Si tiene alguna duda sobre esta nota debido a la traduccion,
por favor comuniquese con Rafael Friedmann via email: rfriedmann@aol.com

Gung Hei Fat Choy Chinese New Year Parade by the TK’s and the Kinders

video created by Volunteer Mr. Phil

Art & Library Corner

Family Art Night! Save the Date! Friday March 22nd from 6-7:30 pm. You won't want to miss it!

Library Corner

This Tuesday, February 27th, in celebration of Black History Month, BUSD Library Services (in partnership with the Berkeley Public Library) was proud to host a virtual author visit from Chrystal Giles, author of Not an Easy Win. She zoomed with BUSD 4th and 5th grade classrooms to discuss her journey, and her inspiration for writing about social justice and youth activism. Emerson 4th and 5th grade classes joined to hear her presentation and ask questions! Not an Easy Win has received multiple starred reviews and copies are available for students to check out in the library, or online and instore at Mrs. Dalloway's to purchase!

The Emerson Read-A-Thon is coming March 8-17

Emerson Read-A-Thon packets were sent home to each student today, Thursday, February 29th, in their Look folders. The packet contains a student and family guide explaining how the Read-a-Thon will work, a Reading Log (which will replace your student’s regular reading log during the Read-a-Thon), and a bookmark to color in and use during the Read-A-Thon.

Tomorrow, March 1st, the Read-a-Thon will be announced at the All-School Meeting, and parents will receive an email with a link to our Read-a-Thon campaign page. If you don’t receive an email, you can search for your student’s page here: https://app.99pledges.com/fund/emersonele24.

Questions: contact Ms. Thomaes at marieevethomaes@berkeley.net

BUSD Announcements

Hello families,

Please take advantage of the following free tech workshops for BUSD parents/guardians:

Digital Citizenship: Your Student + Tech

Are you looking for strategies to balance your child’s tech use at home and keep them safe online? Join us for a discussion about your concerns. Leave with some practical tips about how to have those difficult conversations with your child and set limits.

Grades TK-5 (childcare provided):

Tuesday, March 26 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm at Berkeley Adult School in the Multi-Purpose Room.

Grades TK-12:

Spanish-Speaking Families (virtual session): Thursday, May 2 from 6:00pm - 7:00pm on Zoom
Saturday, April 20 from 1:00pm - 2:00pm at Berkeley Adult School in the Multi-Purpose Room. Childcare provided.

Grades 6-12:

Tuesday, May 14 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm at Berkeley Adult School in the Multi-Purpose Room

Stay Connected: Tech Tools for Parents/Guardians

Come to this hands-on workshop and learn more about the apps used to communicate with teachers, view grades and attendance and manage a school-issued Chromebook. We will provide training on the following BUSD tools:

GoGuardian Parent App
Google Classroom
Infinite Campus Parent Portal
Remind

Grades TK-12 (childcare provided):

Spanish-Speaking Families: Tuesday, March 5 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm at Sylvia Mendez Elementary School Library.
Saturday, April 20 from 2:15pm - 3:15pm at Berkeley Adult School in the Multi-Purpose Room
Tuesday, April 23 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm at Rosa Parks Elementary School Library

For more information and to RSVP, go to bit.ly/busdpgtw

Black History Month

Black History Month Events

Edutainment for Equity Webinar Series on Educating the Black Child: Dr. Bettina Love (February 12, 11:00am-1:00pm, virtual); Dr. Juanza Kunjufu (February 27, 11:00am-1:00pm, virtual)
BUSD Black History District Oratorical Fest (March 21, 5:30-8:00pm, Oxford Auditorium)

BUSD January & February Family Engagement Event Summary (English & Spanish)

BLACK HISTORY MONTH IN BERKELEY

Mama Howard at the BART construction site

MABLE HOWARD

Have you noticed the BART tracks that go underground at Alcatraz and Adeline? That familiar underground hum marking the passing of the day for South Berkeley residents came about due to the work of Mable “Mama” Howard (1905-1994). Mama Howard was a powerful and influential community figure that protected the South Berkeley community from further racial division by filing a lawsuit against BART in 1968, to prevent the new transit tracks from further dividing our community, when she was 63.

Construction workers had already begun tearing down 517 homes to make way for the new raised BART tracks that would run along Adeline Avenue; Mama Howard was able to see the placement of the tracks as another boundary that would further segregate the families in South Berkeley from the rest of the city*. Pollution, visual blight, and displacement were other issues that motivated the entire city to tax themselves to fund the underground BART track because BART intended to build the tracks aboveground, regardless of community input. Mama Howard’s lawsuit stopped BART for nine months and forced BART to move the trains underground, supported by 80% of Berkeley residents who taxed themselves to fund the work.

Mama Howard’s impact can be seen more clearly in this documentary, “Welcome to the Neighborhood” that tells her story alongside her daughter, Mildred Howard, an accomplished artist who champions her mother’s work to change our community for the better. While the grassroots effort to rename the Ashby BART station after Mama Howard continues, an apartment building at 1499 Alcatraz (at California) bears her name.

*HOLC redlining, the FHA, and restrictive covenants only allowed people of color to purchase homes in South Berkeley. For a more thorough history of gentrification in Berkeley, read Darrell Owens’ History of Gentrification in Berkeley.

UPCOMING EVENTS AND KEY DATES

Thursday, February 22: Equity Circle Meeting #5, 5:30-7:30pm (Emerson Library)

Thursday, Feb. 22: BUSD Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) Meeting, 6:00-8:00pm, Virtual on Zoom: (Zoom/Meeting ID: 885 3767 9562/PW:BUSDPAC)

Thursday, February 28: Info Session for BUSD Families about State Seal of Biliteracy, 5:30-7:00pm, Virtual on Zoom: (ZOOM / MTG ID: 839 8820 6468 / PW: 303938)

Thursday, February 29: Equity Circle Meeting #6, 5:30-7:30pm (Emerson Library)

Tuesday, March 5: PTA Board Meeting 7pm – 8pm

Friday, March 8-17: Emerson Read-A-Thon

Add the Emerson Google Calendar to yours!

Note to Readers: BearFacts articles and calendar items are based on submissions from the community and reviewed and edited under the PTA communication policy. Inclusion of an item in BearFacts by itself does not indicate sponsorship or endorsement by the PTA, Emerson school staff, or BUSD.

VOTE TO HELP PASS MEASURE H BSEP Renewal on THE March 5 ballot!

The Berkeley Schools Excellence Program (BSEP) accounts for nearly 20% of the BUSD budget paying for 1/3 of our teachers, support for struggling students, all of our libraries, much of our music program and so much more. It requires 67% of the vote to pass. PLEASE help us ensure our Berkeley schools stay strong and vote YES -- none of us want to consider what would happen if this 30-year-old tax is not renewed!

Ways you can help:

VOTE YES on Measure H on March 5 or on your mail-in ballot
Volunteer a shift canvassing to raise awareness. Sign up HERE
Do you want a yard sign? Sign up HERE
Can you donate to pay for mailers, signs and other critical materials? Please do HERE
Talk with your friends, neighbors, all Berkeley voters on the critical importance of this measure for our kids and community, and encourage them to VOTE YES on March 5 or when mail-in ballots drop early Feb!

FIND EMERSON ONLINE

Website: https://emersonelementary.org/

Remind: Text @7f6hb to 81010; or go to www.remind.com/join/7f6hb

Facebook: www.facebook.com/emersonpta (or follow @emersonPTA)

About BearFacts News:

BearFacts News is a weekly publication created by parent volunteers and posted online at emersonelementary.org.

BearFacts articles and calendar items are based on submissions from the community and reviewed and edited under the PTA communication policy. Inclusion of an item in BearFacts by itself does not indicate sponsorship or endorsement by the PTA, Emerson school staff, or BUSD.

If you have a news item or announcement to include in the BearFacts News, please send an email to bearfacts@emersonelementary.org. Please keep your message brief and include all the pertinent details including dates, times, locations and contact information. Send images as an e-mail attachment and include alt-text. The submission deadline is each Monday at 6 p.m.