Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance
The Commonwealth of Virginia's Oldest Continuously Operating Nonpartisan LGBT Organization
Arlington Public Schools are recognized nationwide for their leadership in supporting diversity. AGLA, through its Safe Schools Committee, is proud to partner with ACPS to further Arlington's diversity goals and achievements. As members of the Arlington Safe Schools Coalition, AGLA supports the general welfare of high school students who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ). Recent activities by AGLA in support of the Arlington Safe Schools Coalition include:
A recent highlight was the AGLA Safe Schools Committee's presentation before an audience of fifteen principals, deputy principals, and other Arlington administration officials, AGLA leaders spoke of the many achievements and activities in support of the schools. Audience feedback was substantially positive. Each principal agreed to a follow-up meeting to discuss opportunities to benefit from AGLA support within his or her school.
AGLA has achieved some renown for its Safe Schools efforts. Locally, both Alexandria and Fairfax have expressed interest in partnering with the AGLA Safe School Committee. Additionally, after performing an Internet search, a high school teacher in Fremantle, Australia, contacted AGLA. Read about the dialog that we have established with her school.
Educational partnerships bring business, non-profit, civic and professional people into the school system to work directly with students, teachers and administrators on projects targeted at improving student achievement and morale. AGLA is proud to be an Arlington Schools Partner in Education and is proud to have representation by AGLA members.
Because of the involvement and contributions of Partners like AGLA, Arlington Public Schools has been able to expand this very successful program. For the 2000-2001 school year, for instance, 147 businesses, government agencies and non-profit and civic organizations partnered with one or more schools or programs. These partnerships affected nearly 8,000 students.
Over 2,000 volunteers gave over 60,000 hours of service during the school year.
At $17.79 per hour, this is worth about $1,067,400. In-kind donations of scholarships for summer school, camp, and college, computer equipment, school supplies and backpacks, gift certificates, books, newspaper and educational newsletters, opportunities to see professional theatre and music concerts, as well as cash donations added up to at least $500,000.
AGLA's annual library potluck has collected hundreds of books on positive and age-appropriate gay and lesbian topics and books written by gay and lesbian authors, including both fiction and non-fiction titles. The potluck has also raised thousands of dollars for Arlington's four high schools to allow for the purchase of printed materials that may be useful for school counseling and teaching staff, parents and students alike.
School administration and counseling staff work with AGLA to create an initial book list, then review, critique and refine the list for publication. AGLA members then are asked to purchase one or more copies of a title of their choice, ideally so that each of the four Arlington High Schools receives at least 2 copies of each title-one for the library, the other for the counseling director.
Some of the more recent books donated to Arlington High Schools through this program include:
For more information, please contact schools@agla.org.
AGLA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your dues, as well as other contributions, are tax deductible in accordance with applicable IRS regulations.
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