Piedmont Ahead
News from Piedmont Unified School District
Welcome to Piedmont Ahead
Congratulations to Piedmont High student Elena Stevens
Every year, AACI hosts the Growing Up Asian in America program with NBC Bay Area. The contest celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month by giving voice to the varied experiences of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) youth throughout the Bay Area and encourage this next generation of leaders to take pride in their heritage through creative self-expression. The contest is supported by sponsors and community partners Bank of America, Microsoft, Connie Young Yu, Raul Gorospe, Comcast, Asian Pacific Fund, Farrington Foundation, HomeLight, and Asian Art Museum.
This year’s theme, “This is My Time,” brought in over 600 entries from K-12th grade Bay Area students of all backgrounds and ethnicities. Students submitted art, essays and videos sharing the challenges they and their family and community have faced over the last year and their dreams for a post-pandemic future. This year’s best in class and honorable mention winners include remarkable students of Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Taiwanese and other ethnic backgrounds. Each Best in Class winner shared their thoughts, and inspirations about their winning entry below.
Elena's winning entry, as well as those submitted by other winning students in the categories of art, writing and video and their winning entries can be found at http://www.aaci.org/guaa.
MAMMA MIA, May 21-23
The musical MAMMA MIA will be presented in the amphitheater on the PUSD high school campus May 21-23. There are four performances: Friday, May 21, 6:00pm, Saturday, May 22, 2:00pm and 6:00pm and Sunday, May 23, 6pm Link for online ticket purchase: https://mammamiaphs.brownpapertickets.com/
ABBA's hits tell the hilarious story of a young woman's search for her birth father. This sunny and funny tale unfolds on a Greek island paradise. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter's quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother's past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago. Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and some songs by Stig Anderson; Book by Catherine Johnson. Rated PG-13 for innuendo and mild language.
Audience members are required to wear masks and social distance. Audience members will be asked to complete a health screener before coming to campus. Those who purchase tickets will be contacted with details closer to show time.
Performances are OUTDOORS in a concrete amphitheater. Hats, sunglasses, and water bottles are recommended for all performances due to the afternoon sun, and the setting sun in the evening. Stadium cushions and blankets for seating comfort are allowed. Items NOT allowed: Chairs with legs (including beach chairs), sun umbrellas, or anything that will block the view of the performance for the audience members behind you, food, ice chests, picnic baskets.
Post 2020: Compassion and Connection as a Foundation for Addressing Racism
PUSD would like to share this information with our families about a three part workshop series led by Havens parents in collaboration with Piedmont Racial Equity Campaign:
Thursdays, May 27, June 3, and June 10, 7:30-8:30pm
Register here:
***Special guest for the third session: Child psychologist Dr. Allison Briscoe Smith***
Tired of the Facebook divisiveness? Feel like you don't know what to say when your kids come home talking about George Floyd? Not sure why anti-racism is such a big part of the conversation in our schools? Want to learn more?
The past year has been stressful and challenging, even traumatic, for all of us. Now, with school ending and vaccines rolling out, we have a chance to consider how we want to move forward. How do we, and you, want to show up for 2021 and beyond?
One area that we clearly need to work on as a community is racism--its presence in our nation and our own community has come to the fore. But many of us aren't sure where to start to be an ally, or how to have conversations about race with each other and our kids and within our schools. We may have seen discussions on social media or elsewhere that make us wary of participating for fear of saying something wrong.
Now is the time for us to come together and consider how to move forward, with compassion and connection as vehicles, so that we can take action. This three-part workshop series will provide you with skills that are at the foundation of combating racism and that will help in all aspects of our post-pandemic lives.
What it is: a three-part workshop series focused on community building and creating a compassionate foundation for addressing racism. Please plan to attend all three if you can.
1. May 27th, 7:30 pm We will learn science-backed empathy skills as we discuss the past year with each other.
2. June 3, 7:30 pm We will learn to recognize common ways we react when under stress and to new or challenging information, and how to choose a response that matches our purpose. To help us get grounded in specific examples, we will listen to different artifacts that illuminate the voices of kids from Piedmont schools on their experience about race.
3. June 10, 7:30 pm A conversation with special guest Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith, a child psychologist specializing in trauma and race. Everything you wanted to know about talking about race, but were afraid to ask. We will address common fears, misunderstandings, and trepidations that keep people from having the conversations we need to have.
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Who should join: anyone who shares the goal of improving connection and communication in our community as a foundation for taking on racism in our community, schools, and ourselves and moving past 2020 in a positive way. We hope that people who haven't figured out how to engage or want to do better, will join. Those who have asked themselves, “How do I talk to my kids about race?” or “I want to say something but I’m afraid I will say the wrong thing” should join. Anyone who wants to come together to deepen skills, share wisdom, and connect with others to create a culture of positive change, come join us!
Questions? contact Sara Johnson Kerrest (sarakerrest@gmail.com) or Amy Kelly (amykahnkelly@gmail.com)
Pfizer Vaccine Approved for youth 12 and older
The Pfizer vaccine has been approved by the CDC for youth ages 12 and older. Vaccination sites that provide the Pfizer vaccine are now able to provide vaccination to anyone ages 12 and older.
PUSD highly encourages everyone, including students, to consider vaccination against COVID-19. Many of the sites listed below do not require appointments, though they may be recommended. Your child will need a second shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine 3 weeks after their first shot.
Requirements for youth under age 18 to receive the COVID-19 vaccine
Students must have permission from a parent or guardian to be vaccinated. There are multiple ways to show parent/guardian consent. Contact the vaccination site to determine acceptable ways to demonstrate parent permission.
Students do not need health insurance, an ID, or proof of US citizenship to be vaccinated. All COVID-19 vaccinations are provided at no-cost to the patient.
Ways to get vaccinated
- MyTurn: Use myturn.ca.gov to schedule appointments at many sites across the state and region, including the Oakland Coliseum. MyTurn is available in 14 languages.
- CA COVID-19 hotline: Call 1-833-422-4255 to schedule appointments by phone. Translators are available to support 250 languages.
- Local pharmacies: For booking information, see: CVS, Safeway, Walgreens.
- Private health care providers are vaccinating both members and nonmembers: See information from: Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, Stanford Health Care.
- Berkeley Public Health vaccine clinics: It is not necessary to be a resident of Berkeley to be vaccinated at any City of Berkeley Public Health Department vaccination site.
More COVID-19 vaccine resources
- Getting vaccinated: Before, Day of, After (California Department of Public Health)
- Vaccine factsheets:
- Vaccines (covid19.ca.gov)
- COVID-19 Vaccines (California Department of Public Health)
- Ensuring vaccine safety (CDC)
- Information session on youth vaccination with UCSF medical doctors hosted by Berkeley Unified School District | video
We recognize that some may have questions or hesitation regarding vaccination, and we are happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to contact our nurses if you have questions:
Carol Menz MSN, RN, PHN
Amy Jo Goldfarb BSN, RN
Claudia Garcia BSN, RN
Have a photo of a class activity or school event to share? Please send to communication@piedmont.k12.ca.us.
Do you have an idea for a story you would like to see featured? Please email communication@piedmont.k12.ca.us.
About Us
Piedmont, CA 94611
(510) 594-2600
Superintendent Randall Booker