Youth Media Workshop

What: “IMAGES SPEAK WORDS” Media Workshop for Youth

When: March 20 through May 10, 2007

Who: San Francisco Youth, ages 10-18

Description: This innovative eight-week media workshop brings youth from San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood together with professional photographers and writers from the Museum of the African Diaspora. Participants will learn how to write and record stories based on a single, carefully-composed digital image. They will learn how to research family history, interview subjects, produce and edit digital images, record and produce digital audio and write stories, which will be published on MoAD’s web site as pod casts, text, and images. Youth participants will be eligible for a FREE digital camera during the class (if they fulfill course requirements).

Where: Classes will be held at the African American Arts and Culture Complex in San Francisco, located at 762 Fulton Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94102.
To sign up and/or more information, please call (415) 922-2049

School Attendance

By Frances Neagley

One of the big issues facing public schools is attendance. The S.F. Unified School District has a Stay-in-School coalition to oversee the problem, but each school is encouraged to develop its own programs. At John Muir Elementary School, attendance is only 89.13%; but their goal is to bring it to 95% in the next three years. They have tried several different incentive programs, but the most successful one is “Waffles with Wheaton.”

Students with good attendance get to choose from a variety of prizes, with the vast majority opting for breakfast with their hard-working principal. On Tuesday, March 13th, the sixty students who had perfect attendance for the previous quarter got to have waffles with Principal Wheaton. The PTA assisted with extra waffle irons and waffle-making. The students very much like the personal touch of having someone actually make waffles for them. As one observer said, it’s the new cool!

In other community efforts to encourage good attendance, on Wednesday, April 11th, Mo’ Magic, working with the D5 School Network and the Buchanan YMCA, will host a recognition celebration and dinner for 5th graders from the Creative Arts Charter, Grattan, John Muir, New Traditions, KIPP, Rosa Parks and Dr. William Cobb elementary schools who have perfect attendance in the month of March. That event will be held from 5:30pm to 7pm at John Muir Elementary School.

Mo’ Magic hopes to recognize all the grades during the next school year, on a quarterly basis. They are looking for community input and support.