West Oakland's Changing Demographics

With the release of the latest census, we are learning that the number of school-aged children in West Oakland has declined drastically over the years.
Instead, Katy Murphy reports on what seems to be an increase in the hipster population as single people and young couples move to the city while families with children move out. In addition, over half of the students living in West Oakland go to school outside of West Oakland.
The loaded words that come to mind to describe this slow and noticeable exodus are marked with controversy: youth brain drain, gentrification, displacement. Or could this be simple a shift in demographics as various people groups find West Oakland suitable for their needs?
Either way, no schools are closing in West Oakland. Rather, Superintendent Tony Smith wants the schools to emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math to hopefully revitalize the schools.

For more, please click here.

An Emphasis on Poverty

In a somewhat controversial article, Stephen Krashen weighs in on what he considers the most detrimental factor in the US public school system: child poverty.
He emphasizes that schools  need to focus on providing food, healthcare and books to underprivileged children. He also slips in advocacy for a more holistic method of learning: where children can immediately apply lessons rather than waiting until complete mastery.


The article is definitely worth a read, but I do wonder if too much responsibility is being placed on schools. Child poverty comes from low-income families, and it does not seem like a sustainable solution for schools to "defend children against the effects of poverty."
  
Please read the article here.

Tutor Training

Interested in spreading literacy and boosting a child's confidence in reading?
Need a refresher as a tutor?
If so, come to our tutor training this Saturday!

Who:  You! Your investment of an hour or two per week can open the world of learning to a second grader. Reading is the key!

What:  Literacy Specialist Carolyn Piraino will introduce the building blocks of reading and how to guide a child into becoming a successful reader.

When: Saturday, February 11  9:00 - 11:30 am

Where:  Faith Network Office, 2633 Telegraph Avenue, #409, Oakland

RSVP: To sign up for this workshop, call or e-mail Varetta Mayes (510) 836-5100  or
Varetta[at]Faith-Network[dot]com

Also please consider volunteering to be a tutor at Downer Elementary in San Pablo. It's the site of the newest Excel Reading Clinic.

Save the Date!

Faith Network is excited to announce the date and location of our annual Hope for Children NOW banquet fundraiser:

On Sunday, May 20th, there will be dinner, live music, and speakers from the community at the Claremont Hotel.

If you are interested in being a part of the Gala, please call or email the office. Here are some ways you can participate:

• Sponsor a table
• Host a table
• Volunteer at the event
• Come as a guest

Please stay tuned for more details.

School Closure Update

As students go back to school for the new year, a group named Concerned Parents and Community Coalition is gathering signatures to recall the five board members that were in support of the closure of five schools. As Katy Murphy details in her blog, the recall process unfolds like this:

"First, a small amount of signatures need to be collected in each of the five districts. Once those signatures and the language of the proposed ballot measure are certified, its proponents go about collecting a larger amount of signatures (for a mayoral recall election, it’s 10 percent of registered voters, or 19,811, in 160 calendar days — not sure about the school board members) to qualify the measure for a future ballot. Meanwhile, pro-recall supporters put forth their own candidates."

Just before school holidays, over 100 parents attended a meeting to present the board members with packets containing the recall petitions.
This recall effort comes as no surprise to the board members, each of whom is up for re-election next year. As students take their finals and enter a new semester, we will know more about the progress of this motion to recall.

Holiday Food Resource

This holiday season, families are more in need of food than previous years.

One of our star partners, the Alameda County Community Food Bank, has a holiday help line that assists families in need.

The number to call is 1.800.870.FOOD to initiate the process detailed below:

When a person calls the helpline they will be greeted by one of the Food Bank's friendly volunteers that will assist the client access food the same day in their neighborhood. The helpline will ask the client a few personal confidential questions (such as their name, DOB, address, household size & income source).  With this information they will locate a pantry near their home.

The helpline will call the food pantry to verify that the pantry is open and have food available for the client to pick up. The client does not come to the ACCFB warehouse to pick up the food; rather it will be somewhere near the clients home.  

The type, quality and quantity of food varies depending on the food pantry. Some food pantries have multiple food programs such as EFB, USDA and pantry food.  Generally the pantry will try to give the client a 1-2 days of emergency food supply. The amount will also vary depending on how many persons are in the household.  

The client will also be informed of other programs they might be eligible for, such as USDA food commodities, CalFresh (food stamps), WIC, school meals, and senior programs. They will receive an information packet with all this material.

Please re-post and pass this along to get the word out that there are resources for families that need food for the holidays in Alameda County!

Gift of Hope

Have you ordered your gift of hope yet?















Each card that you order will give a student's family a bag of food for the weekend OR provide a book bag (with age-appropriate stories) to a child OR send a 5th-grader to science camp.

Each card will come with the gift that you specify and fall into these price ranges:
Weekend food bag: $4
Bring-home story bag: $35
Science camp scholarship: $125

Please call us at the office, or email Madalyn to find out how you can participate.