ACE Spectrum

KALW Highlights from June – From Uncuffed to Audio Academy Graduation

Posted by Martha Sessums on Jul 7, 2022 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, KALW Interim Executive Director

It’s been a minute, and I have some really great highlights from the month of June to share with you!

One is that members of Uncuffed — our training team based in California state prisons — completed their trip to Norway for the International Prison Radio conference. Here’s a fun pic of some of our crew from a radio station there:

Then, in late June, the Uncuffed team won a 1st Place award in Division A from the national Public Media Journalists Association for “podcast interview.” It’s for an episode called “Nate’s Going Home.” (Yes, that same Nate as you see in Norway there!) See the announcement by navigating around in the PMJA page. Congratulations to the team for the well-earned honor!

Also, speaking of our training programs, the 9th Audio Academy class just graduated! Congratulations to Elizabeth Aranda, D’Andre Ball, Erin Copp, Ryan Howzell, Johanna Miyaki, Jasmine Ramirez, and Dorothy Tang!

Here are a few pics from their graduation, including this one of a bunch of people in Tilden Park listening to a mentor sharing some thoughts:

 

 

 

 

 

KALW Public Media board member Kyung Jin, her son Ha Jin, and graduate D’Andre:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And one of the most fun parts was audio engineer James Rowlands playing a blooper reel created by fellow engineer Gabe Grabin while channeling John Cusack:

You know what that picture makes me think?

I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.

(Can’t take direct credit for that one.)

I can say, though, that with the Audio Academy completed, these graduates join others throughout the industry, all around the country, who have the skills to build careers as audio journalists and storytellers. We’re so excited to hear what they go on to do and be part of the world they help to shape!

Winning Poems from Oakland International High School Soar in the Air

Posted by Martha Sessums on May 31, 2022 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report | 1 comment

I’m flying around in circles for the ACE Poetry Contest winners from Oakland International High School (OIHS.)  Bessie the butterfly here, OIHS poetry contest mascot, and here are the winning poems from the two OIHS contests. These are amazing poems that look at the big and little worlds the poets live in and find truth and spirit about themselves and what they do. So OIHS. Some poems are in Spanish, so use Google translate if you need to.

Congratulations to the high flying winners. You are wonderful poets.

9th/10th Grade Contest

 

First Place – Cristina Lopez

Yo

De un pequeño país de talento y movimiento El Salvador con peligro no te miento.

De día y de noche es hermoso se reflejan entre sí el cielo y el mar la playa bella como medalla.

Con fauna y flora así es el. Te hace tener contacto, las lágrimas del cielo caen en ti. El bosque lindo con sus retoques.

Entre versos y rimas te pierdes nos toca el cuerpo o el corazonado musica dejate llevar y piérdete en el ritmo todo ella es especial como la túnica, cínica de tu cintura.

Como creemos en eso que nos anima en eso que esperas. La esperanza lo que te da confianza y enseñanza. La paz en este mundo queda muy grande esa palabra.

Nadie sabe en realidad cómo funciona el amor hacemos lo que creemos correcto. El amor es abrumador y aveces es muy acogedor pero también te da temor. La tristeza algo de mucha delicadeza y naturaleza humana. La felicidad algo momentáneo una falsedad de voluntad humana.

La familia es importante, te da un hogar, mis padres son mi hogar. Bea, bichita apodos recuerdos de infancia jomos borrados y jomos serán sacados de mi mente y corazón.

Comida una lucha y ayuda hacia mi amo todas los sabores y la sensación de sentirlos.

Mi rareza la conocen esas personas que me aman, mi locuras de nacimiento mi tontera es de 24/, me amo y me idio haci soy yo.

 

Christina’s Poem in English

I

From a small country of talent and movement El Salvador with danger I do not lie to you

Day and night it is beautiful the sky and the sea reflect each other the beautiful beach like a medal. With fauna and flora that’s how he makes you have the contact the tears of heaven fall on you the beautiful forest with its tweaks.

Between verses and rhymes you get lost, it touched our hearts and our bodies. The music let you go and you lose yourself in the rhythm, off of it is special like a tunic cynical of your waist.

How we believe in what encourages us in what you expect, what gives you confidence an teaching peace in this world. That word is very big

Love is overwhelming and sometimes it is very welcoming but it’s also scary. Sadness something of great delicacy and human nature. Happiness something momentary, a falsity of human will.

Family is important which my parents are my home. Bea bichita are memories of those nicknames that will never be removed or erased from my mind.

Food a fight and help towards me I love all the flavors and sensations of feeling them.

My rarity is known by those people who love me, my madness is from birth, my nonsense is 24/7. I love and hate myself I just don’t understand myself but that’s how I am.

 

Second Place – Herlinda Lucas

I am like a lake, I live like the river and I have peace like the trees.

The air makes my days beautiful.

I am like the light of the moon like her, and like me there will be no other, we are unique.

I am like sunflowers, sunflowers are not intimidated despite hidden sun, strong wind and plump clouds but always shining.

I am like the ocean, the ocean is a confidant friend, a friend who absorbs everything that

is told to him without ever revealing the confided secret, few people are like us.

 

Third Place – Amnah Mohammed

I am from Sudan.

Amusement Parks and Gardens.

A song about Sudan and a song about romance.

My mother’s voice when she spoke to me kindly.

My mom she is name Mashair my sister she name Zahra.

Amona and Nona

Sudanis food and pizza and pasta.

Fasting at Ramadan.

 

11th/12th Grade Contest

 

First Place – Jamilah Ali

‏Wishes wave to the old nations, time runs like a dream and dreams fly beyond the day, seeing in the sky we hold on to names and free tones that are repeated in the atmosphere, the sun sets from face and people see it what is in the dream believing the successive stories from the show of nations that gave us inspiration

 

Second Place – Hendry Cruz Matias

     ?’ᣚ Empty life 

 

Do you wanna know what’s my problem?

You see a smile on my face, right

It’s normal, right

You see me normal, right

I am a boy with a lot of joy inside

You will always see me happy

 You’ll keep seeing me like this until I can’t stand it

Until I tell myself to stop lying

Until my shadow tells me to stop

Until the darkness covers my happiness

Until the little happiness I have disappears

Until my hands get tired of covering my mouth of lies

Until the wind takes me flying, for not having a weight of happiness

The reality is, until my happiness is uncovered, and I begin to live in this fragile body, as it really should be, and I stop pretending as I have been doing since I was born, until now.

 

3rd Place – Jissel Maradiaga

 

VENGO DE NAUFRAGAR.

Ese dia estaba algo perdido y me encontraste.

En ese instante me sanaste.

CARAJO, ¿Como lo haces?.

Cada molécula que mueve este sentimiento.

Me da razones para seguir viviendo.

Abrazas mis heridas.

 Embarcado en un mar de males.

He encontrado un paraíso habitable.

Estoy preparado para esta aventura.

Recorriendo cada centímetro de tu cintura.

Quiero perder la totalidad de mi cordura.

Tierra firme.

Es imposible no amarte.

En este lugar  quiero quedarme.

Desierta y atractiva.

Con encantos y desencantos.

Hoy por fin tengo paz.

No me sueltes que me puedo ahogar.

Ya no tengo fuerzas para preparar otro viaje.

No, una vez más.

-JM

Strong Poems from San Francisco International High School Focus on Dreams of Success

Posted by Martha Sessums on May 27, 2022 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report | 0 comments

Hi there. Max here. I’m the ACE Poetry Contest mascot for San Francisco International High School (SFIHS). I’ve always said that the SFIHS poets make their lives sing in poetry, and these winners do that. They are strong, courageous poems that reflect our school Husky truths and spirit. Yes, we’re Huskies and we rock.

Here are the winning poems. I’m so proud of the winners. Congratulations everyone.

 

Students’ Choice, Class N

Name: Arnold M

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything in Life is Possible if You Believe in Yourself

I am from Relaxing rivers and Mountains and proud

Ruinas de copan /

from Soft baleadas and traditional dia de la independencia. /

I am the colorful guacamaya Honduras. /

I draw strength from where I’ve walked. /

It showed me that Honduras is a country full of happiness, /

also of rivers, beaches, forests that make a beautiful country and it makes me feel proud. /

 I am catracho 100%. /

It made me strong by knowing where I come from. /

In a country full of many cultures, such as: the Mayans, the pyramids, the rivers,/

the cool climate of the beaches,/

and El pino, one of the patriotic symbols of Honduras. /

I come from my grandmother’s homemade bread /

and grew up in the field where I learned to harvest crops, /

like corn and beans while learning about life.

I am challenging myself, and fighting for my dreams. /

I am creative and like to learn new things every day. /

I am like a tiger in the jungle, always traveling to different places and surviving what is opposed on the way. /

Every time I walk I find better things, so I believe in my future. /

One day my father told me “Fight for your dreams,

even if life brings you a duel

and a pulse to death”. /

 I draw strength from what I carry. /

I carry memories of when my grandmother cooked bread,/ the smell of the flour baking in the clay oven./

 The taste when eating them warm is like a very soft and delicious bun. /

 They remind me that everything in life is possible if you fight for it./

When my grandfather taught me to work,/

I remember he told me “if you don’t work or fight for your dreams you will be nothing in life”/

so that I can have a good future.

 They make me strong by always being with me and supporting me with everything./

 They taught me that life is very beautiful if you know how to live.

Arnold was born in Los Alpes Jesus de Otoro, Honduras. He came to the U.S when he was 16 years old to have a better future and fight for his dreams. He is currently a senior at SFIHS. His dream is to graduate and continue studying in city college to work towards a career in mechanics. His poetry is inspired by his parents and his grandparents.

Students’ Choice, Class M

Name: Abdulla Habban

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look how they make me look

I’m from where brothers kill each other

and the crow is happy there

From we were together

and how, when and what happened here

I’m dying and the oppressor lives for what for power chair

 

I’ve walked through beaches, over the sea outside the cities

It showed me that politics are a heavy topic in my home countries

It makes me sadness knowing that our own people still kill like flies

 

I’m from the belly of the sky

From where not one oppressed and cry

But now I’m from where every day children die

 

I’ve tasted sadness when I remember war started

It showed me how is war left happiness and what it created

The politics is a heavy topic in my home country that has aged

 

I’m running away to freedom showing a free person

And protecting myself from oppression

I’m free like a horse when it running

 

I carry memories when I younger would play with a friend

They remind me that injustice, no one bows to it

They make me strong by becoming a lion to the end

 

I’m from more five years of war and a country for the worst

From blid Al Arab and if the rain is late, it will come day cloudburst

I’m poem to show you my history but don’t believe anything first

 

I stand on the legacy of Arabic from the middle east

It teaches me not to shut up about my rights even after a while

It makes me strong by becoming a lion it is king and strongest

 

I’m here I’ll be back on the field and strong

I’m here and I’ll be back in my young

I’m here and my bones will be unite

 

My name is Abdulla Habban, I’m from Aden/ Yemen, I came to the U.S.A in 2019.

 

Staff Choice, First Place

Name: Hazel Salazar

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a girl from town

I come from beautiful beaches and lakes

I come from festivities and christmas dinners

From a tiny country

Where hope is scarce /

 

I am from “los mercados” /

Filled with people looking for their family sustenance

Some of them lost looking for “misericordia”

But they would usually pass unnoticed by people/

 

Hope is a hard word to fit in

I want a bright future/

I want to wake up one day and realize I did it/

I want to avoid this voice in my head telling me I will never achieve it

I left behind my fear, distress/

I carry with me the hope of one day fulfilling this feeling of happiness

 

I remember my childhood as the most precious treasure

Waking up to my grandma’s coffee

Waking up to have breakfast ready

Going to “la tienda” was the only thing I worried about/

Now they’re all just memories that I will never forget

 

I’ve seen the desperate in people’s eyes

Thinking if they’ll survive

Submerging themselves into many scenarios that could happen

They could go lost

They could die

But they could succeed

I guess that’s a good thing

I hope it’s worth all the sacrifices

All nights being up

All nights being hungry

But I hope they can see the light at the end of the tunnel

 

I am afraid of everything

I am afraid of messing up

I am afraid of being a failure

But I hope to one day find a exit to this unstoppable cave

 

I hold onto my roots that have always taught me to be strong

Be ambitious

Be fearless

Be persistent

Be artistic

And I take all my experiences that have shaped me into a better person

 

Hazel was born in San Salvador, El Salvador. She immigrated to the U.S when she was fifteen years old in order to have a greater future. She is currently a senior at SFI, where she has been since 9th grade. Next year, she has plans to go to San Francisco State. Her poetry is inspired by her experiences between her roots and a new start in her life.

 

Staff Choice, Second Place

Name: Jones Nguyen

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom Is Away Everyday

Spring has come to my home bronze garden/

One more year I could not be there

I feel like a field barren

Hold up my soul,/ mama don’t be scared

 

Are you getting away from me?

I overcome all challenges to come to you

Your warm hugs are like my key.

Everything is a lie,/ you are the only truth

 

When I was crying at my mother’s knee

I revived from the dead,/ all the world belonged to me

When I was at my mother’s knee,

She was all the world belonged to me

 

When my knees are higher than her knees,/

Because the world,/ I don’t want to see,

Her, herself, and her messages are always in me,

I’ll miss all the smiles of my family

 

All the world turn its back on me,/

You instantly become the wings by my side

 

When my eyes filled with tears,

I will still look at the child in her eyes.

 

Mother’s day doesn’t have many sweet flowers

There aren’t many gifts/ that don’t give mom a wish

Don’t think about mom even for a moment

Quietly let that day pass

 

Only after it passed/ did I realize

There is no meaning in that day without a mother

Mother’s love is deeply engraved in the heart

Mom!/ The most beloved child.

 

If mom suddenly turns/ into the moon

Then I would like to be a cool stream

This stream is in harmony

With the immense moonlight

 

Jones Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam. He immigrated to the United States when he was eighteen years old because he wanted to get a better life and education. He also can find many opportunities in this place and better than in his home country. He currently lives in San Francisco and is a senior at San Francisco International High School. He is part of the Community Youth Center program. Next year when he graduates from SFIHS his plan is to go to San Francisco State University. His poetry is inspired by his family.

 

Staff Choice, Third Place

Name: Noe Velasquez

 

 

 

 

 

 

El Indio Lempira 

I am from the city of Choluteca, Honduras – the city of dead dreams

The city where some young people die without options.

The only option they have is to join the gangs.

 

I am from the city where the pescados and camarones are abundant.

I am from la ciudad del mar grande. Every single day people wake up at 3am just for one reason:to help and support their families. Everyone thinks to give the best to their families.

 

I am learning English and some words in Chinese. I moved to Ohio and finally I’m here in San Francisco.

 

I am from Choluteca where people always see you with a big smile.

My mother always gave her best for us.

I am from where españoles  came to my country and mataron many people hundreds years ago.

 

I’ve walked in Tegucigalpa, the city of my country.

Where people wake up very early in the morning to start to work and I remember when I was at a food center market  a woman was working while her daughter was studying. Some mothers do not have the opportunity to give everything to their  children or family.

 

I swore to my mom that I would help her with food and money and give her a better life,when I was in the United States because my mom always gives all for me now I have to give the best and all for her.

 

     I’ve tasted chow mein from China.

  I’ve heard”something difficult does not come eazy.”

    I’ve smelled the flowers that I put on at the funeral of my Homie tuco.

                               I left behind the city that saw me grow

I remember when I played with my friends in the neighborhood but as we grew some died by the gangs

I carry with me the homies that died for the pandillas, gangs.

 

I remember when my mom washed the neighbors’ clothes just to buy us a little food because we were 7 siblings and it was very difficult for her to feed us all. I miss her.

 

I stand on and I start to think about the Indio Lempira.

I dream of my graduation and give all that I have just for my family.

I hope to go to college and I want to be a chef

And start to give all that I got like El Indio Lempira did.