Supporting Student Success – May 2016
Dear Friend,The 33rd annual Salute To Education was held on April 15th at Rhythmix Cultural Works. It was so impressive to see the many innovative programs from all our schools. These programs enrich the lives of so many of our students. In addition to the innovative programs, volunteers from every Alameda public school were honored. The honorees were greeted with cheers from the entire audience.
A successful event needs strong organized leadership, and Salute to Education is no different. Our AEF Board secretary, Pam Riley Chang, chaired the event for a third year. We hope she continues to chair for years to come. Her committee did a stellar job as well.
Good food and drink and fun raffle prizes added to the celebratory event. Please read below to learn of those Alameda businesses and individuals who contributed so generously. Thank you committee members, sponsors, donors, and all who attended.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there for the 34th annual Salute to Education next year.
Sincerely,
Bill Sonneman
AEF Spotlight
Students Power Up Robots for Competition
The Alameda Robotics Center is holding its inaugural Alameda Robotics Center tournament on Saturday, May 7, 2016 from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM in the Wood Middle School Makerspace, located at 420 Grand St. About 50 students from Wood Middle, Lum Elementary, Ruby Bridges Elementary, Nea, and Encinal Jr. High School will be participating in the competition in which teams compete to see whose robots can complete a series of tasks for the most points. The day will also showcase a “Coopertition” feature where students from the different Alameda schools will work together to tackle specific tournament challenges. According to Alameda Robotics teacher and coach Nga Nguyen, successful teams at the competition will use collaboration and teamwork, identify relevant sources of information from a range of resources, practice effective communication skills and understand the scientific method of formulation and testing hypotheses. “Plus, it’s fun,” added Nguyen.
AEF Announcements
Salute to Education
We had a wonderful evening on April 15th! Congratulations to all our honorees, and thank you to our many generous sponsors, donors, advertisers and volunteers! Thank you to our event “Top of the Class” sponsors: Alameda Point Partners and Star Harbor/Tim Lewis Communities. Our “Honor Roll” sponsors were Alameda South Shore Center, Catellus/Alameda Landing, Frank Ghiglione/Rodgers Trucking and State Farm/Team Kelly Lux. Thank you to Charles and Therry Olken of the Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine for their donation of wine. Thank you to our food donors, including: 1400 Bar and Grill, Angela’s™ Kitchen, Blue Dot Cafe, Bowzer’s Pizza, Cafe Jolie, Dragon Rouge Vietnamese Bistro, Herbs and Spices Catering, High Street Station Cafe, Pasta Pelican Waterfront Restaurant and Lounge, Sidestreet Pho, and Trabocco Kitchen and Cocktails. Please be sure to take a look at our Salute to Education page and let our generous supporters know you appreciate their support.
Thank you to our raffle donors: Charles and Therry Olken of the Connoisseurs’™ Guide to California Wine, Disneyland Resort, Neal and Karin Fox, Gene Oh of Alameda Bicycle, Lilac Boutique, C’era Una Volta, Alameda Theatre & Cineplex, Aphrodite’s Closet, Artistic Home Studio & Boutique, Curves, Daniel Chin OD, Dragon Rouge, McGee’s Bar & Grill, Pinot’s Palette, Red Onion, Bill and Lois Sonneman, Tucker’s Ice Cream, We Are Hair, Whales and Friends, and Dr. Robyn Young.
Tricia Collins-Levi Award
The Alameda Education Foundation is proud to announce that the recipients of its 2015-2016 Tricia Collins-Levi business award are JP and Christine Parker, owners of SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza at Alameda Landing. The award was presented at the foundation’s annual Salute to Education event on April 15th. The award is given in memory of Tricia Collins-Levi, a former board member who was passionate about public education and extended her passion by reaching out to the business community to support public education. SPIN! opened August and in that time, JP and Christine have hosted several benefit events supporting the foundation, as well as many other local charities. Congratulations, JP and Christine!
Track & Field Update
Track and Field qualifying meets are this week! The running events will be on Wednesday, May 4th beginning at 4:00 at College of Alameda. Field events are Thursday beginning at 4:00 at Encinal Jr./Sr. High School. Over 600 student-athletes representing Alameda’s seven middle school programs are participating. Click here for a full schedule. Photos from the season may be found here. Thank you to our Middle School Sports sponsors, including The Olympic Club Foundation, The Warriors Foundation, The Safeway Foundation, the Alameda Police Officers Association and the Alameda Police Manager’s Association.
Summer Enrichment Camp registration is now open! Camps will be held at the Henry Haight campus, with the exception of the Maker and middle school robotics camps, which are at Wood. This summer, we are offering dozens of popular and new camps, including:
- Writing Camps, including Tiny Tales for younger students and a Minecraft themed camp for older students.
- STEM camps featuring Stop Motion Animation, Claymation and Photoshop.
- ‘All Sports’ camps in soccer, flag football and basketball
- Dance camps with hip hop, ballroom, country and western, jazz and more.
- <Robotics, robotics, robotics!
- Coding, flight simulation, foreign languages, music, science, arts and crafts, circus and much more!
Click here for a full list of camps. To register for summer camps, please click here.
Thank you VF Outdoor
Thank you VF Outdoor for donating 105 backpacks for our Equipped 4 Success school supply drive. We will be gearing up this summer to collect backpacks and school supplies so that no Alameda student goes without the tools they need to be successful in the classroom.
Thank You High Street Station Cafe
AEF was privileged to participate in High Street Station Cafe‘s last charity dinner last Thursday before their closing. Thank you Susan and Lynda for your support!
AEF Upcoming Events
 SPIN! Dine and Donate Nights for AEF Take a break from the kitchen, enjoy delicious pizza and support AEF! Our next SPIN! night is May 2nd. Click here for more info. |
 Track & Field Qualifying and Championship Meets |