Author: Newsletter

It’s time for one of the teachers’ favorite events! Every year before Thanksgiving, PFLASA collects pies and thank you notes to give to teachers and staff (including the afternoon bus drivers, the janitorial staff and admin). Everyone gets a pie! But to pull this off we need a lot of pies and volunteers. If you can, please donate pies or sign up to help.

At a recent PFLASA meeting, there was a discussion about academic dishonesty. One of the many factors brought up was the discrepancy between the relatively high percentage of students who have observed academic dishonesty and the relatively low percentage of students who go on to report the acts they observed, even though students know that cheating is “wrong.”

Here is an interesting, open-access study in the June 2024 edition of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology entitled “Don’t be a rat: An investigation of the taboo against reporting other students for cheating.” Take a deep dive or a more superficial read of the introduction and discussion sections to get further insight into some of the nuanced reasons for the lack of reporting. It might then be interesting to ask your child for their experiences, dilemmas, and personal thoughts on this issue, which hopefully will give you some ideas about how to best support them.

PFLASA’s Raising Healthy Raptors Committee would like to pass on this open invitation from a group of LASA parents:

“PFLASA parents have formed a discussion group to discover ways to better support kids who are experiencing social anxiety and other forms of emotional distress related to the challenges of attending LASA. We’d like to invite to anyone who might feel their child is currently or beginning to confront these issues to join us – especially as we approach the upcoming Thanksgiving break and the dreaded “Wall.” We are scheduling our next Zoom follow-up and would love to see you there!”

If you are a parent/ adult caregiver and would like to be connected to this group, please send an email to the Raising Healthy Raptors Committee at wellness@pflasa.org.

I’ve been trying to explain some of our LASA traditions to those who are new. But today I want to briefly discuss something not unique to LASA but incredibly important.

Statistics show that graduation night is the most dangerous night of a high school senior’s life. Drugs, alcohol, and impaired drivers are a recipe for disaster. In the late 70’s, a community in Maine after losing multiple new graduates decided to fight this problem. They created what is now called “Project Graduation,” a nationwide effort to provide an alternative and safe haven to protect our kids and our larger communities.

LASA’s Project Graduation is a drug- and alcohol-free lock-in party held at the East Communities YMCA on the eve of graduation. The Senior Class safely commemorate their achievements with activities, food, and entertainment until the sun comes up.

Now as you can imagine such a party isn’t cheap. Senior Parents fundraise to support Project Graduation through the auction. The Auction starts this Sunday, November 3rd and will be promoted through all our channels. Bidding is not limited to the LASA community except for certain LASA experiences. Please look for the auction link in Sunday’s Principal’s Message and consider bidding on any item of interest. If you happen to see something that you think a friend, family member, or acquaintance you just met at Starbucks would like then please LET THEM KNOW!

Pay it forward underclasses your time is coming. But also consider this a donation to keeping our seniors and our entire community safe. If you know a family whose life was tragically changed by a drunk driver, then you know what I’m talking about.

Gratefully, Ellen Stewart-Klein, PFLASA President