Education
Dr. Brigid McCaw was diligently working her way through medical school while her sister was busy concealing a secret. Despite the summer heat in their Denver home, McCaw’s sister bundled up in high-necked layers. The bruises along her abdomen became difficult to conceal during pregnancy, but her own physician never questioned them. Immersed in her studies at the University of California, San Francisco almost 1,000 miles away, McCaw never even saw the black and blue marks.
The second annual East Bay Mini Maker Faire featured 150 makers, vendors, and performers showcasing unique and one of a kind products, crafts, and inventions at North Oakland’s Park Day School on Sunday.
More than 700 people filled the gymnasium at Laney College on Saturday for the Neighborhood Safety Summit, a day of discussions about crime and violence in Oakland hosted by Mayor Jean Quan, who presented a new crime reduction plan that she said will focus on the city’s most violent streets.
Although Oakland school board members have said they will not vote on school closures until Oct 26, scores of irritated speakers crowded Wednesday night’s meeting to plead for a second, third, and even fourth look at their schools before a final decision is made.
Lakeview students, parents and supporters walked to the farmers market to protest the proposed closure of five schools. Oakland superintendent Tony Smith recommended the school board approve the closures.
Personal and automated phone calls, advertisements on the sides of local buses, and a team of school nurses have been working to spread the word throughout the Oakland school system about a new requirement for seventh through 12th graders—a vaccine against whooping cough.
An energetic employee, a mobile food cart, and a group of hungry students running late for class–all these can now be found Oakland Tech’s main entrance every morning, as students “Grab and Go.” The Bechtel Foundation-sponsored program, now in its fist year at Tech, offers a free quickie breakfast to students who don’t have time to eat in the school’s cafeteria–or just don’t want to.
Game Day is a new series that will feature Oakland teams and athletes every Wednesday afternoon.
This week, it’s the Oakland Tech girls tennis team.
School communities around the world celebrated International Walk or Roll to School Day on Wednesday, which is meant to encourage kids to exercise by walking or biking to class, and to stay safe by traveling with their parents or groups.