Category Archives: King Middle School
A freezing morning in Berkeley
The temperature gauge read 29 degrees this morning in Berkeley. Citizen reporter Aaron Glimme took a shot of a determined runner on the frost-covered track at King Middle School.
The cold, clear weather that has parked itself over the Bay Area for the past six weeks should be moving on soon. Weather forecasters have predicted rain for Wednesday and Thursday.
Record $244,000 in grants to 400 Berkeley teachers
The Berkeley Public Education Foundation (BPEF) announced this week a record total of $244,000 in grants funding over 400 teachers in Berkeley public schools.
“We’re counted on by teachers who are now looking under every rock for funding,” said Molly Fraker, executive director of BPEF. “There’s not any public funding left for this kind of thing.”
The largest award is a single $44,000 grant to complete a two-year effort to build permanent book collections in every classroom throughout Berkeley’s 11 elementary schools, done in conjunction with the school district. But awards range widely, with most being for a few hundred dollars for projects like teaching nutrition while making smoothies for preschoolers at Hopkins, to purchasing a color printer for visual materials at the Arts Magnet, to plants and supplies for the school garden and chickens at John Muir Elementary. The complete list can be downloaded as a spreadsheet. … Continue reading »
Summer cooking camps: tales of solar oven berry crisp
The long foggy days of summer in Berkeley mean summer camp for many kids. In such a food-focused town it’s not surprising to learn that camps designed to encourage edible adventures are popular among the next generation of home cooks and potential professional chefs.
What may surprise you is the skills the young students master, like making pasta from scratch, using a culinary blowtorch, and preparing a four-course family meal. And the lessons the children learn: following a recipe is mostly a good thing, sometimes a dish missing many of its ingredients doesn’t taste so great, and working as a team means sitting down sooner to eat the culinary creations.
For young ones in town there are several cooking camps to choose from; we spotlight three here where children learn kitchen techniques such as knife skills, measuring and mixing, and reading a recipe, along with cleaning up and the pleasure of enjoying a meal together. … Continue reading »
Berkeley schools see new appointments at the top
It’s like a game of musical chairs at Berkeley schools right now, as a group of new faces move into top positions following the departure of key personnel.
John Muir and Oxford Elementary schools, King Middle School and Berkeley Technology Academy (B-Tech) have new principals, and there’s a new vice-principal at Berkeley High.
Jason Lustig’s decision to pursue an academic course at Harvard, which saw him step down from his position as principal of King Middle School at the end of this academic year, set the ball in motion for several appointments that followed. Lustig, was in the post for four years after a stint as principal at Cragmont Elementary School. … Continue reading »
Last week we reported that four chickens — a New Hampshire Red, a Buff Orpington, a Barred Rock, and a Wyandotte – had been scooped up by Berkeley High School security staff after being found on campus. The officers took the birds to a neighbor, Shirley Carrie Brewin, who keeps chickens, and they were then taken to Berkeley’s Animal Shelter. Two Berkeleyside readers — Emma and bhs-student — left notes in our Comments saying they believed the chickens belonged to King Middle School.
Mossberg collected the birds from the animal shelter. He said the chicken coop had been broken into on the night of June 8. “We are relieved to have found them. There are no suspects at this point,” he said.
Berkeley school bands perform at Giants game
On Thursday this week, Berkeley Unified School District’s high-school and middle-school bands joined forces to perform the Star Spangled Banner at the San Francisco Giants baseball game. The excitement was more than palpable — holler and shouting alert. Watch the musicians in action at the 1.55-minute point in the video above (which comes courtesy of BUSD’s Mark Coplan).
Oh, and the score? San Francisco Giants 3, Arizona Diamondbacks 2.
A planner who favors edible, eco education — and risks
In the course of her travels researching her new book Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation, Sharon Gamson Danks was struck by two things: First, the United States is a world leader in school food gardens and Berkeley is firmly at the epicenter of that movement.
And second, the U.S. lags far behind other countries when it comes to building green schoolyards with eco-friendly aspects beyond a produce patch — in other words spaces that encourage play with potential risk. We’re talking less asphalt and metal structures, and more nature nooks and shaded ponds.
An environmental planner, Danks and landscape architect Lisa Howard run Bay Tree Design in Berkeley, which specializes in designing ecological outdoor play spaces. They incorporate ideas Danks picked up from her playground adventures overseas. … Continue reading »
King Middle School Principal Jason Lustig to step down
Jason Lustig, the Principal of Martin Luther King Middle School, is to leave his post at the end of this academic year, after four years in the job, in order to pursue an academic course at Harvard.
Lustig, a Berkeley native, came to King from Cragmont Elementary School where he was also principal. He is popular in the King community where he is known, among other things, for his extensive collection of ties, some of which have been hand-made for him by students.
“Jason has been a great asset to our schools,” says BUSD Superintendent Bill Huyett. “I really appreciate the way he balances excellent academic standards with his abilities as a very conscientious leader. He has great relationships with staff and the community.” … Continue reading »
U.S. Surgeon General visits UC Berkeley, Edible Schoolyard
The U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Regina Benjamin, came to Berkeley today where she delivered a lecture on her vision for a healthy, fit nation at UC Berkeley, as well as being greeted warmly by a group of enthusiastic school children.
After her morning visit to the campus, Dr Benjamin dropped in to the Edible Schoolyard at King Middle School at about 2:30pm. A welcoming party was there to greet her, which included, among others, King’s Principal Jason Lustig, BUSD Superintendent Bill Huyett, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, food reformer Joy Moore, and restaurateur Alice Waters who led Dr Benjamin on a tour of the garden. The Edible Schoolyard is a program of the Chez Panisse Foundation. … Continue reading »
Berkeley’s school lunch program is flawed, say insiders
The successes — and shortcomings — of the Berkeley Unified School District’s revamped school food program received equal billing at yesterday’s première screening of a series of short films collectively known as the Lunch Love Community Documentary Project.
The audience at Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley were greeted with cinematic images of children contentedly nibbling on fruit, tucking into salad, and choosing produce at a school’s farmers’ market. But, after the viewing, some adults provided a counterpoint to the rosy pictures showcasing Berkeley’s much-lauded School Lunch Initiative.
John Muir 5th grade teacher Stephen Rutherford was hands down the most critical. He talked about long, slow lines for lunch at his elementary school, the challenges for little fingers using swipe cards, the untended salad bar, the rush to eat, the vast amounts of waste, and a tense cafeteria environment.
Some of his concerns echo those raised by parents commenting on a recent Berkeleyside story on Lunch Love Community. “The day-to-day reality of feeding kids doesn’t resemble what you see on this screen,” said Rutherford. “We all had a vision of what school lunch could be and at my school it’s still very sad.” … Continue reading »
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