Student Voices

There’s no better way to understand the importance of improving our public schools than listening to the students themselves. If you have a story to tell, or know someone who does, hit us up on our Contact Page.

When School Pushes You Over The Edge

(A second guest post–part 1 is here— from an Oakland public school student and Energy Convertor, Edrees Saied) Schools can push you, but if they don’t connect with you, it can feel like you are being pushed off a cliff. This pressure without connections undermines the relationship with school and destroys the passion for learning. Some students…

Searching At School For What I’m Missing At Home

(A Guest post from an Oakland public school student and Energy Convertors Helping marginalized folx #navigate education. S/O 2 people converting negative energy to positive all over. Edrees Saied) Imagine you’re a student. You think yourself as an advanced student. Someone who tries to overload themselves with advanced classes for the sake of learning everything that you can.…

Arts Integration and Expeditions with Personalized Learning: A Look at ASCEND, NGLC in Oakland

(A cross post from the Rogers Foundation blog) In the piece below Natalie Buster, our guest blog contributor, had a chance to connect with Morgan Alconcher, Principal of ASCEND, and Julie McMillan, a teacher at ASCEND, to discover how their Next Generation Learning Challenge (NGLC) in Oakland grant allowed the school to evolve into the…

Real Talk, Real Issues, Real Action; A Youth-Led Dialogue with the OUSD Superintendent

“We live in an age when to be young and to be indifferent can be no longer synonymous. We must prepare for the coming hour. The claims of the Future are represented by suffering millions; and the Youth of a Nation are the trustees of Posterity”.–Benjamin Disraeli “How do you succeed in a chaotic school?”…