Bills Word: Changing Lives, One Student at a Time

by jill · Published June 28, 2014 · Updated September 5, 2014

Dear Friend,

Recently, I was contacted by a former student. Let’s call her Alisha. Alisha is a student I knew very well while a principal at Wood Middle School and Encinal High. Let’s just say that when a principal knows a student as well as I knew Alisha, it is not always for good reasons. Alisha spent much of her middle school years just one step away from suspension. Imagine my delight – and surprise – when 15 years later I receive an invitation to her graduation party – from her Masters program!

I entered the restaurant where the celebration was held, the only non-family member there. When Alisha spoke, she introduced me and told me I had changed her life. For all the trouble she was in, she said I always told her “you’re better than this” until finally she believed it herself and is now embarking on a career in business management, ready to make a positive impact on others.

I share this story because the decisions we make every day can have a lasting impact on others, many times they can even be life-changing. It is something we talk about all the time at the Alameda Education Foundation – how we can make those sort of life-changing impacts on our young people.

I feel honored to say that we do make an impact. For instance, this year we started an Early High School Counseling program where students and their parents meet one-on-one with counselors, usually during after school hours when parents/guardians are available. Because of our sponsorship of this program, parent participation increased from 55% to 95%. Students and their parents were able to meet uninterrupted with their counselors for 30 minutes, giving them plenty of time to go over course selection, appropriate college and career goals, standardized tests, and the college application process. It is a program that has been transformational for many students. One high school counselor shared this story with us:

One of my students would be first in his family to attend college, and was an English Language Learner, who had to interpret our meeting to his mother. The student is very bright and capable, and has received A’s and B’s in his high school classes. It was apparent through our meeting that the student was unaware of the value of a college degree, as he would be first in his family to attend college and did not have family members at home pushing him toward a four year college degree. Meeting with this particular student and his parent gave me the opportunity to talk about the importance of a four year college degree in today’s job market, and to highlight the student’s intelligence and capabilities to both himself and his mother.

I fully expect that this student will now be successful in college and career, bettering his entire family’s situation from this generation forward. And for that one, hundreds of other students were reached and impact made.

Through our Adopt A Classroom program, a teacher from Island High (our alternative high school) was helped with funding for an annual four day field trip to the Point Reyes National Seashore where students investigate their food sources, the math and science of nature, and develop self-reliance. But the lessons they learn from this experience are far more than academics. As the teacher shares:

While it is true that many of my students have experienced far too much violence, poverty, indifference, and detachment, I find that taking students out of their comfort zones and giving them unfamiliar challenges in a natural setting is key to the success of their education. Having them hike in the park at night without flashlights, hiking trails blindfolded with one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them, hiking back from the beach in the rain, opens their mind and willingness to experience. More often than not, the students who resist taking notes, participating in class, or complain relentlessly about why, turn out to be the first students to volunteer for extra cleaning, asking questions during lessons, or show a level of engagement that any teacher would appreciate. I watched my students stand respectfully, attentively, and mesmerized to John Littleton’s animated recitation of Miwok and Pomo stories at Kule Loklo while the heavens dumped rain and hail on their heads. This motivated one young man to write: “I learned things I never really thought I would be able to learn. I even got to learn about the native tribe that my family is registered as. It made me feel good about myself and my people and made me really want to learn more about everything.”

Life-changing.

I hear similar stories from our other programs, such as a student learning about the value of academics through our Middle School Sports program’s academic tie in, before they reach high school. Or the child who develops self-confidence through one of our Enrichment martial arts programs or has her passion for learning sparked through an Enrichment art or music class. Or that a student is excited to start school thanks to receiving a brand new backpack through our Equipped 4 Success school supply drive.

This summer we will continue to evaluate and work to improve and expand our reach to Alameda K-12 students with programs that not only enhance learning opportunities, but change lives. And, as always, we cannot do any of this work without your support.

Meanwhile, we continue to be busy with AEF summer programs. Our Summer Enrichment Camps began this week with almost 600 students enrolled in science, languages, the arts and and technology camps to help spark imaginations and expand learning opportunities.

Be on the lookout soon for information about how you can support Equipped 4 Success , our summertime school supply drive.

Finally, catch a family movie and support AEF, thanks to the Alameda Theatre’s Summer Family Movie Series . A special thank you Daisy’s for selling tickets and to all the families that purchased them.

We at the AEF are driven to provide quality programs that make an impact on our students, that change lives, one student at a time. Thanks to your support, we are doing that, and will continue to support student success for all our students.

Sincerely,

Bill Sonneman, President