DCIS Connect Newsletter (Nov 7-13, 2019)

Weekly Newsletter for Parents, Staff and Students November 7–13, 2019 (Leer en Español usar el traductor de Google aquí.) DCIS Drama Club Presents   November 14, 15, 16 at 6 pm in the DCIS Auditorium   A woman carries her heart, broken into 19 pieces, in a small paper bag. A man shrinks to half his former size, after losing hope in love. A couple keep the love they have given each other in large red bags, or compress the mass into the size of a diamond. These playful and surreal experiences are commonplace in the world of John Cariani's Almost, Maine, where on one deeply cold and magical midwinter night, the citizens of Almost — not organized enough for a town, too populated for a wilderness — experience the life-altering power of the human heart.   Tickets for the show can be purchased online with a credit card or at the door (cash only). $5 for students, $8 for adults, $10 for first three rows. Refreshments will be available for cash, check or credit card purchase. Also, the PTSA is selling DCIS hoodies ($25) and T-shirts ($10). You can also reserve a hoodie or T-shirt by emailing Marie Meyer.  HAPPENING THIS WEEK ... Family Trivia Night: Friday, Nov. 8, 6–8 pm CSC Meeting: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 4-6 pm, DCIS Community Room Mobile Art Gallery: Now-Nov. 18, Tours available Edible Art Sale: Fridays Nov. 8, 15, 22, lunch/after school MARK YOUR CALENDAR ... Fall Play — Almost, Maine: Thursday–Saturday, Nov. 14–16, 6 pm Lifetouch Picture Retakes: Thursday, Nov. 14 Dine Out for DCIS: Thursday, Nov. 21, 4–8 pm, Panera Bread, 640 S. Colorado Blvd., Glendale NO SCHOOL: Nov. 25–29 Dining Fundraiser for DCIS Italian Exchange Program: Tuesday, Dec. 3, 4–10 pm, at Pizzeria Locale, 6th & Broadway CSC Meeting: Tuesday, Dec. 10, 4-6 pm, DCIS Community Room Travel and Language Fair: Thursday, Dec. 12, 5-8 pm, DCIS Cafeteria and Gym No School: Dec. 23–Jan. 6 Click here to access the schedule for all West High School sports. FAMILY TRIVIA NIGHT FRIDAY, NOV. 8 On Friday Nov. 8, DCIS Student Council will be hosting a trivia night open to all families and students of DCIS. It will be from 6 to 8 pm in the cafeteria. We will be providing cups, plates, and silverware, please bring your favorite dish to share. The top three teams will receive a prize.  FROM THE PRINCIPAL ... Greetings DCIS Community: If you haven't heard the good news, I again want to tell you how excited I am about the $1.7 million, ... yes! $1.7 million dollars that is coming into the school starting in the next few weeks and ending with some major projects over the summer! In terms of big buckets: $400k will be spent to redo all of the student bathrooms.  Approximately $500k will be spent on new furniture and technology in classrooms. A furniture vendor has recently been selected and we are hoping to see some samples in the next few months as my hope is to give students and staff a chance to voice their opinions.  Additionally, we have a few new interactive panels (think big screen Smart TVs) being installed next week so that students and staff can share their thoughts on size and whether we want to install these panels on walls or wheels.  Additionally, we are working on the best location for a $200k STEM lab!  The grand majority of these funds are coming to us from the 2016 bond (THANKS Denver Voters!).  In terms of the budgeting process, we are planning to 70% of the total cost. If these projects don't run over budget, we then get to spend the remaining amount on our alternative options which might include new furniture in the cafeteria, some outdoor seating, and possibly knocking out the wall in between the gym so that we can have one great space to come together as a school!    I'll be sure to keep you posted as we move forward, but again just wanted to share how excited and appreciative I am that this building and classrooms are getting some long overdue updates.    Cheers, Dr. Gamba SENIOR PASSAGES ... Two of our DCIS Seniors are working on their service project and would greatly appreciate if the parent community could help fund the art supplies needed. These Seniors are working with Violet Hive Art Therapy and Healing Nonprofit to bring art therapy into the school to help juniors and seniors with mental health. One of their projects involves the seniors painting an image of their cultural identity on a 3 in. x 3 in. canvas. The canvases will be put together on plywood to make the Denver skyline and hung on a wall in the school. They need around $150 for 100 canvases, plywood, and paint. If you are able to help with this it would be greatly appreciated. Here is an image of our mural design. You can make a donation via PayPal. Please put "Senior Passages" in the comment section and we'll make sure it gets to them. SHOUT OUTS ... Sophomore Angelee Vigil made 2nd team All-City for softball. She made varsity as a freshman and this year for Abraham Lincoln. She was one vote away from making 1st time All City. Angelee had the most stolen bases in prep league. This was her first year playing short stop and she worked hard to learn the position. Her coaches switched her this year from 3rd base (a position she has played since she was a little girl with the best arm) because she has such strong fielding skills. She doesn't let any ball get past her. Go Lancers!!   JUDI'S HOUSE GRIEF GROUP   Hello DCIS families! The mental health team was contacted recently by an organization called Judi's House, telling us that they have resources to do a school based grief and loss support group for our middle school students. The grief and loss group serves students who are struggling with the death of a family member, and uses a peer support therapy format which is effective for adolescents. The group lasts for 10 sessions, and focuses on normalizing grief responses, coping skills, providing adult and peer support, and creating a safe space to process and share grief. While this support group is focusing on support for middle school students, services for high school students are also available. Judi's House does one on one grief support counseling as well as family counseling, and we would be happy to facilitate referral for those services if you feel that this would be appropriate for your high school student.   If you believe your child could benefit from grief support services, please contact our social worker, Brian Powell at 720-423-9082 or brian_powell@dpsk12.org), to let him know. RAISE YOUR HAND...  TEACHER REQUESTS Our wonderful DCIS teachers have some wish list items that they could use some help with. Please peruse the spreadsheet linked here for requests (in the form of Amazon wishlists, DonorsChoose fundraisers, or direct links to purchase items). Thank you in advance to all of you who are able to help support these needs by purchasing items or contributing to their purchase! NEWSLETTER EDITOR NEEDED! Our two longtime newsletter editors will be vacating their positions at the end of this school year as the last of their kids will graduate. We already have one parent volunteer helping out and are looking for another. Having two is hugely helpful for lightening the load and providing coverage during absences, time off, etc. No experience needed — we will train. Proofreading/editing skills and an eye for detail are desirable. Once you're trained, you can expect to spend about an hour a week (sometimes more, sometimes less) to get the newsletter out on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. You'll also learn how to send out push notifications through the school app (super easy). Please send an email to dcisconnect@gmail.com. We hope you'll join us! It's a great way to keep on top of what's going on at the school and to get to know DCIS staff, other parents and students. JOIN THE PTSA The next PTSA Board Meeting will be Thursday, Nov. 21, starting at 7 pm, at the "Dine out for DCIS" fundraising event at Panera Bread (640 S. Colorado Blvd., Glendale). RSVP here if there is something specific you want to place on the agenda. Otherwise just drop in and take part in the discussion. Everyone is welcome, even non-PTSA members.  ARTS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION...  OPEN STUDIO WHAT:  New afterschool opportunity for high school art lovers/makers.  Time & space to work on any art project. WHEN:  Tuesdays after school until 4:30 PM.  Please arrange your own transportation home. WHERE:  Art Room, DCIS, room 117 WHO:  Any high school student (not just art students); supervised by Dr Marion (or designate if needed) WHY:  As requested by students, additional time to work, think, create, collaborate, do visual work for classes, crafts HOW:  Bring your own consumable materials (paint media, special paper, posterboard, pastels, glue, tape, etc.) some storage and art-making tools provided   BEGINS Tuesday, November 12, 2019 ON DISPLAY  Now through November 2019, high school final art projects in DPS Admin Bldg, 1860 Lincoln Street, 7th floor.  "It helps remind us here at the central office to put students first," wrote business analyst and DCIS parent, Lisa Doyle. Calendar of Visual Art Events TRAVEL CENTER NEWS ...  DCIS PLANNED TRIPS FOR 2019–20 Trips with enrollment still open: China with Ms. Liu for middle and high school students. Trip includes Beijing, the Great Wall, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai—$3,777 (Explorica) June 8 to 16 — Join Ms. Liu for a parent/student meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 7:30–8:30 pm in room 120 regarding the trip.   Guatemala with Ms. Miller for middle and high school students. Students will work on a service project, hike a volcano, learn about Mayan traditions, swim, kayak, zip-line through the jungle, and improve or learning Spanish—$2,963 June 1–10 Please contact the teachers for more information about these life-changing opportunities.  PROGRAM APPLICATION DEADLINES Luby-Jenkins Mongolian-US Student Exchange Program: Saturday, Nov. 30 — drop by the Travel Center for information and applications. CIEE: Friday, Dec. 6 — DCIS is the ONLY school in the Mountain West region to have earned the designation of Global Navigator School. This means our students who complete quality applications are given priority for scholarships amounting to $25,000, particularly for language and culture programs. Click here for more information. Click here for tips on receiving placement in a CIEE program and a scholarship. U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS Looking for fully paid, quality educational travel opportunities? The U.S. State Department offers a number of merit-based programs for high school students. See their website for more details about all their programs. Deadlines for most programs are approaching fast, so don't delay! DINE OUT GRAZIE MILLE to Pizzeria Locale, which is donating 33% of all purchases made by people mentioning the DCIS ITALIAN EXCHANGE on Tuesday, Dec. 3, from 4 to 10 pm.  SAVE THE DATE Mark your calendar for Friday, Dec. 13, for the Italian Exchange wine tasting, silent auction and food extravaganza at the Alliance Francaise. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks. CALLING ALL COFFEE LOVERS The Italian Cultural Exchange will be selling coffee from Copper Door Coffee Roasters, which has a location right here in the Baker neighborhood. This woman-owned and -run business imports coffee by women-owned coffee farms from around the world. Samples will be available at the DCIS play nights, in bags at the DCIS Travel Fair, and by order from any student participating in the Italian Exchange. Support women, and support student travel! Buy delicious coffee from our travelers.  TRAVEL FAIR SPOTLIGHT ... Bryce Hedstrom is a Spanish teacher and teacher trainer from Loveland, Colorado. He has taught Spanish for 30 years at all levels — elementary through college. He has received the Best of Colorado award from CCFLT and the Award for Excellence in Teaching at the college level. He has also trained both employees and managers at Fortune 500 corporations and has translated corporate training materials and operations manuals. He is a regular presenter at state and national conferences and gives custom workshops and keynotes to train and inspire teachers around the world. Bryce served as the president of the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers in 22016-2017. Find his blog, his many materials, his popular "Free Stuff" page, and books by noteworthy independent authors on his website. FROM THE DCIS FOUNDATION ...   DCIS Foundation update: All student and group interviews were completed by Tuesday, Nov. 5. Scholarship Committee will do their analysis and finalize the fall scholarship budget from Thursday, Nov. 7- Tuesday, Nov. 12 and develop a proposal for the DCIS Foundation Board of Directors. The DCIS Foundation Board of Directors will vote on the budget and distribution proposal on Tuesday, Nov. 12.  Students and Groups from DCIS schools that requested grants or scholarship funds for travel (Fairmont, Ford, Baker, and Montbello) will be notified in writing if they are awarded funds (and for how much) by late November/early December. Travel agreements will need to be returned one week after notification before funds will be distributed.  Questions: dcisfoundation@gmail.com COUNSELORS' CORNER ...  COUNSELORS Tami Handley - 720-423-9006 Ted Brugman - 720-423-9094   CONNECT ... DCIS Website DCIS Facebook Page DCIS Parents Group (closed, non-school-sanctioned) on Facebook DCIS Drama Club Facebook  DCIS Travel Center Facebook DCIS Foundation Facebook   DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. Please send questions or comments to dcis.connect@gmail.com.  Every Thursday while school is in session, you'll receive this DCIS Connect newsletter in your email inbox to keep you up to date on all the events and happenings at our school. It's also available on the DCIS Connect app, which you can download at the Apple Store or Google Play. If you don't wish to receive the newsletter, click the Unsubscribe link below. If you're receiving multiple copies of the newsletter, please email dcis.connect@gmail.com to report the problem; be sure to indicate your first and last name and preferred email address so we can update our records. Newsletter submissions are due by noon on the Tuesday preceding the issue date. Email submissions to dcis.connect@gmail.com.  Copyright © 2019 DCIS Connect Newsletter, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email newsletter because you are a member of the DCIS community. 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