Luis Valdez Leadership Academy
Lion Roar
Week of May 18 - May 25, 2020
From Your Principal
Dear Lions,
It was not easy to publish this week's newsletter. I know it has been a tragic week for our community. Our community is sadden by an unimaginable loss. Over the course of the last few days, I thought and probed what to say and how to say it, and I am still at a loss for words. Sometimes there is no way to understand death. The warmth of your sentiments and love are undeniable and felt across our community. Together with your advisor, your friends, your teachers, your family and our staff, TOGETHER, we will continue to cry, think, share, be angry, be happy, be sad, smile, and then be angry again, as we aim to understand death and the loss of our Beloved Lion, Erick. I ask that you be gentle with yourself as we experience this loss. Remember, there are resources and our team is ready to support you in all that you might need as you process. I encourage you to reach out and share, talk, share, and talk some more.
Erick's family has lovingly invited us to come together and join Erick's service. The information is included below. Our condolences and thoughts continue to be with Erick's parents, siblings and family.
May our days be better and in loving memory of Erick, walk in love, act in love, talk in love, become love.
Your Principal,
Ms.Gonzalez
408-913-5009
ACADEMICS
9-11th Grade: June 1 - 4, 2020
12th Grade: May 26 -28, 2020
There are a few days remaining in Semester 2 to make a positive improvement in your class and earn all passing grades. Seize the opportunity.
Summer school options are being drafted and will be shared as soon as there is concrete information.
We are still enrolling for Class of 2024, please share and refer family and friends!
RESOURCES
CRISIS TEAM RESOURCES
Crisis Support and individual check-in time is available to all. Please use the time as you need it and contact any of the support staff listed below. Additional support can be provided upon referral, as needed.
Rochelle Fong, Director of Student Services
408.585.5022 ext. 1022
Terrell Worthy
408.641.8520
Marcella Rojas, AMFT with Alum Rock Counseling Center
408.910.6594
Jorge Garcia, Bilingual AMFT with Alum Rock Counseling Center
408.658.7235
24 Hour Crisis Line 408.294.0579
MATH TUTOR: Wednesday, May 20, 2020 @ 3:25 PM (please contact Ms.Gonzalez if you are interested)
Mental Health Services
The following resources are available to help people who may be experiencing distress or heightened anxiety right now:
- 24/7 Behavioral Health Services Department Call Center: (800) 704-0900
- Crisis Text Line: Text RENEW to 741741
- Suicide and Crisis Hotline 24/7: (855) 278-4204
- Mobile Crisis Response Teams (MCRT)
- Adults-BHSD MCRT: (800) 704-0900
- Children and Youth-Uplift Family Services Mobile Crisis Response: (408) 379-9085
- If you are experiencing an emergency call 9-1-1 immediately.
COVID-19 Updates from Assembly Member Aah Kalra (a dedicated page) https://a27.asmdc.org/covid-19-updates-and-resources
Food Distribution:
Mondays: Our Lady of Peace (2800 Mission College Blvd Santa Clara, CA 95054)
Tuesdays: Our Lady of Refuge (Closest to LVLA) (2165 Lucretia Ave San Jose, CA 95122) (5PM-7PM)
Wednesdays: St. Martin of Tours (200 O'Connor Dr. San Jose, CA 95128) (9AM-11AM)
Thursdays: St. John Vianney (4600 Hyland Ave San Jose, CA 95127) (9AM-11AM)
Fridays: St. Lucy's Campbell (2350 S Winchester Blvd Campbell, CA 95008) (10AM-12PM)
Saturdays: Santa Teresa Parish (794 Calero Ave San Jose, CA 95123)
ACADEMIC COUNSELING CORNER
Seniors, monitor your Semester 2 grades. Senior Check Out is on May 29, 2020. If you are not passing your classes, needed for graduation, it will negatively impact your graduation. Please focus on passing your classes.
If you have questions about your courses selections for 2020/2021 please contact Ms.Canales at scanales@tfhe.org.
Cyber High credit recovery continues. If you are assigned a class, please log on. if you need help, reach out. This is a great opportunity to complete courses that you need to recover.
COLLEGE and CAREER
Announcements for Seniors
Colleges are sending many updates about what next semester will look like. Remember to check your emails and Portals for the latest news. If you committed to a CSU, here is there latest update:
Scholarships are still open! See this list for open scholarships: April/May 2020 Active Scholarships
Wondering what kind of resources you will be available to you in college? Check on Friday’s presentation, posted in your Class of 2020 Google Classroom.
Dual Credit Class: You have until May 22nd to change your grade to Pass/No Pass. See your email or contact Brittany if you have any questions. If you need an SJCC transcript for your college, final grades will be available June 2nd.
Continue to pay attention to college deadlines like Housing, Intent to Register, Work Study, etc! Though we don’t know the specific situation next year, stay on top of things.
There are colleges still accepting applications for the fall
Announcements for Juniors
Sign Up for Junior Lesson on UC Personal Insight Questions (PIQs) and CSU EOP Questions this Thursday 5/21
To continue to prepare for college applications, find creative ways to contribute to your “activities” list this summer! Not sure what to do? Here are some ideas.
Dual Credit Class: You have until May 22nd to change your grade to Pass/No Pass. See your email or contact Brittany if you have any questions.
Online workshop series for high school juniors called, "Contemplate, Assess, Strategize, and Execute Your Path to College."
This workshop will take place on four Fridays from 4:00 - 4:30 PM on May 15, May 22, May 29, and June 5!
Register through this link HERE: https://forms.gle/zDkvLrqR21ymffPD6
Sign up for a FREE college essay workshop series from June 1-5!: Email Brittany directly if you would like to be added to the workshop.
As always, reach out to Brittany and Angel if you have any questions or need any help with anything!
Call or Text us via Google Voice:
Brittany: (408) 430-7402
Angel: (408) 766-0771
Information Technology
Birthdays!
Our lives would not be the same without you and your amazing energy. Wishing you happiness today and always. ¡Feliz cumpleaños!
MAY
Ariana A. (18th)
Alondra C. (19th)
Crystal P (24th)
Tatiana M. (24th)
Tyler M. (24th)
Alexis M. (24th)
The Foundation for Hispanic Education Updates
MINDFULNESS
Mindful Workout: Activate Your Mind and Your Muscles
Riding a bike, lifting weights, sweating it out on a treadmill—what do such exercises have in common? For one thing, each can be a mindfulness practice. Whatever the physical activity—dancing Bachata, taking a swim—instead of simply working out to burn calories, master a skill, or improve condition, you can move and breathe in a way that not only gets your blood pumping and invigorates every cell in your body, but also shifts you from feeling busy and distracted to feeling strong and capable.
Ready? The following steps, good for any activity, will help you synchronize body, mind, and nervous system. As you do, you will strengthen your capacity to bring all of your energy to the task at hand.
1. Be clear about your aim. As you tie your laces, bring purpose to your activity by consciously envisioning how you want your guide your session. As you climb on your bike you might say, “I am going to breathe deeply and notice the sensation of the breeze and the sun and the passing scenery.” As you go for a run, you might say, “I’m going to pay attention to each step, and the sound and feel of the wind surrounding me.”
2. Warm up (5 minutes). Try any simple moves— jumping jacks, stretching— and concentrate on matching the rhythm of your breath to your movement. By moving rhythmically, your brain activity, heart rate, and nervous system begin to align and stabilize.
3. Settle into a rhythm (10 to 15 minutes). Pick up the intensity, but continue to coordinate your breath and movement. If you have trouble doing this, then simply focus on your breathing for a few minutes. Eventually you’ll find your groove.
4. Challenge yourself (10 to 15 minutes). Try faster speed, more repetitions, or heavier weights, depending on what you are doing. Notice how alert and alive you feel when pushing yourself.
5. Cool down (5 minutes). Steadily slow down your pace until you come to a standstill. Notice the way your body feels. Drink in your surroundings.
6. Rest (5 minutes). Quietly recognize the symphony of sensations flowing in and around you. Practice naming what you feel and sense. Chances are you’ll feel awake and alive from head to toe.
LVLA College Decision Day
Friday, May 22, 2020, 03:00 PM
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Class of 2020 College Acceptances
Marleny L.
UC Merced
UC Riverside
CSU Long Beach
CSU Sacramento
CSU Stanislaus
CSU Monterey Bay
CSU Los Angeles
Redlands
Anthony A.
Evergreen Valley College
Francisco A.
Evergreen Valley College
Nancy Tamayo
CSU Fresno
CSU Dominguez Hills
CSU Sacramento
CSU Stanislaus
Melina A.
San Jose City College
Paola L.
UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara
Loyola Marymount University
University of San Francisco
CSU Sacramento
Rivaldo C.
Jacob P.
UC Santa Cruz
CSU Sonoma
CSU San Jose
Litzy C.
Fernando L.
Juan V.
UC Los Angeles
UC Santa Cruz
Cal Poly Pomona
CSU San Jose
Nayeli M.
UC Merced
CSU Stanislaus
CSU Sacramento
CSU Monterey Bay
Elian B.
Andrea N.
CSU Monterey Bay
CSU San Francisco
Class of 2020 UPDATES
We hope today was a better day and that the days to follow feel better. In honor of keeping our Senior celebrations, even during this very difficult time, we need to get important content from you. We want to host a great memory for you and we need the items! We want to honor your accomplishment as a High School Graduate and provide celebrations you so much earned.
COLLEGE DECISION DAY - Friday, May 22nd @ 3:00 P.M.
- College Choice - WAS Due May 15, 2020: If not yet provided to your Advisor.
- Student Thank You Appreciation Note - Due 5/19/2020: Go to Link: Thank You Appreciation Note
- Childhood Photo - Due 5/19/2020 : Email photo to Advisor
GRADUATION - June 5th @ 6:00 P.M.
- Graduation Photo - CHANGED!! Due Sunday, May 27th: WE NEED to meet this deadline. This is very important for a special graduation! Please a picture in your graduation gown/cap/stole/cords. Email photo to your Advisor. Have fun with this picture and let us see you as a GRADUATE!!
- Valedictorian and Salutatorian will be contacted on May 29nd. Speech will be pre-recorded and submitted no LATER THAN JUNE 2, 2020. The sooner, the better.
- Class of 2020 Student Speaker audition May 21st @ 10:00 - 11:00 A.M. Contact Ms.Canales for audition!
CAP/GOWN/STOLE/CORD PICK UP
Pick-Up on May 21, 2020. This is a no contact, drive-thru system on our campus (LVLA).
Pick-up window is 12:00 - 2:00 P.M. Items will be dropped in your trunk/truck bed, or back window, with all precautionary health measures/distancing in place.
PICK UP PROTOCOLS. FOR HEALTH and SAFETY:
No students or family members will be permitted to exit their vehicles.
Students and families must maintain physical distancing (6 feet of space or more).
Students and families will not be permitted to use restrooms or enter classrooms.
All cap/gown packages will be placed in the trunk, truck bed, or backseat of vehicles with all opening/closing of doors and compartments done by students/families.
Refunds for Cap and Gown. If you purchased a Cap and Gown from Jostens, note that it was purchased from the vendor directly, who is NOT giving refunds. Additionally, cap and gown are needed for their graduation photo and possible family photos. Create a lifetime memory. However, if you have a financial impact, and would like to request a refund for the CAP and GOWN, please email Maricela Alvarez at malvarez@tfhe.org by May 19, 2020. We are encouraging you to keep this as a keepsake and memory .
We are looking forward to celebrating with your Senior, you, your family, and the entire LVLA community. We do miss seeing you and cannot wait to see you soon. Thank you for all that you do.
VAMOS SENIORS!
WRITING CONTEST WINNER!
America? by Ruby L
American ?
To whom it may concern
Looks do not matter, it’s respect you need to earn.
We all don’t look the same,
We all play a different game.
We are all American
One country united
should not be divided.
To be equal is to be treated fair
But all people do is stare.
We are all here in chase of one dream
That only seems to be going downstream
We are all American
You can’t put labels on people who don’t look the same
We’re not one to claim
For a nation to work, it needs to become one
America has just begun.
It’s journey to unification is far from near
But together, we can kick it into high gear
We are all American
But how do i stand for a country that won’t do the same for me
All i can do is go and bag this degree
Break down the stereotype that people of color are lazy
To anyone who thinks that, you are crazy.
We are all American, right?
VIDEO CONTEST!
Guidelines
- Email your video to Ms.Gonzalez at ggonzalez@sjlvla.org by Sunday, May 25, 2020 midnight, using your LVLA email account.
- Entry must be an LVLA student.
- Video can be any style, on an appropriate subject.
- Must be original work.
- Video must be free of vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate imagery and language.
People That Changed the World
Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales
Poet and champion of the Chicano movement
Rodolfo Gonzales grew up in a tough Denver neighborhood during the Great Depression, which took an especially heavy toll on Mexican Americans. His father instilled a sharp sense of history from his native Mexico and encouraged his son to take pride in his heritage. After becoming a successful professional boxer, Gonzales retired in 1955 to write poetry. In the 1960s, he composed the poem, “I Am Joaquin,” which many view as the first spark in the Chicano movement. The poem discusses Gonzalez’s idea of the Chicano, which represented a combination of conflicting Indian, European, Mexican and American identities. Gonzales devoted the rest of his life to teaching cultural identity, focusing on building self esteem among discriminated people.
Learn More
Rodolfo Gonzales - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolfo_Gonzales
I Am Joaquin - An Epic Poem
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/latinos/joaquin.htmIDEAS? CONTACT MS.GONZALEZ!
School Contact Information
Instagram Follow us @sjlvla
Website: www.sjlvla.org
Location: 1855 Lucretia Avenue, San Jose, CA, USA
Phone: 408-384-4015
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjlvla