La Jolla News Nuggets: Vaccinations, school COVID spending, Stella Maris Academy Day, food drive, more
Vaccination event Nov. 7 at Torrey Pines Elementary School
San Diego County and the nonprofit Champions for Health will hold a public COVID-19 and flu vaccination event from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, in the Torrey Pines Elementary School parking lot at 8350 Cliffridge Ave. in La Jolla.
Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccines plus the flu vaccine will be administered to adults and all children who are eligible by that day.
No appointment is needed; drive-throughs and walk-ins are welcome.
San Diego Unified approves plan to spend $303 million of COVID funds
The San Diego Unified School District board approved a plan last week to spend hundreds of millions of COVID-19 aid dollars on substitute teachers, custodians, bus drivers, nurses and counselors, as well as special education, bus routes, transitional kindergarten and ethnic studies.
The district says it has been allocated a total of $678 million in COVID funding since March 2020 from nine state and federal pots of money that is to be spent on learning recovery efforts and operating expenses related to the pandemic.
So far the district has spent $136 million of that. Some of it went to laptops and WiFi hot spots for students for distance learning at home, as well as personal protective equipment, training for teachers and expanded summer school.
The district outlined how it plans to spend $303 million more that is coming from the American Rescue Plan Act, the last and biggest federal COVID package for schools that was approved in March.
Most of that money, about $195 million, is focused on helping students recover academically and mentally from more than a year of campus closures.
The second-biggest chunk, about $86 million, will go toward hiring enough staff to help schools operate during the pandemic. That involves hiring substitute staff to step in when a staff member gets sick with COVID or is exposed to someone with COVID and is required to quarantine at home.
Schools can spend their American Rescue Plan Act money through January 2025. — The San Diego Union-Tribune
Nov. 8 is Stella Maris Academy Day
San Diego City Councilman Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, has declared Monday, Nov. 8, Stella Maris Academy Day in San Diego.
LaCava made the proclamation in honor of the La Jolla parochial school’s 75th anniversary. He will visit the school at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 8 to present the proclamation.
Heart to Hands food drive Nov. 4 through Dec. 13
The annual Heart to Hands food drive begins Thursday, Nov. 4, and will run through Monday, Dec. 13, with several donation locations in La Jolla and Pacific Beach.
All donated items will be distributed locally, with four beneficiaries: San Diego Food Bank, Feeding San Diego, Triton Food Pantry and San Diego Humane Society. Both human and pet food will be accepted.
In La Jolla, food items are accepted at Compass, Warwick’s, La Jolla Community Center, Hi Sweetheart boutique, La Jolla Open Aire Market and The Bishop’s School.
In Pacific Beach, items can be donated at PB Water Store, Noah’s Natural Pet Market and Java Earth.
For more information, visit sandiegofooddrive.org.
UC San Diego researchers awarded Brain & Behavior Research Foundation grants
The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation has awarded Young Investigator grants to four researchers at UC San Diego: Changuk Chung, Katia Harle, Clare Palmer and Cory Weissman.
Young Investigator grants support the work of early-career investigators with innovative ideas for neurobiological research to identify causes, improve treatments and develop methods of preventing psychiatric illnesses.
The 150 recipients of the 2021 Young Investigator grants were selected by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation’s Scientific Council, which reviewed 788 applications from the United States and abroad.
UCSD is named nation’s sixth-best public university
UC San Diego has been ranked sixth among the nation’s top public colleges, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Best Global Universities list. The publication ranked UCSD as No. 21 in the world.
The magazine’s annual rankings are designed to show how universities compare globally, focusing specifically on schools’ academic research and overall reputation.
The 2022 edition assessed 1,750 top institutions across 90 countries. Alongside overall scores, the publication spotlights 42 subject rankings across various academic areas.
UCSD placed among the top 10 universities in the world in eight subject areas and among the top 20 in 11. Areas ranked highly included gastroenterology and hepatology and microbiology and biotechnology.
Bishop’s School to host packing event for menstrual products
The Period Poverty Project, based at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, will host an assembly/packing event on Friday, Nov. 12, to box 80,000 menstrual products into individual packs for distribution to those in need. The products have been donated to the cause, and students will volunteer throughout the day to assemble the boxes.
The Period Poverty Project is a community service organization created by Bishop’s students Yasi Henderson and Andrea Rix. Learn more at theperiodpovertyproject.org.
San Diego police launching community survey
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, Police Chief David Nisleit and other local leaders launched a survey tool to gauge community trust and sentiment toward police and public safety issues.
Starting this week, surveys in seven languages will begin to appear to San Diegans through digital ads in locations such as news websites, social media platforms, blogs and apps. Based on responses, the tool will measure the trust residents have in their communities while identifying key concerns they want police to address.
The five-minute survey is anonymous and does not gather or track respondents’ personal data. The survey typically will gather 1,000 responses from San Diego residents each month, across all police divisions.
— La Jolla Light staff compiled this report. ◆
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