Bill’s Word – Congratulations!
Dear Friend,
Congratulations to our graduating seniors! Whatever path you take next, college or career, we at the Alameda Education Foundation wish you the very best.
I have always thought that the success of a student is not measured by their accomplishments in school but by what they do afterwards. Many of our graduates are now highly successful in a variety of fields and that is the proof of a strong school system.
It is our hope at AEF that many of the programs we offer help to prepare our students for success as adults, whether by providing enrichment classes that spark passions, counseling support that helps students chart their futures, or a sports program that values teamwork and commitment.
Summer Programs
If your student is about the fly the coop, consider encouraging him/her to learn the basics of economics and business through our Jr. Achievement program “Build Your Own Business.”
We are also offering financial literacy/economics programs for elementary and middle school students, as well as a wide array of other programs in technology, science, languages and much more. Our summer camp programs can be found here.
Thank you to Bank of Marin and Alameda Municipal Power for providing support that has enabled us to increase the number of scholarships for the economics and renewable energy camps. We encourage all interested students or parents to contact us if they are interested in these camps!
Jack Capon Award
I am proud to announce that this year AEF introduced the Jack Capon award as part of our Middle School Sports program. Mr. Capon was a long time AUSD educator who specialized in physical education. He was a tireless advocate for physical fitness and movement. He founded both the original AUSD middle school sports program and Alameda’s Special Olympics. He was an author of many books on movement that are still in print. Mr. Capon passed away in 2000, but he would have been thrilled that AEF restarted the middle school sports program that he cherished so dearly. 2015 winners were selected based on sportsmanship, teamwork, academic achievement and a caring attitude towards teammates.
I’m pleased to announce the winners:
- Academy of Alameda: Julian Edgerly and Hailey Smith
- ACLC/Nea: Xanders Navasca and Rebecca Stiling
- Bay Farm School: Dominic Pope
- Encinal Jr. Jets: Chun Hong Chan and Sydney Williams
- Lincoln Middle School: Tilman Vetter and Julia Wise
- Wood Middle School: Jonathan Powell and Leilani Shepard
Our track and field season just ended. We had a record number of 300 student-athletes participate! Please be sure to check out our track photos and results on our website.
Bach and Brew! The Oakland East Bay Symphony will be holding a fundraiser on June 13th, 4:00 PM at Drake’s brewery to support their Young People’s Concerts. AEF hosted one of these concerts last fall enabling over 2,700 Alameda students to attend this symphony that is geared to young people. We hope to hold another one this fall, and a successful fundraiser will help make it happen! Can’t attend? Then consider a direct donation to AEF to help us support arts education.
I am also pleased to announce that AEF will be partnering with Rhythmix Cultural Works to support arts education for Alameda students. Through Rhythmix’s PAL program, Alameda elementary students receive curriculum-based cultural arts assemblies, providing youth with a diverse cross-section of music, dance and other performance traditions performed by artists of the highest caliber. AEF will be helping to promote this vital program to ensure that as many Alameda students as possible are able to participate!
Finally, although the school year is just ending, we are already planning for next year. This summer we will again be running the Equipped 4 Success school supply drive to provide our low-income students with quality, age-appropriate backpacks and school supplies so they can start next year of with the tools they need to succeed. We are now collecting financial donations to enable us to get the best prices on supplies. Please consider a donation to this drive to support student success for all our students!
Sincerely,
Bill Sonneman