Computer Science Education Week

Happy Computer Science Education Week!

Congratulations to our MDUSD award winners from East Bay CUE: Principal Lisa Sullivan for the Administrator of the Year Award and Teacher Shauna Hawes for Affiliate Leader of the Year Award! CUE stands for Computer Using Educators and East Bay CUE has led a regional STEM symposium annually, including free professional development and tech prizes.

Some MDUSD schools participate in Hour of Code or feature other tech opportunities. What's happening at your school?

This week:

Are you a student, parent, administrator, or teacher wanting to expand computer science at your school? Visit https://code.org/yourschool
There are also fantastic free resources here including lesson plans: https://www.csedweek.org/
Teacher Karly Moura shared this calendar of Hour of Code live events this week

Read on for:

School Board meeting Dec 14th
Superintendent’s Friday letter
Stanford Young Women’s Leadership Summit - apply by Dec 12th
AAUW new STEM webinar for high school girls Dec 13th
Mindfulness for you - every Tuesday 5pm
HOPE seeking holiday donations for homeless students
Free suicide prevention training for students/educators

Next School Board Meeting Monday Dec 14th

Find the agenda here, along with information about the live broadcast and the opportunities for public comments.

**Dr Clark just announced his recommendation to the Board that reopening our MDUSD schools in hybrid should be postponed until the Board can re-evaluate at the next board meeting on January 13, 2021. The board will discuss this on Dec 14th.**

Superintendent's Friday letter

Click here to read Dr Clark’s Dec 4th letter including:

Trustee Joanne Durkee reflects on public service
Reopening Goals Shaped by Negotiations and Pandemic Restrictions
Meet Keisha Nzewi, New Trustee for Area 3
Organizational Update to the Board
This Week In Our Community - including thank you donors to MDUSD Education Foundation’s #GivingTuesday campaign for middle & high school science!

Young Women’s Leadership Summit

I was thrilled to see this from Aava Farhadi, a recent MDUSD graduate who is now a student at Stanford University. She’s organizing “The Young Women's Leadership Summit” (YWLS), which is Stanford Women in Business' FREE annual conference for female high school students in California.

They aim to introduce young women to a variety of business disciplines, and during the 2-day-long conference, attendees will listen to and learn from accomplished women leaders, gain hands-on experience through workshops, and interact with industry professionals, Stanford students, and motivated peers. It will run from January 23-24, 2021 from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM (PDT) each day.

They strongly encourage students from the following backgrounds to apply:

Underrepresented in business, defined as being African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native American
Underserved, defined as coming from low socioeconomic means, which may be indicated by qualification for free/reduced lunch
Potentially the first family member to attend college
Coming from a high school with low admittance rates to top-tier colleges, or rural high schools

Please share this far and wide to MDUSD high school students!

Please apply here by Saturday, December 12, 2020 at 11:59 PM (PDT).

New AAUW free webinar STEM series for high school girls

AAUW-OML continues their free webinar series with the goal of encouraging high school girls to stay in STEM classes and pursue STEM related college degrees and careers. Girls/Women still make up only 32% of those earning STEM related college degrees. Women in STEM careers will talk about their educational path, what they actually do in their job, and demonstrate how all girls can pursue STEM careers, while letting them know that the STEM career field is varied and there is a career in STEM for everyone. Students, register now before it fills up at https://oml-ca.aauw.net/girls4stem-webinars/

WEBINAR #2 DECEMBER 13, 2020 4 PM PST

“My Career from the Lab to Launching New Consumer Products”, featuring Deborah Martin MPH/CIH, Global Manager. Product Stewardship & Regulatory, Dupont Nutrition and Biosciences

Mindfulness for YOU every Tuesday 5pm

Have you tried out the new weekly free family Mindfulness sessions on Tuesdays 5-5:30pm? (Sesiones virtuales de Atencion Plena). Mindful Life Project are providing these free sessions to support your mental and emotional wellness. Sessions are easy to join and are open to MDUSD parents, students, caregivers, and staff. They are held through Zoom every Tuesday evening in English and in Spanish from 5:00PM-5:30PM. Click here to try the English mindfulness session or clic aqui para espanol

**Please share these out far and wide so as many people can join as possible before they end.

HOPE Holiday Drive for Homeless Students

Mt. Diablo Unified School District is committed to making sure that all students arrive at school ready and able to learn. To supplement our services, our Homeless Outreach Program for Education (HOPE) is requesting donations for our holiday program to support our homeless students in the School District. We are asking for gift cards from the following types of places where kids can purchase something just for themselves:

Target •Walmart •99 Cents/Dollar Tree
Old Navy • GAP • Chuck E. Cheese
Generic prepaid credit cards •Fast Food & Other Restaurants

We are requesting card denominations of $25 or $50, with the amounts clearly marked on the cards with a Sharpie so recipients know how much is available for them to spend. Gift cards can be mailed or delivered to:

Mt. Diablo HOPE 2730 Salvio Street, Room 24 Concord, CA 94519

You can also make a tax-deductible cash donation by sending a check to the above address, or by utilizing the phone app Venmo and sending funds to MDUSD HOPE.

Cash donations will be used to purchase holiday gift cards, and if there is cash remaining after gift cards have been provided for every HOPE student, then the money will be used to support HOPE students throughout the year (i.e. food, gas to get to school, senior activities/pictures, fines, clothing for interviews, prom, yearbooks, brief emergency shelter, and other needs as they may arise). We are asking that donations be made by December 4, 2020.

Please call or e-mail the HOPE program with questions at (925) 682-8000 x3054 and [email protected]. All donations we receive go to our homeless youth at MDUSD!

Thank you for sharing HOPE!

Free Suicide Prevention Training for Students/Educators

I mentioned this previously when the state held a live youth summit on the topic. Since then I signed up and took the training myself, and I found it extremely valuable. It includes scenarios and practicing out loud what you would say in various situations. I feel much more prepared to help anyone that might be considering suicide now that I was before. A few scenarios were between students texting - which many of our students may be running into right now. Let me know if you take the training too - I'd love to connect and discuss.

CALIFORNIA STUDENTS!

To sign up for your LivingWorks Start suicide prevention training:

visit www.lwyouthsummit.com/access or text start to 888-707-0780.

You'll learn skills to help a friend or classmate, and you'll get 90 minutes of community service learning credit!