BY SHIKIRI HIGHTOWER// Black Entertainment Television and Kaiser teamed up at Emery Secondary School to discuss AIDs and HIV. Watch this video to see what the students learned about this serious topic.

BY AMANDA MARTINEZ // Healthy cereals, fruits, mini pancakes, and other items make up a typical morning breakfast for more than 80 percent of the students in Emery Unified School District [EUSD] who receive free or reduced-price meals before, during and after school. However, this program is in trouble after State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell announced that state funding for subsidized meals is running out.

At a press conference last week O’Connell said that there is an increase of students accessing free or reduced-price meals and believes this is “yet another example of how the economic downturn is causing many families in California to turn to schools to feed their children and stretch their grocery dollars.”

Juliette Dunn, director of food services for EUSD, says she too has seen a noticeable increase in free meal applications in the last couple of months, one that is likely to bring the number of students who use the service up to 82 percent by the end of the school year. Currently EUSD students make up 30 percent of the program need for all of Alameda County.

Although Dunn confirmed that there is no risk of the program being eliminated she explained that it is likely that they will have to cut back on food variety and options. “We will keep it going one way or another even if we have to feed the students rice and beans,” she said.

Students from families with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for the free meals. For a family of four this means a family income of $27,560 or less.

“Meals play a major role in academic performance and school attendance,” says Dunn. She is also confident that the  program, which currently offers fruits, vegetables, and freshly cooked foods, has more students eating meals and less processed foods.

This is especially important for the EUSD school population whose heavy African American and Latino population are at higher risk of diabetes according to the American Diabetes association.

Although the national school lunch program mandates that school lunches must meet federal nutrition requirements, decisions about what specific foods to serve and how they are prepared are made by local school food authorities. These decisions are often limited to budget. Dunn says they rely on state and federal funding to afford a variety of fresh foods.

For now the district will not make any move to lower their standards. Dunn says they will not make any changes until they hear from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Recently Superintendent O’Connell made a request to the governor asking him to adjust the California Department of Education budget by $31.1 million which would allow them continue to fund schools for the next two years as well as reimburse the program from last year’s shortfalls.

Dunn says the district is still dealing with the effects of when the state ran out of reimbursements last June and left the district to use general funds to make up for the difference.

If the school district is forced to make up for the difference again it will undoubtedly add strain to the current $200,000 budget deficit and impending mid-year budget cuts.

As of today, the governor has not publicly responded to the budget adjustment request by O’Connell.

BY AMANDA MARTINEZ // Retired for almost two years, former superintendent of Dublin John Sugiyama received an unexpected phone call from the Alameda County Office of Education, asking him if he would come back. “They informed me that Emery may be in need of an interim superintendent and asked if I would be interested in being considered for the position,” he said.

In early September, the Emeryville school district found itself suddenly without a superintendent following the abrupt departure of Stephen Wesley, who stepped down after it was discovered his resume was filled with phony credentials.

By October 1, the school board had come to a unanimous decision to hire John Sugiyama during a closed session.

Sugiyama is new to the Emery school district but he is no stranger to the Bay Area. After attending schools in San Francisco and Berkeley, Sugiyama made Northern California his home base, working in Alameda, Pleasanton and Dublin school districts throughout his 35 years in education.

With a wide range of experience on his side Sugiyama says he has “hit the ground running.” Now, one month into the job InEmeryville staff talks to John Sugiyama about coming out of retirement, what he will do for the school community, and how joining the Emery School district is like coming home.

How did you make the decision to come back to work?

Before I said yes I did research on the district. Even though I had worked in Alameda County in public education for 35 years, Emery is a small city and isn’t a district that people typically know a lot about. I found a lot of exciting things going on here. There is an incredible vision for schools to be center to community life. I agree that schools should strive to bring community together and offer resources.

What do you want to accomplish during your time as superintendent?

The board has established goals for the person in the [superintendent] position, in essence they are the district goals for this year, so I will continue to work with staff in the direction of achieving those goals.

Specifically I am looking forward to following through on the board’s expectation is to find ways to create greater parent involvement. That is one of the major goals.

Beyond the standard list of board goals what skills and expertise can you bring to the district?

I will work with staff to create standardized policies and procedures. In smaller districts a lot of things are done informally, but state accountability requires school districts to create accountability and consistency in procedures. I will work with staff to develop their internal systems to clearly define how the school district conducts their business in certain aspects of their operation.

How will you get to know the community?

Informally the door is always open to my office so anytime parents want to come by with an issue or concern they are welcome.

Formally beginning in November, I will be meeting with a group of parents on a monthly basis who represent the range of the school community to provide a vehicle for parents to have voice in what is happening in the school district.

We hope to launch a new school district website that will launch by January 5. The website will be an important vehicle for being able to communicate with the community. The idea is to create a website that is very user friendly where parents can access information about the school district.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I was born and raised in San Francisco after World War II when my parents came back from being interned. I grew up in a very ethnically diverse neighborhood and my values I developed were based upon the importance of all segments of the community getting along and living and working together in a cooperative way. I really feel comfortable here. Emeryville as a city is very much like how I remember growing up. It is a very diverse community culturally in terms of ethnicity and also in terms of the interface of the business community. I really feel at home here in many ways. In some ways it is like coming home.

Being of Japanese American decent I found particularly in the late ’50s that there was still a lot of discrimination that I certainly felt as a child growing up. Now it is very compelling to be working a district that’s guiding principles states a dedication to embracing diversity.

What is it like coming out of retirement?

When you’re retired people think you have this life of leisure, but actually I was probably just as busy in a different way. In fact the hardest part of coming back to work is not the long hours or the hour commute I make from Danville, it is wearing a tie everyday.

John Sugiyama will not apply for the permanent superintendent position, but says he will stay until the end of the school year. The school board has announced it will begin discussions in the next few months on what process they will use to select a permanent superintendent.

Max Rubin and Michael Wu.

BY ALBA MORA // Early Saturday morning, the AMC Theater at Bay Street was packed with excited high school students, parents, grandparents and friends. They didn’t come to watch a Hollywood feature. Instead, the students’ own animation films would soon appear on the screen as part of the 2nd Annual Bay Street Animation Film Festival.

After a two-hour screening of all the submitted films, a festival judge stood to announce the festival’s three winners. The room was quiet and tension filled the air.

Michael Wu jumped from his seat when he heard his name announced as the $15,000 grand prize winner. His father seated at his side clapped loudly. A panel of six judges chose “Stalking in the Shadows,” a digitally animated film based on the video game “Assassin’s Creed,” as the best of the group. The film depicts a sword battle in great detail.

The two other winners were Max Rubin, for “The Adventures of Awkward Girl, Episode 1,” and Anna Dobos with her film “Imagine.”

Rubin’s short film portrays the experiences of a teenager and made everyone in the audience laugh. The 12th grader from Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo Alto was enthusiastic about his win.

“The underlying message was that being awkward is beautiful. Because when something isn’t quite right, it’s perfect. And it is enjoyable to be goofy and not do things completely perfectly,” said Rubin.

Dobos is a 12th grade student from Hilo High School and was not there to receive her award.

The student animators of the winning films received scholarships to continue their higher education in the digital arts, and their schools will receive $1,000 to support and encourage animation and digital arts programs.

Not all the student participants had learned animation at school.

“I was more or less completely self-taught in animation,” said Rubin. “When I was in primary school I used to do flipbooks in the corners of my notebook. And at the time that was an early sign that I was an animator-to-be.”

“The number of films presented tripled from last year,” said Whitney Livingston, regional director of marketing for Madison Marquette, the festival’s corporate organizer. A total of 48 films were shown, but 12 of them were not eligible because their authors had already graduated. As the festival gets larger the organization wants to add more theaters for next year’s competition, said Livingston.

The festival was judged by animation executives from Pixar Animation Studios and Ex’Pressions College for Digital Arts, both companies located in Emeryville.

Bay Street’s 3rd annual Animation Film Festival will be held in fall 2009. For more information on how to submit a film, email Sarah Skotvold at sskotvold [at] mmrs [dot] com.

BY SHIKIRI HIGHTOWER //  When the Emeryville School District went bankrupt, football was eliminated from Emery High School.  Now, after five years varsity football is back.  Watch this slideshow of the home opener against Albany High School.

BY AMANDA MARTINEZ // For those looking to avoid the yearly fever, cough, and runny nose symptoms that are brought on by the flu, the Alameda County-sponsored flu clinics are now open and are providing flu shots to the public for free.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) the 2008-2009 flu season is unpredictable and the best way to protect yourself from the contagious illness is to get the flu vaccine as early as possible. Vaccines are available in the form of a shot or nasal spray.

Although it is recommended that everyone get the vaccine, this year the CDC has expanded its recommendations, encouraging children between the age of 6 months and 18 years to get the vaccine. In addition pregnant women and adults over the age of 50 are advised to receive the vaccination.

In Emeryville, senior citizens above the age of 60 and all others who have chronic conditions can visit a temporary flu clinic site at the Emeryville Senior Center on Monday, November 3 from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m.

For all other Emeryville residents, a flu vaccination clinic will be held on October 28 at the Berkeley Adult School on 1701 San Pablo Avenue.

Again these flu clinics are free but small donations are welcome.

BY BETTY BASTIDAS // Election day is now less than a month away. Six Emeryville high school seniors share their perspective on the upcoming 2008 elections.

Some of these students will be voting for the first time. Others must wait until they turn 18, but had plenty to say about the race to the White House.

Hear what they have to say in their own words.