Stephanie Butler, a technology teacher at Elmhurst Community Prep Middle School, recently completed a summer fellowship through Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education. She wrote this piece about her experience. -Katy

Quite often we hear about what’s going wrong in the Oakland school district. This is about something that has been going right for me three years running. It is called IISME (pronounced “is me”). The acronym stands for Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education. The program was established in 1985, and its objective is “to transform teaching and learning through industry-education partnerships.”

Translation: I work in corporate America during the summer with the expectation of applying the skills I’ve learned when I return to the classroom in the fall. It is a paid summer position at the end of which I must submit a report that explains what I intend to take back to the classroom. Once I have completed everything in the plan, whether it is a unit for my students or a professional development for my colleagues, I receive a grant.

My experience with IISME has been both rewarding and uplifting. The rewards have been vast. I am a fourth-year technology teacher, and I have built valuable relationships with veteran teachers from many districts who have been willing to share their expertise. This interaction alone is immeasurable. I believe every veteran teacher has a story to share that can help newer teachers Read the rest of this entry »

In recent years, some 40 percent of Oakland’s new teaching hires have come from across the country through programs such as Teach for America and Oakland Teaching Fellows. 

Now, to create a more stable teaching force, the school district is trying to recruit more home-grown talent. 

Those interested in teaching in Oakland’s public schools can learn more at a Monday night recruitment and informational event, “Welcome to Teaching.” It’s from 5 to 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the “Broadway of teaching” slogan does not appear on this recruitment flyer.

image from jefield’s site at flickr.com/creativecommons

If you have a moment, check out a story by Tribune reporter Barbara Grady about an Oakland-based green business movement. A new program called the Oakland Green Jobs Corps aims to connect youth in the poorest of neighborhoods with apprenticeships and entry-level jobs that start at $10.39 an hour plus health benefits. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Actually, I’m not sure many schools are even aware that Waste Management will collect specially sorted organic (a.k.a. “green”) waste from their lunchrooms.

Well they can now, and they do.

Peralta Elementary, always a leader in gardens and all things green, has reduced its landfill-bound trash this year by 75 percent, according to Christopher Waters, an active parent.

Today, Glenview Elementary School kids began sorting the remains of their lunches between the trash, recycling and compost bins for its brand new composting program. Read the rest of this entry »

Valentin Mendoza (pictured below, far right) writes about his experience as a youth organizer on the Castlemont high school campus. His team worked to change the lunch menu to include some tasty, healthy food from local vendors. - Katy

Hi, I’m Valentin Mendoza.

I’ve worked with Youth Together since 2006, as a freshmen. I have become a Lead Student Organizer (L.S.O) as an agitator and alliance builder. We’ve been working on our food justice campaign for three years now.

Our work has consisted of doing workshops in classrooms, outreach during lunch, school board meetings and meetings with the district. We collected data, through a petition, to educate our fellow students on the effects of unhealthy food and the positive impact that healthy food can have on our communities and also to get information from them on what they would like to see on the menu.

A big part of the work was also to push the district to support the local economy by partnering with local businesses instead of a big monopoly corporation like SYSCO. Read the rest of this entry »