2/1 - February Principal's Coffee @ 8am, location-tbd

2/5 - Kealing Girls Soccer vs Murchison, @ 9a at Murchison Middle School

Throughout the month of December NJHS held a winter wear drive, and was able to collect over 200 clothing items. These items were used to create a winter closet for the Kealing Community. We were able to help so many families and community members only because of YOU! Now, we are looking to expand our service past the school community and into the greater Austin area.

- Our next student-selected service project is a COVID-19 Protection Drive in which we are asking the Kealing Community to donate PPE and other related items to unhoused Austin community members.
- We need disposable masks (preferably surgical masks, KN95s, or N95s), hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes.
- The drive will run from February 1st through the 28th.
- Drop off items at Ms. Chambers’ room (116)

Hello community! Thank you so much for showing up for Kealing time and time again! Be it your time, your talent, or your treasure--we appreciate you! Supplies are running low again and many of y'all know we basically do not have a supply budget as we previously had. Additionally, we are working hard to welcome refugee students to our campus. Their teachers providing resources to engage them and make them feel supported, so we have included several books and language acquisition resources to the Amazon wish list. I cannot express how much we appreciate you all. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/B7BQHNMLAOP?ref_=wl_share

NJHS is a national organization for middle school students. Our purpose is to promote the values of scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship within a school.

- ALL 7th and 8th graders eligible to join NJHS will be added to a blend course called “Kealing NJHS *CANDIDATES*”. To be considered eligible to join NJHS, you need an 85 or higher semester 1 average for all 4 cores + LOTE. (If you are already a NJHS member, you do not need to rejoin.)

- ALL information regarding what being a NJHS member means and how to join is available on the blend course.

- The FIRM DEADLINE to turn in your eligibility forms is Friday, February 4th. (The only exception to this is if a student is absent that day or misses multiple days that week.)

- If you have any questions about the blend course, or think you may have accidentally been missed, contact Ms. Chambers at rhiannon.chambers@austinisd.org

Topic: Akins Academy Presentation with Q & A session

Time: Jan 24, 2022 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86466485903?pwd=cUVCZWJHaHlFTVVBS2Izb0RVRkEyZz09

Meeting ID: 864 6648 5903

Passcode: 793082

The details: We've increased the base rate of substitute teacher pay for all levels. For example, degreed substitutes can now earn between $140 and $200 per day for filling a teacher assignment. We’ve also added compensation for supporting campuses when Austin-Travis County is in Stages 4 and 5.

• We also expanded our eligibility requirements so that people with fewer than 60 college credit hours are eligible to work in elementary or middle schools.

• Hopefully, we’ll get back to normal soon. In the meantime, if you know someone who would excel in a substitute role in AISD, point them to our website and encourage them to apply online.

• TCiNN Workshop - Intro to Project WET: learn all about the water based curriculum Project WET with their sampler workshop on January 22 at 10:00am CT. This workshop will provide you with activities you can do in your classroom to discuss all aspects of water education. The workshop will feature 2 hours of pre-work online and two hours at your closest Project WET Coordinator site. Texas Children in Nature Network (TCiNN) will let you know individually where you will be doing the second portion of the training.
• Bike Maintenance 101 with Yellow Bike Project - learn basic bike maintenance with Yellow Bike Project volunteer mechanics on Sun, Jan 30. During this class, participants will learn about maintaining tires, tubes, brakes, cables, bearings, and drivetrains to help ensure safe and pleasant rides. City of Austin employees have free entry.
• Arts + Culture on the Butler Trail - The Trail Foundation is currently accepting applications from artists, designers, and creatives who live in Austin or have lived experience in the city, and who identify as traditionally non-white (Black, Chicano, Hispanic, Latino, Asian American, Indigenous). This call is for (but not limited to) visual, literary, spoken word, music, sound design, performance, dance, textile, and environmental arts backgrounds; designers in the fields of environmental, fashion, graphic, industrial, and similar design fields; as well as people who practice creative cultural traditions. Three creatives will be paid to collaborate on the design and installation of floating wetlands on Lady Bird Lake in spring 2022, incorporating artistic components and ecological function to the project. Applications are due February 4, 2022.

• LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

  • Greater Austin STEM Ecosystem Networking Form - the first networking forum of 2022 for the Greater Austin STEM Ecosystem will be on Thu, Feb 3 from 4:00-5:30pm CT. This network includes collaborators across Austin and Texas focused on STEM education. You can see the full list of participant organizations at this link.
    

  
  

  COMMUNITY EVENTS

  • Zilker Park Vision Plan Virtual Community Meeting #4 - the project team will share initial park concepts to improve mobility, transportation, programming, environmental features, historical resources, and much more. To develop these concepts, the Parks & Recreation Dept. used feedback collected from more than 6,500 community members to shape possible plans, and the department is eager to review various ideas and possibilities with community members. The meeting is designed to be interactive and will include live polling, Q&A, and discussion. ASL & Spanish interpretation will be provided.
  • It's My Park Day! Spring 2022 - the next community-wide It's My Park Day! event will be on Saturday, March 5th. If you have a group ready for some park cleanup or a maintenance project, be sure to sign up by January 28th.

Julia Hill (she/her)

Program Coordinator – Cities Connecting Children to Nature

City of Austin | Parks & Recreation Department | Park Planning Division

+1 512-974-9466 | julia.hill@austintexas.gov

http://www.austintexas.gov/CCCN

Kealing prides itself on fostering a supportive & caring community, and one way it does that is through the Parent-Teacher Association. The PTA comprises families, teachers, administrators, students, and community members dedicated to enriching every student learning experience.

Your PTA membership makes Kealing a great community and unique learning environment. While our memberships number is at an impressive 486 members, we are 150 members short of the Texas PTA 3-year-high award. Let's finish this year with the largest PTA that Kealing has ever seen!!

To join the Kealing PTA hive, click the link below:
www.kealingpta.org

If you have Kealing PTA membership questions, please email Shannan Riemer, vpmembership@kealingpta.org.

Why Join PTA? Watch this video to learn more about why you should join the Kealing PTA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzGtGcYdEFs

Please contact Kealing membership VP, Shannan Riemer, vpmembership@kealingpta.org, with any membership questions, comments, or concerns.

Hello Hornets Community! Yearbook recognition ads are currently available through the Josten's website (www.jostens.com > search Kealing)! Recognition Ads a great way for parents, families and friends to commemorate student achievements and important milestones. Limited ads are available so be sure to secure your space now! Recognition and Personalized Yearbook Ads start as low as $35!

How To Order Guide (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b6bv9eEqfKqLAyzyyYIIeYCaz3_e_xXY/view?usp=sharing)

Thank you for all your generous contributions to our campus! We appreciate you and all the many ways you show up for our Kealing Community. We have started a Community Donates spreadsheet in order to repurpose household items to our campus. There are two ways to contribute--1. Drop off the requested item to the front office labeled with the requesting teacher's name. 2. If you have item(s) to offer that might have a second life on our campus, please add a description to the spreadsheet. Teachers can then go in and claim the item. HERE is a link to the spreadsheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IOK7cMk99UZtIQcClIWNQ8Wgc3_nBQ0tBrj7amKXLro/edit?usp=sharing