ACE Spectrum
ACE Spectrum
Ace Spectrum is about you — the ACE Learning Centers.
It’s a quick sharing of ideas, inspiration, opinions and best practices among our continuing education organizations.
Please join the conversation.
KALW and Sunset Youth Services Mix It Up So Students Can Create On-Air Stories
By Guest Blogger Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW Radio
I had the pleasure, last week, of hosting students from Sunset Youth Services (SYS) at KALW. It’s a program that helps young people find long-term stability and growth. Many of the teenagers who go there after school don’t have a lot of great options, and SYS provides a lot of support services and opportunities to help them find meaningful purposes. One of those endeavors is called UpStar Records, and it’s an on-location recording studio where they learn ProTools audio editing software to create and mix their own music.
I used to volunteer as a tutor at SYS about a decade ago, before my work at KALW took over my time – it’s in my neighborhood out in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset district. And one of the SYS staffers, Wendy Baker, used to volunteer with KALW, after we received a grant to record community stories out of Bay Area libraries.
During the summer, Wendy and I were talking about how both SYS and KALW use ProTools to work with sound, and how it would be really great to find ways to collaborate. And that’s just what we did.
On Tuesday, Wendy, two other staffers, and five teens came by our station. I introduced them to our staff and volunteers, showed them our recording studios and the complex mixes our engineers were working on, and then sat down to talk shop. I played them the following pieces:
Gerard Koskovich’s Mixtape: The Communards “Don’t Leave Me This Way” – This is the story behind a disco anthem that became a plea for support during the dark days of the AIDS epidemic.
Sebastian Walker’s Mixtape: Bill Withers‘ “Lean On Me” – This song became the soundtrack to an investigative reporter’s painful exploration of post-earthquake Haiti.
Diane Daniels’ StoryCorps – One of my favorite pieces we’ve ever aired, this is the story of the emotions a female engineer felt in a room full of male colleagues when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.
Noelia Gonzalez, a young engineer at Sunset Youth Services, shows off a magnet from one of her new favorite radio stations.
The students were a fantastic and engaged audience, and it really filled me with joy to be able to share some of my passion for great audio with them. But what’s going to be even more enjoyable is hearing them make that kind of work themselves.
When the folks from SYS left, I gave them 10 raw recordings of mixtapes from various people we’ve interviewed over the past several months. They’ll work on editing those and mixing them with music over the next few weeks, and then I’ll drop in for a couple hours to check out their progress and give them some guidance. I’ll visit regularly, every three weeks or so, and over time, I expect them to conduct their own interviews, edit and mix them, and get them ready for our air. I also anticipate they’ll work on some StoryCorps pieces, and become regular contributors to Crosscurrents – all the while improving their mixing skills.
It’s an exciting arrangement for all of us. We’ll keep you posted on how it’s going!
First Graduates of Alpha Parent Center are Empowered By Learning English
By Guest Blogger Karen Martinez, Parent Center Manager, Alpha Parent Center* and the Alpha Parent Center Graduates
Karen Martinez, Parent Center Manager
Summer was busy for the 13 members of the Alpha Parent Center’s first English Class. Students in the five-week session that graduated the end of July got a great start on learning English, setting up email accounts and learning how to use a computer.
There were three parents in the class who didn’t know how to read or write Spanish, but they are on their way to learning English. One of the three parents was a dad, which was important. In the traditional Latino culture, males don’t normally put themselves out there in this way. Seeing him every Tuesday and Thursday evening work hard to learn English and use a computer was inspiring to me.
More importantly, all our parents will work toward earning their high school diploma.
Why do Alpha parents want to learn English? Mostly it’s because they want to better communicate with their children, their children’s teachers and other people. Below are quotes from the students themselves, but Margarita Morales perhaps said it best.
“English is important to me because I need to communicate with people in the community and my children’s teachers,” said Morales. “I like the school because my classmates and teachers push and help me to continue with my education. In the future, I plan to continue coming to school and get my high school diploma.”
Being the Manager of the Alpha Parent Center provides a huge honor for me to serve my community. Most importantly, the Alpha Parent Center is a tool to empower parents like me, and others.
Words (and video) from the Alpha Parent Center Graduates
“My name is Mercedes Montalvo. I am a student at Alpha Parent Center. Thank you for your support. I am studying English because I want to communicate with people at school, the doctor, and other places. I want to help my children to do their homework. Thank you ACE.”
“My name is Aracely Morales. I am a student at Alpha School. I want to learn English to support my children with their homework and to communicate with my friends at work. Thank you.”
“My name is Celia Coello. My two daughters are part of the Alpha family. I want to learn English because I want to communicate with people around me. Thank you Karen and ACE for helping us.”
“My name is Margarita Morales. I have two children. My son is in Eighth grade at Alpha Blanca Alvarado. My daughter is in third grade at Rocketship Si Se Puede. I am studying English at Alpha Parent Center. The school is convenient for me because it is close to my house, and I walk five minutes to get here. Learning English is important to me because I need to communicate with people in the community and my Children’s teachers. I like the school because my classmates and teachers push and help me to continue with my education. In the future, I plan to continue coming to school and get my high school diploma. Thank you ACE for helping us to improve our education. “
“My name is Migdalia Villavicencio. Thanks for coming. This program supports me to communicate more with my children and their teachers. Thank you for everything.”
“My name is Arturo Flores. I usually work twelve hours everyday, and I come to school after work. I am learning English at Alpha Parent Center. I only went to first grade in my country. Thank you ACE for helping us.”
“My name is Maria Reyes. I am a mother of three kids. One of them comes to Alpha Jose Hernandez and the other two go to Rocketship Si Se Puede. I have been in the United States for thirteen years, and I want to learn English because it is very important to communicate with my children, my boss, teachers and people around me. Thank you ACE.”
“My name is Guadalupe Hernandez. I am a student at Alpha School. I want to learn English to communicate with my children, my boss, and other people. Thank you for your support.”
“My name is Cecilio Villafaña. I am a student at Alpha Parent Center. I am studying English because it is very important for my job and I can also help my children. I would like to say Thank you very much for your support.”
“My name is Rosa Lopez and I am studying English at Alpha Parent Center. I am very happy because I am learning English. Thank you Karen and teachers.”
“My name is Elizabeth Bernardino. I have two daughters and I am very interested in learning English in order to have a better communication with my daughters and teachers. Thank you everyone for your support.”
“My name is Antonio Pineda. I am a student at Alpha Parent Center. I want to learn English. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you very much.”
“My name is Consuelo Medina. I am studying English because I want to communicate with other people. I have been in the United States for twenty years. Thank you ACE for helping me.”
*The Alpha Parent Center summer classes were held on the José Hernández Middle School in San Jose, CA. This school is one of the Alpha Public Schools, a network of public charter secondary schools that prepares students in low-income communities with the knowledge, skills and character traits they will need to succeed in college and career. The Alpha Parent Center is an ACE Learning Center and supports the parents of these students.
No Summer Slowdown for KALW – Hot is Making it Happen and Continuing to Tune In
By Guest Blogger Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW Public Radio and Allison Lee, KALW Summer Volunteer
We’re about halfway through our summer session here at KALW, and we’ve got a lot of exciting new work underway:
– Former Audio Academy member Raja Shah is working on a weekly podcast built on Crosscurrents material. He’s made a couple of pilots so far, and we’re honing in with focus groups on what our Bay Area audience would be most interested in hearing. Targeting a rollout in early September. It should be fun and help us tap into the growing audience for weekly podcasts that shows like KALW’s 99% Invisible are quickly building.
– One of our primary editors, Casey Miner, launched a new KALW podcast called The Specialist. It’s a chance to get to know people working in very specialized professions. Casey is a brilliant, warm, creative storyteller – qualities that she brings to her edits with all of our trainees – and this is a great forum to show off her skills. Check it out!
– We received a grant from the California Arts Council to create a new weekly program and podcast called “Sights and Sounds of the Bay Area” in which Jen Chien will talk with a different artist each week to talk about what cultural events they’re interested in each week. Former Audio Academy member Ted Muldoon will engineer the show, which is sure to be sound rich, beautiful, and fascinating. We’re looking at a launch in early September for that as well. Additionally, our “Sights and Sounds” brand will extend in 2016 with “Sights and Sounds of East Oakland” – a live storytelling and performance event that will take place in the spring. We’re partnering with the Oakland Tribune‘s citizen journalism training program called Oakland Voices who will help us find and tell the stories of artists and leaders who bring joy and vitality to the community.
While that’s all going on, we’re airing Crosscurrents every Monday through Thursday, with the help of our four daily line producers, all of whom took part in our Audio Academy: Liz Mak, Jeremy Dalmas, Liza Veale, and Hannah Kingsley-Ma. We’ve also got the help of a group of terrific new summer volunteers, whom we’re training to make radio pieces, along with some members of our Audio Academy who stuck around to make some more stories. I thought I’d share some of their work with you:
– Timothy Lou Ly made a piece looking into different generational perceptions of San Francisco’s Japantown.
– Chris Hambrick made a story about how some people are converting shipping containers into homes, despite potential hazards to the health of themselves and their neighbors.
– Louise Codd looked deeply into how the media has distorted the perceptions of pit bulls, and what can be done to make interactions with dogs safer.
– Jessica Placzek explored the mysterious beachings of a form of sea life called Velella Velella.
– Todd Whitney made a story about the Richmond Police Department’s efforts to improve relations with its community. He also made three pieces about San Francisco’s dwindling African American Population through the eyes of an art’s collective and its work.
– Lezak Shallat walked with activists calling attention to health issues emerging from the East Bay’s refinery corridor.
– Lisa Bartfai told the story of the origin of San Francisco’s “Pink Saturday” which called attention to the AIDS crisis.
– Allison Lee prepared this Storycorps about an activist for disability rights who found a creative way to pursue non-violent demonstrations.
Allison is a very ambitious, smart, and talented sound engineer who just graduated from Lowell High School in the San Francisco Unified School District. She’s spending a few months with us before she attends San Francisco State University in the fall. Here are some thoughts she’d like to share:
By Allison Lee, KALW Summer Volunteer
Two and a half months ago, I was overdressed, clutching a folder of various job application documents and nervously fidgeting in the waiting area of KALW radio. I had missed the deadline for KALW’s Audio Academy and, desperately hoping my upfront initiative would at least make a good impression, I had gone directly to the station to beg for their consideration. I was met with the most welcoming atmosphere and people, which only reinforced my desire to somehow be involved with their work. Of course, I could not be considered for the Audio Academy program, as it is intensely competitive to get in in the first place. However, after talking to Ben Trefny that first time, I was told that I might be eligible to be a summer volunteer.
Today I am writing this blog entry from the Crosscurrents newsroom where I volunteer twice a week. Two cleaners came in this morning to inform us they would be shampooing the carpets later, to which Julie Caine responded with a dozen or so vehement, “We love you.” Then later, an afternoon softball break was initiated when Ben Trefny, in all his flipflopwearing glory, asked if we wanted to “go hit some balls.” These are the things I will remember most clearly about my time at KALW. It’s all work with a playful twist and though everyone is focused and contributing to the station, laughs are shared frequently and help is given readily. The atmosphere is welcoming and jovial as ever, and will continue to be whether or not I am there to witness it.
After all this is done, I will continue tuning in, as I’m sure you will too.