Education
Public school students in Oakland now have one more way to let authorities know if something is making them feel unsafe on campus: texting. Beginning last Thursday, a new program at the six major high school campuses in town—Oakland Tech, Skyline, McClymonds, Fremont, Castlemont and Oakland High—allows students to send anonymous text messages to Oakland Unified School District police about anything that worries them, from rumors of a fight on campus to concerns that a weapon has been brought to…
Making the right decision can be hard when you’re young, especially when you’re raised in a violent neighborhood. But some community organizations are working to train urban youth in Oakland to think through their decisions more clearly, and help transform their community.
About 30 teachers gathered Thursday to demonstrate in front of three banks at the Rockridge shopping center at 51st Street and Broadway. McClymonds Teacher Craig Gordon explained the group was there to “demand that schools and public services be bailed out” the same way that banks were bailed out during the mortgage crisis.
The famed Harlem Globetrotters are rolling through Oakland for two games this weekend and will bring all of their trademark basketball skills and antics with them, as well as their distinctive messages of fun, kindness, and inclusion.
Four charter schools presented petitions to renew their charters at the Oakland Unified School District board meeting last night. Students, teachers and parents from the Oakland schools crowded the boardroom and took turns asking the board to let their schools continue to operate for five more years.
Holding an oversized, fleshy mushroom in one hand, an excited Steven Cochrane says, “Let’s key this out!” Cochrane is an amateur mycologist, and he’s holding an item irresistible to mushroom enthusiasts: an unidentified fungus.
On Friday afternoon, the civil rights group BAMN held a press conference in front of Oakland Technical High School to announce that it will continue its fight to overturn California’s Proposition 209 despite a federal judge’s recent decision to dismiss the group’s lawsuit challenging the initiative.
The San Francisco 49ers officially announced the hiring of highly sought after candidate Jim Harbaugh, formerly of Stanford University, as their new head coach on Friday afternoon.
“It’s the perfect, competitive opportunity for me and the rest of the San Francisco organization to be a part of a team,” said Harbaugh at the midday press conference.
Up in the Oakland hills, the Oakland Zoo spreads across 45 acres and offers up attractions such as the African Savanna, Children’s Zoo, Tropical Rain Forest and Australian Outback to explore. With 440 types of different animal species, from lions to lemurs to lesser flamingos, it’s hard to get it all in with one days visit.