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Angie Watson-Hajjem:Hello Alameda. Welcome to the Island City Beat podcast. I'm your host Angie Watson-Hajjem. Since 1982, the Alameda Education Foundation has been in the forefront of supporting our students, teachers, families here on the island. The Alameda Education Foundation offers a wide variety of wonderful programs, classes that have enriched the lives of so many of our kids.
Angie Watson Hajjem:And today, I'm going be talking to Julia Owens. She is the executive director of the Alameda Education Foundation. She's going to be telling us more about this organization and the great work they are doing here in our city. So with that, let me say hello to Julia Owens. Hi, Julia.
Julia Owens:Hi, Angie. Thanks so much for having me today. I appreciate it.
Angie Watson Hajjem:Oh, it's so good to have you here. So first of I wanted to say congratulations because I know that your role as being a leader of AEF, which we call it, Alameda Education Foundation. You've been in leadership for about a year now, so congratulations on your new role there at agency.
Julia Owens:Thank you so much. Yeah, I actually started in January, so only about half a year, but ..
Angie Watson Hajjem:You're very new. Wow. Yes. Now I know a fair amount about the Alameda Education Foundation because I had the honor of serving as a board member several years ago. But I know a lot of people out there have never heard of the Alameda Education Foundation, don't know what you do, who you are, so why don't you give us some background about the history of the organization, how it came to be, and why it came to be here in Alameda?
Julia Owens:Certainly, Yeah. So, as I said, I'm fairly new at AEF, but of course I've known about it for years, being an Alameda resident and having kids in the school district. So, the history, like you said, goes back to 1982. So really what was happening at that time was Prop 13 had come in sort of late seventies and really restructured the way property taxes were happening in the state. And that really affected school budgets very directly and negatively.
Julia Owens:So schools were suddenly really strapped for funds. The per student sort of cost ratio came way down. So, AEF I think was, was really started by some community members who saw this big need for more support for the school district, particularly at that time. So, I actually have had a lovely recent introduction to the nephew of one of our founders, Lou Four, who, actually was very committed to being involved with AEF's founding. It was called the Foundation for Educational Excellence in Alameda at that time, or FEE.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Long name.
Julia Owens:I know, a long name. So his late wife Carolyn had been an educator in Alameda, and she had actually worked at Alameda High School back in the 80s. But she tragically died very young of cancer. So she died in her 30s and sort of left behind this love of education and this, you know, sort of big gap in the heart of the educational system in Alameda.
Julia Owens:And so her husband Lou, wanted to get really involved in founding this foundation and honor in a way. So a way to sort of honor her legacy, her deep commitment to education in Alameda and everything happening in the community. So it's just sort of a personal story that I think really, you know, enriches our legacy and history and kind of why we continue doing what we're doing. But certainly, you know, lots of community members were interested in this effort of supporting the school district, sort of identifying the holes, right, that were left from these funding cuts and really stepping in, in a meaningful way to make sure that the kids in Alameda were getting the best possible education through the public system.
Angie Watson Hajjem:Yeah. And I want to say that, you know, any parent out there, parents that have children who love sports and who are in middle school and play sports, they really have the Alameda Education Foundation to thank because you guys really filled that hole where they didn't have any money for middle school sports. And so you came in, and you have this money, and you put it toward kids being able to play basketball and volleyball and run track and all that. So that's incredible.
Julia Owens:Yeah, I mean, that's one of our huge program areas is middle school sports. So we do basically run the middle school sports program for the district, which includes, like you said, basketball, we have volleyball, cross country and track and field. So those are really kind of our four main leagues right now, but they are pretty much year round during the school year, starting in the fall and going all the way through the spring. So yeah, we serve hundreds of kids through the sports program every year. I don't know if people necessarily know too that there's sort of an academic tie in with sports.
Julia Owens:So we have certain rules around participation and one of them is that students are meeting a certain GPA requirements and behavioral requirements at school. So it really makes a nice kind of connection between participation in sports and academic performance. And we find that we get a lot of feedback from our coaches and the families themselves of, you know, hey, my student was really disengaged, knowing they were coming to school, I'm going to have basketball practice and games. That was a big motivator and they've kept their grades up because they want to be able to play. Kind of a wonderful, you know, full circle thing happening with these kids who are, you know, athletic and want to be involved in sports, but know that they've got to keep their grades up and they've got to perform all around to be part of that.
Julia Owens:So that's just something I think that's unique about our program. But we were able to bring on a new sports manager just this spring, Lily Gates Tills. So we're thrilled to have her because, my predecessor, Vicki Sedlak, who'd been running AF from, over a decade and did a fantastic job. And I'm so honored to be able to kind of just step in and hopefully keep the great work going with the wonderful team that we have and the incredible board and all the community support that we have. But Lily is just sort of adding that extra oomph to our sports program right now.
Julia Owens:And she's got a lot of vision around, adding more clinics and summer programming and even thinking about other sports that we might bring into our whole sports picture. So it's been a really exciting time in our sports program to see some new energy and just a lot of, the focus on what we can do and all the potential for our sports program.
Angie Watson Hajjem:That is just great. So besides the middle school sports programs that you have, tell us a little bit about the other classes and programs that you offer through AEF.
Julia Owens:Certainly. So yeah, one of our biggest programs is our enrichment. So that is something we've been doing for well over a decade, is our after school enrichment program. So those are right now in all elementary schools in Alameda, and those are really aimed at bringing opportunities to kids that they may not get during the school day. So, you know, think about a lot of arts, a lot of STEM opportunities, building things with Legos.
Julia Owens:Know, chess is a big one, very popular program. We have lots of students wanting to learn chess. We have sports, dance, coding, you name it.
Angie Watson Hajjem:There's there's A lot of classes. I love Oh, you're a Yes. Spanish and Mandarin and cooking and joy because I I wanna be part of those classes too. Can I sign up?
Julia Owens:I know. We get parents all the time saying, Where are the parent classes? But yeah, it's just wonderful to be in all the schools every day after school, providing these opportunities for kids. We provide a ton of scholarships, so we really want students to be able to participate regardless of their sort of economic situation. We also do summer camps.
Julia Owens:So right now we're doing four weeks of summer camp. We just are in week two right now and it's going great and going fast, but the kids are doing, you know, full days of everything that we just mentioned, plus, you know, so many more opportunities of things we can do during the summer. But yeah, that's really our biggest program in terms of numbers served. And it's actually revenue generating for us because we do, you know, it is a fee for service kind of situation with these classes. So it makes us a sustainable organization because we have a source of revenue.
Julia Owens:But then again, we can also provide a lot of scholarships so that we're making sure that there's an equitable access for these programs. We don't want people to feel that they can't participate due to lack of funds. So, we're always going to prioritize our scholarships, you know, hugely, but it does provide again, that sort of sustainability for our business model that we have earned revenue, as well as a lot of community support to kind of supplement the other programs that we have.
Angie Watson Hajjem:That's just really great. One of the programs that I, always really appreciated, and I still do, is the art around the island. Can you talk to them about that?
Julia Owens:Yeah. So we have our VAPA or Visual and Performing Arts program, which is still run by our wonderful Pam Riley Chang. Pam's out there. So Pam is really dedicated to showcasing student art in different ways, right? We know, again, that arts were something that were really cut, you know, when the schools were facing all these budget cuts, the arts were kind of one of the first things on the chopping block, right?
Julia Owens:So making sure that the teachers have access to, you know, easy to do activities that are tied to themes and bringing in artists that can inspire students, if it's through visual art or even poetry. She does a big poetry slam in the spring at Books Inc. We had a wonderful poetry slam this year where students from, you know, I'd say grades two and three all the way up through twelfth graders were there to actually read their poetry in front of the community and their families. Or if they didn't want to read it themselves, we even had a voice actor who could read some of those poems so they could all be heard. But it's just a really beautiful way that we can bring the art out into the community.
Julia Owens:You can find it at our libraries. You can find it at like Seaspot Run or Lilac or BookSync or many of these like companies and businesses in the community that are really dedicated to making sure that student art has a place to be seen and showcased. So we're very much still committed to our VAP UP program and keeping that alive.
Angie Watson Hajjem:You know, I can't imagine being a kid and being out at a restaurant or out at a store with my family and seeing my art piece on the wall. That's going to be so terrific to see that. It's going to feel so good. So besides the classes and the programs that you have, you guys also, every year, you have a program where you give school supplies to kids that need them. Parents know how expensive it is to supply a kid with school supplies for a year.
Angie Watson Hajjem:It's a lot of money. You've got two or three kids, it could bankrupt you. So tell us about the, giveaway backpack, program that you guys have as well.
Julia Owens:Yeah, absolutely. So we have our back to school supply drive every year. So yeah, right now I'm waiting on delivery of over a thousand backpacks and supply kits from our distributor. But we basically work with all of the schools, primarily the schools that receive Title I funding and some of our community partners like Alameda Point Collaborative and other community partners that are working very directly with families who may have lower means. But we do a huge drive and we basically will distribute these kits that are very like age specific, you know, they're sort of banded by grade levels.
Julia Owens:So it's a backpack plus the kit of all the supplies so that these kids, you know, have the tools for success on day one of school. But we basically work with our school partners. And then, like I said, these different community organizations to distribute these supplies before school starts. So, we'll be taking delivery this year, you know, mid July and distributing to all the schools and partners by the July so that, you know, right at the August, they're ready to distribute all those good things to their families and those kids.
Angie Watson Hajjem:And outside of your wonderful support of our kids, you also help our teachers. You have these mini grants that you give teachers, they can apply, they can use that money for their classroom, for what, field trips, special projects and things. Tell us a little bit about that.
Julia Owens:Yeah, we just love our teacher mini grant program so much. Some people may be more familiar with Adopt a Classroom, which was the program we had sort of prior to COVID, But the mini grant program we find is just a lot more about equity again, sort of making sure that the dollars are getting into the classrooms where, you know, there are ample resources. The PTAs are not necessarily able to help these teachers do that great field trip or bring in some much needed technology for that classroom. For example, all the third graders at Love Elementary this year got to participate in a story builders program with Berkeley Rep, and they actually developed their own script and just learned all about theater production in a way that just a lot of these, you know, children wouldn't have had access to. So, you know, there's so many different types of mini grants that we're able to give away, but the need is just kind of large and growing.
Julia Owens:And this year, gave away 40 they're $53,000 in mini grants to 75 different projects across the island. So, we know that that need is just growing and we're going to continue fundraising and doing what we can to expand to meet the needs. We're also serving our charter schools with this program and our, early childhood centers. So, it's very expansive. It really touches on all the age ranges and special programs too, like special education or English language development, which we know tend to be underfunded.
Julia Owens:We want to make sure that those programs are getting prioritized for extra funding through our mini grant program.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:If a teacher is interested in, getting a grant for his or her classroom, how do they go about doing that?
Julia Owens:Great question. Yes, we will open our mini grant process most likely in like late August or early September. And it's a pretty simple form.
Julia Owens:We send it to every school administrator, and office manager so that we make sure it gets out to all the teachers. And if they're not seeing it or not receiving it for some reason, can absolutely reach out to us at AEF and we'll be happy to get them the form. Again, we're kind of prioritizing those schools that receive Title I funding and those special programs like English language development or special ed, but we will consider any grant requests that we do receive. So yes, come fall, that application will be live again, and we'll make sure that it's widely distributed so that teachers are able to take advantage of the program.
Angie Watson Hajjem:Good. Now this is one thing that I didn't know that you, sponsored where you help low income families, get internet access. This is a newer program, is that right?
Julia Owens:That's right. Yeah. And that's actually part of a really cool partnership that we have with Alameda Municipal Power, AMP. It's called PUFL or Power Up for Learning. And some people may not know about this, so I'd like to give it a little pitch.
Julia Owens:But basically, if you're an Alameda resident, you know, you're probably a customer of Alameda Municipal Power because that's how we get our electricity, right? So this partnership is an opportunity for every resident or customer of AMP to just add a little bit to their monthly bill, and that money will go into this PUFL account. And then that money is given to AEF in a grant form, and we can use that for various technology things that we're doing that, you know, can go towards mini grants, but also these hotspots. So we were finding, especially during COVID, you know, that a lot of our students just did not have access to wifi. They may be unhoused or, you know, in sort of transitional housing situations and, you know, at a time when they were relying on Zoom for school, right, that was hugely problematic.
Julia Owens:So, we wanted to make a commitment to ensure that any student who needed a hotspot would have one. And we've continued with that commitment because we know that the need is still out there. So through that PUFL, and AMP partnership, we're able to supply those hotspots and sort of manage that in collaboration with the district.
Angie Watson Hajjem:That is so great. Last thing I want to talk to you, but I know that you guys also provide, support for mental health counseling. And I want to talk a little bit about just the state of our children here. I know that you're a mom. You have kids.
Angie Watson Hajjem:They've gone you have a son who's still in the Alameda School District and a daughter who graduated recently. Congratulations to that. What are you seeing are some of the challenges that our kids are facing or dealing with in our schools here? And how does your mental health program, your counseling, support some of those challenges those kids have in their families?
Julia Owens:Yeah, so, I mean, I think what we've seen since COVID is just a real increase in anxiety, depression, you know, sort of isolation, feelings of isolation with our kids. You know,
Julia Owens:I think it's been a process of sort of reentry, right, to being more in community with their peers and what that looks like. And a lot of kids just really are dealing with pretty extreme anxiety, and that can show up in a lot of different ways in the classroom. And plus, we just know that we're a lot more aware of like, you know, autism and different kinds of spectrum. You know, everybody's on a spectrum, right? But sort of, I think there's just a lot more awareness, fortunately, about what that looks like and how that shows up in the classroom and what that can mean for learning.
Julia Owens:So, we've really worked closely with the district to try to understand how to best support mental health. And one thing that we did bring on several years ago was something called Care Solace. So Care Solace is actually kind of like a concierge service that people can basically plug into if they have any affiliation with AUSD. So it could be a student, a family member, a staff member, you know, anyone again who sort of touches on AUSD can access this service, but Care Solace is basically a platform that will help you get connected to care. So they're going to have a real high touch kind of interface where you can get direct support, and they'll look at what insurance do you have, you know, what providers are available, what are the kind of, you know, special needs that you may have that you're looking for somebody who has experience with, you know, do you prefer a certain kind of gender?
Julia Owens:They'll get into like really the specifics of what's going to be a good match for you in terms of mental health support. And then they'll help make that warm handoff and then even make sure that it's a good fit ongoing. So there's some follow-up and if, you know, if that initial connection isn't working, they'll help find another one. So I think it's pretty unique in terms of, just really being this warm kind of middle person to help make that connection, right, for folks who might know that they need some help and they're not quite sure how to go about getting it. So we've seen a lot of, you know, a lot of data from that Care Solace platform in terms of how many warm handoffs they're making, just how many connections they're making.
Julia Owens:And you can see spikes when certain events happen in the community. Like last summer, we had a pretty tragic community event that affected our district. And we saw a big spike in use of Care Solace because people were really, really needing that support. And so, you know, we know that when there's awareness of it and when there are certain maybe environmental things going on, people might be reaching out for that kind of support in bigger numbers. But we just also want to get the word out about it because I think it's been a little bit harder to market it or have people understand what that resource is and that it is available to anyone who has a student in the district, works in the district, is a student in the district.
Julia Owens:So we're definitely continuing to fund that piece, the care solace piece. And then we fund mental health through different ways through our mini grants. One of our mini grants this year was to support the mental health 911 program, which is something that, or I'm sorry, mental health first aid, which is something that I believe all tenth graders in the district go through during their regular schooling. But the district has to train up their staff to be able to deliver this program. So we were able to support them in training more district staff to deliver mental health first aid to their tenth graders.
Julia Owens:So there's just a lot of ways that we're sort of finding where the needs are so that we can continue helping the big picture of mental health support for the district.
Angie Watson Hajjem:Wow. Yeah, I'm just so amazed at all the treasures that you offer our community. You guys really do a lot. I mean, just a wide variety of different things. Now, as a non nonprofit, I'm sure you use volunteers.
Angie Watson Hajjem:What kind of volunteers might you be looking for?
Julia Owens:Yes, we love volunteers. So, you know, I feel like there's probably a little something for everybody with AEF, know, if you're passionate about sports, you know, we'd love to have you help us out like at our track and field events, or we can find other ways for you to support. We need coaches. They're not necessarily volunteers, but, you know, anyone who has a big love of sports and some extra time, we'd love to have you. We can definitely use help with our events that we have throughout the year.
Julia Owens:Those could be fundraising events or other community oriented events. We're trying to have a lot more presence in the community. So being really visible at like the spring shindig that the ARPD puts on or pride event that's happening in October, you know, those are the types of things where we're going to have a table and we want to really be out in the community. So having people help us, at those different events is wonderful. We certainly have administrative stuff that goes on.
Julia Owens:We're a business. We need people to do all the things, right? So, you know, I love working with volunteers. That goes back to my early days in nonprofit. When I worked Girls Inc.
Julia Owens:A million years ago, I was the volunteer manager there. So I've always just loved working with people and just the time and treasure that they bring to an organization, and talent, I should say. So I'm always happy to to have a conversation, see where that fit might be. And, of course, you've already touched on board membership. We're always looking for new board members.
Julia Owens:We'd love to have you back, Angie. Door is always open, but our board is exceptional. I mean, I've worked at many nonprofits. Our board is like so amazingly amazing. Like, they really are passionate.
Julia Owens:They're out there doing work in the community. They're helping us fundraise. They're absolutely committed. And so I think being part of the board is super rewarding because there are so many ways to plug in and it's like real work and it's really rewarding. So I would love to talk to anyone out there who would particularly be interested in a board role with us.
Julia Owens:But yeah, give me a holler. I would love to talk to you if you want to call
Angie Watson Hajjem:That sounds good. So your website, you want to give that out?
Julia Owens:Yes, alamedaeducation.org is our website. You can also just email us at info@alamedaeducation.org anytime, and we will get that email and respond.
Angie Watson Hajjem:Yay. Julia, I know that you have been a passionate parent, very active in the school district, and I just thank you for that, and thank you for this interview, because you've been able to share a lot about this wonderful organization, Alameda Education Foundation, to so many people that may not know about you. So thank you, both areas, being a great mom and a great volunteer and now a great executive director of AEF. So wonderful for you, and thank you for sharing your time with us here at the Island City Beat podcast.
Julia Owens:Thank you, Angie. I so appreciate it.
Julia Owens:It's a joy to talk with you, and I just feel so honored to be part of this organization. I couldn't love it more, and I really appreciate you taking the time to to bring a little more, you know, light and knowledge about what we're doing to the public. So thank you.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:You're more than welcome. Thank you. And thank all of you for tuning in to the Island City Beat podcast. I hope you enjoyed this show and hope you come back and join us again. Until then, I'm your host, Angie Watson-Hajjem.
Angie Watson Hajjem:Take care. Goodbye.