Category: Programs

Queer Teen Alameda Center

QTAC is a Safe Nurturing Place for Alameda Teens

Interview with Jeramie Andehueson from Alameda Pride

Because Jeramie Andehueson, who founded Alameda Pride (and the Alameda Pride Foundation non-profit organization), didn’t get the support he needed growing up in the Midwest, he wanted to create a safe, inclusive environment for LGTBQ+ teens in Alameda. Thus the QTAC (Queer Teen Alameda Center) was born in October 2024.

Jeramie began his dive into community activism when he started the Alameda Pride in the Park festival in 2022.

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Junior Engineer after school enrichment STEM class

Junior Engineer Enrichment Class Jump Starts STEM Learning

One of AEF’s favorite STEM after school enrichment classes in the fall of 2025 was Junior Engineer – described as a hands-on adventure in engineering and space exploration. Kids dove into projects –  like aviation, space science, and engineering. From building models of the solar system to experimenting with compass headings, students learned by doing—building, asking questions, and testing real-world engineering concepts. The program was designed to inspire the next generation of innovators, showing kids that they have what it takes to become future engineers,

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Native American Heritage Month

Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month! Also known as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, this is a time to recognize the history, culture, and contributions of Indigenous people. National Native American Heritage Month was recognized federally for the first time in the United States in 1990. Joaquin Newman, one of our Art Changes local artists, is a member of the Yaqui tribe. You can read more about Joaquin and learn about his art here.

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Filipino American History Month

Filipino American History Month

Filipino Americans are the second-largest Asian American group in the nation and the third-largest ethnic group in California, after Latinas/os and African Americans. The celebration of Filipino American History Month in October commemorates the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental United States, which occurred on October 18, 1587, when “Luzones Indios” came ashore from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza and landed at what is now Morro Bay, California. In 2009, U.S.

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Hispanic Heritage month

Hispanic Heritage Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins in the United States each year on Sep. 15 and ends on Oct. 15, celebrates U.S. Latinos, their culture and their history. AEF’s Art Changes program features five artists who represent Hispanic Culture: Brazilian landscape painter Alex D. da Silva, Joaquin Newman who builds on the tradition of Mayan art, Bolivian-American painter and weaver Miguel Arzabe, water-colorist and muralist Irene Juarez-O’Connell,

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Storybuilders program

Learning to Write and Tell Stories

Thank you, Julia and all AEF members, for your generous support to our grade level and my class with all that you do for our students and our special community. In these tricky times, I am especially appreciative of the timely and very teacher-friendly grants you provided this 2024-’25 school year. AEF’s fundraising and grant writing allowed all three of our classes to experience Berkeley Rep’s award winning Storybuilders program where over a 10-week period an artist visited our classrooms to develop a play from scratch.

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Theater in the classroom

Theater in the Classroom

To all the amazing folks at AEF,

Thank you so much for all the support you’ve given 3rd grade at Love Elementary this year. Your generous and well-timed grants have really made a huge difference—and honestly, made things a lot easier for us teachers!

Because of AEF, we got to take part in Berkeley Rep’s ‘Storybuilders‘ program, which was such a cool experience. It gave the students a fun way to build skills in storytelling,

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