Students, district rally to bring back free supper program

Blue tables sit outdoors on a sunny afternoon at Oakland High School. The tables are behind a wall with the words, "writer", "diplomat", "activist" and other professions painted in yellow writing.

After the Oakland Unified Schools District (OUSD) eliminated the district’s free supper program in 2018, student organizers from Oakland Kids First, a city organization that supports youth organizing and campaign work, and the OUSD Superintendent’s Office teamed up to recover and revamp the program.

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Men’s volleyball surges into Oakland high school programs

The Oakland Athletic League established men’s volleyball as a California Interscholastic Federation sport three years ago. Oakland High School, Oakland Technical High School, and Skyline High School are the first schools within the league to compete. Oakland High School has dominated the league ever since its debut back in 2015 and has been league’s only…

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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…

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Competing to compete: The rise of Oakland student athletes

Skyline High School football player Ronald Jenkins.

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…

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Oakland School for the Arts celebrates its 10th anniversary with a show at the Fox

OSA School of Dance students rehearse for their upcoming show Thursday night.

The downtown Oakland school, founded in 2002 by Governor Jerry Brown who was then Oakland’s mayor, will celebrate its 10th birthday Thursday night with a performance at the Fox Theater. It is the only public charter performing arts school in Oakland, and is actually made up nine different schools, each spanning grades 6-12, that teach dance, instrumental music, vocal music, digital media, literary arts, production design, theatre, visual arts, and circus arts.

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Banned books on display and up for debate at Oakland stores and libraries

Over the past year, according to the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, 46 books have been “banned” in the United States—taken off school and main library shelves, removed as “inappropriate” from class reading lists, attacked by bloggers and family value organizations or re-edited to replace words deemed offensive. All of these books are being showcased this week for a library and bookstore event called Banned Book Week.

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Princess Project makes prom dreams come true

The Princess Project, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, has been making prom dreams come true for high school girls in the Bay Area for the last decade. This year, the project was able to fill an empty storefront in downtown San Francisco with nearly 6,000 donated dresses. Christina Lopez has the story.

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Early returns suggest Measure L short of required votes

Measure L, the $195 parcel tax that would have raise money for teacher salary increases, was receiving 58 percent approval in early returns tonight, with just over 10 percent of precincts reporting. But that fell short of the two-thirds supermajority required in California to pass any new tax increase.

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