PALS Press!

Happy February, friends!

It's hard to believe that we've been in virtual land for the better part of a year. Just before the city closed down, we had our last in-person PALS teacher/counselor gathering at El Alma. Not long after, SXSW was canceled, AISD extended spring break, and we all know the rest.

Now, we hope, we are planning for a different kind of school year in 2021-22. Who will be in our hallways? How will students feel about coming back to campus? Are there instructional lessons we've learned this year that we'll continue to apply, even if we have bustling classrooms? What will we never speak of again?

As March nears, here are some big ideas we ought to be considering...

• Are you working on PALS admissions, yet? If you aren't, it's probably time to get that party started! Please reach out to Jane Howk (secondary folks), Lisa Schmitz (elementary folks) or me if you have any questions or are feeling stuck.There are samples of PALS applications on the "Elementary PALS" and "Secondary PALS" Blend courses that you can replicate, build upon, or abandon. It may also be worth considering how to reinvent your application as a Google Form or other online submission, given the difficulty for some of our students in attending school in person.
• PALS training videos are on Blend. You can find them under the module called "online trainings and tune-ups."
  
• How are you doing? Who is making gains with their students and the students they mentor? Who is spinning their wheels? Who is somewhere in between, and it literally depends what time of the day you're asked? Let me know! You have a support network, and many PALS teachers and counselors are in the same boat. There's no need to freak out or feel badly about your program on your own.
• Are you planning a professional move for next year? If so, do you have a plan in place for your program? If you are planning on a campus or career change, please let me know as soon as you're comfortable. I promise, your secret is safe with me (if your transition isn't public info yet)--but it makes sense to start gaming out how to pass the PALS torch sooner than later. By the end of the school year, finding a colleague who is excited and ready to engage with PALS will be difficult.
• How are you planning to celebrate your PALS this spring? Ordinarily, we'd be talking about an April PALS picnic right about now--though a large gathering of students in a park looks like it will probably still be off the table by the end of the year. Now is the time to start thinking of meaningful ways to congratulate your PALS on a year of service and compassion in the presence of a new kind of adversity that was totally immersive: campus life, family life, finances, and the rhythm of neighborhoods across the city were upended suddenly and stayed that way. If you need help brainstorming, please reach out!!!
• Maternity Leave Alert! I think I've reached out to just about every campus-based PALS person, but I want to remind you all that I'll be starting maternity leave in a few weeks, and I plan to be out until mid-April. If you need immediate support while I'm out, please reach out to jane.howk@austinisd.org (middle- and high school folks) or lisa.schmitz@austinisd.org (if you're at an elementary campus).
  

I'm looking forward to introducing you all to my little future PALS when he arrives. In the meantime, please take care!

xox,

sb

Below is a letter from the fantastic Ryan O'Donnell in the Office of Innovation and Development regarding Amplify Austin:

Hello PALS Family!

Thank you for your support of Austin Ed Fund over the years! We want to reach back out to your team with more information about this year’s Amplify Austin, and to see if you’re interested in creating a Peer-to-Peer fundraiser again for PALS. Just so you know: PALS and PTA programs are able to fundraise explicitly for their own programs at their own schools; the money we raise doesn't go directly into the broader Austin Ed Fund.

Amplify Austin has become the most impactful day of giving in Central Texas, raising over $69 million since 2013 for Austin area nonprofit organizations. Last year’s campaign helped Austin Ed Fund – Austin ISD’s education foundation – raise nearly $27,000 to #AmplifyAISD students and teachers, and they will be participating again this year! Austin Ed Fund has set a goal of raising $27,500 during Amplify Austin happening on Thursday, March 4 at 6:00 pm through Friday, March 5 at 6:00 pm. We need YOUR help!

How can you get involved and make a bigger impact on Austin ISD?

1. Donate to Austin Ed Fund – Make a donation by clicking the “Donate” button. Your contribution will impact teacher grant programs that provide innovative projects and enriching opportunities for ALL Austin ISD students. Gifts are tax-deductible and not subject to recapture. Pre-schedule a gift now or donate during the 24-hour period at Austin Ed Fund’s Amplify Campaign.

1. Become a Fundraising Champion – Create a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) fundraising page on behalf of Austin Ed Fund. This will help you appeal to donors within your own network and share your personal story of how you have been impacted by Austin Ed Fund. All donations made to your restricted P2P fundraising page will be redirected from the general Austin Ed Fund Amplify campaign and into your campus’ activity account. Our staff will provide support for creating your campaign, promoting on social media, and sharing with your communities. Here’s how to get started.

• Complete the Peer-to-Peer Fundraiser Survey by February 12 to indicate your interest.

• Go to Austin Ed Fund’s Amplify Campaign and click the “Fundraise” button to create and customize a P2P fundraising page with your story. Learn more about Peer to Peer Fundraising here. We encourage colleagues to team up and collectively create one department page, and then work collaboratively to promote it within your networks.

• Check out Austin Ed Fund’s Amplify Fundraising Toolkit for tips on promoting your page.

1. Spread the word – Share Austin Ed Fund’s Amplify Campaign and toolkit with family, friends, colleagues, and social networks, and encourage others to support Austin Ed Fund and Austin ISD.

***Incentives - All P2P fundraising pages that raise at least $250 will receive an Austin Ed Fund t-shirt, and an Amplify Austin t-shirt if you reach $1,000!

We'd be thrilled if you would join us as a Peer-to-Peer fundraiser! Please let us know if you have any questions. You can reach Ryan O'Donnell via e-mail at ryan.odonnell@austinisd.org. Thank you for your support!

#AmplifyAISD #InvestinAISD #AmplifyATX #ILiveHereIGiveHere

If you're unsure what you'd be raising money for, here's a sample shopping list. For more information about fundraising in general, please see this training that Ryan did for us that covers the basics of how to find donors and what kinds of fundraiser to pursue when.

...the graphic above might be a useful tool to show how PALS synthesizes all of the good stuff that both students and teachers bring to school and exports it all through your vertical team.

Story/shout out time! Please ignore if you're not in the mood for a long gushing post, but Rosedale Racoons Rock!

I am the Austin High PALS teacher, which is the most serendipitous accident that has happened in my life. PALS is a mentoring program. In a normal year, my Austin High PALS mentor students at six different campuses, including Rosedale. This is not a normal year. Connecting my high schoolers with mentees over Zoom in a pandemic has been fraught with logistical nightmares. But, so many counselors and teachers that we work with across the district have been trying so hard to MAKE IT WORK! Today, one of my PALS classes finally got to Zoom with their Rosedale PALees. Y'all... it was magical...

Rosedale is Austin ISD's specialized campus to support students who receive special education services. I've been partnering with them for 12 years now, and it's one of the most magical places in the district.

Today, I enter Brian Miller and Jason Hawrylo and Herb Ware's Zoom. The scene is chaos. I'm running a few minutes behind because I was helping all the PALS get to the right Zoom rooms, but my students assure me that the beautiful mess has been happening for 30 minutes already. I have not missed any pertinent instructions. We're having a scavenger hunt.

There are 35 people in the Zoom: Rosedale students, Austin High students, teachers, TAs, my poor unsuspecting student teacher. Brian is running the scavenger hunt, yelling commands: "find something pink!! find something furry!!" The Zoom squares rush to comply. No one is muted. A teacher is running down her own neighborhood street. A Rosedale student is shoving every pink object in her room at the camera. There's screaming and laughing. Another teacher rushes to tally the current scores, yelling numbers into the Zoom abyss. "Say the alphabet backwards!!!!" One of my students, a normally very shy one, starts complying with her previously dormant PALent; she can say the alphabet backwards better than most of us can say it forwards. A Rosedale TA begins reciting it in her native Arabic. The point-tallying teacher rushes to keep up.

Y'all, I know this was a long post, but it was beautiful. It has been months since I have laughed that hard or seen so much joy in my students' eyes. Heck, it's been months since I've seen that many students!! Intermittently throughout all of this, I have questioned if I even want to be a teacher, if any of this is making any difference. It is. Rosedale reminded me again today what it feels like to connect and laugh and just have fun with kids. Y'all have inspired me so many times during my career, and I am so happy to call y'all colleagues and friends.

Who do you follow for inspiration, encouragement, and new ideas for working with kids? Here are some favorite accounts, in case you're looking to mix it up.

Instagram:

@mindfulclassrooms

@childmindinstitute

@tchild_tcu

@edutopia

@lori.desautels

@evolvedteacher

@theconsciouskid

@futureleadersincubator

@thinkkidscps

@theartoffun

Twitter:

@stuartablon

@bdperry

@ChildTraumaAcad
@ThePOTATOgroup

@noelitalugo

Where are you looking for new ideas? What platforms do you frequent the most?

Let me know! stacia.bowley@gmail.com

Please send all good news, PALS pictures, calls for volunteers, and other ideas to stacia.bowley@austinisd.org to make sure they're featured in next month's PALS Press!

PALS is a cross-age peer mentoring program founded at Crockett High School in Austin, Texas in 1980. PALS support K-12 students at all levels of their education, and are at work at more than 60 campuses across Austin ISD.

Email: stacia.bowley@austinisd.org
Website: austinisd.org/PALS
Location: 4000 South Interstate 35 Frontage Road, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: (917) 693-1344
Facebook: facebook.com/AISDPALS
Twitter: @AISD_PALS