The OSA Newsletter: November 2020 |
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Letter from the Executive Director:
To the OSA Family,
I would like to extend a warm thank you to our administration, teachers and staff for the incredible work that they have done to support our young people. Principal Mike Oz, along with Assistant Principal Katy Zaugg, have organized morning Town Hall meetings every three weeks to check-in with families and share information regarding scheduling, student support and additional tutoring and coaching in academic and art classes. Our teachers and staff are attending weekly department and professional development meetings so that they can plan for the coming second quarter and collectively work together to map out future events and programming.
OSA held its first online fundraiser – OSA Creates! If you missed the event, you can view it here. This was an incredible evening of collaborative artistic work. We had guest appearances from OSA nationally renowned alumni, board members and special appearances by OSA students. I would like to thank TT Robson from our Office of Advancement under the direction of Kathryn Keslosky for building the team to produce this event. We raised over $65k in one night! We encourage our community to keep giving so that OSA can remain the vibrant artistic community so necessary for our children to thrive.
Get Out and VOTE!
On November 3rd, we will witness the end of voting for the 2020 election. Our students, staff, alumni and parents are advocating for change and they are using their art to make a positive difference in the world. OSA’s Visual Art students were invited by an Oakland community advocacy group called Families in Action to design posters encouraging people to get out and vote! Please visit our White Box art gallery or check out the image below to view the incredible posters designed by OSA students.
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Parent Advocacy
OSA Connects has now 200+ parent sign-ups! One special group, OSA Advocates led by volunteer parent Anne McSilver, has shared important information on the election by providing candidate information links so that we can all make informed personal decisions. Please visit OSA Connects to volunteer for a committee and/or begin a new committee at OSA.
OSA Leadership and OSA Board
Members of the OSA Leadership team and OSA Board members are working in tandem to design a new three-year strategic plan. The plan will detail the priorities set by the OSA Leadership Team and Board of Directors, and the strategies that will be employed to meet these goals.
A Focus on Equity
A few highlights from our OSA students, teachers and alumni that are working to promote equity throughout our city and country!
Former OSA Visual Arts teacher Marina Perez-Wong and fellow artist Elaine Chu are the dynamic duo behind the mural arts collaboration Twin Walls Mural Company. They believe in the power of visual narratives to capture and reflect a community’s history, struggles, dreams and intentions. You can see their latest mural, with help from recent OSA Visual Arts grad Lisa Max, entitled 'Our Ancestors' Wildest Dreams' in person at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and virtually on the SF MOMA homepage.
Emiliano Estrada, a senior in the Literary Arts emphasis and Co-President of the Board of Students of Color at OSA, will be representing OSA as one of only four national student panelists at the Arts School’s Network Conference in Chicago in mid-November. In this panel discussion, students' voices representing the ASN Network Arts Schools will be sharing their personal experiences and what is most important to their educational success. Students will represent the West Coast, Central US, East Coast, and South. During the session, students will be asked questions with a lens on equity. Throughout the discussion, students will reflect on equity through the arts and share challenges they have faced during their educational journey.
A special thank you is extended to our entire OSA community for your continued support.
Best,
Lisa Sherman-Colt
Lisa Sherman-Colt
Executive Director
Oakland School for the Arts
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Letter from the Principal:
Greetings OSA Families,
I want to extend utmost gratitude to all members of our community as we wrap up the first quarter of the school year. In taking a brief moment to slow down and reflect on all of the amazing accomplishments in the last 10 weeks, I am reminded of just how fortunate we all are to be part of such a creative, unique, and strong school community. The hard work and dedication of our teachers has resulted in sustained academic and artistic excellence despite the many challenges we face daily. In addition to thoughtful instructional planning our team has also put a strong focus on engagement strategies beyond the classroom. This week's Latinos Unidos assembly was a shining example of just that and showcased what makes OSA so special. Under the leadership of our beloved Social Science teacher, Uma Joshi, our middle school and high school members of Latinos Unidos produced inspiring cultural celebrations. On a related note, we will be transitioning our weekly grade level meetings into an "Open Mic - OSA Students Create" weekly event. More information will be shared this Tuesday, November 3rd, at our "Activism through the Arts" assembly which will be taking place on election day. Our incredible Dean of Students, Ms. Anna DeRoos has been working countless hours behind the scenes to make all of these student events possible. I personally look forward to all of these events and leave inspired by our students every time!
Thank you all for your continued support,
Mike Oz
Mike Oz
Principal
Oakland School for the Arts
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Advancement News:
Dear OSA Community,
We would like to sincerely thank everyone who tuned into the OSA Creates Benefit on October 20th. We hope that you felt the close-knit OSA community and enjoyed the performances, speakers and hosts even from a virtual platform.
Thank you for the incredible generosity of our families. We are honored and grateful to report that we raised $65,000 on the night of the event in gifts received and pledges. Considering the days leading up to and following the event, we raised about $90,000 for our school from this effort. This puts us at a total of $240,500 toward our goal of $500,000. Thank you!! Let's keep going! Here's how:
Oakland School for the Arts
Attn: Advancement
530 18th Street
Oakland, CA 94612
Questions about donating to OSA's Annual Fund? Contact Kristin TT Robson, Annual Fund Manager.
If you were unable to attend OSA Creates, not to worry! You can watch the recording here and explore the virtual lounge here.
Thank you again for joining us and for your continued support.
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A special note from Instrumental Music teacher Justin Ouellet:
Dear OSA Community,
I would like a big shout out to the following department faculty for the cross-collaboration on 'Letting Go,' featured in OSA Creates. I want to make sure it is recognized how much extra work these particular teachers spent putting things together.
Special Thanks to:
Lauren Scully, thank you for being the architect and your vision for the video itself, all the extra hours spent putting the pieces together.
Jordan Karnes, thank you for your artistry, direction and curation of the poetry written by your students and recorded by your students.
Dr. Delores Thompson, thank you for bringing us together, for recording the student's voices, and for MC'ing the Benefit alongside Kev Choice.
Andrew Junge, thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully curate the selected artwork by students, faculty & alumni from our community.
Cava Menzies & Pablo Cristi, thank you for including your art in this project, allowing us to show the world the beauty of your art.
Thank you to all the students and alumni involved for bringing the song to a whole new level.
Thank you to our alumni & 25th St. Recording Studio for being a part of creating one of my compositions.
Alumni:
Ari Carpenter - bass / recording engineer
Ale Sanchez - guitar
Hannah Mayer - piano
Jayla Hernandez - Drumset
Sincerely,
Justin Ouellet
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Calendar Updates
There's so much going on - please follow our school calendar to stay up to date!
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OSA College & Career Counselors have been visiting Senior English classes to offer support for college applications - UC, CSU and Common App -
and also to support students preparing to attend community college transfer programs. Students planning to head straight to careers are receiving guidance in writing their resumes.
With thanks to support from 9th grade families, 135 copies of “Children of Blood and Bone,” by Tomi Adeyemi, have been delivered and are being picked up by 9th grade students this week (photo below, by Mr. Patrick Secrease).
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The novel was written by 26 year-old Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi, and pulls from West African mythology to create a fantasy world filled with magic and powerful, young Black heroes. The students have already put together presentations of their research on the Yoruba Gods and are very excited to start reading the novel this week. |
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Math
Students in Algebra 2 have been learning how to move fluently between the graph of a function and its equation, and from the equation to its graph. For example, given the graph of a parabola located anywhere in the x/y-plane, opening upward or downward, and growing at whatever rate, many students can now write the correct equation based on a quick visual inspection of the graph. The teacher's suggestion that this would probably be an excellent skill to demonstrate at a barbeque or other social gathering was met with... shall we say... some degree of skepticism.
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Science
Ms. Humphrey's 8th grade Physical Science students followed the tech design process to come up with a solution to a problem they have, and many students really went above and beyond, making models and commercials of their designs. One student took it a step further - Nico Daddio wanted to solve the problem of computers overheating, without taking up USB ports. Not only did he create a model, he even tested it with a controlled experiment - way to go, Nico!
At the end of October, Ms. Clusserath's 11th Grade Chemistry students finished up their Substance Projects, completing videos and slideshows showcasing their work. Through November and December, we will learn all about the Periodic Table and how its organization informs the structures of atoms!
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Social Sciences
Ms. Pontecorvo shares, 'Our 8th grade history students are working on learning how to analyze primary source documents and to do this we have looked at documents about the Atlantic World in the Age of Exploration. Groups looked at Spanish colonization, the origins of the Atlantic slave trade, the lives of merchant sailors, migrants making the choice to cross the Atlantic and of course, everyone's favorite, pirates! For this project students have also used art to interpret the documents creating paintings, songs, and hand painted maps.'
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Luna Cisneros (9th grade) helped coordinate a visit for Spanish 1 and Spanish 3 students with some guests from Oakland's Guatemalan Mam community. Through questions and answers, the students learned about traditional dress, food, and traditions and also the many languages spoken there. In particular, the colorful cloth (each one representing a different year) used to carry babies on mothers' backs was noted to be very similar to those used in African countries. The visit emphasized the aspect of culture that we study in our World Language classes as well as the diversity of culture right here in Oakland. |
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The marimba is a traditional instrument in the Mam community |
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Dance
Through OSA Dance's partnership with San Francisco Ballet, SFB's Class with Community program, offering open donation-based Ballet classes with world class SFB faculty, we raised $1,000 for OSA's General Fund!
OSA Dance students have had multiple opportunities for reflective thinking including, watching the HBO segment, Trophy Nation, and having reflective conversations with their parents about the effects of America's "Participation Trophy" culture on young people, and self-reflecting on how Q1 went for them, what they can learn and grow from going into Q2, and formulating Q2 Goals and Action Plans to support those goals.
Moving into Q2, MS Students have begun to challenge the honing of their instruments beyond the Basic Stretch Routine and Basic Strengthening workouts, by adding High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to challenge and increase their stamina, and Heel in Hand stretches to focus on improving their extensions, to their Dance Conditioning regimens.
HS Students have begun their Goals/Plans/Preparation (GPS) Project, a project that challenges students to take a deep dive into their purpose at OSA, state some goal Summer Intensive Programs and Post-HS options (Colleges, Dance Companies, Trainee Programs, etc), research what is needed to get into their goal Programs, self-assess in multiple areas related to their goal Programs and their Dance training, and map out specific Action Plans to get themselves closer to achieving their self-selected goals--this is an important multi-layered Project that aligns with OSA being a Career Technical Education (CTE) school that is meant to prepare students for Post-Secondary and Industry.
Our next Monthly Dance Family Meeting will be Tuesday, November 10 at 7pm on Zoom--check your email for the recurring link, and we hope to see you there!
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Class of 2022 Dance student Stella Pezold. |
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Junior Stella Pezold at home |
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Digital Media
Digital Media is transitioning into the fun world of video editing. Students in Middle School and High School are currently working on Found Footage Music Videos and will be having some fun with editing together movie trailers. We are also working on some collaborations with Vocal Music, Production Design, and Theatre. During the fabulous OSA Creates! Live Program on October 20th, our students' powerful election & social justice posters were featured and the virtual lounge featured their Hidden Histories Podcasts and two videos from our OSA Studios Series, which is a great collaboration between DM and Visual Art.
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Fashion students and Ms. Linda went to OSA Alumna and noted Black Lives Matter activist Brianna Noble's ranch, Mulatto Meadows, to have a socially-distanced design meeting one weekend, and to measure and meet the horses for our Wakanda Forever inspired collaboration. As you may have seen in the SF Chronicle coverage, the Fashion Department students costumed three riders and their horses for a Halloween event in San Francisco on October 30th. It was amazing to have the students meet Brianna, (pictured above, and below right) and experience her kindness, generosity and mission. Also some students met each other for the first time ever(!), and all were able to actually see and touch the materials for their designs. Thanks so much to Brianna for hosting us in a beautiful and safe environment, and for the opportunity to work with you!
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Fashion students at Mulatto Meadows |
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Taking socially-distant costume measurements |
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Horses with OSA Alumna Brianna Noble |
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Instrumental Music
This last month, OSA IM has been focusing on CTE (career technical education) for high school and continued remote musical learning tools for middle school. All high school IM came together a few times to discuss jobs in the industry, resume building, and help spark/continue students' musical trajectory. This month, the department has also opened up applications for the annual Neel Foon Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship awards four $2,000 scholarships to middle and high school instrumentalists to help pay for an instrument or lessons. The scholarship is a beautiful way to carry on the memory and legacy of Neel Foon, guitarist and OSA alum.
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Guest speaker Matthew Abiva, a Creative Director at Disney, who came to speak to the Visual Music elective within Instrumental Music about multi-sensory art making. |
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Literary Arts
The October issue of the OSA Telegraph is dedicated to the life and memory of Breonna Taylor; after the Grand Jury failed to deliver justice to Breonna's family, the staff of the Telegraph decided we wanted to dedicate this issue to her story, and to the other stories of loss we're collectively experiencing as a class, as a school, as a city, and as a nation. We're in the middle of a pandemic that's not only taken an unprecedented amount of lives, but drastically changed the way we continue to live ours. We wanted to make something that reflected how all of this--racism, police brutality, COVID 19, to name a few--have greatly affected our day-to-day lives, and the lives of so many people across the globe. We hope that these stories of loss inspire you to look at the ways you can engage with hope in your life. Middle school Lit Arts students spent the last couple weeks of October refining their scary story skills for our annual spooky story contest, to be held Friday, October 30th (students are encouraged to wear costumes to class and BYOS - bring your own snacks)!
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Production Design
In case you missed it at OSA Creates, Production Design is in FIRST PLACE for Annual Fund participation. Let's be the first emphasis to make it to 100% (donate here). Save the date - Production Design Parent Alex Wanigatuna is hosting a wine, cheese, and chill zoom session for parents on November 13th. We'll spend some of the time brainstorming about project(s) to do together. Watch your email- lots of parents have already signed up to help with specific projects or just be on call for things that come up - a sign up list was sent out October 25th if you'd like to participate!
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Theatre
Theatre started off quarter two with a "Community Day," where grades and classes came together to have fun playing games and competing in a friendly competition adjudicated by a panel of wacky judges (the Theatre faculty in full costumes and accents). Now we are in the midst of quarter two curriculum, where students are diving deep and preparing for performances: the Musical Theatre program is doing a performance-based project using The Cradle Will Rock as our focus (performances will be 12/4 and 12/5 at 7pm over Zoom), and the Acting program will also present a showcase in December that features work from their Acting Theory and Shakespeare classes. Rehearsals are well underway for the upcoming spring production of 'Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead. Auditions for both the middle school musical, Addams Family, and the high school musical, Spring Awakening, will take place in December. Stay tuned for more audition and production information.
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Visual
As always, our visual artists have been staying busy. In middle school, our students are learning about negative and positive space, how to work with color, and how to find inspiration for patterns in the world around them. In high school, some of us took a virtual field trip to the Koplin Del Rio Gallery in Seattle (to see a show featuring our very own Mr. Brown!) and the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. Our high schoolers are also busy looking at how Oakland shapes our identities as artists, what it means to research as an artist, and contributing artworks inspired by Literary Arts and Instrumental Music's collaborative poem and song titled “Letting Go” (maybe you saw it at OSA Creates?).
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Vocal
Vocal Music has been working to find creative projects for our students. We are all learning our way with a new tool called Soundtrap to create full choir recordings! One Voice is collaborating with Digital Media to create a music video with Mr. Lalgee. And Ms. Vela has entered Vocal Rush in the ICHSA (International Championship of High School A Cappella) competition - this will be our first remote competition!
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Dr. Delores Thompson, OSA Pathways Coordinator, has put together an amazing Artist Speaker Series for our students from a wide variety of artistic talents. We had over 500 viewers for our October kickoff event with Arabian Prince & Trevor Hansford!
Check out the detailed list of speakers and dates, above, and be sure to mark your calendars. Our next speaker is James DuBose, an Executive Producer of Fox Soul TV, and will take place December 15th at 11:00 AM. This series is part of our ongoing plan as a Linked Learning Pathway school to ensure college and career readiness for our students, as well as to create opportunities for mentorships, internships, and other collaborations.
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Voting is Vital!
There are so many important issues before voters on the current ballot - please remember to vote on your local issues as well as the national ones. For example, there are four school board seats open in Oakland. OSA does not endorse specific candidates and so we invite you to review the statements submitted by the applicants for each of these seats and make your own determination about what is best for your and your child. As many of you who helped support our charter renewal may remember, those are the folks who determine the future of our school every five years at our renewal. As a publicly-funded non-profit institution, OSA may not make a recommendation or endorse a candidate; we simply urge you to learn more to make a choice that best supports your child. If 100% of OSA families get out to vote, what a difference we could make!
Register
Don't worry if you missed the deadline to pre-register - you can still register for a provisional ballot! Your vote will be counted once the county office completes the verification process. Read this for more information.
Make a plan
All registered California residents should have received a vote-by-mail ballot due to the pandemic. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by Tuesday November 3, 2020; ballots returned at a secure ballot drop box must be deposited by 8:00 p.m. on November 3, 2020. As we change our clocks for Daylight Savings on November 1st, ask yourself what better way exists to use your extra hour than by dropping off that ballot?
No postage is needed to return your ballot!
Sign up to be part of the OSA Advocates Committee, led by parent volunteer Anne McSilver, and learn more about legislation which may affect public schools in California, and how decisions made at the ballot box may impact our students and teachers.
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1st Place, Nicole Mendoza, grade 11 “Vote (Mask Up)”
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2nd Place, Jessica Wong, grade 11 "Your Vote is your Voice" |
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3rd Place, Vincent Truong, grade 12
"Vote - Don't Stay Silent"
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Honorable Mention, Brandon Waugh, Grade 11 "You Have a Voice - Vote!" |
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And while we're talking about voting, check out this article on our award-winning student artwork (above) supporting efforts to get out the vote! Visual Arts students, under the direction of Visual Arts Assistant Chair Andrew Junge, created these amazing pieces and submitted them to a poster contest sponsored by Families In Action for Quality Education.
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Student Support Team Updates:
Parenting Support
OSA's Parenting During Distance Learning Support hour is hosted by school psychologist Dr. Erica Wandner on Thursdays 4-5 pm:
"This is a time to talk about the many challenges of parenting your middle or high schooler during Distance Learning. This hour is morphing more into a 1:1 15-20 minute individual consultation time. Please bring any question, stress, or worry you might have and we'll talk about what you and/or your student need right now. Feel free to drop-in (wait as long as you can, I will get to you) or make an appointment at ewandner@oakarts.org."
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Drop-in Support Group for Gender-Diverse & LGBTQIA++ Middle Schoolers
Who’s it for?
LGBTQIA++ Youth and Friends (6th, 7th, and 8th graders only). If you're in middle school and interested in gender, identify as trans, non-binary, gender expansive, LGBTQIA++, cis, or unsure, this group is for you!
*All are welcome! Maybe you aren’t sure who you are, or don’t identify as LGBTQ…but have a family member or friend that is? Come on by!
What is it?
A time to connect one another
Make meaning and relate to current events
Explore ways to support and care for ourselves and one another
Learn (more) about LGBTQ identities, wellness, and self-esteem
Sounds cool, how do I join?
When: Wednesdays at noon
Who: led by Will Williams, LMFT, OSA Wellness Counselor
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October Students of the Month! |
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Step It Up - there's still time!
Oakland School for the Arts is pleased to announce the application period is still open for our Step It Up program!
What is Step It Up?
Step it Up is one of OSA's Diversity Initiatives designed to give underserved Oakland youth in 5th-8th grades access to OSA's high quality arts instruction. Weekly after school arts classes with OSA's exceptional arts faculty take place virtually due to COVID-19. Through the study of foundational techniques in Visual Arts, Vocal Music, Theater, Literary Arts, Instrumental Music, Dance, Production Design, Fashion, and Digital Media.
Step It Up prioritizes families with students in specific Title 1 schools for placement in our program.
Step it Up incorporates active outreach into the community to engage as many of Oakland's upcoming middle and high school students as possible, informing them about the opportunity to participate in these workshops, and we are asking for your help in getting the word out! Please share this information with your friends and family who may be interested in applying to OSA, meet program criteria, and would benefit from this training.
For the 2021-22 school year, applicants to OSA audition for placement into the admissions lottery for grades 7-12 only; applicants for grade 6 apply directly via the admissions lottery.
Those who have completed the Step It Up program by attending a minimum of 9 classes receive preference in the admissions lottery.
Program Criteria:
Step It Up Team:
Jordan Karnes - Communications
Kev Choice - Community Outreach Coordinator
Michaela Peters - On Site Coordinator/Admissions
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Parent Social - New Families Welcome! |
The OSA Ambassadors, led by parent volunteers Dinah Mattick & Leslie Dougherty, are hosting another mixer for all families new to OSA!
Please RSVP for the zoom link, and enjoy some grown-up time with other OSA families. Teachers, staff, and returning families are also welcome to attend.
When:
Thursday November 5th at 7 PM
How:
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A Special Senior Year
This is a challenging year for all our students, and perhaps none more so than our seniors. Senior year is full of traditions, expectations, and rites of passage. Some parents of seniors have banded together to make this socially distant year as special as it can be under the circumstances. Spearheaded by Melanie Marcus and with support from Karen Breslau and OSA College Counselor Wendy Snyder, special treat boxes were made and delivered to members of our senior class (photo below). Parent volunteers drove throughout the Bay Area to make home deliveries!
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Students in Ms. Bradburn's 'History of Oakland through the Lens of Lake Merritt and Art' class helped provided pre-show entertainment for the 150th Anniversary of the Lake Merritt Wildlife Refuge Virtual Celebration on Friday, October 23rd. Students wrote trivia questions related to Lake Merritt and these were posed to attendees while they waited for the event to begin. Here's a link to the slide show if you'd like to try your hand at the questions! Earlier in the year, the class was visited by David Wofford and Katie Noonan, co-chairs of the Rotary Nature Center Friends organization, who spoke about the anniversary celebration as well as the many science, community, and environmental justice activities their organization promotes.
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In October our own OSA Visual Arts teacher Mr. Nyame Brown was in conversation with Elena Gross of the Museum of African Diaspora for their 'In the Artist's Studio' program. It was a great talk, everyone learned a lot and you can check it out on Youtube if you couldn't catch it in real time!
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OSA Pathway Coordinator Dr. Delores Thompson has been elected to join the California Arts, Media, and Education statewide advisory leadership team to share and advise on best practices. College and career readiness is vital for students to succeed. Thank you Dr. Thompson, for all you do for our kids!
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Did you know there's a weekly Hogwarts Online Club for middle school students Mondays at 2:00? This past week, for a special Halloween meeting, there were some special costumed 'visitors'!
For the muggles, here's who everyone is:
Kris Bradburn - Professor Grubbly-Plank
Daniel Qiu - Professor Binns (a ghost)
Shani Kartane - Professor R.J. Lupin
Amanda Farmer - Professor Sprout
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Thank you for your continued support of OSA! |
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Oakland School for the Arts
510-873-8800
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