Monthly Archives: August 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzjBTrggmS0

Oakland News Now – Interview with Mike Hutchinson – OUSD Oakland On COVID School Board Member, Leadership – video made by YouTube channel in top left corner of video.

Interview with Mike Hutchinson – OUSD Oakland School Board Member on COVID, Leadership

Following the interview with Misty Cross and Brandon Dawkins, Mike Hutchinson, a member of the Oakland Unified School District school board, agreed to visit the show and talk about the issue and how to fix it.

Join us here at 4:00 p.m. PST on August 19, 2021.

Stay tuned.

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Note from Zennie62Media’s Zennie62 YouTube and Oakland News Now Today Blog SF Bay Area:: This video blog post shows the full, live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental network of mobile multimedia video blogging system Zennie62Media, Inc . which was launched in June 2018. This is an important part of Zennie62Media, Inc.’s new and innovative approach to news media production. What we call “the third wave of media”. The uploaded video is from a YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, it is automatically uploaded and automatically formatted on the Oakland News Now site and on social media pages created and owned by Zennie62. The overall goal here, in addition to our is the real-time on-scene reporting of news, interviews, observations and events anywhere in the world and in seconds and not hours – is use of the existing YouTube social network. graphic on any topic in the world. Now the news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting the current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive camera or even a laptop is needed, nor to have a camera crew to film what is already. on Youtube. The secondary objective is the production and distribution of news media content faster and very inexpensively. We have found that there is a lag between the length of the post and the production time and revenue generated. With this the problem is much less, but by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly striving to improve the system’s network coding and is looking for interested multimedia content and technology partners.

Oakland News Now – Oakland School News – Now 4 classes of students in quarantine due to COVID-19 outbreaks – Zennie62 YouTube vlog

Oakland School News – Now 4 classes of students in quarantine due to COVID-19 outbreaks

via IFTTT

Note from Zennie62Media’s Zennie62 YouTube and Oakland News Now Today Blog SF Bay Area: This video blog post shows the full, live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental network of mobile multimedia video blogging system Zennie62Media, Inc. which was launched in June 2018 This is an important part of Zennie62Media, Inc.’s new and innovative approach to news media production. What we call “the third wave of media”. The uploaded video is from a vlogger with Zennie62 on the partner channel YouTube, then uploaded and formatted automatically on the Oakland News Now site and social media pages created and owned by Zennie62. The overall goal is to report in real time to the scene of news, interviews, sightings and events all over the world and in seconds, not hours. Now the news is reported with a smartphone: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are needed. The secondary objective is the production and distribution of news media content faster and very inexpensively. We have found that there is a lag between the length of the post and the production time and revenue generated. With this the problem is much less, but by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly striving to improve the system’s network coding and is looking for interested multimedia content and technology partners.

The following letter was sent by medical professionals and community leaders on August 9, 2021 to Oakland, the Oakland Unified School District Superintendent and school board members.

The Oakland Unified School District appears to be on the verge of reopening its schools to full capacity, although the best available data indicates the spread of COVID-19 is accelerating and spreading, especially in many of the most popular neighborhoods. vulnerable in the city.

Because marginalized communities suffer from compromised health in even the best of times, it seems inevitable that black and brown youth in Oakland and their families will disproportionately bear the brunt of new infections and increased morbidity and disease. mortality.
We are writing to you to ask some critical questions, the answers to which will reflect the willingness and willingness of elected school board leaders to take the necessary action to protect the well-being of some of the most vulnerable among us.

The choices the school board makes regarding COVID-19 cannot be dissociated from demands for fairness sweeping the country for the simple fact that the health vulnerabilities of our communities of color can, in many cases, be be traced and are deeply rooted. in generations of unjust oppression, unequal access to opportunities and undeniable neglect on the part of the public and private sectors.

Certainly, the actions of the OUSD during the 2020‐21 school year to quickly switch to distance and then hybrid learning are to be welcomed. Swift action to suspend in-person teaching and equip students for distance learning has surely saved lives and courageously shaped the principle of an entire nation of self-sacrifice and fairness.

But these important achievements risk being wasted.

First, an adequate plan for regular and targeted COVID-19 testing has yet to be implemented.
The “recommended tests” in one of the “10 OUSD sites” on a voluntary basis for symptomatic and exposed teachers, students and families, are totally inadequate.

That teachers would not be required to undergo routine tests or demonstrate proof of vaccination despite spending hours indoors (especially) with unvaccinated children is inconceivable, especially since the strain Delta virus is transmitted more easily by modeling this case.

It is only when this is done that the public – individuals, organizations, businesses, agencies and elected officials who rely on the expertise of public health professionals – can adequately assess their options and take decisions. decisions appropriate to their needs and compatible with their risk appetite.

If parents and students in Oakland have to choose between home / distance learning and
exposure to a serious illness that could prove fatal to themselves or to those close to them, then they should be given information about the relative risks of their options so that they can debate and shape the types and timing of trade-offs that are theirs. are requested during this test.
At a minimum, we insist that the school board require:

Symptomatic students, staff and teachers isolate and test negative before attending a
school website

Each school site has supplies and staff for COVID-19 testing on site
All unvaccinated teachers and staff undergo at least weekly mandatory tests
All unvaccinated teachers and staff wear N95 masks at all times

The following data points should be included in the OUSD dashboard:

• Ventilation strategy used on each school site
• Distancing directive (s) observed on each school site for each common area
  (classrooms, corridors, multipurpose rooms)
• Percentage of teachers and staff vaccinated at each school site
• Notification of each COVID-19 outbreak with the number of student and teacher / staff cases

As community leaders and physicians. We are ready to serve not only as accountability partners, but also as a resource to help ensure the health and well-being of our dedicated teachers and school staff, as well as the safety of our children.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information or if we can be
help. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sign:
Sherilynn Cooke, MD, President, Sinkler Miller Medical Association
Noha Aboelata, MD, CEO, Roots Community Health Center
Donna White Carey, MD, Executive Pastor, True Vine Ministries
Aisha Mays, MD, Director of Teen and School Programs, Roots Community Health Center
Kim F. Rhoads, MD, MS, MPH, Assoc. Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Founding Director, Umoja Health
Damon Francis, MD, Health Committee, Fellowship of Seniors Network
Gregory Hodge, Network Director, Brotherhood of Elders Network
Pecolia Manigo Awobodu, Executive Director, Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network
Donald Frasier, Executive Director, Building Opportunities for Self-sufficiency
Pastor Michael McBride, National Director, LIVE FREE Project
Carolyn (CJ) Johnson, CEO, Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation
Candice Elder, Founder and Executive Director, East Oakland Collective
Tanya Dennis, Oakland Frontline Healer Coalition

The Oakland Post’s local news coverage in Alameda County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support community newspapers across California.

Kaytlynn King, her husband and two of their children, including Darielle, 4, walked through the doors of Lockwood STEAM Academy on Monday morning, ready for the first day of Darielle’s transitional kindergarten. As they posed for a photo of the first day of class in front of a giant mural on the Havenscourt campus, King fought back tears.

“After going through the pandemic, her ability to go to school is so exciting,” King said. “I am extremely nervous but I put my faith in God and in the school to keep it safe.”

Mixed feelings were common in Oakland schools on Monday, the first day of the 2021-2022 school year. For most students, this is the first time in almost a year and a half that they have been able to learn in their classrooms. While students and teachers were thrilled to be on campus together again in person, coronavirus cases are on the rise in Alameda County, and the Oakland Unified School District is following state and government guidelines. county, including universal masking and health exams for campus staff and visitors, to prevent the spread of the virus. The district does not have a vaccination mandate in place for teachers and no testing is required. District officials are encouraging students to get vaccinated if they are old enough and have partnered with health organizations to run pop-up vaccination clinics on school campuses. Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell pointed out that the district provides access to testing at 10 sites across the city and is working with community organizations to coordinate further.

But for many parents and staff, their nervousness about the pandemic faded once they saw children climbing jungle gyms, running on the asphalt or sitting with each other. on classroom rugs.

Jordan Baxter Stern, music teacher at West Oakland Middle School, is very happy to get to know his students and to play music together in person, rather than on Zoom. This year he will be teaching a string instrument course and his wind instrument course will be held outdoors, as instruments like trumpets, flutes and saxophones cannot be played with a mask. As Stern, in his sophomore year of teaching, tidied up the music room on Monday, he spoke of his hopes of being able to bring professional artists to perform in front of the class and take trips to a record store.

“It was crazy trying to get to know the college kids on Zoom and teach music late,” he said. “Being in person is much better.”

Gloria Mendoza started her day welcoming families to Lockwood STEAM Academy, a new school created by the merger of Futures Elementary and Community United Elementary School in East Oakland. Mendoza is the School Culture and Climate Ambassador, a new position created for School Safety Officers, whose roles were redesigned following the removal of the Oakland School Police Department the year last.

“No more officer Mendoza. No more handcuffs or uniforms because it can be intimidating, ”she said of the change. His new uniform is a collared shirt and jeans. “They are so excited to be in person again. It’s like Christmas.

Most of the district’s 35,000 students attend the school in person, while about 850 have chosen to enroll in Sojourner Truth, the district’s independent study school, so they can continue to learn virtually. Across the district, teachers and staff are focused on a restorative restart of the year: taking the first two weeks of school to make sure students feel comfortable with each other and with their children. teachers, recognizing the loss and upheaval of the past 17 months, and finding out how to be in school again.

Superintendent Johnson-Trammell visited several schools throughout the day, as well as other district officials, Mayor Libby Schaaf, State Superintendent of Public Education Tony Thurmond, members of City Council and school board directors.

At Coliseum College Prep Academy, all desks in a sixth grade class were pushed to the back or side of the room. In the center of the room, the students were seated in a large circle while their teacher, Ainate Yiaueki led the community circle. The goal was for the students to share their thoughts and feelings about the first day and listen to each other.

“The community circle is where we listen with our hearts. We respect what others have to say, ”Yiaueki said.

Among the usual hallway and classroom decorations, like words of encouragement and the alphabet, reminders to wash hands and wear a mask were ubiquitous. Social distancing requirements were relaxed in all OUSD schools, so that students were able to sit next to each other in classrooms and play games that included touching during recess, unlike the early spring.

For some teachers, the first day of school meant reassuring their students that they were ready for their new year. In Dale Turner’s fourth-grade class at Horace Mann Elementary School in the Fairfax neighborhood of East Oakland, students began a math exercise using their names: each letter of the alphabet corresponded to numbers one through 26, and the students were asked to add the value of the letters on their behalf.

But before he started, he asked his students, whose last face-to-face learning experience was second grade, what they thought about math. One student raised his hand to say that he had heard that fourth grade math was difficult, while another student added that they had never done a division before. Turner reassured them that they were up to the challenge.

“We’re going to go through the things you did in third grade and just add them,” he said.

For Donna McClinto, a kindergarten teacher at Lockwood STEAM, the first day of school brought back memories of her first day of kindergarten 31 years ago in the same class she taught. His students would draw pictures to describe how they got to school that day.

“I remember walking into class and my mom looking out the window,” she said. “The only difference is that we no longer have the blackboard.