Education
Grinning at his colleagues clustered nearby and draping one arm across the shoulders of executive director Amana Harris, artist Justin Metoyer-Mullon cut a red ribbon. The ribbon stretched across the opening to the courtyard of the Marcus Foster Education Center to the right of a large, bright mural depicting the center’s namesake. “We’re really using our art to transform our environment,” said Metoyer-Mullon, gesturing to the space behind him. The five murals contrast sharply with the fence to which they…
In a brightly decorated room in the event space Oakstop, seven teenagers laugh with one another as they share anecdotes from the past week. A box of pizza balances on the table next to the entrance. The young people, ages 13 to 19, circle around an oblong table, some chatting, others writing or drawing in their notebooks. Colored pencils are scattered in a pile, like pick-up sticks, alongside a pencil bag with a Scrabble piece design. This group is attending…
Leah Goldstein is bobbing and weaving her way through a dozen girls poised to punch. Their tiny fists are held high, ready to strike. “Show me your fighting stance,” Goldstein says. “See how powerful you are? That’s enough to knock someone out if you hit them in the right spot.” The girls lunge at an invisible opponent. Sharp breaths cut through a chorus of giggles. Goldstein is leading a group of middle school girls in a self-defense course. The class…
Members, staff of East Oakland Youth Development Center celebrate opening of newly expanded facility
EOYDC serves students in East Oakland with free after-school programming. It was founded in 1973, officially opening in 1978. The existing facilities recently underwent renovation as well as the construction of over 6,000 square feet of additional space including an art and ceramics studio, an Apple Mac lab, a rooftop deck and an exercise studio where dance, yoga and martial arts classes are held.
Ace Monster Toys, a North Oakland-based hackerspace, hosted its first-ever Arduino Night on Wednesday, as a handful of attendees had a chance to tinker with microcontrollers. Microcontrollers, which are small low power computers that don’t require a keyboard, mice or monitor to work, can be found in gadgets that control something as simple as a button that turns on a light or moves a toy robot.
Merritt’s new law enforcement pre-academy program hopes to recruit students of color to the Oakland Police Force. In a department whose officers’ past use of force against minorities fueled generations of distrust, that can be a hard sell.
Nineteen young African American men pitched their tech businesses during The Hidden Genius Project’s End of Summer Bash last Thursday.
State representatives report back from Sacramento on their 2015 achievements. The key topics of conversation were education, healthcare and the state budget.
Local non-profit hosted SuperSATurday, a family 10K run at Lakeside Park in Oakland. The event was aimed at motivating students to take the SAT and linking them with resources