Featured events- 03/10/2012 - Ton Koopman & The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
- 02/27/2012 - Classical at the Freight: Rossini Birthday Celebration
- 02/23/2012 - Michio Kaku: Physics of the Future, How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
- 02/23/2012 - 2012: a Turning Point? And If So, Which Way?: A Talk by Robert Reich
- 02/19/2012 - Takacs Quartet
Category Archives: Kids
Skateboarder hit by car dies of injuries
Update 6:20 p.m. According to the Berkeley Police Department, Tyler De Martini died today at 4:10 p.m.
Berkeley police have determined that De Martini was in the wrong in the collision with a Prius at 7:05 pm on Monday. De Martini was skateboarding in the street in violation of the California Vehicle Code, which requires skateboarders to use sidewalks if they are available. The CVC reads: “No pedestrian may walk upon any roadway outside of a business or residence district otherwise than close to his or her left-hand edge of the roadway.”
Original story: The 18-year old skateboarder who was hit by a car Monday evening while traveling on Marin Avenue is still in grave condition, according to Berkeley police.
The youth, who lived in Berkeley but attended El Cerrito High School, was hit by a 54-year old man driving a Prius around 7:05 pm on Jan. 30. The driver was heading eastbound on Marin negotiating a left hand/northbound turn onto Tulare when the two collided, according to Berkeley police. There was no alcohol involved in the collision and the driver was not charged. … Continue reading »
Tagged skateboard accident, Tyler De Martini
Truancy high, but improving, at Berkeley High School
In the last two weeks, Berkeley High officials have sent out close to 2,000 letters telling students they have been truant, but they are regarding the number as an achievement.
While it might seem worrisome that 60% of the school’s 3,300 students are routinely skipping class, the situation is actually better than last year thanks to new programs on preventing truancy, according to Daniel Roose, the dean of attendance.
While in 2010, only about 90.7% of the students attended regularly, the number is up this year, said Roose. Attendance in September, October, and November of 2011 was more than 94%, he said.
“It’s still way too high,” said Roose. “The state of California would like all California schools to be in the high 90s. We are below average for our peer schools in California.” … Continue reading »
Tagged Daniel Roose, Karen Hemphill, truancy
Everyone deserves to eat: Andre Green’s kitchen wisdom
Andre Green’s mission is both simple and heartfelt: no one should go hungry. It’s a mantra that has worked for him in his more than seven years serving food to the homeless and poor.
After a long stint in the kitchen at the East Oakland Community Project, Green began cooking for Berkeley’s most vulnerable residents on Valentine’s Day this year, as the new food services coordinator for Berkeley Food & Housing Project. The non-profit group serves hot meals to homeless men, women, and children from food purchased from the Alameda County Community Food Bank and wholesale grocery stores, along with donations from individuals, organizations, and businesses. … Continue reading »
New guide aims to improve school food beyond Berkeley
Regular readers may think that the only person in town doing anything to fix school food in Berkeley and beyond is Alice Waters via her Edible Schoolyard Project.
But that perception would be wrong. Founded in 1995, the Center for Ecoliteracy has also long championed school food reform and channeled funding in the millions to garden programs, cooking classes, and nutrition-based curriculum in Berkeley public schools.
Along with the Chez Panisse Foundation and Berkeley Unified School District, the Center for Ecoliteracy also implemented the School Lunch Initiative, which kickstarted local, seasonal, and sustainable food for students here and connected the classroom and the cafeteria. … Continue reading »
Young chess masters head to Brazil for championships
Most second and third graders probably have fairly modest plans for next week. Josiah Stearman and Ben Rood, however, will be getting on a plane for Brazil to compete in the World Junior Chess Championships in Caldas Novas. The boys are the latest students of the Berkeley Chess School to represent the United States at the world championships.
From modest beginnings nearly 30 years ago, the Berkeley Chess School now runs 120 different classes throughout the Bay Area. Stearman and Rood attend classes in Orinda and work under John Griefe, an international master who was US chess champion in 1973. Both boys started playing chess when they were four years old.
“It was fun to play,” said Rood. “Now I like it because it’s strategic.”
“I think it’s challenging and I like to study and practice,” said Stearman. … Continue reading »
A mom goes to Occupy Oakland with her 7-year-old twins
By Elisabeth Jay
After activists occupied the Frank Ogawa Plaza outside of Oakland City Hall for the second time, it seemed high time to visit the site that not only had been renamed Oscar Grant Plaza, but was suddenly in the vanguard of the Occupy movement. Enough of the “I’m-too- busy-being-a-working-parent” excuse. According to the Occupy website, something would be happening Saturday October 29 at 11 a.m. But what to do about the kids on a morning when their other mother had grading to do?
“So this morning, we’re going to take BART to somewhere really interesting, where there are going to be a lot of people having a big rally, kind of like what is going on in downtown Berkeley, only bigger” I explained.
“Oh, where they are camping out with tents and the police took away their sleeping bags?” replied my knowledgeable 7-year-old son. “Can I bring my book and read?”
“I don’t know…” said his twin sister. “Will it be fun for kids?” … Continue reading »
Tagged Occupy Oakland
Alice Waters, Robert Reich talk up a delicious revolution
It was all very Alice: a fire pit outside, a large screen projecting Mr. Smith Goes to Washington on the stage, and, next to her chair, an artfully arranged assortment of fresh-picked fruit delivered to her door by farmer friends.
Alice Waters, a one-time Montessori teacher, wanted to stimulate her students’ senses. So, last Tuesday, that’s how she kicked off her turn to talk at the Edible Education 101 fall lecture series at UC Berkeley, funded by her own Chez Panisse Foundation.
And, in an inspired piece of programming, the woman with a big, broad vision for food reform in schools and beyond, who speaks in a small, wispy way and sometimes appears uncomfortable, even a little lost alone in the spotlight, invited the jovial Cal public policy professor and economics expert Robert Reich to join her on stage for a conversation in front of a close to capacity crowd at Wheeler Hall. … Continue reading »
Drug arrest leads to tense moments at Berkeley High
Update, 11.01.11: The BPD has released a photograph of the replica gun officers recovered Monday in this case (left). It was a realistic looking Desert Eagle gun, the BPD reported. In an email release, the BDP writes: “The young man and woman are being booked at the BPD Juvenile booking facility, the 17 male who does not currently attend school for 148(PC) – Resisting or Obstructing an officer and the 15 year old (a 10th grade BHS student) for 11357(b) PC – Possession of less than 28.5 g of marijuana and an outstanding warrant.”
………………………………………………
Berkeley High officials briefly secured the school perimeter this afternoon after a 17-year old who had been stopped for selling drugs in MLK Park ran toward the area.
A Berkeley police officer witnessed a hand-to-hand drug transaction around 3:19 pm between the 17-year old and a 15-year old sophomore from Berkeley High, according to Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. The police officer rode his bike over to the teens and told them to sit down. He called for back up, but the 17-year old ran away and tossed a gun he was carrying under a car, said Sgt. Kusmiss. The officer caught up with the 17-year old and detained him. An investigation revealed the gun was a very-real looking fake Desert Eagle, said Sgt. Kusmiss.
As a safety precaution, Principal Pasquale Scuderi briefly closed the perimeter of the school, said Superintendent Bill Huyett. … Continue reading »
How toxic is Halloween face paint on your child’s face?
By Belinda Lyons-Newman
With Halloween approaching, I set out last week to find make-up to decorate my three-year old daughter Ella’s face to go with her ladybug Halloween costume. I saw a variety of brands of face paints at the drug stores and toy stores near my north Berkeley home. Before choosing one to buy, like many Berkeley moms wanting to find the most natural products for their kids, I decided to first research online for the most natural brands available. I was amazed at what I found.
Two minutes into my online research, I pulled up a report published in 2009 by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC), a national coalition of non-profit groups working to eliminate harmful chemicals from personal care products. After testing ten major kids face paints sold in the US, the study found that all ten of the face paints tested contained lead. Six out of the ten face paints tested contained the known skin allergens, nickel, cobalt and/or chromium, at levels far exceeding the recommendations of industry studies. … Continue reading »
Tagged face-paint, Halloween
Rotary Club builds new play structure for homeless kids
For more than two years, the homeless children at the Ursula Sherman Village on Harrison Street in West Berkeley only had an empty lot to play in. The decrepit play structure that had stood in the yard for years was shut down because it was no longer safe.
“It was old,” explained Boona Cheema, the Executive Director of Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS) which was founded in 1971 and runs the village. “It wasn’t safe, so we took it down.”
Thanks to the intervention of the Rotary Club of Berkeley and assorted affiliates, the 24 children at Ursula Sherman Village now have a state-of-the-art play structure and playground to play in. Officials from the Rotary, BOSS, and the city of Berkeley gathered Monday afternoon for the official ribbon cutting ceremony of the playground.
“It’s already made a huge difference,” said Cheema. “The kids feel it’s their place, that it was done for them. They are so excited.”
Evidence was everywhere Monday that the kids were enjoying the structure. As adults mingled around chatting before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the children ran all around the play structure, climbed up its stairs, and played on its bars. … Continue reading »
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