Alumni Giving Love Back by Working at Lionel Wilson

What’s it like to work at the school you grew up attending? At Aspire Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy in Sobrante Park, East Oakland, there are a number of alums now on staff. For these educators, connections to the school and community run family-level deep. There’s a feeling that the trajectory of their lives, and…


Teachers, You Can Never Know the Demons Your Students Face, But There Is Something You Can Do to Help

This guest post is by an anonymous, Oakland-based educator. One time my mom tried to kill me. She chased me with a knife, cackling like a witch. It was hide-and-seek—but it wasn’t, it wasn’t a game. I trembled in a dark corner of the basement, which terrified me, but I was more terrified of her…


Teachers Need Tools and Support not “Accountability”- Concretely Appreciating Teachers on Teacher Appreciation Week

Accountability like sh*t flows downhill.  And accountability talk from policymakers and shills is like the halftime at a Raiders game after too many tailgate tacos. It’s teacher appreciation week, so let’s actually appreciate the lifeblood of schools, and give them a break.  The current accountability talk, misses the soul of a school and teacher, and…