Congratulations to our Fall 2024 Grantees!
We’re thrilled to announce the Fall 2024 A to Z Fund grantees! Each of these projects support Oakland students to dream bigger and explore possibilities they might not have imagined otherwise.
- Out of 164 applications submitted last Fall, 66 grants (or 40%) were awarded.
- 40% of grants awarded support Pre-K - 5th grade classrooms.
- 15% of grants awarded support middle school or 6 - 8th grade classrooms.
- 45% of grants awarded support high school classrooms.
- Professional development grants represent 20% of all grants awarded representing 31% of funding awarded.
Sustainable Agriculture
East Bay Innovation Academy Working to transform the school garden, students learned about sustainable agriculture, building deeper connections to the environment.
“In the garden, there is no single right way – everyone is engaged in hands-on, shared learning,” said educator Noor Fakih. “Watching [students] take ownership of the garden and apply classroom concepts to real-world problem-solving tasks has been the most rewarding part. They’ve evolved from hesitant participants to confident problem-solvers, embracing the uncertainty of each new challenge the garden presents.”
Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment
Elmhurst United Middle School – To bring their computer science classroom instruction to life, students visited the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE). With over 10,000 games available to play, students were able to explore games created from the 1970s up to the early 2000s and reflect on their game design in a hands-on environment.
At the museum, “students learned about video game design and how to assess video games using our five senses. For example, the musice, the look and feel, and the replayability are important parts of what makes a video game engaging,” said educator Priya Chatwani.
Zine Club
La Escuelita Elementary School – A to Z grant funds enabled students to create a Zine Club. Creating Zines allowed for student expression and literacy development while exploring the imagination that drives building things yourself. To launch the Zine Club, local artist Robert Liu Trujillo led a workshop where students created 8-fold Zines.
“By following their interests, students gained confidence and found their voices,” shared educator Jethro Rice. “We believe the greatest value to young scholars is in the sense of pride of ownership and accomplishment for their own work of self expression.”
CMC Math Conference
Global Family School – A team of educators attended the California Mathematics Council (CMC)’s Annual Mathematics Conference. The conference theme, Framing Meaningful Mathematics, put staying current with California’s mathematical framework at the heart of its sessions.
“The opportunity to step away from our classroom in a professional development setting allowed us to discuss, reflect, and plan what we wanted math instruction to look like at our school,” explained educator Eva Beleche. After attending the conference together, Global Family educators were able to develop a year-long plan for math instruction, creating effective strategies for student engagement and culturally responsive engagement while ensuring instructional alignment.