Hello LASA community! We had a great meeting this past Friday, November 7th, at the parent portable. Here’s a recap, so that those who couldn’t attend can still be in the know.
PFLASA has an evening Zoom meeting coming up! If you can’t make it to Friday morning meetings, but would like to join us, now is your chance. 😀 Originally, the evening Zoom was planned for Tuesday, November 18th, but it’s been rescheduled to an evening in the first week of December due to a scheduling conflict. Stay tuned for the exact meeting date. We will have a special guest talk about how to use Blend and Frontline, followed by a Q&A with experienced LASA parents about how to use the information from those apps to initiate productive conversations with your student(s). Keep a lookout for the exact date, we would love to see you there!
At Friday’s PFLASA meeting, we had an update from the Grants committee. PFLASA provides small stipends to teachers for classroom supplies like facial tissues, markers, and poster boards. In addition to that, we also provide grants to teachers for professional development and to purchase educational materials and equipment. One of this fall’s grants helped to pay for a new DJI Drone with Camera for the AV Department to use for making films and for filming the LASA Lip Dub. Another recent grant helped to send a foreign language teacher to the Texas Foreign Language Association Fall Conference. We love and support our LASA teachers.
The Project Graduation auction was officially kicked off at Friday’s meeting. Folks were getting pumped up to bid on their favorite items and get some holiday shopping done early. Many of the items are the type of thing that you might spend money on anyway, but if you buy it from the auction, 100% of your money will go to support Project Graduation. This senior event will keep our graduates safe on graduation night, one of the deadliest nights of the year for high school graduates. Join the bidding fun or contribute using the Easy Button.
We also heard about LASA’s upcoming recruitment events for prospective students and parents. Thursday, November 13th, 6-8pm is the LASA Showcase, our open house with music performances, academics, clubs, sports, help with applications, and a Q&A room with current LASA parents. Before the LASA Showcase, PFLASA provides a meal to teachers and staff who come in on their off time to help make the event a success. We need LASA Showcase volunteers to help! It’s a great way to get some face time with and give smiles and appreciation to our lovely teachers and staff. Wednesday, December 3rd, 6-8pm is a LASA Info Night in the theater. Get the word out about these events to anyone you know with middle school students who might be interested in applying to LASA.
We had a reminder that the Giving Thanks Pie Event is coming right up. Every year, PFLASA coordinates the collection and distribution of holiday pies to show our gratitude for our amazing teachers and staff. If you would like to contribute a pie or other holiday dessert or come help collect and set up desserts on the day-of, look for the Sign Up Genius link that will be coming out soon.
We talked about Great Gatherings, including the one that happened this past weekend and also those that are coming up soon. Great Gatherings are small social events for LASA parents to have fun and meet other LASA parents. Ticket sales go to support senior events like Senior Salute and Project Graduation. If you’d like to attend one or more of these fun events, you can purchase tickets here: https://pflasa.org/store/. Great Gatherings are all volunteer-hosted. If you have an idea for a fun event and would like to host, submit your idea.
We also have several Masterclasses coming up, including mindful breathing and meditation, college planning for junior year, and building a college list. Proceeds from Master Class ticket sales go towards funding everything that PFLASA does for our students, teachers, staff, and community. If any of these sound interesting to you, you can purchase tickets at the LASA online store: pflasa.org/store.
After the meeting, we had an update on AP testing from Ms. Cherry. Ms Cherry coordinates all of the AP testing for LASA. Thank you, Ms Cherry! It’s that time of year when AP test payments are due (Friday, Nov. 21st BY 12 NOON). PFLASA provides funding to supplement reduced-cost AP tests for students who need them. AP tests are a big deal at LASA. LASA administers more AP tests than all other AISD high schools combined. PFLASA helps make it so that everyone can participate.
Once again, be on the lookout for more information about our upcoming evening zoom meeting. We’d love to see you there!
Angela Graveline
PFLASA Vice President