Education
The lines started early. One man asks if this is the queue for ticket holders, hoping that he is in the wrong one. To his disappointment, it’s the right line, so he waits, his anticipation growing to get a glimpse of the trophies inside. This is the 48th California International Antiquarian Book Fair. For three days, the Marriott Convention Center in downtown Oakland is transforming itself into a treasure trove for some of the most rare books in the world….
The sounds of piano notes, falsettos, and string instruments echo through the empty hallways at McClymonds High School in West Oakland. The campus that once housed over 800 students has had a steady and rapid decline in enrollment in the past few years. Currently, one-fourth of the original population attends the school—putting the enrollment at around 250 students, the majority of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. This school year, 2014-2015, is the first time in 12 years that a music…
Since its founding in 1995, Oakland Dollars for Scholars has had trouble rounding up funds for their scholarship recipients. The non-profit community organization seeks to pry open the doors to higher education that rising costs have closed to many students in traditionally-underrepresented communities. But with more donations coming from board members than from the community, scholarship amounts and the number of recipients they can serve have been uncertain each year. “We haven’t really been able to rally support from the…
It started with a bargaining tactic, and continued on Wednesday afternoon as a group of about 70 parents, students, and teachers walked down Park Boulevard carrying signs and shouting that they wanted a fairer contract. The march led to a packed school board meeting, as teachers, parents, and community members eagerly waited to speak about an item that didn’t appear on the agenda: contract negotiations between Oakland’s teachers and the school district. Negotiations between teachers, psychologists, counselors and the district…
Mustafa Ahadi came to the United States as a refugee after working as a medical translator with the US Armed Forces in Kabul. “This is a good country to find the dreams,” he says.
Children of all ages swarmed in and out of planetarium theaters at the Chabot Space and Science Center this weekend for the 7th annual Bay Area International Children’s Film Festival. With two full days of short films from all over the world geared for different age groups, co-founder Jim Capobianco said the festival was meant to inspire kids and their families to be creative, and to expose them to other cultures and filmmaking. “I wanted to find films that were…
Every corner in this building has something going on: La Commune, a collectively-run and worker-owned bookstore and café, is turning the entrance into a cozy place which will welcome visitors with a cup of something to drink and something interesting to read. There is a space for Food Not Bombs, a project that brings free food to parks, political events, neighborhood gatherings and social centers. The Sudo Room and Counter Culture Labs share a spacious room that was once bocce…
After 4 years, Oakland schools’ African American Male Achievement initiative assesses how it’s doing
The Office of African American Male Achievement will release reports in January that focus on its flagship program and hopes for future growth.
In Oakland, like many urban cities, violence tends to beget violence. But one program is attempting to use artistic expression to interrupt the cycle of bloodshed that pervades the city.