This month, students across the Alameda Unified School District are engaged in multiple efforts to help the members of our community, including food drives, warm coat drives, toy collections, gift card donations, and community efforts to support specific families who may be struggling. We are grateful for and impressed by these efforts every year, but this year especially given how many people are struggling.
At the November 18 Board of Education meeting, AUSD welcomed Carrie Hahnel as a new Boardmember. The Board selected Ms. Hahnel, who is an expert in education policy, finance, and data, to fill the seat left vacant when Meleah Hall resigned in late September.
Ms. Hahnel is currently a Senior Associate Partner at Bellwether Education Partners, a national nonprofit. Prior to working at Bellwether, Ms. Hahnel held leadership roles at the Opportunity Institute, Education Trust-West, and the KIPP Foundation. She has served on AUSD’s parcel tax oversight committees (including as chair) and on the Maya Lin School Site Council.
Six people applied for the vacant seat. After a ranking process, the Board chose two to interview before making their decision.
In other news, earlier this month students at Ruby Bridges Elementary School were surprised by a visit from Ruby Bridges herself. Ms. Bridges dropped in on Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, which celebrates her historic walk into the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana, which effectively desegrated the school 65 years ago.
This year, more than 900,000 students celebrated young Ruby’s courage and resilience in Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day celebrations across the country, including students at our elementary schools.
At Ruby Bridges Elementary School, (which was the first in the country to be named after this civil rights hero, by the way) students and staff celebrated the day with remarks from the school’s student council, special purple flags, homemade signs, and a march into the school cheered on by loving families and staff. When Ms. Bridges arrived during an assembly about walking and biking safety, many students shouted with excitement and rushed forward to greet and hug her.
“When I went to school in first grade, I had to go alone because of how I look,” she told the students once they had sat down again. “I did it because we wanted to change the law. When I look at all of you and see all of your faces, I know that what I did back in the 60s is why this school is like it is today. You represent everything I worked for.”
We are grateful to Ms. Bridges for her in-person visit and to all the community members and partners who help us support our students, staff, and families throughout the year.
Susan Davis is the Senior Manager of Community Affairs for the Alameda Unified School District. Reach her at [email protected].
