Meet Your Neighbor - Jonathan Davis

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Jonathan Davis from San Leandro California. I am a manager at Orbit Skate Boutique and I love what I do. I travel, I am a wide eyed wanderer.

What do you love about San Leandro?

I was raised here, I was born in Alameda but raised here.  I love the diversity. It's the city element, being the suburbs of Oakland and San Francisco. It has a little bit of everything, it has the hiphop, you can go to the Englander, go to the skateshop. There is so much to do.

Back in the day my Dad said they had a roller-rink across the street from here. They had Neil Young, and The Byrds play. That was in San Leandro, not in Oakland or San Francisco.

You have younger sponsored skaters and a program for children keeping their grades up?

We do have a sponsor program. On top of that we have a GPA program, which we have been doing since 2001. You bring in your report card at the end of the year, K - 12 and we will give you a free gift. You have a 4.0 you get a free skateboard deck. 3.0 a free sticker pack and then gifts in-between. We get people who come from the Central Valley. It's a great incentive for the kids.

The shop always feels so friendly, doesn't matter if you are coming in to browse or to buy something. Where do you think that comes from?

We are a family. We work in a great work environment, everyone is really happy, everyone has been here for a while, we love what we do. Everything we carry we are really, really into. From the skate people to people coming to buy statues.

Final Quote?

Live in the positive of life, live in the good, live in the essence, live in the moment. Take everything for what it is and try to always effect yourself in the positive.  There is the neutral and then the middle but try and push yourself in the positive for everything you do.

Orbit is Celebrating it's 20th Birthday, they are having a street party on July 15th with Pro Skateboarders. From Dawn until Dusk

Meet Your Neighbor - Mrs. Domin

Who are you and what do you do?

I'm Marilyn Domin, I've been the Kindergartener teacher at Assumption School for the past 35 years and I am just about to retire.

What do you love about San Leandro?

What I love about San Leandro is it has a small town feel  but it has everything a city could want and people here are so friendly.

Any words of Wisdom?

Love every minute. The past is gone and the future you don't know what holds, so just enjoy the present.

Photo's taken at Mrs. Domin's retirement party.

More Photos to come

Meet Your Neighbor - Kate Livson

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Kate Livson and I teach here at San Leandro High School. I teach a class call Forensic Biology. This is my tenth year, it is an incredible class. I teach students how to solve crimes using science. It's exciting, it's a great way to learn life science, to learn Biology. You can see around the room the children have made their own mug shots. There is Goergie the skeleton. We do a lot of labs, it's very hands on.

I am also the coordinator for the Season of Service period of peace program at the school this year, this is our 7th year. We celebrate season of Service between Martin Luther King's Birthday and Caesar Chavez birthday. During those 10 weeks groups, clubs and classes around the school get together to create some projects that has to do with non violence, peace and educating our community. Bringing non violence and peace to this school, this community .

This year more than 1000 students participated at San Leandro high School. We have now included both middle schools, John Muir and Bancroft and Jefferson Elementary. We have commitment from these students to learn about non violence, to learn about peace and to bring what they have leant out into their schools and communities.

Wednesday at 7pm San Leandro High School Performing Arts Center the students will perform and present all that they have done (FREE and open to the public)

What do you love about San Leandro?

This is my 10th year and I wouldn't teach at any other high School, I love this place, it's my home. The students are open and inquisitive, they are smart, competent. There is a certain spirit to San Leandro High School that I have never seen in any other school. These students are open to looking further, to questioning more, standing up and telling the truth.

I am the adviser to Club Rainbow (Gay straight alliance) and over the years I have has as many at 50 to 60 students in this classroom looking at changing the culture. We have alliance with the football team. My students have gone into classrooms to talk about gender and bullying. It's an incredible safe and welcoming place, and when it isn't these students always look deeper and wonder how can we educate this person. It's an honor to work here.

Your role with Season of Service, period of peace and with Rainbow seem to have some similarities, can be brought together in part?

In part. It was an opportunity to coordinate it (Season of service). I was able to teach, coordinate Season of Service and be the adviser for the Club Rainbow. As teacher we are often isolated in our own classrooms. We seen 150 students every day over 5 periods, it's like tides, students come in and they go out. There are days I don't speak to another adult all day long, but as coordinator I have got to know all the advisers and I get out a little more.

What have you learnt most from the experience?

Students learn best from each other, things are changing. It used to be that we could write about what we wanted the children to understand, or we would talk about it the way adults talk about things. The way I understand social justice issues, issues of community and of non violence. It's really different the way they process these very important issues. When I say to the club "Why don't we make a Flyer and explain to the students?", "no Ms Livson that's not how we teach this".

I have learnt so much about how to communicate.

It's a new generation with teenagers use of technology.

It's extraordinary, we are invited to use computers in our classrooms. Every teacher has access to computers for every student. It's a challenge because students are on their phone, their screen time is 24/7. It's hard for me,  an old woman, to give them more screen time, but what they have taught me is that they don't learn best with words, we don't want all this language. There are other ways of communicating.  Just look at the Club Rainbow season of service video 

Most of my curriculum is hands on but I recognize that there is another road in learning.

We are all about project based learning and getting students to learn skills and collaboration, working through problems, how to learn and what to learn. This is easy for me as my students solve crimes all day. Here is the evidence, here are the clues, use your science and determine (who did it).

As a district we are moving towards project based learning.

Final quote or words of wisdom?

Don't be afraid of this place (San Leandro High School).These students are extraordinary people, they are our future. This place is full of wonderful, smart, competent, intelligent people. I think people think about high school is hooligan, they have concerns. I would invite folks in San Leandro to come here and experience what we are doing. They should come and experience it on Wednesday.

Meet Your Neighbor - Leah Hall

Who are you are what do you do?

My name is Leah Hall and I am a community activist.

Excellent.  What do you love about San Leandro?

I love the location of San Leandro and the size of it.  I think it’s in a great place for working people.  Ummm, it’s situated between Silicon Valley and San Francisco and other areas.  It has a great climate and great people.

Very good.  You are part of the Durant Task Force.  Can you tell us a little bit more about that and what you guys are trying to do?

Yes, the Durant Avenue Task Force was the brain child of a guy that I work with, Gus Roldan who noticed commercial trucks going down his street and other people had a hard time believing that was happening since it was such a thin road.  I think people saw all of the traffic going on there but he was the first to actually document the trucks, put stuff on YouTube, got some local news media involved and we were able to work together positively with the city to actually……. we had some real data in our hands…… and start to improve the street and by getting real with what was going on there.

Right.

We learned that there are about 6000 cars travelling there a day, if I’ve got the number right, which it doesn’t make any sense but if you also can take a walk on Durant you’ll see that it doesn’t make any sense from that perspective either and along with those commercial trucks.  So, things that we have done, we learned that it is border of Oakland and San Leandro.  The line is drawn right down the middle of the street so this creates some coordination problems, to say the least, with Oakland and San Leandro.  But we did get the cities to work together to approve some new speed bumps to slow down the traffic.  It hasn’t gone away but it has slowed down a bit.  We also had a joint neighborhood block party last year that we are really proud of.  We had city workers from both sides, police departments, elected officials, and everyone had a really great time.

I saw some of the photos – that looked like a lot of fun.

It was.

You were part of the Leadership San Leandro program a few years ago and you actually presented this year at one of the classes.  What was your experience with that?

Leah presenting at Leadership San Leandro

I was drawn to Leadership San Leandro.  My background is in architecture and urban planning and I really wanted to use some of the skills I was using in neighboring cities here in my own community and Leadership San Leandro gave me a way, um, when I was very new to the community to meet, um, learn more about the government here, how it works, and also meet people working in and out of government, business owners.  When we were there, the project I worked on with my classmates was putting a library table in the courtyard of the then, newly remodeled main library, which me and my daughter who was about two at the time, would just thoroughly enjoy.  So we wanted to give something back to the library.  It was very exciting to have a team and do something nice for the library.

That was very nice.  Your latest project where you are trying to get a parklet.  Can you explain what a parket is and how you think that would be great for San Leandro?

Yes.  We are really lucky.  In San Francisco, though parklets are new, I’d say about 2010 they were granted.  There were only about five in the city.  Now they have exploded all over San Francisco!

Right!

So we are seeing lots of examples of what is a good and bad parklet.  Basically a parklet is considered street furniture.  It’s a cheaper, faster way to build public space into a neighborhood that is starving for public space.  It provides some beautifying and a greening element that an area wouldn’t otherwise have.  But it is a public space so it is interesting… a private business, like a coffee shop, has to make sure that it is clean and taken care of.  It still gets a sign on it that says that this is a public space so that anybody can come and enjoy it.

Very cool. You ran for city council.  How was that experience?

It was great!  I mean I was kind of drawing on my love of getting into being a youth advisor at San Leandro High School as a YMCA Youth in government advisor.  I did that with this guy over here for one year (points to Derek Lee).  (Laughs)

Hi Derek!

So I did that.  I’ve been on the Human Services Commission for four years and I just really wanted to put my money where my mouth was, you know, public speaking, and really building a platform for things you are passionate about.  What I was passionate about was livable neighborhoods and I really still see that as a city planning element that the community can really help each other by enhancing public space and enhancing health and wellness by getting people out of their cars and, you know, enjoying the beauty of their city.

If someone wants to help you with you project on parklets, how do they contact you?

A great way to contact me is by e-mail which is llahhael@yahoo.com or search for me or Durant Avenue Task Force on Facebook . Any of those ways are fine.

Very good.  Do you have any final quotes or words or wisdom?

I think that it is really important in this day and age to think of partnerships.  You know, the government really is us.  Government is of the people.  So if we want change, in today’s world, at the local level, get involved, get engaged, and surround yourself with your tribe!

That is brilliant! Leah, thank you so much!

Thank you Paul.

Thank you for being part of the community.

(thanks to Patricia Minnis for transcribing the interview)

Meet Your Neighbor - Teacher Dale (Dale Gregory)

I caught up with the wonderful teacher Dale at Bike SL

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Dale Gregory, but everybody know me as Teacher Dale. I am co-director of Broadmoor Parent Cooperative Preschool (Web | Facebook)

What do you love about San Leandro?

I love that San Leandro is a fairly good size city, but it feels a lot like a small town. As it's such a community oriented city you feel like you get to know your own community and its got that wonderful feeling of people being involved (in the city).

With Broadmoor being cooperative, you often see the Broadmoor parents that you have "Trained" in the community. Tell us a little about that?

(Laughs) The Nature of a co-op is you are heavy involved, I think gives people a lot of great volunteer experience, it gives them confidence to go out into their communities and get involved in their schools and community fund raising. I don't think it's anything we do, but we encourage them that modeling involvement to their children is great. Their children grow up feeling like giving back to the community is something important.

Having been at various schools in San Leandro there is always a Broadmoor Alumni Parent somewhere heavily  involved?

We are very proud to claim that our Mayor is a Broadmoor parent graduate, one of the people who started the largest fundraising for our schools SLED (San Leandro Education Foundation) was a Broadmoor parent, you were a Broadmoor parent.  They are all over, they are in PTA's, Dad's Clubs, City Council, on the school board, they are out there.  For me and my partner Colleen it is so exciting to see that.

If somebody wants to get their child into Broadmoor when do they need to start?

Every March we have an open house, so if you are new to Broadmoor , in other words you didn't have a sibling go through which would put you on a legacy list. You can come by and see us in action, pick up registration for the following year. Keep your eyes open, if it is something you are interested in come on in and put your name on the wait list. People move, change and in the beginning of the year space often opens up.

And there is Tot time?

Tot time is a wonderful program run through the San Leandro Adult School. That happens at Broadmoor on Mondays, It's a parent assist program where you bring your little one, your 18 month to just under 3 year old. You get your first experience but with the help of an adult.

It's the parent that is actually registered?

Yes, because we are run through an adult school program we consider out parents to be the students, we focus not just on the children, we focus on you (the parent), we want to give you all the tools you need to be a very savvy K through 12 and beyond parent.

You do a wonderful job.

Thank you, I am so blessed, my teaching partner feels blessed. We think we have the best job in the world.

Final quote or Words of Wisdom?

Parenting is the toughest job you will ever do because its letting go of something that you would give your life to protect.

Thank you so much, thanks for being part of the community and being you

Broadmoor PreSchool

Meet Your Neighbor - Lisa Jackson

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Lisa Jackson and I’m a mom of 2 amazing kids, Easton and Sabina, and an awesome big dog Boomer.  I am a Community Engagement Specialist for Eden Youth and Family Center (EYFC), a non-profit in Hayward.  My job fits me perfectly as I get to outreach and connect with people all over  the Eden Area  to help build out our organization or share with others the resources we offer. I work with our Youth Employment Program, “Step Forward”, to find at-risk youth, meaningful worksites so that they can gain the skills they need to be awesome.  We currently just purchased a 3D printer and will be incubating digital talent at our clubhouse to inspire and create entrepreneurs.  In fact EYFC currently just signed an MOU with San Leandro Unified to operate an office in the new Health and Wellness Center that will open softly in June.  This is a great resource for SLUSD , and I am thrilled that we were able to form that partnership. 

I also am working with PilotCity, that’s protoyping the city of the future. In fact  PilotCity is spearheading Solar Week 2015 here in San Leandro next week,  April 29th – May 3rd. Solar Week is exhibition and opportunity for our city to explore the possibility of building a Smart Grid on the Westgate Shopping Center, off Davis. 

 I’m  also a member of the Chambers Leadership San Leandro , a great program that has activated me to move forward in building connection and  learn more about our city. This program came to me at perfect time in my life and has inspired me to not sit on the side lines. Breanna Hatcher is a great leader and inspires us with topics, that in turn help the city build strong leaders.

Tell me more about Solar Week and how we can participate Solar Week?

It  is a 5 day event  that mostly takes place at the Zero Net Building. Its starts off on Day 1 with Cal Poly unveiling their Solar Decathlon design, Friday are a solar-film design hack, the purpose being to inspire ideas for a solar film competition.   The last two days are opportunities for the community to give input on ways to transform our city by installing a smart grid and making us a smartcity through the “energy internet.”  This is so exciting for us....  I really hope folks in our community come to the table on this, to culminate real collaboration of our diverse city.  You should check out the website for all the details www.solarsanleandro.com.  

Can you tell me more about the Zero Net Center?

 The Zero Net Center is another amazing gem we have here in our city. It’s a training facility and one of the greenest buildings in the world.  Its located in our industrial area and uses 75% less energy than other commercial buildings. If you have not checked it out, you should, it’s in your backyard. 

What do you love about San Leandro?

 San Leandro is a small city with Big Opportunities. It’s a city that is just getting started in building a theme for itself.  It has allowed me to be a part of it in many small ways.When I first moved here I connected with Tim Homes from Zocalo and put on free family movie nights, I helped on the Cassidy Campaign and I was a Parent Lead for San Leandro Safe Routes to School Program encouraging schools to build walk-roll programs at their school.

 San Leandro has many hidden gems that folks are just learning about now, and I love sharing about them.   Oh’ and it’s also a walkable –bikable town which makes it a 5 star in my book. Anytime you have Frisbee Golf, a beautiful library, a Zocalo, and a marina along with some dark fiber speedy internet, what's not to love?  And the best of all is that I feel a part of this community, I like seeing people that I know around town, it makes me smile. 

Final Words?

 Hmmmm, maybe just make sure that you are living your life with passion.  Wake up if you’re asleep and take risks, that's how things happen. I like to think Big. I have a lot to do, we all do. I want to contribute to making an impact on how tomorrow is. Life is exciting, I am glad I got to share with you today.

Meet Your Neighbor - Patricia Minnis

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Patricia Minnis and I retired as a Business Manager from AT&T in 2009.  However, since I was too young to “retire”, I got involved in the San Leandro community by volunteering.  I started at Friends of Fairmont Animal Shelter and Building Futures with Women and Children.  It has pretty much snowballed from there! 

I was hired by the San Leandro Education Foundation (SLED) earlier this year to act as their Business Ambassador in the community.  It is important that the business community understand how important it is to get these great programs to our kids since our kids are our next leaders. 

I also serve as a Human Services Commissioner representing District 5 until a permanent Commissioner is appointed.  I take that job very seriously as we just went through a funding exercise which was very difficult and time consuming.  There were approximately 30 agencies asking for grants from a finite amount of money.

I am a member of the Leadership San Leandro (LSL) Steering committee.  LSL is a great program that will only get better.  It is an excellent source for San Leandro people to make connections.

In addition, I am a board member of the San Leandro Downtown Association, the San Leandro Improvement Association and the Estudillo Estates Neighborhood Association.

So, even though I say that I am retired, I am busier now than when I was working full time!  It’s crazy!  But it’s good stuff.  It’s stuff that I believe in that will make a difference in San Leandro.

What do you love about San Leandro?

The sense of community.  I know that Chris Zapata (San Leandro City Manager) said at some time that San Leandro is the littlest big city that he has ever worked in.  I feel that way also.  Whether I’m cruising down E. 14^th st. or pop into Zocalo’s, Mama Lupe’s, Cleophus Quealy or wherever, I know people.  It is so cool.  There is just a lot of connectivity because there are so many good things that are happening in San Leandro right now.

I agree, it is an exciting time in San Leandro right now.  The schools are really interesting right now as well.  I know that SLED is supporting the Season of Service.  Can you tell us a bit about that?

Yes, the Season of Service, Period of Peace (Facebook) project takes place over a ten-week period from Martin Luther King Day in January through Cesar Chavez Day at the end of March.  The idea behind the project is that students can utilize this opportunity to take responsibility for the culture and climate of their school campus and take a stand for the way that they want to live.  The kids use different media to express their own voices.

The project will be celebrated with “An Evening of Student Voices” which will be held on Wednesday May 20, 2015 7pm – 8pm at the Performing Arts Center at San Leandro High School.  It is a free event (no ticket required!) and I encourage all to come see what these kids have accomplished.  These kids are our future leaders so the more tools that we can give them to inspire them, the better off San Leandro is going to be.

What else are you doing with SLED?

Again my title is Business Ambassador.  The idea is to get out into the business community and raise funds to support the San Leandro schools.  We are very proud of the fact that we raised over $188,000 last year and are proven good stewards of the resources we raise.  This money goes to support programs that are aligned with the district’s curriculum and also programs that are sustainable in three areas: Positive Youth Development, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) enrichment and Volunteerism. 

SLED’s goal is to inspire students, support our schools and strengthen the San Leandro community.  To me, those goals all work together and feed off of each other so it really does make total sense.

Another program I manage is the Eat Out for Education program.  We’ve done a couple of experiments this year (laughs) which worked fabulously in raising money for our San Leandro schools but the model didn’t quite work.  We are returning to the multi-restaurant model for the first Wednesday of every month but we upped the ante from 10% to 20%.  However, the Habit Burger supports us every Wednesday!  We really appreciate the generosity of all the participating restaurants and we will always list the current participating restaurants on our website and Facebook pages – we will add restaurants as more wish to participate. I just need to remind folks that they must turn in a current coupon in order for the restaurant to donate.  Current coupons are always available on our website (www.sledfund.org) and on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SLEDfund).  And I know you (This is San Leandro) share our Facebook posts with your followers which we appreciate.  We love it when people share our posts!

Describe your position as a Steering Committee member for Leadership San Leandro (LSL).

There are currently 10 steering committee members and all are alumni of the program.  Jack Papazian and Carole Rinaldi crafted a fabulous program in 1995.  They retired two years ago and Breanna Hatcher, who is a life coach, is now the Program Director of LSL.  Even though it was a fabulous program to begin with, Breanna brings an incredible nuance to the program where it further enables you as a student to look inside yourself and recognize your best leadership potential and qualities.

The Taste of San Leandro is the sole (so far!) fundraising opportunity for the Leadership San Leandro program.  Under the leadership of Marguerite Mazzitti who is the event chair, we raised $30,000 at the event last month for the program.  An evening of food, wine, local San Leandro craft beer and San Leandro people – what more can you ask for.  It was THE event to be at in San Leandro!

Why is volunteering so important to you and how does volunteering in so many places help you see the “big picture” for San Leandro?

When Stephen Cassidy was elected mayor and I was hearing more about Patrick Kennedy and OSISoft and the fiber loop and the city being involved in that, I could see, the wheels were starting to turn.  There is just so much happening now and Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter is carrying that momentum forward for San Leandro.  The Maker move and getting kids involved in that – it is REALLY exciting!  The things that are happening at the Gate.  21^st Amendment coming to town.  The things that WILL be happening downtown are going to be fabulous!  Again, things don’t happen overnight.  You’ve got bureaucracies you have to deal with along the way.  We have a huge challenge with the calming of downtown traffic.  The city does not own E. 14^th St., CALTRANS owns it.  But, speaking specifically about the San Leandro Downtown Association and the San Leandro Improvement Association, you are going to see some pretty cool dramatic improvements in Downtown San Leandro.  I will say that in the next 2-5 years, you won’t even recognize downtown San Leandro. 

Downtown already has a different vibe with the outdoor seating at the Village. 

It does!  It does!  Just wait.  You are going to see more cool things!

Any final words?

I think what I said earlier, San Leandro and specifically Downtown San Leandro will be transformed over the next few years.  I know.  I sit in on many of those meetings discussing our future.  Like you said, the vibe downtown is already changing – for the better.

Thank you so much Patricia.  You do so much and you are such an inspiration.

Oh, thank you!  I appreciate that. I sometimes can’t describe it all the way or tell you how we are going to get there but it’s people like you Paul that take the time…….it’s a community effort.  There are so many folks out there that appreciate what San Leandro has to offer and see a vision for it.  It will happen.  It will absolutely happen.