ACE Spectrum

Welcome – The KALW Audio Academy Class of 2020 Introduce Themselves

Posted by Martha Sessums on Sep 4, 2019 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW Public Radio, and the Audio Academy Class of 2020

This week, KALW’s Audio Academy class of 2020 gets started. We’ll have two days of orientation, and then they’re off and reporting! It’s my pleasure to present them, in their own words and photos:

Sona Avakian (she/her/hers) – You can pronounce my name Sona; it’s not as hard as you may think — long O. You might slip up and call me Sonya occasionally; it happens. I don’t have any radio experience, but I have some (very little) journalism experience. For a while I did a Q&A with authors and artists having events in SF for examiner.com and I’ve done a few interviews for The Rumpus. Issues that I’m interested in are: housing and the cost of living in SF; how to survive as an artist/musician in San Francisco; environmental issues; and local history. I’m looking forward to the Audio Academy.

Christopher Egusa (he/him/his) – An East Bay native, I’ve returned home after several years in Chicago and LA to pursue a career shift. I began my career as a freelance video producer and editor. Then, after attending graduate school, I worked with several agencies designing and implementing social impact programs for nonprofits and purpose-driven companies. I have some experience with radio/audio, including an internship at NPR, in which I was exposed to both the business and journalism sides of public radio. Motivated in part by my own journey with my personal health and navigating the healthcare system, I am most interested in stories around chronic illness and mental health — both the personal experiences of people, as well as the cultural landscape underpinning them. Some of my other interests include playing all sorts of stringed instruments, bluegrass, folk music, social entrepreneurship, filmmaking, and truly excellent coffee and ice cream. I really can’t wait to tell stories that matter!

Julia Llinas Goodman (they/them/theirs) – I’m a freelance writer and journalist, originally from Los Angeles, who has spent the past three years living and working in Brooklyn, New York. My experience so far has mostly been in digital journalism, including working as an editor for politics magazine Jacobin and writing for feminist blog The Establishment. My reporting interests include the uses and policing of public space, underground communities and solidarity economies, and other topics related to human movement, urban space, and civil rights. I also edit an architecture and politics zine called Take Shape and love watching horror movies, hiking and running outdoors, and listening to hip hop and dream pop music.

Precious J. Green (she/her/hers) – Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, I moved to the Bay Area in 2012 and haven’t looked back. Though my background and training are in law, I have pursued a different direction focused on community and connection. Currently I oversee use of space at the African American Art & Culture Complex. My radio and journalism experience is primarily as a huge fan, avid listener, and regular reader. That said, I love to hear and share the stories of the people I encounter every day. I look forward to transforming that interest from mere personal curiosity to engaging reporting and storytelling.

Imran Ali Malik (he/him/his) – I’m an audio producer with a background in medicine and religious studies, raised in Princeton, NJ, and currently live in Oakland with my wife and two children. As a former touring musician, I can’t help but bring a musical sense to hosting and audio production. My storytelling interest is primarily around cultures broad and small, as I see media as a form of cultural medicine. I currently produce an experimental podcast called American Submitter that tries to find points of harmony within the complexity of personal, family, and community life that are faced by Muslims devoted to their faith.

Joshua Sirotiak (he/him/his) – Hi. I’m a native of Chicago and Cleveland who moved to San Francisco in 2001. I’m a working tuba player, a father, and a self-proclaimed nerd who’s worked as a line cook, general contractor’s apprentice, substitute teacher, camp counselor, bar back and bouncer, and has spent nearly a decade and a half working for one upscale natural foods grocer in particular. In 2013, while living in Chicago, I participated in a seven week program run by vocalo.org (an affiliate of WBEZ) in which I produced a ten minute piece about Second Line music and culture. Currently primarily employed (musically) in Balkan Brass and Second Line styles, I’ve toured across the United States and Europe for audiences from all walks of life ranging in size from two to 20,000. I live and work in Sacramento, and my reporting interests include music as a lens into culture, race in the United States, technological solutions to climate change, and environmental sustainability/justice.

Sarah Lai Stirland (she/her/hers) – I’m a freelance journalist and editor living in Los Gatos. I’m new to radio, but I’ve wanted to learn more about telling stories in this medium for a long time. My reporting background is in technology, science writing, law, and policy. For the past few years, I’ve written about the issue of aging. I have a wide range of interests, and one of my developing ones is child development and parenting, but I’d also like to do a story for KALW on the few farmers left in Santa Clara County. I’m the mom of a 10-year old. I’m originally from Hong Kong and England.

Victor Tence (he/him/his) – My experience with journalism has been largely based in writing and photography. My audio experience is limited to a few student assignments and helping produce and interview for a podcast. I am now two years deep into my attempt to shift my career into journalism, leaving behind almost a decade of cooking in San Francisco. Consequently, I am passionate about covering the hospitality and food industry, as a way to advocate for the community I love and leverage my experience and network. I am excited to meet the rest of the fellows and the KALW team — journalists have never failed to be fascinating people.

KALW Starts the School Year with Stories of Extraordinary Educators

Posted by Martha Sessums on Aug 26, 2019 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW Public Radio

The San Francisco Unified School District just launched its academic year, and KALW reporters and trainees are highlighting schools’ most fascinating issues along with some of its most extraordinary educators. Take a minute to check out some of the work that aired in the first week back for students:

The Radical History of the Murals at George Washington High School

This documentary, reported by KALW summer trainees Marco Siler-Gonzales (’18) and Ariella Markowitz (’19) looks at the history of muralist Victor Arnautoff’s work all around the Bay Area through the eyes of his family, other artists, students and parents at Washington, district board members, and others. It goes far deeper than the surface discussions most media have had on the topic of his controversial murals at George Washington High, and it features extraordinary and insightful voices and perspectives. Altogether, this audio work provides an extraordinarily contextual teaching opportunity about the complexities of art, race, and education.

This School Volunteer Teaches Kids to Regulate Their Emotions – Through Mindfulness

This intimate portrait of a district instructor illuminates the challenges and values of the practice of mindfulness. It’s a continuation of KALW’s education reporter Lee Romney‘s deep dive into how SFUSD works with students from communities that often struggle in conventional education

Additionally, this week we launched a series of in-depth profiles of district “superheroes” called “It Takes A School.” The series, produced by Audio Academy graduate Bo Walsh (’18), will continue Monday through Thursday next week on Crosscurrents. The pieces are delightful and touching, and they shine a light on unsung stars throughout the city. Here’s the first one:

It Takes a School: Mission District K-8 Security Guard is the “Spirit of the School”

Happy school year, everybody!

ACE Learning Centers Continue to Make a Difference

Posted by Martha Sessums on Aug 21, 2019 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Martha Sessums, President, ACE

ACE Learning Centers make a difference. Each year more students and their parents learn better English, math, computer and other key skills. Students are supported throughout the college entrance experience to help them navigate the process. Once in college, many are supported in navigating the very different college experience itself.

The 2019/20 school year has just started, but here are some of the results of the ACE Learning Centers and goals for this school year.

Alpha Public Schools – Alpha Parent Center

English classes are key to the Alpha Parent Center. Morning and evening classes are held daily and 30–40 parents attend. This past school year, six parents transferred to the high school program while four graduated from the program. These four also registered to attend community college this school year.

The 2018/19 school year was the first graduating senior class for Cindy Avitia High School (CAHS) and the Alpha Parent Center helped pay for 130 college applications. The result was that 65% of CAHS students will attend a 4-year university this year while another 15% were accepted into a four-year university but chose to pursue community college instead.

There were lots of other supporting services too. Once a month the Food Bank arrives on campus and is available to all the community. The Alpha Parent Center also supports free family therapy, free immigration training and resources including deportation hearing assistance, homeless services, domestic violence support, free or low cost medications and eyeglasses, resume template support, and the list goes on.

The Alpha Parent Center is a true part of its community.

Leadership change is in the air as Alpha Parent Center Manager Karen Martinez has chosen to transition to spend more time with her family and will co-partner this year with Alejandro Espinoza. Alejandro will take over the Manager role next year.

Welcome Alejandro.

Oakland International High School – Learning Lab

Leadership change is in the air at Oakland International High School (OIHS) too. Sailaja Suresh, who was the Director of the Learning Lab, and Co-Principal Carmelita Reyes have been so successful with developing and delivering best practices for education that the Oakland School District asked them to spread their talents district-wide. Lauren Markham, who was the Community School Program Manager, will take over running the Learning Lab and all the other ACE Learning Center activities.

As Sailaja said, “…there are bigger fires outside of our school right now that need attention, and Carm and I are going to work on those as best we can.”

I believe that Sailaja and Carmelita are great fire fighters. OIHS was one of the first ACE Learning Centers and Sailaja was always good at thinking bigger. We often laughed – “Great plan. Think bigger.”

ACE welcomes Lauren with whom we have worked before. Lauren is author of The Far Away Brothers which brings Oakland immigration issues to life with the story of two of OIHS’s students. Also had a great New York Times review.

Look for upcoming reports on the wonderful things OIHS’s ACE Learning Center is doing this year.

San Francisco International High School – SPAN Program

San Francisco International High School (SFIHS) has also thought bigger. From the beginning, they not only supported English language classes for students but those grew to math, computer and a strong focus not only on getting into college but in helping graduates succeed in college.

Again, there’s new management of the program. We welcome the newest SPAN Coordinator Kirk Schuler. Kirk was a founding teacher at SFIHS and taught math. She will be managing the SPAN program which supports students entering and in-progress at college.

There are other parts to the ACE Learning Center at SFIHS, and I’ll be reporting on all of them soon.

Oxford Day Academy – ACE Parent Center

Parent leadership is the goal at the Oxford Day Academy (ODA) ACE Parent Center. Through engagement and dialogue in relevant topics such as conflict resolution, data analysis, and group management, parents become better at understanding the educational system and how to support their children to succeed.

Courses are run as interactive workshops, relying predominantly on case studies and group projects to develop parents as proactive school partners. As parents deepen their knowledge and sense of community, these workshops have delved more deeply and more meaningfully into the realities that parents and high schools face in supporting teenagers.

I think learning English would be easier.  ?  Again, I’ll keep the ACE community up to date on ODA’s activities.

KALW Public Radio – Audio Academy

A new class has been chosen and Ben Trefny, KALW News Director, will soon be introducing them. Look for it.

As the school year progresses, I’ll continue to report on the activities of the ACE Learning Centers. It will be full of new people and new ideas to share and appreciate.

Let’s get this school year started.