Carol Ng, a senior at the Alameda Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), has been named the 33rd annual winner of the $5,000 Ken and Shirley Van Sickle Scholarship. Ng is a top student at ASTI. She has earned her high-school diploma as well as two associate of arts degrees from the College of Alameda.
Michael Proffitt, 17, was required to earn 21 merit badges on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout. As the highest rank in Boy Scouts. Some 2,250,000 boys have achieved Eagle rank since the award was first presented in 1912.
On May 1, graduating seniors across Alameda stepped outside to experience a brief moment of celebration and support. Alameda’s “Senior Signing,” devised by Encinal High School’s (EHS) government and leadership teacher, Kevin Gorham, saw many neighbors take a moment to cheer for the Class of 2020.
“The seniors have lost out on a lot since the shelter-in-place,” Gorham said.
Following the statewide school closures due to COVID-19, Gemma Jackson, a seventh-grade student at Alameda Community Learning Center, noticed a lack of positive news in the media. In response she launched The Quarantine Chronicles, an online newsletter for her school that includes student- and teacher-submitted works and positive news stories.
Jackson was inspired by John Krasinski’s Some Good News, a YouTube show in which Krasinski shares good news stories and features special guests. Some Good News was started in late March, when the pandemic hit.
Lauren Macaulay, 10, who usually attends St. Joseph’s Elemenary School, has found a way to delight passersby during the shelter-in-place order. Every day she posts a riddle on a telephone pole near Franklin School. The following day she posts the answer and a new riddle. “It’s her way of giving joy to her community,” wrote Charlotte Newman.
