“Who would like to present their project at the county-wide National History Day competition on March 20th?” I asked. The group members excitedly looked at each other to confirm, and enthusiastically raised their hands to volunteer. The class had already spent weeks working on research topics, and this particular group of students were researching the United States-Mexico War. They were first inspired to learn more about the war because of the impact the current U.S.-Mexico border has on their communities.

Ms. Natalie Carrillo, 16, Ms. Evelyn Gameros, 17, Mr. Gerardo Martinez, 15, Mr. Ricardo Cruz, 16, and Mr. Roberto Mendoza, 17 — all AP United States History students at East Oakland School of the Arts (EOSA) — spent weeks researching, including talking to teachers in the community, visiting libraries and reading books, interviewing community organizers and activists, and canvassing internet archives. As historians, they explored primary and secondary sources and developed a thesis: The United States-Mexico War was the first in United States history in which the media was used to generate public support for war.

The five students will be presenting their research project at tomorrow’s competition, where this year’s theme of History Day is “Innovation: Impact and Change.” EOSA has the only high school students representing the Oakland Unified School District.

I have been impressed by their dedication to the project from the first day I introduced it in class. They have embodied the roles of historians and researchers, as students and as of teachers, as they dived in, asked questions, taught each other, and taught the adults around them. As an EOSA teacher, I am privileged to be witness to the brightness and beauty my students present everyday, but oftentimes I feel youth — especially black and brown youth from Deep East Oakland — are overlooked, ignored, or cast off as unable, lacking, and unintelligent.

As this group of students interacted with adults, including professors, organizers, activists, and educators, I received emails applauding the amazing work by the students, each adult expressing how impressed they were with the students and their critical thinking skills.

Kathy Emery, PhD, Executive Director of the San Francisco Freedom School, was impressed with the research they conducted, and with the questions they continued to ask. Aryn Bowman, an administrator, educator and a part of the Principal Leadership Institute at UC Berkeley, wrote, “This group of students are amazing! I think that one of the most important opportunities we can provide for our students is to present them with meaningful, authentic learning experiences — not an easy task in a test-driven era. It has been a pleasure to watch our students dig into researching for their History Day project — constructing their own knowledge around important historical matter.”

As a history teacher, I was elated to hear their conversations and their connections between the present and the past. “What happened in this war still affects us –- it made a really big change; the war created new borders — now Mexican people are dying trying to come into the territory that was once theirs…” shares Natalie Carrillo.

On behalf of East Oakland School of the Arts and our students, we cordially invite you to attend the Alameda County National History Day Competition occurring tomorrow, Saturday, March 20, 2010 from 12:00-3:30 p.m. at Oakland School of the Arts (OSA), located at 580 18th Street, Oakland, CA. For more information, visit this Web page.

East Oakland School of the Arts is located at 8601 MacArthur Blvd in East Oakland, California.
Follow us on Twitter, at twitter.com/eosahighschool, and on Facebook.

More info on National History Day can be found here.

When the two small high schools on the McClymonds campus in West Oakland merge into one slightly bigger school this fall, a new leader will be in charge.

Yetunde Reeves, the principal of EXCEL High School since it opened in 2005 — and a teacher at Mack before that — has announced she has taken another job, at East Palo Alto Academy High, a charter school run by the Stanford Schools Corporation.

I wonder how many of her young teachers will follow her out the door. Here’s her letter:

Dear EXCEL Families,

I first came to McClymonds in 2000 as a third year teacher and was hired to teach Social Studies and serve as the Activities Director. In 2003, I co-led a design team and from that work, EXCEL High School was created. Our mission was to prepare our students for college and to be leaders in our community. I became the Principal of EXCEL High School in 2005. It has truly been an amazing, challenging, and exciting journey. EXCEL teachers, parents, students, and staff have worked together to make EXCEL a great school and together, we have a lot to celebrate. Over the past four years, we have raised CAHSEE scores and increased our graduation rates.

I have accepted a principal position at East Palo Alto Academy High School and will end my tenure with OUSD on June 30, 2010. As a native of East Palo Alto, this position will allow me to give back to this community and continue to grow as an educator. While I am saddened to leave the West Oakland community, I am so grateful and appreciative of my ten years in this community.

Together we have moved this school community a long way. There are numerous services and supports that we want to see evolve into their next level and not lose momentum. Over the next few months, OUSD will work with the community to select the next leader and I encourage you to become involved in the hiring process. There will be parent, student, staff, and community representation on the committee and the committee will work closely with Alison McDonald, High School Network Officer.

In addition to helping to select the new principal, this is an opportunity to help shape the future of EXCEL High School. Your ideas and suggestions will help strengthen the school and continue the wonderful progress that has been made. There will be a series of community meetings to discuss school safety, enrollment, the selection of the new principal, and other issues. Please attend the first meeting on Thursday, March 25th at 5:30 pm in the library.

It is my commitment to help ensure a smooth transition at EXCEL. Again, I appreciate your support, love, and trust. This has truly been a blessing and a privilege to serve as your principal. Thank you again for your being such a huge part of my life and career.

Want to see more pictures of local March 4 demonstrations? We have a whopping 77 posted on our Web site, along with Matt Krupnick’s story. You can find the Oakland schools-focused piece I wrote here, which should soon have photos posted of Allendale Elementary’s short march.

For those of you who took part in the Day of Action, tell us how it went.

One of the teachers said it is “painful” to give half of the students in a particular class Ds and Fs, as he has done. But, he said, holding the kids to a certain standard (coming to class and completing their assignments, at a minimum) is the best leverage he knows of when it comes to motivating students to work hard and learn the material. Not that it always works…

Both teachers, however, said it’s much more difficult for newer hires — without tenure or an established reputation at a school — to adhere to high standards if that means giving out many Ds and Fs. Those teachers are more vulnerable to pressure from the school administration and parents alike, they said.

After all, an F isn’t a passing grade and Ds aren’t accepted by the state university systems. So if teachers hand out too many of those low marks, it could lower a school’s graduation rate and other stats, such as the number of students who graduate (on paper, anyway) as “college-ready,” by CSU/UC standards.

The students I interviewed said they wished grading were more consistent from classroom to classroom. Several, without naming names, described some of their teachers as “disorganized,” losing essays and assignments (One boy told me he didn’t like it when teachers “guessed” on grades).

While some teachers lay out their expectations and grading systems up front, the students said, others assign grades in more mysterious ways. Being nice and showing up to class is enough for an A in some classes, they said, while it doesn’t guarantee even a C in others. These grading reputations — while not always accurate — are widely known, and students sometimes seek out or avoid teachers accordingly, they said.

One of the students, 18, came to the U.S. from Mexico three years ago. Her dad recently lost his job, she said, and her family relies heavily on her and her older brother’s jobs for survival. She works 40 hours a week at a local bakery and gets off at midnight. She seemed to care deeply about her grades, but said that while she manages to complete most of her assignments, she doesn’t study very much for tests.

Teachers: What’s your grading philosophy? Has it changed over the years, or from school to school? Has an administrator ever nudged you to bump up your grades? Do you consider a student’s circumstances outside of the classroom when you grade them? Would you consider cutting a student (like the young woman I just described) slack if she were putting forth effort but not scoring well on tests?

If you want to share your thoughts and stories for the Tribune story, please e-mail me at kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Wesley Sims, 18, says his high school is too easy and that he’s breezed through his courses with miminal effort. And then he took the SATs.

Mike Kirst, a professor emeritus at Stanford, says watered-down coursework and grade inflation is ”more common than uncommon” at high schools, and that it’s not unique to Oakland.

After all, Kirst points out, about 60 percent of freshmen entering the CSU system need remediation in English, math or both — and those are students with at least a B average who have completed all of the college prep, or `a to g’, classes.

How do you change this? You often hear about the importance of staff having ”high expectations” of students, but that’s clearly not enough. Most of us know how much skill is required to do the job well, and how important good leadership and school culture is.

What can principals, experienced teachers, central office staff and families do to make sure teachers have the support they need and that students are being challenged, academically – in all of their classes? Where is this happening now?

Kids at Oakland’s Bret Harte Middle School are showing their love this month by raising money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti. So far, they have raised more than $700 for Oxfam, according to teachers at the school. Each heart represents a student’s contribution.

At Oakland School for the Arts, Graciela Olguin and her classmates organized an online art sale to raise money for the American Red Cross’s Haiti relief efforts. They set up this Web site, and generated more than $300 as of late last week.

If your school has undertaken a similar project, tell us about it.

The district plans to install 750-plus cameras at 26 middle and high schools between now and the end of the 2010-11 school year, using a $1.5 million Department of Justice grant.

It’s hoped that the infusion of technology – and the ability for school police to monitor the happenings on every campus from one location – will keep a lid on a number of the district’s chronic ills, including truancy, neighborhood crime, on-campus fights.

If you have a flexible work schedule and want to see a demonstration of this new system, maybe I’ll see you at the Oakland Technical High School library at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Here’s an excerpt of the district’s news release that lists the potential benefits:

* Reduce violence on school campuses and in surrounding neighborhoods

* Improve student attitudes relating to safety at school

* Boost student attendance (by diminishing fear of unruly students)

* Increase student achievement (as a result of fewer distractions, fewer behavioral problems and more regular attendance)

* Enhance levels of communication, problem solving and cooperation between OUSD and OPD and OUSD, OPD and the Oakland community at-large

* Serve as the catalyst for more technology-enabled, data-driven and people-sensitive crime prevention programs in Oakland and throughout the country

Security cameras have been in use for years; the above photo was taken at Fremont High School in 2002, in fact, and the caption said the school had just installed 32 cameras. How effective have such efforts been in the past?

In what ways do you think – or hope — the SOS system will improve the safety and security of Oakland students and staff? What are its limitations?

Tribune file photo of Fremont High School in 2002/Sean Connelley

For future employment, would I do it for money or happiness?

I’m scared. I’m so scared of taking a job where I’m doing it to support a mortgage and utilities and not to enhance my life. I would love it to do something where I have some talent, and then do it for the sake of my own happiness, but I’m sure that’s incredibly selfish. I argue with my mom at times about my conundrum, and my family’s point is clear. Work for the money, happiness comes with stability.

I worry if it’s my teenage rebellious attitude disagreeing with her.

Then again, I’ve never really considered money to be that big of a deal. I save when possible, but it seems like the dying dollar has not been my concern. All of our families are being negatively impacted by a problem that loaning has caused. Even some of my friends haven’t even felt the recession, spending more than usual. I’m part of this crowd. This is one of the reasons why I always feel like money is a problem in friendships and et cetera.

The worst part is that I don’t know the value of a dollar. I’ve never worked a day in my life, and I’m way too carefree with my wallet. I don’t care about buying my yearbook a bit late, but my mom does, and no matter how beneficial it would for me to try I can’t get it through my head that ten dollars does indeed matter. Even when my mom tells me that money for dinner is scarce, I understand what she’s saying, but I’m still not taking it in. Maybe I’m avoiding the problem.

So I’m stuck in a conundrum. Should I get a job where I’ll be happy, and develop skills for a job where employment is risky and it depends totally on practice and talent, or do I find a job where I am guaranteed some sense of stability?

It is incredibly easy for me to say, Yes I will do what it takes to study what makes me happy, and to do whatever it takes to make sure I am satisfied with my work, but sometimes I feel like my call to happiness is too romantic to work. At times I believe I’m too naive to know what happiness actually is. Maybe bliss is a house I own, and all debts paid off.

I’m working on scholarships and whatnot, but still the matters of economic welfare haven’t hit me yet. I’m going to college, I just don’t know what to do when I get there.

By my count, at least seven OUSD students have been fatally shot in 2009 – more, if you include the 15-year-old who had stopped coming to school (in Oakland, anyway) or the 21-year-old adult school student who died over Labor Day weekend.

The student-leaders who organized the event told me that tragedy strikes so often in their lives it’s become almost normal.  “Right here in Oakland, you only last a little while,” said Rogerio Leon, a soft-spoken 17-year-old.

Maybe that’s why the short memorial wasn’t as somber as I had expected. Most of the students were quiet during the moment of silence, but when Rogerio asked everyone to call out the names of people they had lost, some kids started laughing and joking around. A student behind me cried out, “Biggie Smalls!”

Still, Rolando Vazquez, 17, said he felt the Castlemont schools should host these joint events more often, that doing so might bring a sense of calm and provide a release.

Alicia Loera, 14, said she hoped students who were grieving would know they weren’t alone. “We just want to tell people that we’re going through the same things,” she said.

There’s no shortage of holiday performances at Skyline High School this year. Sharon Higgins, a tireless Skyline booster, sent me the following list of upcoming events. Any shows at your school that the public shouldn’t miss? Give us the details.

“Arsenic and Old Lace”
Wednesday through Saturday, December 9-12 at 7:30 p.m. This popular comic murder mystery is about two spinsters who run a boarding house and serve a “special tea” to their guests. Directed by Ms. Jan Hunter. Tickets: $10 general, $8 for children under 12 & seniors over 65.

2009 Holiday Concert
Thursday, December 17 at 7:30 PM. A delightful evening of music presented by students under the direction of Ms. Arretha Cooper (vocal) and Mr. Vincent Tolliver (instrumental). Tickets: $10 general, $5 for children under 12 & seniors over 65, $8 advance purchase at the school bank.

In the Spirit of Dance
Thurs. thru Sat., January 14-16 at 7:30 p.m. An exhilarating winter performance by advanced dance students (Dance Production class). Directed by Ms. Dawn James. Tickets: $9 general, $4 children under 12 & seniors over 65, $7 advance purchase at the school bank.

Skyline Idol 2010
Thursday, January 28 at 6 p.m. An entertaining student talent show with an “American Idol” format. Directed by Ms. Jan Hunter. Tickets: $5 general.

All performances are at the Farnsworth Theater, Skyline High School, 12250 Skyline Blvd., Oakland.