In today's newsletter, Bellflower Middle/High School wanted to highlight one of our high school English classes, led by Mrs. Amanda Chavolla. The class shown in photos below participated in a hands-on activity on October 6th, where student participated in a classroom "escape room" to celebrate Edgar Allan Poe Day. Students also had the opportunity to read some of the stories that were written by Edgar Allan Poe. Multiple English classes participated in celebrating the famous author.
Racism, prejudice, and discrimination against others is not something that we tolerate here at Bellflower Middle/High School. We strive to make our students understand the issues that revolve around racism and prejudice, and we would love parental support in this matter as well. Parents are the first line of defense when it comes to breaking down issues regarding racism and prejudice, but sometimes parents may not know how to engage in conversations with their children regarding these issues. Click here to access a UNICEF article titled "Talking to your kids about racism," which describes methods that adults can use to engage in conversations with children about racism and discrimination. You can also click here to review an article from Save the Children or click here for an article from PBS, which describes how to talk honestly with children about racism. Click here to access an article from Edutopia that also describes how to teach young child about bias, diversity, and social justice. There are so many great resources that are available on the internet, it simply takes time to find something that may work for you and your family.
Some tips to help parents prepare for difficult conversations and discussions may be:
1) To practice what you want to say before you say it
2) Be aware of your own biases
3) Ask your child how they feel - directly.
4) Do your research
5) Limit exposure to media and social media when things are overly negative
6) Listen to and encourage your child
7) Correct misinformation
8) Talk about race in age-appropriate ways
9) Be patient
Also, be sure to speak to your child and really teach about things that can be hurtful to other people. For instance, some people may view certain ideas/topics as a joke, but those jokes may not be funny to other people, and in many instances, they may be harmful. As an example, we sometimes have students that draw images of Nazi swastikas, thinking that this is a funny joke. However, the reality is that the Holocaust is not something that should be viewed as a joke; millions of people lost their lives during one of the most horrific time periods in human history, much of it due to racist ideology, and the Nazi swastika itself represents this ideology.
Microaggressions can also be problematic as well. This occurs when there is subtle or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group. Click here to watch a short clip that provides a general description about microaggressions or click here to watch a different short clip that talks about microaggressions and how to respond to them.
To end this section, we ask one thing of our parents: Remember that you are the example your child follows. Showing strong leadership and demonstrating kindness towards others are skills that kids will pick up on, and will hopefully emulate.
On October 14th, all of our students attended a powerful and emotional presentation that was shown by the organization called Street Racing Kills. Presenters from the organization talked about the dangers of street racing, explaining their own family tragedies that were a result of illegal street racing. A member of the California Highway Patrol also described the consequences of illegal street racing. One of the presenters also talked about how he spent over 20 years in prison as a result of killing someone during one of these illegal races as well. The events was sponsored by the Bellflower Kiwanis and members of the city council from the City of Bellflower.
In honor of Red Ribbon week, PTSA came out during lunch on October 18th to have students sign a red ribbon to pledge a drug free life. It was great to see how many students participated in the lunch time event. We are excited to kick off the official Red Ribbon Week with themes for each day starting on October 24th.
Did you know that free online tutoring is being provided by the BUSD district?
PAPER Online Tutoring isavailable for all students in 4th-12th grade through their Clever account. Students may ask tutors questions through the chat feature using the PAPER APP to get help with homework, feedback on their writing, or support with studying for assessments. The APP can be found in the Google Play and Apple APP store.
Click here to register for a free parent webinar (provided in English and Spanish). If your child needs more information about how to use PAPER, they can watch the following videos for more information:
Click here to watch the video titled "How Do Students Access 24/7 Live Help on PAPER?"
Click here to watch the video titled "How Do Students Use PAPER's Essay Review?"
Reminder to all seniors: UC applications opened in August (can only be submitted in November). CSU applications are open in October (due dates vary, with most having due dates in November). Community College applications can be submitted usually starting in December or January. We ask that students use the California Colleges website to submit their UC application, CSU applications, and FAFSA or DACA application. The California Colleges website enables students to automatically have their Aeries information and grades automatically transfer into their application! Mrs. Tripp (the senior counselor) visited senior classrooms to discuss college applications and FAFSA in more detail.
All seniors should work on their 2023-2024 FAFSA application (US citizens or eligible non-citizens) or California Dream Act application (for undocumented students), both of which open in October, and whose priority deadline is March 2nd. This is how community colleges, trade schools, and four-year universities will know how much financial aid you will be able to receive. Yes, it is possible to submit the FAFSA past the application's priority deadline, but you are not guaranteed the same amount of free money that you could have received (so don't procrastinate!). Even if you are unsure about attending a college/university after high school, you should at least submit the FAFSA, to keep your options open. What if you change your mind?
To work on completing the FAFSA or CADAA application online, it is helpful if you already have the information that is listed on the attached guide:
Should you need assistance completing a university application, or to complete your FAFSA, you can go to the College & Career Center (Room 401) during the times that it is open.
In addition, should have have the time, you can also review Dr. Tehrani's 2022 College Workshops, that were presented to students in March of 2022. Click here to access a Google Folder that contains slides and a 1-hour video recording of the following workshops:
College Workshop #1: Degrees, Resources, & Dormitories
College Workshop #2: Costs, Financial Aid, & Scholarships
College Workshop #3: Internships, Safety, Study Abroad, & Jobs
Parents and Guardians: Please join us on Wednesday, November 30, at 8:45am for our 2nd official ELAC Meeting for the 2022-2023 school year. The meeting will take place in Room 413 (meeting location may change). We will have a Spanish interpreter at the meeting as well. ELAC (English Learner Advisory Committee) invites any parent or guardian, but we especially would like to see parents of students who are English Language Learners.
Please read the following information regarding the High School Yearbook. The current cost is $85, but that will increase after Winter Break. In addition, we also sell pages in the high school yearbook as well. The costs are listed on the attached flyer, posted below, that you can download. If you have any questions regarding the high school yearbook, please contact Ms. Lisa Jass, in Room 202. If you have questions regarding payments, please contact the ASB Office.
Bellflower Middle/High School's Family Resource Center is proud to host a series of weekly workshops, starting Thursday, October, 6th through Thursday, December 15th. Different topics will be covered each week by the organization Parent Education Bridge for Student Achievement Foundation. These workshops will occur every Thursday at 9am in Spanish on campus in the Buc Family Resource Center, and 6pm in English (virtually) via a Zoom link, which is emailed out to parents. See the attached fliers below for further dates and information.
The College & Career Center (Room 401) is here to assist students with college applications, scholarships, financial aid, resumes, work permits, and other college and career information. Office hours are Monday: 10am-1pm, and Tuesday-Friday: 8:30am-11:30am.
Need assistance? Students can contact Ms. Ochoa at alejandraochoa@s.busd.k12.ca.us
SENIOR STUDENTS! Did you know that several PTSA groups in our community offer scholarships? But, you can only qualify to receive a PTSA scholarship if you are a member! So, join today!
Click here to be redirected to TOTEM, the website that our PTSA uses for online membership payments. Or, you can also go to the front office to pick up a membership envelope as well, if you prefer to pay with cash or check.
Thank you in advance for joining our Bellflower Middle/High School PTSA!
Bellflower Middle/High School
YouTube: @wearebellflower
Email: bhsprincipal@busd.k12.ca.us
Website: www.bellflowerhigh.org
Location: 15301 McNab Avenue, Bellflower, CA, USA
Phone: 562-920-1801
Facebook: facebook.com/wearebellflower
Twitter: @wearebellflower