It's the PALS Press!

We hope you had a beautiful Thanksgiving break with family (or chosen family). As always, we're grateful for you, AISD teachers and counselors, and our AISD colleagues and administrators who make PALS possible year after year.

In the coming weeks, your students will likely be doing some kind of capstone service project--perhaps a food or toy drive. If you are interested in helping with Operation Blue Santa, please see their website for information on how to volunteer and where to bring donations. Here's the website for the Junior League's Coats for Kids drive. While it's late in the season for many of these organizations to accept donations for this year, SAFE Alliance and other organizations around town are in constant need of warm clothes and other items for folks facing homelessness in cold months. SAFE provides shelter for families in crisis, and housewares and children's clothes are constant demand as well.

If you're considering planning a fundraiser in the coming month(s), please check out Austin ISD's Office of Innovation and Development. They have many great resources for folks looking to get or provide community support.

In the last month, we have been able to visit PALS teachers and counselors at McCallum High School, Anderson High School, Kealing Middle School, Hart Elementary, Akins High School, Navarro High School, Northeast High School, Barbara Jordan Elementary School, and LASA, and we got to connect with many other schools informally for check-ins and even caught a performance of the Navarro Mariachi band.

As you know, we are always happy to meet in person or via video to help you plan for program implementation, specific program goals, or troubleshooting. Just reach out and we'll find a time.

And, as always, please send us an e-mail at monica.flores@austinisd.org or sbowley@youthlaunch.org if you'd like for us to come to your campus for supplemental PALS training or True Colors.

Happy home stretch, y'all!

The PALS Team

Dates to remember:

12/12 - PALS Teacher Gathering @ El Arroyo, 1624 W. 5th St. 78701

12/21-1/8 - Winter Break!

We were meeting with Ms. Tabasco of Navarro High School when in walked the school's Mariachi program, singing and playing beautiful music to celebrate Ms. Tabasco's birthday. Ms. Tabasco has taught Spanish and AP Spanish for so long that she's had seven former students become AISD teachers--including her current student teacher, who was a Navarro PAL. iFelicidades, Sra. Tabasco! Nos majores deseos en su próximo año.

Last month, PALS from McCallum began visiting Campbell Elementary in East Austin. The Mac program has been going strong for decades, and this goes to show that it's always possible to switch up or add to a secondary program's scope of impact. Way to go, Knights!

Sixth and seventh grade students from Bertha Sadler Means Middle School have kicked off mentoring students at Andrews Elementary, a quick walk from their campus.

You can always look for service opportunities at https://www.givepulse.com/search

Some upcoming opportunities to serve around town are:

Tree Planting with TreeFolks: Join TreeFolks and the City of Austin's Urban Forestry Program to plant trees at various parks and preserves throughout Austin, Texas.

Volunteer at the Food Bank! Our key opportunities include volunteering in our warehouse, lending a hand in the garden or kitchen, or helping at one of our mobile food pantry distribution sites.

Warehouse- You'll inspect, clean, sort, box and make food donations ready for distribution to our Partner Agencies and the families they serve. Youth ages 8+ are welcome with adult (21+) supervision.

Kitchen- The Food Bank facility includes a 4,200-square foot commercial production kitchen that supports on-site meal preparation for multiple programs. Youth ages 15+ are welcome with adult (21+) supervision.

Garden- The Food Bank’s Garden serves as a replicable model of sustainable growing practices and teaches clients the importance of healthy eating and physical activity. Come help empower your community as you assist our gardener by planting seeds and seedlings, pulling weeds, shoveling compost, harvesting produce, and cultivating the garden beds! Youth ages 15+ are welcome with adult (21+) supervision.

Mobile Food Pantry- Asking for help can be the hardest thing folks have to do. We rely on volunteers to ensure our mobile food pantries are welcoming, respectful places for clients to get the help they need. Distributions occur at sites across our 21-county service area, including Austin, Lexington, McLennan, Bartlett, Lott, Cedar Park, Mustang Ridge, Fredericksburg, San Saba, Johnson City, Uhland and Kosse. Youth ages 15+ are welcome with adult (21+) supervision.

Education Supplies Prep Come join us at Austin Creative Reuse for a low-key evening volunteering, chatting with friends, and networking! You'll help our Education Coordinator prepare re-use materials for all of our educational programs! You might: bundle materials for the Creative Cache, create educational kits, or process supplies. But one thing is for certain; we're gonna have a fun time! This is an indoor, seated event located at Austin Creative Reuse in Windsor Park (just 10 minutes from campus!).

This project is very well suited for all ages, including children as young as 9 years old! Just make sure that any participants under the age of 15 are accompanied by an adult.

Craft Supply Donation Sorting and Packing Come join us at Austin Creative Reuse for a high energy night volunteering, chatting with friends, and networking! You will help us sort and package craft or office supply donations to be sold at our creative reuse center. This is an indoor, seated/standing event located at Austin Creative Reuse in Windsor Park (just 10 minutes from campus!).

Austin Creative Reuse is a Austin based non-profit that aims to foster conservation, education, and community building through the creative reuse of old items and the reuse of creative items! We take in ~50,000 lbs. of donations every month and we rely on volunteers to help us process all those donations! Most items we resell at our center at very accessible price points, but we also teach people new creative skills in our classroom, donate supplies to schools, and attend community events to teach our youngest generations about creative reuse.

PALS is a cross-age peer mentoring program founded at Crockett High School in Austin, Texas in 1980. PALS support K-12 students at all levels of their education, and are at work at campuses across Austin ISD.

Email: sbowley@youthlaunch.org
Website: austinisd.org/pals
Location: 4000 South Interstate 35 Frontage Road, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: 9176931344
Facebook: facebook.com/AISDPALS