ACE Spectrum
ACE Spectrum
Ace Spectrum is about you — the ACE Learning Centers.
It’s a quick sharing of ideas, inspiration, opinions and best practices among our continuing education organizations.
Please join the conversation.
Parent Report from Alpha Parent Learning Center – “They Help Us Find Resources”
By Mirella in conversation with Alejandro Espinoza, Alpha Parent Learning Center Lead
ACE Note: The Alpha Parent Learning Center (an ACE Learning Center) is about supporting the parent(s) of any Alpha School’s student. When the coronavirus shelter-at-home order closed schools, the Alpha Parent Learning Center’s focus continued to be on helping parents, just in a different way. Many families saw their incomes plummet or vanish, and Alpha created the Alpha Family Emergency Fund to assist families. Money for food, rent and other needed expenses was offered to each family. ACE donated to the fund as our mission of assisting with learning appropriately changed to assisting our friends and partners at the ACE Learning Centers.
The ACE Spectrum Blog will focus on telling several parent’s stories about how the Alpha Parent Learning Center is an important part of their – and their family’s – life. Here’s a report from Mirella and her two children, Georgina and Javier, in conversation with Alejandro.
Alejandro: Hi Mirella. You have two children attending the Alpha schools. Who are they and what grade level are they?
Mirella: My youngest is Javier in 10th Grade at Alpha Cindy Avitia and Georgina, who is a graduating senior from Alpha Cindy Avitia High School and will attend SJSU in Fall 2020.
Alejandro: How long have you been attending the Alpha Parent Learning Center and what areas are you involved in?
Mirella: I have been a parent leader for four years and have been involved in bringing resources to our communities through the ACE center. I have also been part of the support groups for six months which I joined in order to have a space where we as parents can talk about our childrens’ education and also talk about any resources for parents that we would like to have in Alpha throughout the Learning Center. We have been involved in the Food Bank to serve free food to our communities, including Georgina for two years and Javier for 1 year. My children have been part of the Dream Club for years. In the club, they have developed a lot of interpersonal and leadership skills and they love to organize events and do fundraisers to support undocumented students to go to college.
Alejandro: Why did you want to attend the Alpha Parent Learning Center?
Mirella: I wanted to attend the Alpha Parent Learning Center because I wanted to learn about the resources the school provided for our community.
Georgina: I wanted to attend because I wanted to give back to my community and help out in any way I can.
Javier: I wanted to attend because I also like helping my community in any way I could.
Alejandro: What is the main thing you learned at the Alpha Parent Learning Center and what is the benefit to you and your family?
Mirella: I learned how to help my kids at school, find resources within my community, how to have my voice be heard at school. It helped me unravel myself as a parent leader.
Javier: It helped me become more independent. It helped me open up more as a person. It helped me learn to become a leader.
Georgina: I learned that I can use my benefits to benefit others without them. The Dream Club has helped me grow as a person and obtain leadership skills.
Alejandro: How has the pandemic management requirements impacted you and your family?
Mirella: Economically quite a lot because I don’t work outside my house and my husband had to stop working for three months.
Alejandro: How has the Alpha Parent Center Learning Center helped you through this time?
Mirella: We are using the funds from the emergency fund for rent and we did receive a laptop so my son could use it for his online classes.
Alejandro: What do you love best about the Alpha Parent Learning Center?
Mirella: What I love is that they help us as parents with programs and resources or, if they don’t have those resources, they help us find those resources.
Note: This interview has been edited for style and clarity.
A Parent From Alpha Parent Learning Center Reports On Her Need for Alpha School’s Alpha Family Emergency Fund
By Yoleida, as told to Alejandro Espinoza, Alpha Parent Learning Center Lead
ACE Note: The Alpha Parent Learning Center (an ACE Learning Center) is about supporting the parent(s) of any Alpha School’s student. When the coronavirus shelter-at-home order closed schools, the Alpha Parent Learning Center’s focus continued to be on helping parents, just in a different way. Many families saw their incomes plummet or vanish, and Alpha created the Alpha Family Emergency Fund to assist families. Money for food, rent and other needed expenses was offered to each family. ACE donated to the fund as our mission of assisting with learning appropriately changed to assisting our friends and partners at the ACE Learning Centers.
The ACE Spectrum Blog will focus on telling several parent’s stories about how the Alpha Parent Learning Center is an important part of their – and their family’s – life. First up – Yoleida.
Report: Alpha Parent Learning Center
Hello, my name is Yoleida. I am the grandmother of Maria who attends Alpha Cindy Avita in grade 9. I have been attending the ACE Learning Center in Alpha since September 2019 and I’m involved in the areas of support groups and the food bank.
I wanted to attend the ACE Learning Center in Alpha because I really like helping families who need advice about what is happening at school, advice about their children, helping each other in important events such as fundraising, selling food, English workshops.
What I have learned from the center is that all the people who are in charge or in charge of the center are very kind and know how to find a way for everyone to be involved in such a way regardless of the circumstances. In the learning center, we call each other to find out how we are doing, and we also come up with ideas for events and on how to get families more involved. I feel like we are always in a family.
Like many of you, I am part of these efforts because my entire life has been impacted by the coronavirus. My ability to pay rent and bills has been completely limited. I work in the maintenance of buildings at night and because right now they are not working in companies due to social distancing, they only have limits on people who work, and they have not asked for our services. As a consequence of this, since March, we have had no income entering the house. I also do not benefit from unemployment, nor the stimulus check from the government because of my immigration status.
But thanks to the help Alpha Family Emergency Fund, I was able to pay my rent and was able to buy a little food for my children and granddaughter at home. Alpha school was also providing Wi-Fi access point but I didn’t need it because I already had internet in my house, but it has helped my granddaughter a lot in her studies. She was able to concentrate more and, although we were in shelter-in-place, her mom and everyone at home have also been able to help her finish her assignments.
What I like most about the Center is that we can all get along well and can give advice and support without having to feel bad.
Informe en español: Alpha Parent Learning Center
Hola mi nombre es Yoleida. Soy la abuela de Maria que asiste al Alpha Cindy Avita en el grado 9. Estoy asistiendo al Centro de Aprendizaje ACE en Alpha desde Septiembre 2019 y en las areas que me involucrado mas es grupos de apoyos y en el banco de comida.
Yo queria asistir al Centro de Aprendizaje ACE en Alpha porque me gusta mucho ayudar a las familias que necesitan consejos sobre lo que pasa en la escuela, consejos sobre sus hijos, ayudarnos el uno para el otro en eventos importantes como recaudar fondos, vender comida, talleres de ingles.
Yo lo que he aprendido del centro es que todas las personas que estan encargardas o encargados del centro son muy ambles y saben buscar la manera de que todos estemos involucrado de tal manera sin importar las circunstancias. Nos llamamos para saber como estamos y tambien creamos ideas de manera que podamos hacer para hacer un evento para que otras familias participen tambien.
Me siento como si estuvieramos en familia siempre. Bueno como muchas de ustedes, soy parte de estos esfuerzos porque mi vida completa a sido impactada por el coronavirus. Mi habilidad de pagar renta y biles, han sido completamente limitada. Trabajo en el mantenimiento de edificios de noche y porque ahorita no se esta trabajando en las compañias por el distanciamiento social no mas tienen limites de personas que trabajan, y no han pedido nuestros servicios. Como consequencia de esto, no habia tenido ningun ingreso entrando a la casa. Tambien no me benificio del desempleo, ni el cheque de estimulo del gobierno por mi estatus inmigratorio.
Pero gracias con la ayuda con los fondos de asistencia especial del Fondo de Emergencia para Familia Alpha he podido pagar mi renta y podia comprar poquita comida para mis hijos y nieta en la casa. La escuela Alpha estaba tambien dando punto de acceso WI-Fi pero no lo necesitaba porque ya tenia internet en mi casa pero le ha ayudado mucho a mi nieta en sus estudios, se podido concentrar mas y aunque estuvimos en toque de queda su mami de ella y todos en casa hemos podido ayudarla tambien para que pudiera terminar sus asignaciones.
Lo que mas me gusta del Centro es que todos nos podamos llevar bien y podamos dar consejos y apoyos sin tener que sentirse uno mal.
Congratulations KALW Audio Academy Class of 2020 – The Year of Virtual Grad Ceremonies
By Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW, audience supported public media; and Victor Tence, Audio Academy 2020 Graduate
The Audio Academy Class of 2020 graduates with a virtual event on Thursday. When they began their education with us nine months ago, this was an inconceivable scenario. Times have changed.
One of the members of the class, Victor Tence, has a valuable perspective to share about the journey. Here he is, in his own words:
Victor Tence celebrating his birthday (back in January) in KALW’s newsroom.
What a long strange trip it’s been.
If that sounds like a graduation speech cliche, it’s because it is. The 2020 Audio Academy is drawing to a close, and when I take stock around me the trip only seems to be growing longer and more strange.
Regardless, if I have learned anything from quality radio story structure, this final chapter is a time for reflection and emotional release. So, let me tell you about the moment I was able to experience both.
Not long after coronavirus put our city in lockdown, KALW’s editors conceptualized the Quarantine Diaries — a series that follows a wide spectrum of Bay Area residents that allows us, through their voices, to see how the impact of a global event can be both universal and unique to the individual.
I loved the concept, and as a journalist I knew I wanted to get involved. What I didn’t know, but seems obvious now, is that my life would be swept up with all the other changes happening around my community. This was the first time I was deeply and directly impacted by the story I was reporting on. And with some encouragement and support from the KALW family, I recorded my own entry and shared my own truth.
Being on the other side of the microphone was a big step for me, and in doing so I had an epiphany. If I wanted my entry to be meaningful, I had to give what I have asked of others for so many stories: an honest and naked answer.
I spoke about a loss in my life that at the time seemed unreal, one that was too big to wrap my head around. I spoke through tears and my cracking voice. And when I was done it felt right, like the closing of a chapter.
I hope it helped others, but I know it helped me.
So now, I understand better why we end our stories with reflection and emotional release. Because as journalists at KALW, we don’t just break headlines to let people know the facts of recent events. We also create space to reflect and space to connect. Work like this gives us a moment to take a collective breath, gather ourselves and face the future, however strange it may be.
Listen to the story Victor’s writing about here.