Celebrated Bay Area actress Margo Hall will be making her Aurora debut in Trouble in Mind, a 1950s play whose themes of race, power and privilege continue to resonate today.  A play-within-the-play centers on a mixed-race cast attempting to mount a production of a “progressive” new play on Broadway in the 1950s. This production—an anti-lynching drama set in the South—is written by a white man and directed by a white man, and marks the first opportunity for a gifted black actress to play a leading role on Broadway. But what compromises must she make to succeed?

Aurora Theatre is an intimate venue where the audience feels part of the action on stage.   Ms. Hall and Director Robin Stanton have kindly agreed for a post-play conversation that will draw us even further in to the play’s history and themes, and to the qualities of this particular Aurora production.  

We hope you can join us for this unique evening of engagement in the theatre and our Berkeley schools!  Tickets are available only through BPEF.   Click here for more information and purchase information, or call BPEF at 510-644-6244.

Mr. Scuderi will be one of three new principals serving BUSD schools next year.  Others are Jeremy “Paco” Furlan, joining the Rosa Parks Elementary community from Eugene, Oregon, and Alexander Hunt, who will take the reins from 20-year veteran Cheryl Chinn at Malcolm X.  Principal Hunt comes to Berkeley after ten years as a principal in Redwood City.

BPEF welcomes these new leaders and looks forward to working with them in the years ahead.

Thanks to the very generous support of businesses, organizations and individuals BPEF raised over $165,000 at the event! Don’t miss being part of this spirited and inspiring day next May (check back soon for the date).

Honorees for 2010 are profiled in depth in the luncheon program found here but with thanks to our editor friends at Berkeleyside blog brief highlights they ran in a May story appear below. You can also view a slide show here.

Tom Prince, Literacy Coach at BUSD and Berkeley Arts Magnet. Since the early 1990s, in Oakland and now Berkeley, Reading Recovery has been the chief inspiration for Tom’s work. This unique program focuses exclusively on intervention with struggling first-grade readers, starting from the positive premise of building up from what a student can do, rather than focusing immediately on what they can’t.

Richard Silberg, Drama Teacher, Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School. A 22-year veteran of Berkeley schools, Richard first taught 6th grade at Columbus Elementary beginning in 1988. In 1991, Richard moved to King Middle School and, with his colleague Phoebe Tanner, opened the first 6th grade class in any Berkeley middle school. Richard became the first actor hired by Berkeley’s Shotgun Players. At the urging of Principal Neil Smith, Richard first began teaching drama at King in 1995, and today at least two-thirds of King’s students have a class with Richard at some point during their three-year tenure.

Jabari Anderson, Two-Way Immersion Teacher, Cragmont Elementary. In his eleventh year as a teacher in 1st and 2nd grade multi-lingual classrooms, Jabari believes firmly that there are many paths into the brain, be they tactile, visual or verbal — or a combination of all three. His project, to produce materials and an instructive DVD to support language acquisition and reading fluency in the classroom and at home, represents the kind of innovative reach that BPEF has enthusiastically supported over the years.

UC Berkeley’s Cal Corps Public Service Center. Cal Corps’ deep commitment to organizing student volunteers provides extensive summer and school-year tutoring support for developing K–8 readers at Berkeley public schools, city recreation centers, and other non-profit youth programs. Its mission, to “promote leadership through service, and to foster social justice and civic engagement”, is powerfully reflected in BUILD — Berkeley United in Literacy Development.

Congratulations, Cheryl on an outstanding career of accomplishments, and best wishes for your well-deserved retirement!

Read the letter on the BUSD web site here: http://berkeley.net/2010-budget-cuts-1/

BPEF’s Annual Spring Luncheon is an event not to be missed!

You can view an invitation by clicking here. Read all about our four honorees!

Click here to buy your ticket through Brown Paper Tickets. This site allows purchase of our $75 price tickets. We welcome your higher level of support — are you interested in being a sponsor? Sponsorships begin at $250. You can print out a ticket or sponsor reply form here.

Don’t miss this popular event and wonderful opportunity to support our Berkeley teachers and students!

A standing ovation greeted Malcolm X Principal Cheryl Chinn, a 2009 Educator of the Year honoree

Click here for event details!

Carol Olson reading for Emerson's DEAR Day 2010

On Friday, March 5th, over 150 volunteers from UC Berkeley, local businesses, churches, and neighborhood groups joined Berkeley School Volunteers and Berkeley Public Education Foundation in the Berkeley Public elementary and pre-schools for DEAR Day, or “Drop Everything and Read” Day. Conceived as a way to celebrate literacy and the birthday of the iconic children’s book author Dr. Seuss, DEAR Day aims to brings folks from our community into the schools to drop everything for one hour and share their love for books and reading with youth across the USA.

A big thank you to all who participated. Our volunteers consistently make this event a great success! If you would like to join us next year, please contact BSV with your name, email address and phone number; we will add you to our e-newsletter and keep you informed of our events and volunteer opportunities throughout the school year.

Read more about DEAR Day and see some local heroes reading to Berkeley youth here:
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2010-03-04/article/34791?headline=Berkeley-Drops-Everything-to-Read

Clay’s budding business is built on a collective model, and he intends to expand his members and services to cover nearly everything you might need for your home–a new roof, windows, patio, plumbing…you name it! For now, windows and gutters are his specialty, so make note of this number next time you’re in the market for such services: 831-869-8060. Thank you, Clay!