ACE Spectrum

The Spirit and New Norm at ACE Learning Centers

Posted by Martha Sessums on Oct 19, 2020 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

By Martha Sessums, President, ACE

The ups and downs of the new school year are hard to keep up with, yet the ACE Learning Centers are doing an amazing job. The teams are dedicated to the students and helping them and their families through this pandemic time and are working hard and creatively to continue with the success they have experienced.

As David Hansen, Oakland International High School Vice Principal, who is managing the Dual Enrollment Program for math and English as a Second Language said, “In general what I have found with students is that they are resilient and have a college mind set. They attend high school, work many hours and yet have a spirit that makes them want to be in these classes and spaces.”

That resilient spirit – and the new norm of today’s challenges – are found throughout all the ACE Learning Centers.

Unemployment of parents is huge, and students are having to find work to support their families, which means less time for school. With virtual classes, the class times are more flexible and much of the lesson and homework is online and available at any time.

The schools have risen to the occasion to help their families meet their ongoing financial issues with emergency funds.

Food support has been another key focus resulting in increased Food Bank support and home delivery of food to families in need.

Efforts to close the digital divide of no access to computers and the internet is being met (or close to it) with Chromebooks and hotspots given to families without access to technology.

The technology challenge of figuring out how Zoom works is also being met with tech mentors who help anyone who needs the help. (I wish I had that kind of help with Zoom. I had to call a friend to get lessons.)

Internship programs for students are being used more widely by the Learning Centers. Alpha Parent Learning Center is working with other ACE Learning Center managers to learn about developing best practices for including an internship program in Alpha’s student Dream Club.

The sense of community is key for all the Learning Centers. Teachers and co-students reach out to keep involvement high and support both inside and outside the virtual classroom with critical educational and social-service interventions where needed.

All of this is to maintain the sense of ACE Learning Centers and the participating schools as places of safe haven. It’s tough out there, and without the physical safety provided by a school campus, the virtual campus must be creative in ways to be the virtual safe haven.

One of the good things about virtual classes is that they can actually be easier to attend, especially for working adults. At Alpha, the ESL classes adapt to later times in the day to accommodate changing work schedules and parent students don’t have to spend the time driving to the school, so they save time.

Speaking of virtual, the KALW Audio Academy not only learns about community radio reporting via online Zoom classes, but they report on news event assignments with virtual interviews or certainly socially distanced and masked interviews. Technology helps as editing etc. is online and even delivering the interview to the station is online. 

Get ready for spirited stories from students and teachers who will be sharing their distance learning experiences at ACE Learning Centers and how their programs are adapting to the new norm.

KALW Wins 12 SF Press Club Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards Including Eight Audio Academy Graduates

Posted by Martha Sessums on Sep 22, 2020 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW, Audience Supported Public Media

The San Francisco Press Club has announced the winners of the Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards for the 2019 calendar year. (Remember then? It really wasn’t that long ago!)

Members of our team won 12 awards! That includes eight Audio Academy graduates! Plus, the producers we train and work with at Solano and San Quentin State Prisons took honors as well!

Here’s the list of recipients, including Audio Academy alum graduation years in parentheses:

Digital Media: Videography
First Place: Jenee Darden, Jen Chien, Zoe Mountain, Gabe Grabin, “Where Is East Oakland?”, KALW

Radio/Audio-Non-Commercial: Documentary
First Place: Lisa Morehouse, Jonathan Davis, Ben Trefny, David Boyer, Gabe Grabin, “The Intersection: ART meets MOTION at Burning Man”, KALW
–
Radio/Audio-Non-Commercial: Feature Story / Light Nature
First Place: Alyia Yates (’19), Lisa Morehouse, “Where Can Women Go to Heal, Bond … and Twerk?”, KALW
–
Radio/Audio-Non-Commercial: Feature Story / Serious Nature
First Place: Christine Nguyen (’18), Lisa Morehouse, Gabe Grabin, “Vietnamese Immigrants Care for Parents with Dementia Amidst Stigma”, KALW
Second Place: JoAnn Deluna (’19), Jenee Darden, “The History Of California’s Sexual Education”, KALW
–
Radio/Audio-Non-Commercial: Investigative Reporting
First Place: Magnolia McKay (’19), Lisa Morehouse, James Rowlands, “1101 Connecticut: Transforming Potrero Hills’ Public Housing”, KALW
–
Radio/Audio-Non-Commercial: News Story
First Place: Pria Mahadevan (’19), David Boyer, “San Francisco Banned Flavored Tobacco Sales. Now What?”, KALW
–
Radio/Audio-Non-Commercial: Podcast – News
First Place: Hana Baba, Marissa Ortega-Welch, Jenee Darden, Porfirio Rangel (’19), Tarek Fouda, “Crosscurrents”, KALW
–
Radio/Audio-Non-Commercial: Series or Continuing Coverage
First Place: b.f. thames, Damon Cooke, Joe Kirk, Stanley “Spoon” Jackson, Steve Drown, Chanthon Bun, Greg Eskridge, Edmond Richardson, Gregg Sayers, Tommy “Shakur” Ross, Nathan McKinney, Thanh Tran, Bryan Mazza, Ninna Gaensler-Debs, Angela Johnston, Kristin McCandless, Marissa Ortega-Welch, Jessica Placzek, Andrew Stelzer, Ben Trefny, Tiana Williams, Eli Wirtschafter, “Uncuffed”, KALW
–
Radio/Audio-Non-Commercial: Sports Feature
First Place: Bo Walsh (’18), Ben Trefny, James Rowlands, Gabe Grabin, David Boyer, “Homegrown Baller Joe Ellis On Growing Up In Oakland And Playing For The Warriors”, KALW

Radio/Audio: Podcast – General Interest
First Place: Hana Baba, Leila Day, “What’s in your blood?”, The Stoop
Third Place: Leila Day, Hana Baba, “Gullah Geechee”, The Stoop

Here’s the full list of awardees: https://sfpressclub.org/2020/09/17/2020-final-winners-list/

Congratulations, team! Well earned!

Welcome to KALW’s Audio Academy Class of 2021

Posted by Martha Sessums on Sep 8, 2020 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW, Audience Supported Public Media

KALW, with ongoing support from the Association for Continuing Education, is proud to introduce its 8th Audio Academy class: the class of 2021. They began their nine-month journey at the beginning of September with two days of video conferencing orientation (including, of course, a spirited dance party). This week, they begin regular shifts with the news department, learning from our summer trainees, last year’s Academy grads, and our staff about daily and long-form writing, researching, fact-checking, reporting, voicing and more. We’re so excited to get rolling with this new class and share the public interest journalism they produce!

Scott Carroll (he/him/his)
Hi. I’m a second-generation Berkeley native. I worked at the campus radio station, KDVS, at UC Davis in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but haven’t done anything with radio for many years. I worked in media production after college — which was my career plan — but about 20 years ago, after volunteering with the Gay Men’s Health Collective of the Berkeley Free Clinic, I shifted full-time to working in HIV/AIDS, healthcare, health advocacy, and health research. With COVID I am doing a lot of support for my parents who are both in their 90s. I’m currently involved with the California Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, and I am a part-time medical skills instructor for medical students in several western states — waiting to see how we will be working in the upcoming school year. I’m very much looking forward to getting back to media work and learning new skills.

Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman (he/him/his)
I was born and raised in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. Upon graduating high school, I left San Francisco to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon in Eugene. I’ve worked as an arborist, bicycle mechanic, carpenter, zero waste educator, whitewater raft guide, and a freelance reporter for the Potrero View newspaper. My passions include everything outdoors, showing off my favorite spots in San Francisco, and most recently, swimming in the Bay. I look forward to joining the KALW news team as an Audio Academy fellow and using my time there to the fullest.

Carla Esteves (she/her/hers)
Growing up as a Filipina American in the heart of the Bay, I have always had a deep fascination and appreciation for stories and sound. It was this admiration of good storytelling that motivated me to work in public media, first doing underwriting for KQED. Now, I am thrilled at the opportunity as an Audio Academy fellow to write and produce stories covering the issues, events, and cultural phenomena that impact the Bay Area and everyone who calls it home. I have a wide range of reporting interests, but my main ones delve deeply into topics surrounding environmental sustainability/justice and culture. In my free time, I enjoy roaming through thrift shops guessing the stories behind odd treasures, exploring the outdoors, trying to be a good plant mom and listening to copious amounts of music which, I hope, will help me greatly as I learn to produce engaging stories rich in sound.

David Exume (he/him/his)
Originally from New Jersey, I moved to the East Bay after completing a degree in sociology and a minor in creative writing. I started building my radio chops at my college radio station, and I’ve also interned at KCRW in Santa Monica. I’m joining KALW now after a year of working in the public sector. I’m looking forward to covering topics including music history, immigration, community organizing, and urban planning. In my downtime, I like playing bass, short stories, movie trivia, and producing mash-ups.

Wren Farrell (he/him/his)
I’m originally from San Diego, but moved to Santa Cruz for college in 2014, where I studied literature and creative nonfiction at UCSC. In 2018, I moved to Oakland and began to pursue a career in audio-journalism. I’ve worked as a reporter for KPFA for the last year, where I’ve covered a wide range of issues from climate change to prison lawsuits to political candidacies to policing in the bay area. I’m interested in telling stories that demystify systemic inequalities, whether those be gender, race, or class based.

Annelise Finney (she/her/hers)
Hey! I was born and raised in the East Bay and have a background in oral history and political science. For the last four and half years, I’ve worked as a criminal defense investigator at a public defenders office in the Bronx, New York and at an appellate defenders office in the Bay Area. As an investigator, I frequently interview people involved in different parts of the criminal punishment system, and through my work have become passionate about the power of personal narratives and compelling stories to complicate dominant readings of the past and understandings of the present.

Andrew Garcia (he/him/his)
Hi! I am pursuing a career in public radio as an audio producer/journalist. I got my start in college radio at Sac State and spent the first part of my professional life helping to run the station. I am a big fan of movies, music, cooking videos on youtube, physical mediums, caffeine, podcasts, and of course public radio!

 

 

 

Liza Ramrayka (she/her/hers)
I’m a freelance journalist based in San Francisco and originally from England. I’ve spent most of my 25+ year career writing or commissioning social justice stories for print and digital media, including The Guardian, The Times, and HuffPost. Much of my writing explores aspects of — and solutions to — social exclusion experienced by marginalized communities such as refugees and people who are housing insecure. Audio is a new challenge for me, and I’m excited to discover how this medium can amplify the voices of people at the heart of the myriad social justice stories across the Bay Area and beyond. I’m passionate about advocacy through writing, and am a proud volunteer for San Quentin News and for 826 Valencia’s writing programs. Out of office, you’re likely to find me at the beach with my partner, two children, and our small but surprisingly bossy Maltipoo rescue.