01/21/10: Our First Walk Through!

On Monday January 11, Pankow, our contractors, took the Teen Task Force on a tour of the pre-construction building. The previous week, Sterling Environmental, one of our demolition contractors, removed all of the drywall, ceiling and floor tiles, and basically everything else that had made up the interior of the old PG&E payment Center.

When I first walked in, I noticed that there were no longer and walls or doors, it was just one big empty room. The tiles were gone, the walls were just cement, and there were huge holes in the ceilings! The room seemed very empty, and pretty large. We even were lucky enough to climb a ladder to the second floor (the stairs have been removed) and look around. On the 2nd floor, there were a bunch of holes in the ceilings and very few walls. Overall, the experience was really neat to be able to see the building in its demolition phases. I can’t wait to see what it looks like at the next walk through!

01/19/10: It may sound cliché

Change. It may sound cliché, but what we need now is change. Change to create a just and equal society. Change in our Berkeley schools. On Thursday afternoon the team crammed into Tracy's car and ventured over to the Young Adult Project building on Oregon Street. We arrived to meet a diverse group of youth from various Berkeley groups, including Youth Together, BYA and Jewish Youth for Community Action for a 2020 Vision meeting. The meeting was meant for Berkeley teens to provide input and suggestions on the draft vision plan made by the 2020 Vision's adult committee.

We began by listening to a series of inspirational speeches and stories on the need for change. Then, the group leader from BYA pointed out an important truth. Even though everyone in the room was there to close the achievement gap and integrate classes, we were still separated by race in where we had chosen to sit. This important picture just proves the need for change in Berkeley. By targeting components of Berkeley that affect the lives of students we are taking steps to: provide everyone with the opportunity to thrive, instill the motivation to progress, create healthy living environments, and prepare young children to enter elementary school ready to learn.

Eventually we split up into well diversified groups and entered into a deep discussion on how to reform these core causes of the racial achievement gap. We plan to meet next week to present our thoughts and further our discussions. I know, for me, the driving force through this whole process is the hope that I may one day return to Berkeley High and see a racially blended school yard, rather than a concrete slab blotted with different colors in different corners, separated by the walls of racism, paranoia, and hopelessness.

To read more about the 2020 Vision for Berkeley's Children & Youth, click here.

1/8/10: Kinda Like the Justice League

A couple of weeks ago, the first YMCA-PG&E Teen Center board convened. A core group of members (including me!) with a mission. We've set out on an early start to oversee the growth of the board, finances, and program development to benefit the Center. Meeting everyone was great. But meeting unfamiliar faces was even better because it's pretty cool to get to work with people who've just learned about the project but are just as excited about it as me. The first meeting was just introductory, so we haven't officially started anything intense yet, but don't be disappointed, because we will!

Now that I’m also a board member, I feel that I have an even bigger responsibility because I have a dual role: a board member and liaison between the Teen Center Task Force and the board. However, I do not feel that this responsibility extends only towards my two positions but also to the community. As Peter Parker’s (Spider-Man) uncle Ben once said, “Remember, with great power, comes great responsibility.” It'll be great to stick around on the board and see how the Teen Center develops after the Task Force is done with construction. I'm sure we'll be pioneering the Teen Center to new heights.