Education

Oakland school district tests water at schools for lead

Following the discovery of lead in the water at McClymonds High School in August, water testing has begun throughout the entire Oakland Unified School District. Currently, 13 additional schools in the district have been reported to have lead in their water. At a school board meeting on November 8, Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell read from a statement regarding the status of lead of Oakland schools. “In August 2017, water safety concerns regarding the lead levels of water at McClymonds High School…

High school football player Ronald Jenkins

Crack, snap, and pop. That it is all you hear on the football field as Ronald Jenkins, known to his friends and teammates as RJ, drives his shoulder into the waistline of the ball carrier for the opposing team. With a huge thud that sounds like a body breaking in half, they both hit the turf. As the whistle blows in the background, signaling the end of the play, Jenkins gets up and proceeds to dance, not even acknowledging his…

High school bowling team member Benton Lu

Bang! There go the bowling pins, as Benton Lu knocks down another strike on the bowling lane. He stands there quietly, and admires his work. Then he turns around, and walks back to the resurfacing machine to grab his ball. Lu returns to position to deliver another strike. He cocks his left foot back, and begins to walk slowly towards the lane, like a lion getting ready to devour its prey. His eyes look as if he was in a…

High school volleyball player Hannah Hoang

The ball smacks down right in the middle of the court off of Hannah Hoang’s hand. She quickly runs back into the line, as she gets ready to deliver another devastating spike. She leaps into the air as gracefully as if she were performing ballet, but comes down hard with a spike that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. As a defender on the women’s volleyball team at Oakland Senior High School, Hoang is…

Competing to compete: The rise of Oakland student athletes

Some athletes have a strong passion for their sport, and play it recreationally. Others play their sports because they rely on them to escape the stress of their daily life. And still thers depend on their performance to land them an athletic scholarship, and compete within the Oakland Athletic League hoping to get recruited to college teams and compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association level. In this series, three Oakland student athletes spoke about what brings them to the field,…