Spring 2006TranSiTion...Dear Oakland Leaf Community, Thank you for your participation in our creative and transformational work. Together we have written a history that will soon include six All-Oakland Talent Shows, four Peace Camps, two years of

Sunset Warriors after-school pro-gramming, and a full season of Youth

Leadership Corps community activism. Leaf has become a movement that is carried in hearts and action by a growing group of educators, students, elders, and

community leaders. At this time, after four years

of cultivating Oakland Leaf, I am preparing for a departure from

my role as organizational leader. I have been blessed with the opportu-

nity to marry the love of my life and live with her in New York. Since

November, the Board of Direc-tors and I have worked to pre-

pare Leaf for this transition. Jackson Porretta, a Leaf co-founder who has served as an ecology educator and program coordinator, will soon become Executive Director. He will work with a dynamic team including Dean of Programs Ernest Bagner, Associate Director Mirella Rangel, and Youth Leadership Coordinator Lailan Huen. Our latest collective work is “Peace Moves: Tell Violence When To Go.” Please come to the show on May 19th to continue this dialogue of love and action. Peace to you,

Michael Siegelleaf

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WELCOME to the first seasonal newsletter of oakland leaf! We hope that regular updates about our programs will help to strengthen and bring together the community of educators, families, supporters, and youth that inspires and sustains the work that we do. As you’ll read here, this spring is an exciting time of growth, transition, and blossoming, and we’re honored to have you be part of these next steps...

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Join uS for...

peace Moves tell violence when to go!6th all oakland talent showFriday, May 19th @ the Oakland Museum (1000 Oak St.)

[ 6pm Doors | 7pm Show ]Tickets: $5 Youth \\ $15 Adults

E-mail michael@oaklandleaf.org to buy your advance tickets -- the show will sell out! all proceedS will benefiT...

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”

-- MLK, Jr.ViSion STaTemenT... Oakland Leaf strives to manifest creative educational environments for children, youth, families and elders in the city of Oakland. Our programs derive their strength and beauty from the interweaving of four essential strands: social justice, urban ecology, youth empowerment & the arts.

OAKLAnD LEAF COMMuniTY TrAnSFOrMATiOn ThrOugh CrEATivE EDuCATiOn

culTiVaTing a communiTy Space in The fruiTVale... “As urban trees grow, root development is often hindered by restricted spaces.” To keep up with our rapidly growing programs, we’re preparing to move from our tiny downtown office to a larger space that can serve as an accessible resource to the schools & communities that we work with.

look ouT for an inViTaTion To our office-warming eVenT!

oakland leaf499 14th St. #220Oakland, CA 94612

for more information about our programs: { 510.893.2450 | www.oaklandleaf.org }

Oakland Peace Camp 2006 will bring together 68 students for a three-week exploration of creative arts, community development, wilderness exploration and personal health. The day program will take place at the ASCEND site between July 10 and July 28 and will include a three night excur-sion to Yosemite National Park. Tuition is free for all students. Applications will be available at <www.oaklandleaf.org>. To learn more, please contact OPC Director Geneviève DeBose at una_maestra@hotmail.com.

peace camp

Here are some of the things we’ll need to set up the space during May & June. Please contact Lailan at 510.292.1562 if you’d like to donate an item. All do-nations are tax-deductible.

furniTure..* Office Desks* Meeting Tables* Book Shelves* File Cabinets* Office Chairs* Couch/Loveseat

equipmenT...* Computers * Color Printer* Fax Machine* Scanner* Tv/DvD/vhS* Projector

A WiSh-LiST for our nEW OFFiCE & COMMuniTY SPACE...family reSourceS...* resource/Educational Books and videos* Child-size Futon/Bed* games, Arts & Crafts, Educational Materials for Children & Youth

Thank you for making our programS poSSible Through your generouS donaTionS! IndIvIduals: Myrna Adams & Harriett-Lee Keller * Ronald & Patricia Adler * Hana Ali * Darci Andersen * Mark Anker, M.D. & Hazel Jacobs-Anker * Noelle Dawn Apostol * Steven Athanases * Lincoln Bergman & Lisa Simpson * Steve Bingham & Francoise Blusseau * Victor Bonfilio * John & Kathleen Brekke * Lorie & David Brillinger * Matthew Brockwell * Elaine Kern Brooks * Robinson O. Brown * Jane Brunner * Lisa Buchberg & Ralph Kaywin * Teresa Burns & Andrew Gunther * Karen Burt-Imira, M.D. * Shakti Butler * Yolanda Carrillo * Claudia Castro Luna & Sean Heron * Dennis & Susan Chaconas * Martha Chase * Bruce Colwell * Kelly Coulombe * Marlene Dann & Lonnie Soury * Kathleen & Don Davis * David DeHart * Tom Di Maria * Madeline Duckles * Patricia Durham & Doug Hammer * James Edelen * Diane Ehrensaft, Ph.D * Marilyn Fabe * Charles E. & Elizabeth Farnsworth * Janeda Fernandez * Charles & Penelope Finnie * Bonnie Fraenza * Elizabeth Fraugott * Barrie & Gayle Frost * Jose Luis Fuentes * Toni Blair Garrett Farb * Brent Gee * Forrest Gee * Greta Gornnert * Ringo Hallinan & Anne Bernstein * John & Karen Hanley * Judith Anne Hanley * Mr. & Mrs. Peter Hanley * Michael & Jane Rachel Hausauer * Shelley Hayden * Mariko Highsmith * Wil-liam S. Huen * Janice Hunter * Paula & William Inwood * Orena James * Brenda Joyce Johnson-Nelson * Marilynne Kanter & Tom Tischner * Eileen Keller & Craig Williams * David Kessler & Nancy Menmel * Jason Kibbey * Laura Kretschmar * Sheila Krystal & Martin Aston * Gloria Lawrence, Ph.D * Nancy Lazarus & David Siegel * Clyde Leland * Lorraine Lerman * Deborah & Michael Lesser * Debra Levinsky, M.D. P.C. * Judith Libow & Carl Olson * Sarah & Nate Morris MacDonald * Michael & Joan Marie McAndrews * Catherine McClane * Karen & William

McClung * Susan Brown McCockran * Greg McCord * Morton McDonald & Jane Barrett * Elizabeth McKinnon * John & Rosemary McKinnon * Sara Helen McKinnon * Susan McKinnon * Donna Mickelson * Hindatu Mohammed * David Montes de Oca Seine * Matthew J. Morse & Susan L. Mattman * Louise Music * Julie & Fred Nachtwey * Mark Nakamura * Helen Nicholas * Suki O’Kane * Jennifer O’Neal * Rodolfo Petschek & Kenly Weills * John Powell & Sarah Cohen * Mary Prophet * Jean Quan & Floyd Huen * Juliana Quinn * Karen Ransom Lehman * Cheryl Reed * Katherine & Alan Reinke * Jennie Rhine & Thomas Meyer * Jenny Rikkers * Jehan Rivetna & Christopher Bell * Patricia Robinson * Susan, Robert, & Matt Roth * Bonnie Rottier * David Rubsamen * Tanya Russell * Sarah Satterlee * Christopher Scheer * Marlyn K. & Fred Seeley * Concetta Sepe * Steve Sexton & Jenna Stauffer * Eve Shapiro * Arlene Shmaeff * Jonathan Siegel & Aixa Gannon Siegel * Jessica Simmons * Stephanie Sisk-Hilton & Philip Hilton * Brooks & Gail Smith * Ann Smulka & Robert Blackburn * Winsor Soule * Matthew & Rebecca Spengler * Jane & Don Stahlhut * Lavynell Thomas & Peter Danzig * Heather Thompson * Arvind Thyagarajan * Andrea Joyce Turner * Beth Van Arkel * Stephen T. Walrod & Lauren McIntosh * John & Jane Weil * Stuey Weills & Grey Goose * Anne Weills & Dan Siegel * Penelope Weills Matson * Terry S. Wheeler * Susan Wilder & Natalie Robb * Sylvia Woods | InstItutIons: Alameda County Art Commission * California Arts Council * City of Oakland Cultural Funding * David Saul Birnbaum Foundation * Dreyer’s Foundation * Haas Jr. Fund * LEF Foundation * Moss Foun-dation * Oakland Fund for Children & Youth * Oakland Fund for the Arts * Oakland Small Schools Foundation * Oakland Unified School District * Oregon Community Foundation, Gray Family Fund * San Francisco Foundation, Love Cultivating Fund * Y&H Soda Foundation

oakland leaf staffmoTher garden / cenTral office michael siegel, execuTiVe direcTor

lupe mirella rangel, aSSociaTe direcTor

aScend SunSeT warriorS ernest bagner, program direcTor

kao saelee, co-adminiSTraTor & boyS SporTS liz angoff, family cenTer coordinaTor

miladi borrero, parenT leader donna burton, parenT leader

patricia lutke, academic inTerVenTion aidan fleming loville, academic menTor

claudia rodriguez, academic menTor inocencia usison, academic menTor

oladimeji animashaun, academic menTor tonnesha mcglothin, academic menTor atsachanh nonnarath, girlS leaderShip cornell gilkey, boyS ii men coordinaTor

lourdes rivera, creaTiVe play sophat kong, hip hop arTS

urban promiSe academy urban arTS jesse shapiro, lead Teacher

erika willis, lead adminiSTraTor john killinski, baSkeTball matthew linzner, Soccer

tierre christen, SalSa yolanda lewis, dance

alexander mejia, academic menTor flannery miller, academic menTor

lena dalke, academic menTor lorena caldera, academic menTor sheree smith, academic menTor yodit hagos, academic menTor

ana olivares, SecuriTy

oakland peace camp geneviève debose, direcTor

youTh leaderShip corpS lailan huen, ylc coordinaTor

danny mora, ylc coachall-oakland TalenT Show

gerald reyes, producTion coordinaTor gonzalo hidalgo, deSign coordinaTor

collaboraTiVe parTnerSmocha, girlS incorporaTed,

oakland youTh choruS, SporTS4kidS

board of directorsleslie fleming loville

debra levinskydavid montes de oca, Vice chair

mark nakamuratanya russell

arvind thyagarajan, TreaSurer

stephen walrod, chair

anne weills, SecreTary

upcoming daTeS for your Calendar...* all-oakland TalenT Show #6: Friday, May 19th* aScend STudenT expo: Saturday, June 3rd* ylc graduaTion celebraTion: Saturday, June 10th* upa STudenT expo: Saturday, June 17th* oakland peace camp 2006: July 10th - July 28th

Job announcemenT

Oakland Leaf is looking for dynamic educators & organizers to join our collaborative teams at the ASCEnD Sunset Warriors and uPA urban Arts programs: b Site Director b Administrative Coordinator b Academic Leader b Arts & Sports Co-Teachers b Academic MentorsPlease visit our website <www.oaklandleaf.org> for full job descriptions and details on how to apply, or call us at 510.893.2450 to talk more.

urban promiSe academy

3 Cheers for the Girls Team at UPA!“Number one! Here to win. We’ll count it down, Now let’s begin!” echoes down the hallway at Urban Promise Academy middle school on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. A group of 6th and 7th grade girls are staying positive, getting physically fit, and having fun in a cheerleading class led by Yolanda “Lala” Lewis. The class starts with a warm-up that includes stretching, abdominal, and cardiovascular

work. The warm-up is followed by practicing the large repertoire of upbeat and encouraging cheers that girls have learned throughout the year. The girls are ex-pected to work together and support one another. “We’ve learned that on a team, if one person messes up we all mess up. A team is not about one person. It’s about everyone working together and sharing ideas,” said 7th grader Raina Ford. Anyone who stops by the UPA cafeteria to check out the cheer class can easily see that this group of girls are cheering their way to a healthier life, mentally, physi-cally, and collaboratively. Keep it up ladies! “3, 2, number 1! Jaguars win!”

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A New Home, A New Energy, A New GardenThe Sunset Warriors program is growing in wonderful ways. At the end of February, ASCEND K-8 school moved into a state-of-the-art new facility (right) that has immensely improved the spirits and health of the community. Program Director Ernest Bagner reports that since the move, the after-school classes have developed an even greater positive energy, and a recent surge in student registration has led to the program’s highest attendance ever. The old ASCEND site, next to the new facility, has already been completely demolished. Soon, it will become the site of a Leaf-led garden schoolyard project that will include food cultivation, ethno-botanical stud-ies, and a living playground. Please come and see the work of Sunset War-riors at the ASCEND Exposition of Student Learning on Saturday, June 3rd, 11:00am – 2:00pm at the school located at 3709 E. 12th Street.

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Youth Leaders Step Up Against Violence in Our CommunitiesSince November, the Youth Leader-ship Corps (YLC) has met weekly in the Fruitvale with 15 youth. In its first year, the crew -- most of whom attended Peace Camp -- ranges from 12 to 16 years olds and comes from different schools including McClymonds, ASCEND, East Oakland Community High, Lighthouse Community Charter, and Calvin Simmons. In the first phase of research, YLC visited community organiza-tions, learned about power and oppression, and explored political issues such as the prison industry and imperialism. This year, the group decided to do an education campaign on how gang, police and

domestic violence affect youth in Oakland. Over winter break, members conducted over 100 community surveys to see what families and friends had to say about these topics. Currently, the group is interviewing youth all over Oakland for a video documentary that focuses on youth perspec-tives on community violence and positive solutions. Through generous donations from Squaw Valley, YLC was able to go to Lake Tahoe for a retreat in February to learn more about each other, build trust, have fun, face fears, and strengthen the group’s ability to work collectively. Each youth leader has grown tremendously over the past six months, and many have stepped up to represent the group in organizing for the Tal-ent Show, Peace Camp, and the Bay Area student justice coali-tion, Organize Da Bay (ODB).

harolShae barkermercedeS barkerSurayyah bolden

leTicia eliaSaidan flemingroberT fleming

erick frielyhong ho

JaSon hunTerJaSmine mack erick muñoz

michelle narVaezan nguyen

The ylc crew iS...