It's the PALS Press!

First and foremost: There will be a secondary PALS training on January 23 from 9:30 a.m.-noon at ACC Highland in Building 2000. If you need to reserve a bus for your students, NOW IS THE TIME, but if your students can drive themselves, save the bus money and let them carpool. Please see below for the relevant forms and permission slips.

We plan to celebrate PALS in grades 4-6 with a picnic at the end of the second semester. Elementary counselors, if you have thoughts, ideas, or asks for the spring celebration, please let us know!

High School folks, if you would like to host us for an information gathering conversation with your students on a Friday of your choice, we would be eternally grateful. Mostly, we are interested in gathering student feedback to learn more about how PALS affects a campus' (and vertical team's) culture, and how we can build awareness of PALS across AISD. Please reach out with dates that you're free.

Also, as you know, we are always happy to meet in person or via video to help you plan for program implementation, specific program goals, or troubleshooting. Just reach out and we'll find a time.

And, as always, please send us an e-mail at monica.flores@austinisd.org or sbowley@youthlaunch.org if you'd like for us to come to your campus for supplemental PALS training or True Colors.

To a happy, healthy 2024!

The PALS Team

Dates to remember:

1/15/24 - MLK Holiday

1/23/24 - Secondary Student Training at ACC Highland from 9:30-12

1/30/24 - PALS teacher and counselor social hour (details to come)

Secondary PALS folks, please make sure your students' caregivers have signed the Private Transportation Permit if your students plan to drive themselves to ACC on January 23rd. Also, please review, fill out, and submit the Field Trip Basics form attached below.

Because the training runs until noon, students will be hungry as they leave for the day. Cafeterias can pack sack lunches for field trips with a week's notice. If your students are not in a position to buy lunch out, you may want to make sure you've submitted the lunch order for them. Students can swing by your cafeteria and pick up/pay for (if applicable) their lunch before boarding the bus.

If your students are interested in marching in the MLK Day Parade, please start to make a plan and let us know. We'll make plan to make signs and meet up.

You can always look for service opportunities at https://www.givepulse.com/search

Some upcoming opportunities to serve around town are:

Tree Planting with TreeFolks: Join TreeFolks and the City of Austin's Urban Forestry Program to plant trees at various parks and preserves throughout Austin, Texas.

Volunteer at the Food Bank! Our key opportunities include volunteering in our warehouse, lending a hand in the garden or kitchen, or helping at one of our mobile food pantry distribution sites.

Warehouse- You'll inspect, clean, sort, box and make food donations ready for distribution to our Partner Agencies and the families they serve. Youth ages 8+ are welcome with adult (21+) supervision.

Kitchen- The Food Bank facility includes a 4,200-square foot commercial production kitchen that supports on-site meal preparation for multiple programs. Youth ages 15+ are welcome with adult (21+) supervision.

Garden- The Food Bank’s Garden serves as a replicable model of sustainable growing practices and teaches clients the importance of healthy eating and physical activity. Come help empower your community as you assist our gardener by planting seeds and seedlings, pulling weeds, shoveling compost, harvesting produce, and cultivating the garden beds! Youth ages 15+ are welcome with adult (21+) supervision.

Mobile Food Pantry- Asking for help can be the hardest thing folks have to do. We rely on volunteers to ensure our mobile food pantries are welcoming, respectful places for clients to get the help they need. Distributions occur at sites across our 21-county service area, including Austin, Lexington, McLennan, Bartlett, Lott, Cedar Park, Mustang Ridge, Fredericksburg, San Saba, Johnson City, Uhland and Kosse. Youth ages 15+ are welcome with adult (21+) supervision.

Education Supplies Prep Come join us at Austin Creative Reuse for a low-key evening volunteering, chatting with friends, and networking! You'll help our Education Coordinator prepare re-use materials for all of our educational programs! You might: bundle materials for the Creative Cache, create educational kits, or process supplies. But one thing is for certain; we're gonna have a fun time! This is an indoor, seated event located at Austin Creative Reuse in Windsor Park (just 10 minutes from campus!).

This project is very well suited for all ages, including children as young as 9 years old! Just make sure that any participants under the age of 15 are accompanied by an adult.

Craft Supply Donation Sorting and Packing Come join us at Austin Creative Reuse for a high energy night volunteering, chatting with friends, and networking! You will help us sort and package craft or office supply donations to be sold at our creative reuse center. This is an indoor, seated/standing event located at Austin Creative Reuse in Windsor Park (just 10 minutes from campus!).

Austin Creative Reuse is a Austin based non-profit that aims to foster conservation, education, and community building through the creative reuse of old items and the reuse of creative items! We take in ~50,000 lbs. of donations every month and we rely on volunteers to help us process all those donations! Most items we resell at our center at very accessible price points, but we also teach people new creative skills in our classroom, donate supplies to schools, and attend community events to teach our youngest generations about creative reuse.

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 campuses across Austin ISD.

Email: sbowley@youthlaunch.org
Website: austinisd.org/pals
Location: 4000 South Interstate 35 Frontage Road, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: 9176931344
Facebook: facebook.com/AISDPALS