DEI

Important Dates

• April – Autism Awareness month
• Apr 22 Passover begins

This year, Passover begins tomorrow, April 22 at sundown and ends on Tuesday, April 30 at sundown. Passover, or “Pesach” in Hebrew, is an eight-day (or seven in Israel) celebration that commemorates the Jewish people’s escape from slavery in ancient Egypt. Passover involves several traditional events that honor the history of the Jewish people. During the first two nights of Passover, a Seder meal is hosted, which includes ritual blessings and symbolic food and drinks. Additionally, Passover customs require several changes to daily life. During Passover, observant Jews forgo leavened grain and bread products. Instead, these foods are replaced with matzah, an unleavened cracker or flatbread. Some households also refrain from working, driving, and using electricity. You can learn even more here.
 
DEI’s ‘24/25 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 members of our community that would like to be more involved. Time commitment and involvement is up to you but the more you do, the bigger impact you will have on our Acalanes community.

Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Important Dates

• April – Autism Awareness month
• Apr 22 Passover begins

DEI’s ‘24/25 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 members of our community that would like to get more involved. Do you have a student member of an equity club on campus? Would you like to help them be more successful? Consider joining the APC DEIB committee, as we are actively trying to promote our student groups on campus.
 
Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Important Dates

• Apr 2       World Autism Awareness Day – all of April is Autism Awareness month
• Apr 9       Eid-Al-Fitr
• Apr 22     Passover begins

April is Autism Awareness Month, honoring and recognizing our fellow community members on the autism spectrum and their families. Have you heard people talk about neurodiversity? Harvard Health explains the origin of the term and application here.
 
Eid–Al–Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. People greet each other with “Eid Mubarak,” meaning “Blessed Eid”, and with formal embraces. Sweet dishes are prepared at home and gifts are given to children and to those in need. In addition, Muslims are encouraged to forgive and seek forgiveness. Practices vary from country to country.

Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Women’s History Month (March)
• Disability Awareness Month (March)
• Gender Equality Month (March)
• Mar 25 Holi celebrated
• Mar 31 Easter and Trans Day of Visibility

Holi has immense religious significance for Hindus and is one of the most popular Hindu festivals celebrated with much enthusiasm and fanfare across India. Also known as The Festival of Color, in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura, it is also known as the ‘Dol jatra’ or ‘Basanta Utsav’. Traditionally celebrated in late February or early March in the Gregorian calendar, Holi marks the arrival of spring and the end of winter, coinciding with the full moon or Purnima on the evening of the Hindu month of Phalguna. It’s a time for people to come together, put aside their differences and celebrate life’s brighter moments.
 
Easter, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD.
 
International Transgender Day of Visibility (often referred to as TDOV or Trans Day of Visibility) is an annual event occurring on Mar 31 dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society. Joe Biden officially proclaimed Mar 31, 2021 as a Transgender Day of Visibility, saying in part, “I call upon all Americans to join in the fight for full equality for all transgender people.” Biden was the first American president to issue a formal presidential proclamation recognizing the event. Biden issued a similar proclamation a year later, welcoming Jeopardy! contestant and local transgender woman Amy Schneider to the White House and announcing a set of measures intended to support transgender rights.
 
Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Women’s History Month (March)
• Disability Awareness Month (March)
• Gender Equality Month (March)
• Mar 19 Nowruz – Persian New Year
• Feb 14 – Mar 28 Lent
• Mar 25 Holi Celebrated
• Mar 31 Easter and Trans Day of Visibility

According to National Geographic, Nowruz stems from a religious holiday in Zoroastrianism dating back close to 3,000 years in Persia (now Iran), in which the coming of spring was celebrated as a triumph of good over evil. The holiday now extends into several different faiths and areas of the world.
 
Lent, in the Christian church, is a period of penitential preparation for Easter. In Western churches it begins on Ash Wednesday, six and a half weeks before Easter, and provides a 40-day period for fasting and abstinence (Sundays are excluded), in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness before he began his public ministry.
 
As we celebrate Women’s History Month let us not forget those women with disabilities who have accomplished so many things despite their disadvantages. Please check out this link to discover 7 firsts to celebrate the accomplishments of deaf women.

Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Women’s History Month (March)
• Disability Awareness Month (March)
• Gender Equality Month (March)
• Mar 11 Ramadan Begins
• Mar 19 Nowruz – Persian New Year
• Feb 14 – Mar 28 Lent
• Mar 25 Holi Celebrated
• Mar 31 Easter and Trans Day of Visibility

Did you know Women’s History Month began as a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California?? It began as a week surrounding International Women’s Day (Mar 8 this year) to “celebrate the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America” (President Jimmy Carter). Find out more here.
 
One special woman to highlight this week is Tammy Duckworth. She is a disabled female combat veteran who is now a Senator from Illinois. Duckworth is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. She is the second Asian American woman to serve in the Senate, after Mazie Hirono.
 
The month of Ramadan begins at sunset on Mar 11. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (sawm), prayer, reflection, and community. A commemoration of Muhammad’s first revelation, the annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next.

Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Women’s History Month (March)
• Disability Awareness Month (March)
• Gender Equality Month (March)
• Mar 11 Ramadan Begins
• Mar 19 Nowruz – Persian New Year
• Feb 14 – Mar 28 Lent
• Mar 25 Holi Celebrated
• Mar 31 Easter and Trans Day of Visibility

Please join us as we celebrate the many religious holidays and festivals in our world this month. Along with that we will spotlight some amazing women and celebrate those with disabilities. If you have someone or something you would like to highlight please let us know here.
 
Do you use Facetime or Zoom? Thank prolific inventor Marian Croak, owner of 200+ U.S. patents. Croak was one of the first two Black women to be inducted to the Inventors Hall of Fame. She is best known for developing Voice Over Internet Protocols (VoIP), technology that converts your voice into a digital signal. Among her inventions is the text-to-donate function, which has helped to raise millions of dollars for disaster-relief efforts.

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Black History/Excellence Month (February)
• Women’s History Month (March)
• Disability Awareness Month (March)
• Gender Equality Month (March)

As we wrap up celebrating Black excellence this month, we ask each and every one of you to reflect on what makes this part of our culture so special. Black innovators have shaped our American culture in so many incredible ways, from the traffic signal to the Super Soaker, our refrigerated trucks to our long lasting light bulbs. And if it wasn’t for George Washington Carver, we might not have our good old PB and J or Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.
 
As we look into the month of March, we hope to celebrate women for their history month, and those with disabilities for their awareness month. It is also Gender Equality Month. If you have a story to share or someone special to highlight, please let us know!

Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Black History/Excellence Month (February)
• Women’s History Month (March)
• Disability Awareness Month (March)
• Gender Equality Month (March)

As we wrap up celebrating Black excellence this month, we ask each and every one of you to reflect on what makes this part of our culture so special. Black innovators have shaped our American culture in so many incredible ways, from the traffic signal to the Super Soaker, our refrigerated trucks to our long lasting light bulbs. And if it wasn’t for George Washington Carver, we might not have our good old PB and J or Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.
 
As we look into the month of March, we hope to celebrate women for their history month, and those with disabilities for their awareness month. It is also Gender Equality Month. If you have a story to share or someone special to highlight, please let us know!

Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Black History/Excellence Month (February)
• Feb 10-24 Lunar New Year
• Feb 14 Douglass Day
• Feb 19 Day of Remembrance
• Feb 23 BSU Dance at Miramonte

Tuesday, Feb 19 is Day of Remembrance. What exactly are we supposed to remember? It was on this day in 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which gave the U.S. Army the authority to remove civilians from the military zones established in Washington, Oregon, and California during WWII. This led to the forced removal and incarceration of some 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, who had to abandon their jobs, their homes, and their lives to be sent to one of ten concentration camps scattered in desolate, remote regions of the country. Every February, the Japanese American community commemorates Executive Order 9066 as a reminder of the impact the incarceration experience has had on our families, our community, and our country. It is an opportunity to educate others on the fragility of civil liberties in times of crisis, and the importance of remaining vigilant in protecting the rights and freedoms of all.
 
Miramonte’s BSU and leadership group are hosting a district wide Mardi Gras dance for all students on Friday, Feb 23 from 7-9pm! Along with dancing and an awesome DJ, there will be food, a 360 open-air video booth, a place to hang out with friends, and an airbrush tattoo artist! Tickets will be $10 and can be purchased on GoFan here.
 
Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Black History/Excellence Month (February)
• Feb 10-24 Lunar New Year
• Feb 14 Douglass Day
• Feb 19 Day of Remembrance
• Feb 23 BSU Dance at Miramonte

Thank you to the parent volunteers that helped bring Black Excellence Month alive around our school by decorating doors with information about influential black history makers. There are several events happening for our students throughout February so please encourage your students to join in on the fun.
 
Miramonte’s BSU and leadership group are hosting a district wide Mardi Gras dance for all students on Friday, Feb 23 from 7-9pm! Along with dancing and an awesome DJ, there will be food, a 360 open-air video booth, a place to hang out with friends, and an airbrush tattoo artist! Tickets will be $10 and can be purchased on GoFan here.
 
Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon, began yesterday, Feb 10. Did you know that San Francisco has celebrated Lunar New Year in some form since the Gold Rush era of the 1860s? You can learn many more things about this special time of the year here. If you are looking for ways to celebrate with your family please check out 510families.
 
Acalanes will have a Lunar New Year Celebration! You can encourage your student to celebrate with everyone at school this week on Wednesday, Feb 14 during lunch in the frosh quad with a potluck featuring various Asian dishes. IMPORTANT: Red envelopes with “food tickets” inside will be handed out that day during brunch in all of the quads. Please remind your student to make sure to grab an envelope to redeem for food at the potluck! Want to help make food? Signup here.
 
Please check out the new AUHSD DEIB website for many great resources and events! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook.