AEF Enrichment classes

Bill’s Word – Celebration!

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Dear Friend,

Thank you for attending and supporting our Salute to Education annual event on Friday evening, April 24th. Each year I come away invigorated and inspired by the innovative work and dedicated volunteers who make our schools so special. I am pleased that we were able to honor those who help make our schools so special! If you missed it, you may view the program here.

A special thank you again to our event sponsors: Alameda Point Partners, Alameda South Shore Center, and Tim Lewis Community/Star Harbor. Their financial support was integral to the success of the event. Thank you to Rhythmix Cultural Works for providing the lovely venue. The wine was generously donated by Charles and Therry Olken of the Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine. Many thanks to our food donors including: Angela’s, Bowzer’s, Cafe Jolie, East Ocean, Otaez, Pappo, SideStreet Pho, Trabocco and WesCafe. We had an outstanding raffle this year. Many thanks to Karin and Neal Fox, Charles and Therry Olken, Disneyland Resort, Legoland Resort, Asena, C’era Una Volta, Alameda Theatre, Curves, Dr. Robyn Young, Dragon Rouge, Lilac Boutique, McGee’s, Queener’s Piano Studio, Salon One, Tot Tank, Tucker’s, Whales and Friends, and We Are Hair. We could not produce the wonderful posters and banners without the generosity of Patrick Kenny and Cairdea Design and Marketing. Thank you also to AUSD Superintendent Sean McPhetridge, Jillian Saxty of First Flight Designs, Lifetouch, The Family of Tricia Collins-Levi, and The Alamedan. Dozens of volunteers made our event run smoothly and I cannot thank them enough. Last but far from least thank you to AEF board member and event chair Pam Riley Chang, the Salute to Ed committee including Kathy Moehring and Ginger Schuler, and all our dedicated AEF board members.

Run, Jump and Throw! We are mid-way through our Middle School track & field season. This year we have a record number of student-athletes participating at 296! Qualifying meets are this Thursday (track) and Friday (field) at the College of Alameda and Encinal. You may find the entire schedule here.

Planning for Summer! Our Summer Enrichment Camps are filling up quickly, but there is still room in some of our camps, particularly the ones for middle and high schoolers. We are offering middle school programs in: Photography, Movie Making, Coding, Web Design, Jr. Achievement – Economics, Leadership, Mandarin, Mixed Media/Textiles Art, Writing and Solar/Renewable Energy. A special thank you to Alameda Municipal Power who is sponsoring scholarships for our Solar/Renewable Energy camp to make the camp accessible for all students. For high schoolers we are offering a great opportunity for students to learn how to create their own business (and learn about economics and financing along the way) with Jr. Achievement – Build Your Own Business. Registration and more info is available here. Click on the blue “Summer Camps” button on the left column.

For younger students, take them to the movies! We are selling 10 family movies for $10. Movies are at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesdays or Wednesdays at Alameda Theatre. Click here for more info.

Academic Counseling Support. AEF helps support sophomore counseling programs at
Alameda, Encinal and ASTI. These sessions enable counselors to meet one-on-one with sophomore students and their parents or guardians to discuss high school plans and college and career goals. AEF was able to help Alameda High meet with 100% of their sophomores and 98% of the sessions included parents or guardians. (ASTI and Encinal are still holding sessions at the time of this writing).

Sincerely,

Bill Sonneman