Education

Fuel Your School Aids Classroom in East Oakland

Published

9 years ago

October 16, 2014

Chevron, in partnership with Donorschoose.org, delivered science equipment to Global Family Elementary School in East Oakland this week.

Oakland A’s mascot Stomper shelled out boxes filled with K’NEX solar kits, safety goggles, water PH test kits, and molymod educational models to excited students.

These items fit right in to the very heart of the project-based curriculum at the bilingual school. Educators focus on hands-on learning, maintaining core lessons based on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).

The K’NEX sets and molymod models help students create scale replicas of molecules, and apply concepts of engineering.

During her speech, veteran educator Eva Beleche explained that these kids need a way to apply math and science to the outside world. With these new educational tools, students will test local creek water and water from the bay, effectively localizing their scientific studies.

The donation to the class also helps out Beleche’s wallet, who said that in the past, she has spent close to $485 on school supplies. Luckily, thanks to programs like this, she hasn’t had to spend that much every year.

“Increasing taxes would help, but we are already overtaxed,” she said. She adds that it helps when “these big corporations take an interest in our kids…because they are the future workers. If we don’t invest in our own kids, where are we going to be in 10 or 15 years?”

The story is similar for other K-5 educators in Oakland. Many have spent close to $485 dollars a year for school supplies, and Donorschoose.org has become an invaluable stop gap measure.

Science teacher Brenda Tuohy, who’s been teaching for 12 years, says that she has easily spent more than that on class supplies, but stopped keeping track because it was disheartening.

Tuohy said, “The kids’ learning experiences are severely limited when they don’t have more access to the equipment necessary to engage in learning in a lot of different modalities.”

On the other hand, Lency Olsen, teacher of 10 years, somewhat disagrees with the postulate that hands-on learning is most effective, but agrees that supplies spur education.

“I do think good teaching can happen with almost nothing, but I do think that it can bring a lesson to life to have supplies and resources, and it can make the learning [process] so much more exciting, fun, and memorable for the kids,” Olsen said.

Members of the community are urged by Chevron and Donorschoose.org to get involved with education and make it possible for kids to succeed in future economies.

Participating Chevron and Texaco stations will donate one dollar (up to $1 million) with every fill-up of at least eight gallons until Oct. 31 to the Fuel Your School program. Since 2010, the program has funded 17,163 projects at 3,196 schools nationwide.

Donorschoose.org accepts target specific donations of as little as one dollar, and is tax-refundable. The charity organization has reached over 12 million students across the U.S.

Related Topics:Chevron City of Oakland Fuel Your school Oakland Texaco

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Bay Area

Performing Stars’ Go On Civil Rights Tour of Alabama

Twenty-two members of the Performing Stars youth and staff took a Civil Rights Social Justice trip to visit Montgomery and other parts of Alabama from Aug. 14-18. They returned on Friday, Aug.19.

Published

3 weeks ago

August 31, 2023

Oakland Post

Members of the Performing Stars Social Justice Youth Initiative visits Mayor Steven Reed (in suit and tie), of Montgomery, Ala. Photo by Felecia Gaston.

By Godfrey Lee

Twenty-two members of the Performing Stars youth and staff took a Civil Rights Social Justice trip to visit Montgomery and other parts of Alabama from Aug. 14-18. They returned on Friday, Aug.19.

Performing Stars previously traveled to Montgomery in 2018. On this trip, they met the city’s first Black mayor, Steven Reed. They also visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the National Voting Rights Museum, the Rosa Parks Museum, Tuskegee University, and Alabama State University.

The trip, a part of Performing Star’s Civic Education Program, focuses on leadership development to better understand how former civil rights leaders fought for freedom, voting equality and prepared the next generation to carry on the important work that is needed in the Marin City community.

Fourteen young people in the group were involved with the Social Justice Youth Initiative, formed in 2018 by Performing Stars, and performed various duties and activities for several years, such as community outreach, voter registration, service learning, food distribution, office administration, and archiving Marin City history.

“We want them to come out and be the new social justice leaders,” Performing Stars CEO Felecia Gaston told Giuseppe Ricapito of the Marin IJ. “What better way to do that than where it all began.”

ABC7 KGO-TV anchor Kumasi Aaron interviewed Gaston before the group went on the trip, and asked about The Performing Stars Social Justice Youth Initiative program, and the Civil Rights Educational Tour.

Gaston said Civil Rights Education has always been important. “In the light of what is going on in our country at this point, we need to educate our young people so they will become the new social activists,” she said.

And going to Alabama is to go where the action took place, where history was made in 1963 when Birmingham firemen hosed down Black protesters and sicced dogs on them.

The Performing Stars, familiar with the real foundation, felt encouraged and excited to now be able to reach more young people in the community about voting and why it is important to vote.

They documented their trip with photographs and videos and will edit their photos and videos and feature them on the local stations here and social media upon their return.

“They will be the up-and-coming journalists,” Gaston said.

This educational tour was sponsored by the TomKat Foundation. Contributing supporters included the Marin County Board of Supervisors, and the Marin County Probation Department.

Bay Area

How Non-Profits Can Strengthen Legal Guardrails

On Aug. 31, OCCUR & San Francisco Foundation FAITHS A Model Built on Faith (AMBOF) will present: Strengthening Your Legal Guardrails 2023 – What Faith Based and Nonprofit Organizations Need to Know.

Published

3 weeks ago

August 31, 2023

Oakland Post

Karl Mill, Esq., founding attorney of the Mill Law Center. Courtesy photo.

By Carmen Bogan

On Aug. 31, OCCUR & San Francisco Foundation FAITHS A Model Built on Faith (AMBOF) will present: Strengthening Your Legal Guardrails 2023 – What Faith Based and Nonprofit Organizations Need to Know.

In this important training, Karl Mill, founding attorney of the Mill Law Center, along with attorney Patrick Hogan will provide an overview of key legal principles every nonprofit leader must know and observe now for the organization’s protection and stability.

“Now more than ever, our communities look to faith-based and nonprofit organizations to fill service gaps and critical safety nets for those who are struggling to survive and thrive in every area,” says Mill, a specialist in nonprofit law. “As faith-based organizations and CBOs push forward to meet these community needs, now more than ever, it’s essential that they are also diligent to continually examine and strengthen their own legal infrastructures. Not learning the basics of nonprofit law can be a costly mistake.”

Training participants will learn:

Overview of some key legal issues for 2023
Maintaining 501 (c)(3) status
Fiscal sponsorship briefing
The Board’s legal responsibilities
Risk factors for your tax exemption
Non-negotiable reporting and filing requirements
Funding issues: donations, donors, and due diligence
Paying attention to employment law issues (employees vs. contractors vs. volunteers)
How to engage in political advocacy without creating risk for your organization

… and more.

“Legal guardrails are central to the organizations’ very ability to function and thrive. Legal stability is critical to getting funding, acquiring loans, managing staff and volunteers, collaborating and partnering with other CBOs, and so much more,” says nonprofit consultant, Carmen Bogan, CEO, The Bogan Group. “This free training from experts in the field, Karl Mill and Patrick Hogan, is a valuable opportunity for our nonprofit community.”

Bay Area

Olympian Stops by Nystrom Elementary to Read to Students

A Team USA Olympian was in the house Mon., July 17 at Nystrom Elementary School in Richmond, when three-time Track and Field Gold Medalist, Tianna Madison Bartoletta, stopped by to read to the students.

Published

2 months ago

July 26, 2023

Oakland Post

Tianna Bartoletta signs an autograph for a Nystrom student. Photo courtesy of WCCUSD.

By Kathy Chouteau

The Olympian visited the “Read Aloud at Nystrom Elementary Freedom School” program as a guest reader of the book, “When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left,” by Marc Colagiovanni and also shared “a powerful message about overcoming your fears and frustrations by remembering who you are,” according to the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) on Facebook about the visit.

WCCUSD added that Nystrom’s special guest helped “support and uplift Freedom School students and to share the power of literacy.”

Tianna Bartoletta pauses in reading the book “When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left.” Photo courtesy of WCCUSD.

Bartoletta is not only a two-time Olympian and ‘three-peat’ Gold Medalist, she’s also a current member of Team USA in Track and Field, according to the WCCUSD. She earned a degree in Social Work from the University of Tennessee and also found time to start Club 360, a personal development program for young girls. A native of Tampa, Fla., the Olympian is also an advocate re: the Black maternal health crisis.

“Students were able to ask for advice, get autographs and share their morning routine of singing, dancing, mindfulness and affirmations,” said WCCUSD about the visit. “Thank you, Tianna Madison, for an experience that will inspire WCCUSD students for years to come!”