these things are not addressed appropriately, they have the potential to impact our lives in ways that are less than ideal. The Acalanes Wellness Center is here to support your students no matter what their mental health looks like. Mental health is a journey, not a destination. Check in with your student for a better understanding of where they might be on their journey.

Performing & Visual Arts

April 30, 2023

ACALANES SPRING CONCERTS
Come celebrate the last month of the school year with Director Lauren Gibson and her talented groups of musicians as they perform two magical nights of music!

Dates: Tuesday, May 2 and Thursday, May 4
Time: 7pm
Location: AHS Performing Arts Center
Music Groups:

Tuesday – Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble
Thursday – Jazz Band, Orchestra, Wind Ensemble

Admission Price: Free

AHS CHOIR POPS CONCERT
Date: Friday, May 5
Time: 7pm
Location: AHS Performing Arts Center
Featuring: Harmonix, Innuendos, Octet
Admission Price: Fre

JAZZ CAFE
The much-anticipated annual Jazz Café returns to Stanley Middle School on Friday, May 12th at 6:00pm. Lamorinda residents have long flocked to the popular “Jazz Café” event for a fun (and free) evening of jazz, coffee and dessert. There will also be a taco truck on hand. This year’s Café marks the debut of Stanley Middle School’s new music director Todd Minson. Performers include Stanley Jazz Crusaders, Stanley Jazz Messengers, Stanley Chorus, Campo Jazz Ensemble and Acalanes Jazz Ensemble. For more information, contact dalianishimori@gmail.com.

LPIE

April 30, 2023

On Apr 21, we held a festive awards ceremony to announce the winners for Project LPIE. We received 155 entries this year! Congratulations to all our talented Acalanes students who participated in Project LPIE 2023. It’s not too early to start thinking about projects for 2024!

Click here to view the complete list of all Project LPIE 2023 Winners!

Michele Colaco and Andrea Hilsabeck, Acalanes LPIE School Chairs
www .lpie .org, Follow us on Instagram

Sports

April 30, 2023

This week’s can’t miss events:

Boys golf

Monday, May 1 DAL Championships at Diablo Creek GC

Baseball

Tuesday, May 2 Campolindo HS at 4pm. Varsity is away and JV is home.
Thursday, May 4 Campolindo HS at 4pm. Varsity is home and JV is away.

Softball

Tuesday, May 2 at Clayton Valley Charter HS at 4:30pm
Thursday, May 4 host Las Lomas HS at 4:30pm

Boys volleyball

Tuesday, May 2 NCS First Round at 7pm
Thursday, May 4 NCS Quarterfinal at 7pm

Boys lacrosse

Tuesday, May 2 NCS First Round
Thursday, May 4 NCS Quarterfinal

Girls lacrosse

Tuesday, May 2 NCS First Round
Thursday, May 4 NCS Quarterfinal

Swimming

Friday, May 5 NCS Trials at Concord Community Pool at 10:30am
Saturday, May 6 NCS Finals at Concord Community Pool at 10:30am

Boys tennis

Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6 NCS Singles & Doubles Championships at James Logan HS

Track & field

Saturday, May 6 DAL Finals at Campolindo HS 9am

The spring sports schedules will be found on the AHS website by clicking here.

If you have any questions, please contact Randy Takahashi at rtakahashi@auhsdschools.org or Haley Walsh at hwalsh @auhsdschools .org.

General Administration Announcements

April 23, 2023

Health and Trade Career Academies this Week
The Acalanes College & Career Center is hosting two additional Career Academies this week. Career Academies are quick and interesting ways to learn about future career options and opportunities. All students are invited and encouraged to attend.
Wednesday, Apr 26: Health Careers
Friday, Apr 28: Trade Careers (roofing, electrical, plumbing, automotive and more)
Additional topics will be offered next fall.

Acalanes Alumni Forum
On Tuesday, Apr 25, at 6pm, the Acalanes High School administration and Associate Student Body officers would like to invite our alumni to join in an open Zoom forum to share perspectives, personal experiences, and memories of what it means to be a Don.
Over the past several years, our school community has engaged in a discussion regarding our school’s history and our mascot, “The Don.” This topic is vital to our community and sparks strong feelings and diverse perspectives. The student body originally selected the Don Mascot in 1941, and it is within the ASB constitution, determined by our students, that the mascot is named. Our ASB leaders want to create a dialogue with our current student body and alumni to understand the differing perspectives. Our goal is to come to a common understanding of our values and what our mascot stands for to be inclusive of our Acalanes community.
Please click here to register .
We look forward to seeing you and hearing you share what it means to be a Don!

APC in Action

April 23, 2023

We’re in the home stretch…Let’s end the year with a grand slam as we fuel our students during Finals week
Who’s on first? You! By donating and/or delivering snacks to our students during finals week May 24-26.
What’s on second? Shop our Amazon wish list and have it delivered to the Finals Fuel clubhouse or donate directly to the Costco Run (venmo: @sheryl-platt-1 or paypal: sheryl@slpdesigns.net )
Why on 3rd? Help our students re-energize between final exams!
I don’t know in left field? Click here for the Sign Up Genius that includes more information on donating and volunteering.

April Dons Dialogue – Listen to the Recording!
If you missed our most recent Dons Dialogue on Wednesday, Apr 19, here are the recording or slides from the discussion. This month’s topics included;

Student activities update
Mascot presentation with ASB Officers
Department Chairs, Barth & Schottland, discussed ChatGPT
End of year awards & celebrations update
Q&A with Principal Shawn

The next Dons Dialogue will be Friday, May 12 at 8:45am in the Collaboration Center.

Please consider helping out at Prom and Grad Night!
We are in need of some additional help for both Prom and Grad Night and – we literally can’t hold these momentous events without parental support, so we urge you to consider joining the team! There are many opportunities to help- and for those of you with younger students, this is a great chance to get some visibility into the fun that’s to come for your student(s)!

PROM – Chaperone at SF City Hall – Saturday, May 13 – Sign up Here
GRAD NIGHT – Check in, Bus & Cruise Volunteers – Friday, May 26 – Sign up Here

We can’t thank you enough for your time, support and generosity. YOU are what makes this ACA community so amazing!

APC Membership & Fundraising

April 23, 2023

Buy a Brick, Leave a Legacy…
There’s no better way to honor a Don than with a customized 2023 Legacy Brick on our Dons Legacy Wall! Prominently displayed in the Main Quad, our Dons Legacy Wall provides families a lasting way to recognize their special student, teacher, coach, team, performance group, club, and more. Purchase your brick through the Acalanes Web Store for $250. Contact Legacy Brick Coordinator Leanne Zimmerman with any questions.

Acalanes Community Always (ACA)

April 23, 2023

AHS Garden Update – We’ve been busy!!
We planted most of our summer crops last Sunday in the farm (the garden space across from the autoshop). We received donations from the Moraga Gardens Nursery and have a few more crops still to plant. Our hope is to have summer crops for staff and families to pick up over the summer. Stay tuned for more details about this.

We have one more major workday and can use your help! Sunday Apr 30 from 9-12pm we will be adding mulch to the planted area in the meditation garden. After this work day, the meditation garden should be done (except for the ongoing weeding/maintenance). If you can come, please complete the form here below.
Any questions, please feel free to contact Lori Tewksbury – LTewksbury@auhsdschools.org

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)

April 23, 2023

April is Autism Awareness Month honoring and recognizing our fellow community members on the autism spectrum. Have you heard people talk about neurodiversity? Harvard Health explains the origin of the term and application here.

DEI’s 2023-2024 planning is underway. Please share any thoughts or ideas you have with us here. This is a collaborative process; we encourage participation. It is important that a plethora of voices and ideas are heard. We are also looking for parents to help out with events and communications next year. We have several active members aging out or retiring. Specifically, we would like to find people interested in re-posting items to our social media, maintaining an announcements calendar, and supporting a few annual events. Not a lot of hours involved, but definitely rewarding work. If you are interested, please reach out.

School Nurse

Wellness Center

Performing & Visual Arts

LPIE

Sports

General Administration Announcements

APC in Action

APC Membership & Fundraising

Acalanes Community Always (ACA)

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)

Acalanes Parents Club

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Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)