East Bay Magazine January - February 2024 by Weeklys

E D UCATION ISSUE THE MAGAZINE OF OAKLAND, BERKELEY AND THE WORLD THAT REVOLVES AROUND US

January/February 2024

Food Heals LOCAL NONPROFITS FEED COMMUNITIES

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Jan/Feb 2024

MERLIN AS MUSE

FOOD JUSTICE

A letter from our editor 4

Local nonproﬁts nourish communities 18

MAC & PINA

February at Cal Performances 6 AMPHIBIAN ADVENTURES

Newts migrate and mate 10

Need a Break from the Kitchen? Grab a rotisserie chicken, hot soup, or deliciously prepared heat and serve meal from our deli wall. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Monday–Saturday 9 AM to 8 PM Sunday 9 AM to 7 PM –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

SWEET SHOPS

The Xocolate Bar and Bisou Chocolate 14

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Karen Klaber

EDITOR

Samantha Campos

COPY EDITOR

Suzanne Michel

CONTRIBUTORS

THE MAGAZINE OF OAKLAND, BERKELEY AND THE WORLD THAT REVOLVES AROUND US

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Student support services are vital 22 EDUCATION PROFILE

Bentley School has ambitions 26 WORLD MUSIC

Lark in the Morning’s instruments 32

PRODUCTION OPERATIONS MANAGER Sean George

SENIOR DESIGNER Jackie Mujica

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Phaedra Strecher

Sonya Bennett-Brandt Jeffrey Edalatpour Lou Fancher Michael Giotis Janis Hashe j. poet

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Lisa Santos

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGERS Danielle McCoy Ben Grambergu Mercedes Murolo Lynda Rael

CEO/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Dan Pulcrano

ON THE COVER Rachel Adriano at Planting Justice, photo by Birhon Quizhpe

(510) 653-8181 4038 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland PiedmontGrocery.com

AN EAST BAY EXPRESS PRODUCTION www.eastbaymag.com

TELEPHONE: 510.879.3700 ADVERTISING: sales@eastbaymag.com | 510.879.3730 EDITORIAL: editor@eastbaymag.com CIRCULATION AND BUSINESS: publisher@eastbaymag.com

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BIBLIOTHERAPY Yes, lessons were gleaned from the fantastical classic, ‘The Once and Future King’ by T. H. White.

Learning Becomes

Eclectic An education is more than the sum of its parts

and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then—to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.” That’s why putting together each issue of East Bay is so rewarding. This year’s inaugural issue, especially, features a diverse array of opportunities for discovery. The transformational abilities

of newts amidst their great local migration are wondrous to behold. Learning about the world of handcrafted instruments—some made of goat skin!—and how entrepreneurs built growing businesses out of their chocolate obsessions fascinates and inspires me. Reading about how local nonprofits are bringing food to communities is equally inspiring. And where else but at Cal Performances can we experience a queer rock opera on one night, and a dance performed by over 30 dancers from 14 different African countries on another evening? I look forward to learning more about our “school” of the East Bay with you in the coming months. – Samantha Campos, Editor

SONYA BENNETTBRANDT writes about climate, conservation and the Bay Area.

LOU FANCHER has been published in the Diablo Magazine, the Oakland Tribune, InDance, San Francisco Classical Voice, SF Weekly, WIRED.com and elsewhere.

JANIS HASHE regularly contributes to the East Bay Express and other Bay Area publications.

JEFFREY EDALATPOUR’s writing about arts, food and culture has appeared in SF Weekly, Metro Silicon Valley, East Bay Express and KQED Arts.

MICHAEL GIOTIS is a Bay Area-based poet and author with a professional background in ecological entrepreneurship.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

’ll admit it: When I first read the profile on the Bentley School in this issue, as well as the piece on the breadth of mental health support programs in our private schools, I was envious. Is it too late to enroll? Personal regrets aside–or perhaps because of them—I’ve long ago replaced my scholastic ambitions with the joy of broader explorations. “Discovery” as an antidote to life’s grievances. In T. H. White’s 1958 Arthurian classic, The Once and Future King, the mysticmagician Merlin offers his advice on the matter: “The best thing for being sad… is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old

J. POET has been writing about music for most of his adult life and has interviewed a wide spectrum of artists, including Leonard Cohen, Merle Haggard and Godzilla.

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QUEER ROCK OPERA ‘Bark of Millions’ features 55 songs, one for each year since the Stonewall Uprising.

Bark

Bite

Mac and dance light up Zellerbach hall

and

BY Janis Hashe

EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024

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listening to, and writing for, all the diverse voices. Bark of Millions was workshopped several times, including a three-week residency at upstate New York’s Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, which allowed Ray to discuss song development with performers. Some songs were written during the workshop, some were discarded and others were modified based on feedback. A cast of this kind includes big personalities, Ray agreed. But the spirit of respect and cooperation fostered by the development process ultimately produced amazing results. “Big personalities are big for a reason,” he said. Yet, Taylor Mac is always very clear about what he wants, and his vision inspires the artists working with him, said Ray. Co-directors Neigel Smith and Faye Driscoll, who also choreographed the production, supported that idea in the short documentary, which was filmed during the Kaatsbaan residency. “The residency allowed us to dig deep into the material, to find what is the best way [of expressing it],” Smith said. Scenic designer Christine Jones described being “fueled by the ideas…to create a visual vocabulary” for the entire production. Costume designer Machine Dazzle, whose costumes and sets were featured in Mac’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, also performs in the production, and used the residency, he said, to imagine what he would want to be wearing during particular songs. Dazzle’s vision has evolved over decades of work. After arriving in New York in 1994, he quickly made an impression on the downtown arts scene as an artist, costume designer, set designer, singer/songwriter, art director and maker. He describes himself as “a radical queer emotionally driven, instinct-based concept artist and thinker trapped in the role of costume designer, sometimes.” In 2019, he was commissioned by Guggenheim Works and Process and The Rockefeller Brothers to create Treasure, a rock-androll cabaret of original songs, including a fashion show inspired by the content.

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PHOTO BY DANIEL BOUD

heatrical phenom Taylor Mac and collaborator Matt Ray’s newest project sweeps into Zellerbach Hall for three performances in late February. Titled Bark of Millions: A Parade Trance Extravaganza for the Living Library of the Deviant Theme, it is a four-hour “rock opera meditation on queerness,” that in the Cal Performances Berkeley version will include 55 songs, one for each year since the Stonewall Uprising.

“Most of my adult life has been seeking…for a collaboration that centers the queerness,” Mac commented for a short documentary on the making of Bark of Millions. But unlike Mac and Ray’s multiaward-winning 24-Decade History of Popular Music, the songs in Bark of Millions don’t correspond to a particular time period, according to Ray, reached by phone from New York. Instead, they’re intended to provide “a connection with our queer forebears,” reaching back to the Egyptian gods and forward through history, paying tribute to icons as diverse as Marsha P. Johnson and Oscar Wilde. “Taylor got the idea during the 24-Decade project,” said Ray. “He said, ‘Our history didn’t start with Stonewall.’” But the years since the groundbreaking 1969 event provided “an excuse for 55 songs,” joked Ray. These cover all genres of American music, including blues, jazz, disco and Motown, he said. In another difference from 24-Decade, Ray said, “We aren’t teaching [queer history]…we want people to have a spiritual experience.” For instance, in the documentary, Mac says, smiling, “I want people to leave more queer, including the queer people. Kind of reverse conversion therapy.” Mac and Ray met in 2008 during rehearsals for Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge. “They were looking for someone to be a rehearsal pianist,” Ray said. “I ended up music directing that show.” Bark of Millions is the pair’s fifth show together. The word “bark,” Ray noted, can mean both “boat” and “shout.” And so it encapsulates the combined notion of sailing through time and speaking out loud and proud in tribute to the millions of queer people throughout human history, many of whom could never publicly express their true selves. A multi-member cast includes people from Ireland, Australia and, in the case of famed drag artist Le Gateau Chocolat, England/Nigeria. It also includes Bay Area actor/musician/educator El Beh, Ray said. “Taylor and Matty have a knack for feeling the energy of the person,” El Beh commented in the documentary. Ray agreed that his process means intimately

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NEO-EXPRESSIONIST DANCE An ensemble of more than 30 dancers from 14 African countries will enact a new interpretation of Pina Bausch’s vision.

nightclub, and a ritualistic gathering: it’s queer church at its ecstatic best.” — The Queer Review Feb. 23-25, Zellerbach Hall calperformances.org

New Visions of Bausch World-renowned dancer/choreographer Pina Bausch’s vision was, until recently, a personal and private one. The German artist, who died in 2009, helped create a “neo-expressionist” dance form, now called “Tanztheater,” which combines stylized movement, sound and set design, and often focuses on investigating trauma. The company she created, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, continues to perform internationally, including, in February, at Zellerbach Hall. Her dance to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, first performed in 1975, will this time be presented by dancers outside of her company. An ensemble of more than

30 dancers from 14 African countries will enact a whole new interpretation of her work. A collaboration among the Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables and Sadler’s Wells assembled the cast. In the performance, according to Cal Performances materials, “Stravinsky’s searing, ominous score takes on new meaning through visceral choreography as a ‘chosen one’ is sacrificed.” The dance double bill also includes a new duet, common ground[s], choreographed and performed by two dancers in their 70s, Germaine Acogny, known as the “mother of African contemporary dance,” and Malou Airaudo, a longtime dancer with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. A post-performance moderated discussion will be held on Friday, Feb. 16, and post-performance community conversations on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 17 and 18. Feb. 16-18, Zellerbach Hall calperformances.org

PHOTO BY MAARTEEN VANDEN ABEELE

For Bark of Millions, his “intricate, unconventional wearable art pieces” are absolutely essential to the operatic, overthe-top nature of the production. Ray is fully aware that a four-hour show might be a challenge for some. But there is no expectation, he said, that people need to sit quietly in their seats the entire time. Coming and going, perhaps dancing in the aisles, will all be part of the experience. Bark of Millions premiered at the Sydney Opera House in October. Ray explained they were invited as part of the iconic venue’s 50th anniversary, and that performing there was a “bucket list experience.” Based on the reviews, this was true for audience members as well. “Ultimately we’re here for the music, and the music is mesmerizing. People often describe Mac and Ray’s previous show, A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, as a ‘religious’ experience and Bark of Millions has that energy too. This feels like a cross between the best house party you’ve ever been to, a tent revival, a hedonistic

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Happy Newt Year! Winter means migration and mating for the East Bay’s favorite amphibian BY Sonya Bennett-Brandt

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SUPER CREATURES Newts are intriguing, enigmatic creatures, full of impressive transformational abilities.

arch their back, lifting their body to show off their neon orange bellies. The bright color warns the attacker about their toxicity. The phenomenon of aposematism—animals advertising their toxicity to potential predators through warning coloration—is common in amphibians. Rough-skinned newts in particular are impressively toxic; few predators can survive eating them. One exception is the common garter snake, which has developed a resistance to newt toxin. It’s a famous example of coevolution, often described as an evolutionary arms race. Poisonous newts push garter snake populations to evolve to be resistant to their toxin, Reeder explains. Then, “newts get more toxic in response, then garter snakes get more resistant in response. And that’s what drives the newts to get more and more poisonous.” One side effect of extreme toxicity is a certain boldness. “Because they’re toxic, they’re not super afraid. They don’t spend too much effort trying to hide themselves,” says Reeder. Winter is the perfect time for newtspotting. “The best way to do it with the

least amount of impact is to go to ponds during the breeding season,” Reeder suggests. “They’re usually pretty easy to see if you can find a pond that’s got clear enough water.” When males return to pools to breed, they transform into a more aquatic form: Their skin becomes smoother, and their tails flatten and become more fin-like. Male rough-skinned newts develop special, grabby “nuptial pads” on their toes to help them hang on to females. Newt courtship involves a kind of mating dance where the male shows off his orange belly and swishes his tail. Then, he hugs the female from above in a clasp called “amplexus,” and rubs his chin on the top of her nose to stimulate egg production. Competition, however, can be fierce; an amplexed pair may be approached by other males, creating a “mating ball” where as many as a dozen males cluster around a female, all grappling with each other until one male emerges victorious. Then, if all goes well, he attaches a spermatophore, a packet of spermatozoa, to the floor of the pool; the female retrieves it and uses it to fertilize her

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE EAST BAY REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT

n the Bay Area, our winter is a subtle one: Daytime temperatures sidle down into the 50s, there’s a hint of a nip in the air and everyone puts their scarves on. And, it rains—not a lot, but just enough to lure the East Bay’s newts out of their damp burrows and send them crawling across wood and road in search of a mating pool. The East Bay has two endemic newt species: taricha torosa, the California newt, and taricha granulosa, the rough-skinned newt. They look almost identical, and both species spend the winter searching for a mate. “They have to do their breeding cycle in water,” says Natalie Reeder, a wildlife biologist with East Bay Parks. “They’ll go to ponds, slow-moving streams or pools within streams, depending on what’s available.” But first, they have to get there: a strenuous, hazardous migration for a fiveto eight-inch animal. Tilden Regional Park closes South Park Drive to traffic every winter between November and March to protect the newts that slowly slither across, vulnerable to cars. Newts are intriguing, enigmatic creatures, full of impressive transformational abilities. They begin their life in water, hatching into larvae with feathery gills that wave out from their heads like eccentric facial hair, or a Victorian ruff. Then, both California and rough-skinned newts develop lungs as they outgrow their larval stage and leave their natal pools for life on land. “Newts are to salamanders as toads are to frogs,” Reeder explains. Like toads, they’re a little drier, and better at living away from water—but they still have to stay moist to survive. “Newt skin is capable of being drier than a more fully aquatic salamander. But they do need to have some moisture. Amphibians are not meant to be fully dry.” Another impressive newt superpower is the potent neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin, that both California and rough-skinned newts secrete from their skin. The toxin weakens and paralyzes muscle tissue, including the diaphragm and chest wall muscles, stopping breathing. “Humans can certainly be sick from it, or even die if they ingest enough of it,” Reeder says. If threatened by a predator, newts will

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GOING NEWTING The wetter it is, the more likely newts are to be on the move; naturalists also recommend looking for newts after sunset.

« eggs. California newts lay eggs in big

bunches; rough-skinned newts lay eggs one at a time, carefully attaching each one to bits of underwater vegetation. Two to three weeks later, tiny baby newts will be swimming about, eating microinvertebrates in the water. “I always like to say that for amphibians, they’ll eat anything that moves that fits in their mouth,” says Reeder. As the newts grow larger, they graduate to eating insects, spiders, mites, worms, mollusks and even

small amphibians and fish. Most of what biologists know about newts is centered around the breeding season, when they’re easier to find and observe. “Historically they’ve been understudied,” says Reeder. Once they leave their pools, the lives of newts become more mysterious. “We don’t really know where they go,” says Reeder. “It’s much harder to find them and track them.” Biologists can put a GPS collar on a mountain lion or glue a transmitter to a

turtle shell, but tracking a newt is harder. Reeder says that advancements in collecting environmental DNA have helped scientists study newt populations in more depth. “Instead of collecting the animal itself and getting genetic material from it, they go to a body of water, or take soil samples, and detect newt DNA in the sample,” she says. California newts are a “species of special concern” in the state—in Southern California, populations have declined due to habitat loss and the destruction of breeding ponds. Luckily, Northern Californian populations have remained more stable, and the remarkable newt congregations of the winter and spring provide a window for scientists—and amateur enthusiasts—to meet our unique amphibian neighbors in person. In the East Bay, newts can be found in Tilden Regional Park, Briones Regional Park, Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, Las Trampas Wilderness Regional Preserve, Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and Sunol Wilderness Regional Preserve. Newts are often active during the day, but the biggest factor for newt activity is dampness. The wetter it is, the more likely newts are to be on the move. To be extra sure of success, naturalist Trent Pearce recommends a post-sunset search. “The best advice I have for finding newts is this: Go out after dark,” he advises. “The increase in ambient moisture after the sun sets is enough to get them moving about.” Going newting right after a classic East Bay winter rainshower will yield even better results. Pearce reminds drivers to keep an eye open for an ethereal procession of amorous amphibians crossing wet roads. “There are newts underfoot,” he notes. Get the timing right, and diligent seekers are sure to encounter a newt enjoying our wetter winters. “Find a stream, pond or even a large puddle after dark and look carefully with a headlamp,” Pearce says. “You’ll find them.” ❤

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DANGER!

CLIMATE CHANGER Garbage is a manufactured product, created when otherwise recoverable resources are mixed and mashed together. Most rooms in every building in the whole country have a basket where this manufacturing begins. Discarded resources are put in one by one, then dumped into a larger bin, and then into a truck with a more modern body based on this one. A hydraulic piston smashes everything together. The objective is to pack in more cargo before the truck has to be driven to where it can dump onto the land, to be covered in a “sanitary“ way. Liquids leach out and make their way into the planet's NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day from February 12, 2002, colored the methane in the Earth's atmosphere green, and an animation showed how it spins to the poles. NASA said, “Methane (CH4) is second only to carbon dioxide (CO2) in creating a warming greenhouse effect …. The largest abundance released by the US … is created when anaerobic bacteria break down carbon-based garbage in landfills.” [Emphasis added.]

water — eventually. These “sanitary” methods of filling the land (hence “sanitary landfills”) also provide for anaerobic decomposition of organic materials – which makes methane. Landfills are the largest human-created source of methane. In the short term methane is 80-100 times more powerful than carbon dioxide to warm the planet.

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C ELEVATED CANDY The Xocolate Bar continues to experiment with flavors.

Bisou Chocolate at Bay Area farmers’ markets. Last July, Bisou opened its first retail space in Berkeley. But their grinding machines are still on 7th Street, where the cocoa beans and nibs are processed into chocolate. “We had customers in those days who were having flashbacks to bars they ate in the late 1950s and early 1960s because they had so much flavor,” Curtis said. After that golden era of candy bars, Curtis explained, the production of chocolate became industrialized and the flavor deteriorated. “In the 1980s in Europe, a few small manufacturers turned the industry around and started making really high-end chocolates,” he noted. Over the years, Curtis and Britton have noticed that customers have stated a preference for darker chocolate. “They’re interested in a higher percentage of cacao,” Curtis said. “What we do with our chocolate is express the flavors of

the cocoa bean.” In his primary role as a chocolate maker, he sources cocoa beans, roasts them and turns them into chocolate. “Tracey is a gifted chocolatier,” Curtis said, with both affection and admiration in his voice. As a chocolatier, Britton melts, tempers and creates truffles, caramels and bars out of the chocolate they make inhouse. In addition to their being dipped in a thin shell of dark chocolate, Britton’s truffles are vegan and gluten-free. And the flavors change every week. “Campari asked us to do a truffle for Negroni Week,” Britton said. “We did a Boulevardier truffle with bourbon, which was better suited to chocolate.” After one customer tried it, they asked if Britton could make a truffle to pair with a Manhattan. “Those are very popular,” she said. As are coffee truffles. “I make a latte or just a coffee. For the holidays, I make a cardamom coffee.”

PHOTO BY MIRANDA ROBBELOTH

hen Tracey Britton and Eli Curtis were working as bike messengers in San Francisco, they both became obsessed with making chocolate. Britton was baking at home at the time, but she didn’t like the chocolate that was available to her. She thought it was too sweet. The couple decided to solve that problem by starting to make their own chocolate. At first, it was just for their personal use. And then they got carried away. “When we first started in 2006, Tracey was making amazing truffles,” Curtis recalled. “Everyone—our friends and family—wanted to be a [taste] tester.” Curtis grew up making truffles and desserts at Christmas time with his mother. “We’d make ganache and roll it in cocoa powder,” he said. After building out a commercial kitchen in Berkeley, they began to sell truffles under the name

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Chocolate Obsession Bisou Chocolate and The Xocolate Bar craft artisanal sweets with creativity and determination

PHOTO COURTESY OF BISOU CHOCOLATE

BY Jeffrey Edalatpour

Customers are slowly taking notice of their new retail space on 9th Street, a few doors down from Berkeley Bowl West. “We get foodies who are shopping there, and people who live in the neighborhood walk or bike through here,” Britton said. But Bisou didn’t expand into the new space to increase their output. “The whole [chocolate-making] process is so timeconsuming and laborious that we can’t grow very quickly,” Curtis said. “We can’t sell wholesale until we can hire enough people to produce more of the product. We wouldn’t be able to meet the demand.” Like Bisou Chocolate, The Xocolate Bar recently expanded into new digs. After 15 years on Solano Avenue in Berkeley, Malena Lopez-Maggi and Clive Brown opened a second location on College Avenue in Oakland in September. Frankie Fernandez, the general manager of the new store, gave me a tour. The larger space is divided into sections that feature a

COCOA EXPRESSION Eli Curtis (pictured) and Tracey Britton worked as bike messengers before founding Bisou Chocolate. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024 | EASTBAYMAG.COM | EAST BAY MAGAZINE

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« wide variety of sweets such as house-

SWEETS SHOPS After 15 years on Solano Avenue in Berkeley, The Xocolate Bar opened a second location on College Avenue in September. (From left) Frances Fernandez, general manager; Malena Lopez-Maggi, owner; and Ruth Peñalba, assistant manager.

from time to time to make seasonal chocolates, his primary role is as a stay-athome dad for the couple. When Brown and Lopez-Maggi started The Xocolate Bar in 2006, she was 25 years old. “I had nothing to lose,” she said. “We watched the movies Chocolat, Like Water for Chocolate and Willy Wonka, and we were like, alright, let’s do it!” They spent the first two years “making basically every flavor under the sun and really dialing in our product line,” Lopez-Maggi recalled. What they didn’t realize is how physically taxing kitchen work is. “With chocolate, there’s so much repetitive strain and heavy lifting and time on your feet,” she said. “It’s not that glamorous.” Every aspect of the chocolate-making process has to be controlled, from the humidity to the temperature. There are

many opportunities for everything to go wrong. “In the beginning, it often would because we were still learning,” she said. Running a chocolate shop turned out to be much more challenging than it looked in the movies. The Xocolate Bar continues to experiment with flavors. Based on one of Lopez-Maggi’s favorite cookies, they’re introducing a chocolate with a mint Oreo on the inside in the shape of a zodiac sign. And her latest recipe is called Hazelnut Heaven. It’s made with whole roasted hazelnuts, a hazelnut gelée and caramelized puffed rice. Bisou Chocolate, open Wed to Fri 12pm6pm, 2929 9th St., Berkeley. 415.515.8241. bisouchocolate.com. The Xocolate Bar, open every day 11am-6pm, 5854 College Ave., Oakland. 510.879.7879. thexocolatebar.com.

PHOTO BY MIRANDA ROBBELOTH

made bonbons, toffee and caramels, and hard and chewy candies. I felt like every dazzled kid entering Willie Wonka’s factory for the first time. Fernandez directed my attention to different shelves of candy bars. The first thing I reached out for was an “omg bar” ($9.99) made with dark chocolate, roasted almonds and salted caramel. When I tasted it later that day, the chocolate coating was so rich I knew I’d have to pace myself. This was a candy bar meant for savoring rather than greedily inhaling. I noticed a section in the store with a sign that read, “Better than a…”. One company named Mayana Chocolate makes more elevated versions of familiar American candy bars. Mayana’s “Better than a Sn*ckers” ($9.99) is made with salted peanut caramel, peanut butter nougat and 66% dark chocolate. In a phone interview, Lopez-Maggi told me why The Xocolate Bar stocks products made by other brands in addition to their own. “We can’t make enough chocolate to stock an entire shop, let alone two shops,” she explained. She believes that carrying other brands is a collaboration and said, “If they sell a lot, we both benefit from that.” And there’s always going to be a customer who’ll want to order something that they don’t make. After 15 years in business, it was clear that there wasn’t enough space in the Solano Avenue kitchen and retail space for a staff of 15 to work together. “The kitchen can already produce more chocolate than we had space for at our shop,” LopezMaggi said. Rockridge was an ideal location for a number of reasons. Market Hall had been carrying The Xocolate Bar’s products for years, so customers in the neighborhood were already familiar with the brand. Lopez-Maggi and her team also decided to move into the College Avenue space because foot traffic is higher there than it is on Solano Avenue. They didn’t know that Love + Chocolate was going to open a couple of blocks away. But, she said, “That’s fine. Everybody there has something different to offer.” Brown used to be the principal chocolatier. While he does represent the company at events, as well as returning

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GROW COMMUNITY Planting Justice seeks to empower people with the skills and resources to cultivate food sovereignty.

Feed People

Horizontally organized community-based organizations provide meals and more BY Michael Giotis

PHOTO BY BIRHON M. QUIZHPE

Flat Food

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MOBILE OASIS Community Kitchens’ bus drives through food deserts in Oakland with music blaring to let folks know a warm meal is available.

has been one of the guiding communitybuilding examples of my career. As for connecting different communities, perhaps no one is more adept than Raders. The organization’s Sobrante Park location in Oakland draws its workforce from the largely AfricanAmerican neighborhood; a section of that urban farm has been offered for use to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, a local Ohlone tribe organization, and the two groups steward the land together.

Covid Helped One of the universal experiences of the pandemic, especially in the early days, was the sense that broken systems were exposed and that they could be fixed at the grassroots level. Maybe nowhere was there more innovation in response to the crisis than in the restaurant business. From parklets providing new outside seating to pick-up, optimized menus and to-go cocktails, the industry pivoted hard, and then pivoted again, and again. Restaurant owners wanted to stay in business, pay their staff, maintain positive partnerships with landlords and, most of all, feed people.

PANDEMIC BEGINNINGS Community Kitchens began as a distributor of free meals produced by a true diversity of restaurants.

Maria Alderete, co-founder and executive director of Community Kitchens Oakland, was the co-owner of Luka's Taproom & Lounge with her husband, Rick Mitchell, until the pandemic changed everything. Although the restaurant did not survive the pandemic, something new was born of the will to keep things going at all costs. Alderete saw two needs connect, keeping her staff employed and feeding those whose need for food became

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF COMMUNITY KITCHENS OAKLAND

op-down approaches to solving food insecurity haven’t worked, at least not well enough. According to the United States Department of Agriculture in 2019, “11 to 27 percent of the U.S. population lived in low-income and low-access census tracts.” And in 2022, the agency reported that there are “40.5 million Americans living in USDA-designated food deserts nationwide” with limited access to fresh food. Neighborhoods throughout Oakland and Richmond are examples of food deserts that get referenced far more often than they get addressed by policy. Just like the Black Panther Party’s barely remembered actions to kick-start school lunch programs, the most interesting approaches to food justice are rising from the bottom up. Anarchist-inspired groups with a passion for kicking ass for the greater good like Community Kitchens Oakland, West Oakland Punks with Lunch, and Rogers and Rosewater are horizontally organized, agile in the pivot and driven by the passion to take care of fellow humans. These community-based organizations (CBOs) are finding new approaches to the longstanding problem of food deserts. Under the USDA’s definition, a significant portion of people living in these “low-income and low-access areas” must travel more than one urban mile just to get basic cooking supplies or bring a healthy meal home. This especially affects working families who may be commuting between jobs, the unemployed who may not have reliable access to a vehicle and the unhoused who have to walk for hours in a day to secure food. One of the most successful examples of community-first organizing is Planting Justice, out of Oakland. Co-founded and co-directed by Gavin Raders, the food justice non-profit takes a hands-on approach to building community and to connecting communities. In the past decade, Planting Justice has built over 450 edible gardens, empowering hundreds of people to grow their own food. This writer spent several meals at gatherings of Planting Justice in its early days, with folks gathered in a home for a potluck and a shared sense of purpose. It

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It’s good work made better by the inclusion of the collective in the decisionmaking. “I don’t make any decisions without the volunteers, the people who are actually doing the work,” said Ul. “It’d be so disrespectful for me to not even take what they’re saying, what they’re suggesting into consideration.”

Radical Impact

DIRECT TO CONSUMER Rogers and Rosewater’s founder, Bopha Ul, created a ‘mobile soup kitchen,’ hand-delivering food to unhoused communities.

even more desperate in Covid times. She took action fast. “Basically, we quickly pivoted and within two weeks of the pandemic launched this program,” said Alderete, referring to what was to become Community Kitchens Oakland. It was a novel approach to keep people employed that addressed food insecurity. The pandemic exposed inequities among populations Alderete long cared about. In addition to the unhoused and food insecure were the small restaurants of east Oakland. “A lot of immigrant mom-and-pop restaurants were struggling to apply for [emergency federal] PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loans and… to pivot quickly to online sales,” said Alderete, “so the first year we really focused on supporting [those].” At first Alderete and her team worked as a distributor of free meals produced by a true diversity of restaurants. Starting as a volunteer hub, the project soon grew into a full-fledged 501(c)3 non-profit. There’s more to this than the average business-as-usual, strong leader-centered passion-project non-profit. These organizations are committed to including as many participants, customers and partners in the decision-making process as possible.

Although focused on harm reduction, as a CBO, West Oakland Punks with Lunch provides food to attract unhoused people to its core services such as clean

PHOTO BY MICHAEL GIOTIS

Bottom Up

needles and personal care supplies. The punk movement’s calling card is do-ityourself (DIY), an approach that subverts hierarchical organizational structures to create opportunities for a group of purpose-aligned individuals. In that vein, Punks with Lunch calls themselves a collective. “So ‘collective run’ just means that we are non-hierarchical,” explains Ale del Pinal, the group’s founder. “We do respect people’s expertise and wisdom in terms of how long they’ve been doing the work, but no one has any more decision-making power than the next person.” Giving a voice to the collective members helps to “make sure that everything that we do aligns with what our participants want, what our clients want,” she added. Multiple generations of punks and activist-anarchists have nurtured each other’s passion for purposeful work. In fact, from out of Punks with Lunch, another CBO, Rogers and Rosewater, emerged. More directly focused on food justice, Rogers and Rosewater’s founder, Bopha Ul took the leap to create a “mobile soup kitchen.” “We go directly to unhoused communities all over Oakland and handdeliver food to everybody,” said Ul during a visit to the hectic food prep session. “So if a [homeless] camp is cleared, we just follow the people who lived there to their new location. That’s why we call ourselves the ‘mobile soup kitchen.’”

The end result is a bunch of really cool, original approaches to what can feel like impossible problems. “So we have this bus [painted] really vibrantly with a pretty bumpin’ sound system so that you know when we drive through Oakland,” said Alderete. “When we roll into the encampment, the residents can hear that music and then they know a warm meal is available. It’s kind of like an ice cream truck,” Alderete beamed. Serving food deserts, the bus is rightly called the Mobile Oasis. In addition to clean water Mondays and mid-week outreaches to deliver lunch, hygiene kits and pet food that are the regular operations of Rogers and Rosewater, the collaborative DNA of these collectives and CBOs means that the groups can also help address needs as they arise that are not a part of the normal routine. “So if somebody needs a tent, [we can put the word out about] it right at that time,” said Ul. Groups share resources and crowdsource what is needed. Another program for Community Kitchens is the Town Fridges, a program originally started by an anonymous group that seeded refrigerators on sidewalks around food deserts in Oakland. Alderete and staff stock the freestanding fridges with prepared meals. Anyone passing by in need can open them and grab a nourishing bite. Oakland’s SugarSweetened Beverage Distribution Tax provides the funds for the meals. Not only have these groups filled a gap in services; by taking their bottom-up approach, they also fill gaps in other fundamental human needs. “For me, food justice means that you’re not only providing that meal, but you’re doing it in a way that’s dignified,” said Alderete. ❤

20 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024

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Student Well-being

Private school programs for supporting mental health

colleges in four East Bay regions represents examples of counseling and support services offered to student populations. To investigate any one school more thoroughly, parents can explore their websites or, preferably, arrange an onsite visit.

HEAD-ROYCE SCHOOL

At Head-Royce School in Oakland, approximately 900 K-12 students arrive from more than 80 zip codes. Class sizes average 18, with an 8:1 student-teacher ratio. Students of color compose 67%; 52% of faculty/staff are people of color; and 27% of the students receive needbased assistance. Impressively, the college matriculation rate is 99%. Head-Royce encourages healthy eating and physical fitness but also fosters self-awareness, self-acceptance and selfadvocacy through the curriculum. Student support services include a team of learning specialists, counselors, a health educator and school nurses. Counselors meet with students individually or in groups for shortterm counseling, conduct classroom lessons

and observations, and collaborate with additional student support professionals. Student check-ins, conflict resolution facilitation, one-on-one parent consultations and other social-emotional services are arranged according to specific needs. Skill and health classes target developmentally appropriate tools for middle and upper school students exploring identity, empathy, privilege, power and healthy relationships.

Head-Royce School, headroyce.org, 4315 Lincoln Ave., Oakland; 510.531.1300.

JULIA MORGAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

The all-day Julia Morgan School for Girls (JMSG) includes grades 6-8. Founded in 1999, the approximately 130 students are 53% students of color. Sixty-five percent of staff hold advanced degrees, with a class size average of 20 and a student-teacher ratio of 9:1. And because the school is located on Mills College/Northeastern University campus in Oakland, students have access to art galleries, a library,

PHOTO COURTESY OF SEWCREAMSTUDIOS/SHUTTERSTOCK

ntering the new, postpandemic normal on private school East Bay campuses, no one doubts the echoing trauma reverberating in students’ lives. Because academic rigor and success rest on a fulcrum that includes social and emotional stability, almost every K-12 school and most higher education institutions have dialed up well-being services, including increased resources that benefit parents and caretakers of school children and young adults. Educators have invested in training designed to address specific distancelearning and Covid-related issues, such as how mental health challenges uniquely impact students arriving from underserved or low-income communities, college kids transitioning to adulthood, LGBTQ+ students, or students who do not identify as white, and immigrants for whom English may not be the primary language spoken at home, among others. With all of that in mind, a brief survey of four lower division schools and two private

BY Lou Fancher

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Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory: Leadership and Service in Action

acred Heart Cathedral’s story is one of innovation and purpose, of serving Bay Area youth since 1852. Today, we continue to welcome the Bay Area’s brightest students to our inclusive community, preparing them for success with a dynamic curriculum, integrated technology and engagement with dedicated and innovative teachers.

Students and their families choose SHC for the strength of our academics, our faith and values, our extensive array of cocurricular opportunities and the warmth of our inclusive and nurturing community. Our students are compassionate, motivated, resourceful, independent, serviceoriented leaders who give life to our motto, Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve.

1055 Ellis Street, San Francisco | 415.775.6626 | shcp.edu JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024 | EASTBAYMAG.COM | EAST BAY MAGAZINE

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soccer field, pool, sports complex and performance spaces on a secure campus. Social and emotional health at JMSG is grounded in a commitment to meeting the high level of the girls who demand rigorous academics, individual attention, interdisciplinary approaches and learning that involves a number of factors. These include social justice, emotional growth, diverse self-directed pursuits, awareness of environmental and geo-political topics, active service to their peers and the local community, and giving that extends globally, from environmental concerns to those in need of humanitarian aid. The GO GIRL program is a vital component for girls at the school. Following the 8th-grade rafting trip, students develop and apply leadership skills in the real world with themed service-learning field trips focused on social justice, such as Aging with Dignity, Education Matters and Homelessness in the Bay Area. GO GIRL is designed to specifically bolster girls’ sense of power, independence, intellect and compassion, aimed to last long after graduation. The school counselor is a licensed clinical psychologist and (2003) alum whose doctoral program at The Wright Institute included trauma-informed adolescent mental health training. Julia Morgan School for Girls, juliamorganschool.org, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., PMB 9966, Oakland; 510.632.6000.

EAST BAY SCHOOL FOR BOYS

Berkeley’s East Bay School for Boys (ESBS) actually started with girls, when parents and educators at the Julia Morgan School for Girls decided boys deserved a similar opportunity for single-gender learning. Envisioning sessions held in 2009 led to the foundational elements of the school that began with four staff members and 18 boys in 2010. Expanding to a larger campus, EBSB has grown to 20 faculty and staff, 16 board members and approximately 100 grade 6-8 boys. EBSB’s advisory program is the nucleus of social-emotional learning for students. The daily period offers students a small group environment to develop relationships with each other and with an adult advocate. By establishing even one close relationship with an adult at a school, studies have proven academic success is increased.

During the sessions, students learn the school’s core principles and practice respectful methods of listening and communication. Individual learning plans, when warranted, serve students needing more support with accommodations that might include reduced coursework or extended time to complete assignments and tests. East Bay School for Boys, ebsfb.org, 2340 Durant Ave., Berkeley; 510.621.3272.

THE ATHENIAN SCHOOL

Founded in 1965, The Athenian School’s 75-acre campus in Danville features 135 fruit trees. The coeducational school for grades 6-12 as of 2023 had 537 students. Day programs and a boarding school attract local, national and international students who thrive in average class sizes of 15. Curriculum, sports and experiential learning clubs and programs offer abundant onsite and offsite opportunities. Sixty-four percent of students identify as “other than white,” and approximately 24% receive financial assistance. A learning services team assists every student to build resiliency, and advisory sessions in small groups are grade-specific in the topics addressed. All sixth-grade students take a life skills class to develop tools for emotional growth. Ninth-grade students cover an array of physical and mental health topics in a “Sociology: Society and Self” course. Peer-to-peer support and a professional school counselor provide added backbone to the curriculum. The Athenian School, athenian.org, 2100 Mt. Diablo Scenic Blvd., Danville; 925.837.5375.

MILLS COLLEGE AT NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

Mills College at Northeastern University, in the months following the merger with the East Coast institution, continues its emphasis on equity, social justice and leadership by women and nonbinary people. On the 135-acre Oakland campus, mental health support and counseling services include Find@Northeastern, a mental health program through which students can access free, confidential, unlimited and 24/7 support from a licensed mental health counselor by phone, iPad or laptop. Additionally,

Northeastern’s We Care program aids students when significant issues arise and provides information to faculty and staff who request guidance to identify existing Northeastern resources and policies that help students succeed. Professional staff in the Counseling and Psychological Services Office (CAPS) on the Oakland campus use in-person, short-term therapy to address mental health challenges common for today’s college students, such as depression, anger, loneliness, sexual concerns and assaults, roommate and family conflicts, violence or trauma related to racial or gender-phobic issues, body image dysmorphia, eating disorders, drug addiction and more. For academic stress due to perfectionism, anxiety, financial planning or concerns about student debt and future work, the department offers informed counseling support. For students experiencing a severe or emergency mental health crisis, CAPS’ After Hours Crisis Support Line is available on weekdays after 5pm, and on weekends and holidays. Mills College at Northeastern University, mills. northeastern.edu, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland; 510.430.2255.

SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA

Graduate and full-time undergraduate students at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga receive assistance through the private college’s similarly designed CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) programs. Initial appointments begin with either of two 45-minute, in-person individual sessions; a “one and done” consultation in which a therapist and a student identify strategies to address a specific issue, or a session involving solution-based treatment planning that might include ongoing or group therapy, or referral to a community resource for treatment exceeding the CAPS center. Urgent sessions for crisis care are available, as is a two-hour “Question, Persuade, Refer” suicide awareness and prevention training for students, faculty and staff. The college aims to train at least 20% of the Saint Mary’s community to become QPR gatekeepers. Saint Mary’s College of California, stmarys-ca.edu, 1928 St Marys Rd., Moraga; 925.631.4000.

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Engaging, Inspiring, and Empowering Socially Conscious Students

T THE ACADEMY OF ALAMEDA 401 Pacific Ave., Alameda aoaschools.org 510.748.4017

he Academy of Alameda TK-8 Public Charter School envisions a future where all students are successful, and their destinies are not determined by their demographics. Since its inception, The Academy of Alameda has had social justice as a core foundation of its mission. The Academy’s mission is to “equitably develop students into critical thinkers and life-long learners who navigate the world with integrity and who apply their learning to empower themselves and their communities.” As one of the most diverse schools in California, we embrace and honor what is unique about our students through our K-5 equity studies program and our 6-8 competency-based learning model. Our full-day transitional kindergarten and kindergarten and free to low-cost afterschool K-8 programs help support working families.

Where Challenge meets Balance.

entley School is an intellectually curious and inclusive community where teachers embrace the strengths of every student to help them rise to their full potential. In a challenging academic environment, we meet students where they are, encouraging them to cultivate their unique talents, skills, and perspectives. At Bentley, we foster a culture where students support and bring out the best in each other. And we prepare every individual for success throughout their lives by balancing intellectual achievement, personal growth, and self-advocacy.

bentleyschool.org JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024 | EASTBAYMAG.COM | EAST BAY MAGAZINE

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SCHOLASTIC SCOPE Now in her 10th year at Bentley, head of school Christie Moncharmont (pictured center) says programs ‘tap into the interests of each student.’

Bentley School’s ambitious academic and socio-emotional methodology BY Lou Fancher

f there is one phrase that best describes students at Bentley School’s two campuses in Oakland and Lafayette, it is “joyful about learning,” according to head of school Christie Moncharmont.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BENTLEY SCHOOL

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Explore O’Dowd! Middle School Camp Offers Fun & Enriching Experience

eld on O’Dowd’s friendly campus in the foothills of East Oakland, Summer Academy is an opportunity for students entering grades 6-8 to inspire their curiosity.

Offering robust academic and enrichment courses, from Math and Spanish, to Drama and Gardening, students develop social-emotional, creative, and intellectual skills, all while getting to know the O’Dowd campus. “The Middle School Camp was a fantastic experience for my daughter. All the teachers and counselors were so warm. It’s why we ultimately chose O’Dowd for high school.”

O’Dowd’s holistic Summer Academy encourages selfexploration for middle schoolers, with small classes, hands-on learning, and fun group activities. With a flexible morning and afternoon schedule, and free lunch for students who enroll in 3 or more classes, Summer Academy is an awesome way to explore what it means to be a Dragon!

— Parent of a Current 12th Grader

Bishop O’Dowd High School

9500 Stearns Ave, Oakland, CA 94605 510.577.9100 | www.bishopodowd.org/summer JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024 | EASTBAYMAG.COM | EAST BAY MAGAZINE

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SUPPORTIVE STUDIES In grades 6-12, advisors provide guidance as students navigate their own learning trajectory.

It’s true. A series of visits several years ago had students at the 12-acre upper school located east of the Oakland Hills and seven miles north of Lafayette galvanized by an upcoming trip to CERN—the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire/European Council for Nuclear Research—which is most famous for the 2012 discovery of a Higgs boson-like particle. The Bentley students were selected for a high school competition at CERN. In addition to learning about science, the trip included travel to Geneva, Bern, Zurich and Ferney-Voltaire to learn about the Swiss role in international human rights and humanitarian relief; Swiss and Protestant Reformations; and the lives of Albert Einstein, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Calvin. A few months earlier, exploring the Hiller Campus in Oakland, students in grades K-8 launched themselves into theatrical performances in the Meadows Auditorium, applied engineering skills and innovative approaches in the open-air Maker Space and connected picture books or biology lessons to tangible, real-life examples in the outdoor garden. Gathered regularly in small, multi-age circles, they shared worries, expectations, triumphs, laughter and dreams.

Now in her tenth year at Bentley and second year in the leadership position, Moncharmont said she was drawn to Bentley from her prior position at Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco and by the co-educational program’s strength and balance. “I met with students, and some of them told me they played soccer, but supported their friends in theater,” said Moncharmont. “Others who were involved in theater said they were devoted attendees of soccer matches. Honestly? They were just so joyful about learning.” Make no mistake, Bentley’s curriculum and academic and social-emotional goals are ambitious, not just for students, but also require significant investment for families. Tuition fees for the 2023-24 school year are $36,720 for kindergarten through grade 5; $40,120 for grades 6 through 8; and $52,950 for grades 9 through 12. Transportation is provided for families K-12 at no additional cost, and the before and after-school program is provided at no additional cost for grades K-8. Additional fees related to co-curricular programs, field trips, textbooks (9-12) and supplies are approximately $1,500 for grades K-5 and $2,000 for grades 6-12. Notably, one in four, or 25%, of all

Bentley School students receive financial assistance. An “at a glance” survey of the student population shows enrollment at 650 students who arrive from 72 different zip codes. Students of color represent 55% of the student body; the average class size is 15, with an 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio. The key components of the lower school are structured and strengthened by the scope of the programs, according to Moncharmont. “We tap into the interests of each student,” said Moncharmont, “which means they’re exposed to movement and dance, gardening and three different languages: French, Mandarin and Spanish. They learn a little bit of each in K–second grade. In third grade, they choose which language they want to go into.” With one primary classroom teacher deeply invested in the success of every student, the head of school said the sense of connection creates happiness and joy in attending school. The teaching approach for the school’s youngest learners is dynamic; the lessons are made relevant and personal. The methodology is experiential, perhaps delivered through hands-on artistic activities, field trips or during times when bringing the world into the classroom is animated and made visceral by the visit of chickens or other animals. “We also have the PACT (Positive, Action, Character, Teams) program and have families that meet weekly and do community-level activities within the Bentley School population,” said Moncharmont. “It’s multi-grade, so there’s connection across the whole lower school division.” PACT further connects the student population with older students serving as mentors while developing and practicing leadership skills. “The younger students get to know them,” said Moncharmont. “They learn how to take care of each other, and there’s caring that makes the students feel a sense of comfort. It especially eases transitions for kids who come in new.” Similar to the PACT program, an advisory division in the middle and high schools helps students navigate the academic, social and emotional changes that are a push-pull as kids seek independence but still need guidance from teachers. Students receive more

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EARLY START Bentley’s kindergarteners take three languages: Mandarin, French and Spanish.

« choice in their elective programs,

on the culture and community in each class,” she continued. Keeping a finger on the pulse of education during and emerging from the pandemic demands exceptional dexterity. Teachers participate in summer professional development courses to stay abreast of the best and newest classroom approaches for today’s students. Expectedly, student physical health and mental wellness have become top of mind. “Kids struggled in Covid in many ways: from stress, from challenges to focus on learning, and then, to transitioning back to in-person learning,” Moncharmont said. “As adults, we want to control what happens to our students…but we really can’t. Beyond the pandemic, there are things like climate change, AI rapidly developing and families undergoing massive change. Our students are impacted by wildfires, when we must close schools because of poor air quality levels. There’s unpredictability to all of that. It’s disruptive and beyond our control, so we work to maintain continuity of learning.” During Covid, Bentley was able to provide a strong platform for remote learning. With AI and the surge of interest in and use of ChatGPT, educators have had to embrace it rapidly. Moncharmont poses questions for which the school is still establishing answers: “How are we going to use it to enhance learning?” she said.

Bentley School, bentleyschool.org; K-8 Campus, 1 Hiller Dr., Oakland, 510.843.2512; 9-12 Campus, 1000 Upper Happy Valley Rd., Lafayette, 925.283.2101.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PAIGE GREEN

and teachers work across the board to reinforce standards and norms that constantly circle back to foundations of respect and kindness. “Middle schoolers are beginning to engage digitally more and more, and we talk about treating each other the same digitally as we do face-to-face,” said Moncharmont. “Their classes are increasingly challenging and rigorous, and it’s important that we have them meet with their advisor for 20 minutes in the morning. That way, they check in daily with an adult they know well and engage in discussions amid the same small group of eight to ten students to talk about social and emotional wellness. It ensures each student is seen and can be heard.” The upper school also has advisors, with students reaping the benefit of having the same adult stay with them throughout their four years at Bentley. “They meet less often, twice a week, and the adult becomes a touchpoint,” said Moncharmont. “In the upper school, the curriculum is set by grade level deans who get to know every person in that grade level. Advisors make sure students have what they need when tensions arise. They shepherd the group and establish the social and emotional learning practices they’ve learned in our professional development programs. Teacher advisors keep a finger

“How can it benefit the student experience? Teaching kids to be excellent writers is such an important part of our program. With ChatGPT, how will we make sure they still have access to becoming great writers? So that means, how do we adapt to AI, because it’s not going away.” Among the new initiatives this academic year is a mindfulness program. The daily 10-minute practice incorporating breathing and meditation exercises has been interwoven into classrooms at every grade level on the two campuses. “I was immensely impressed at the first town meeting assembly we had at the upper school,” said Moncharmont. “The director had everyone doing a mindfulness exercise, and you could hear a pin drop in that room. It was an indicator for how ready our students are for this kind of activity. You know, we often think and talk about the maturity level of students. That moment was just remarkable to me because we hadn’t expected that maturity of them before. They took it seriously and didn’t need reminders to quiet down or pay attention.” Asked what she most hopes remains true about Bentley and what she hopes will improve, Moncharmont does not doubt her response. “The joyful learning culture. We never want that to go away. In our Bentley Promise, the line we refer to most often is about the enthusiasm and fun piece of learning. That’s what’s going to make students want to learn for the rest of their lives. That’s one of the greatest gifts we can give to students,” she noted. As is true for all schools, Bentley will continue to strive to be more inclusive and diverse. “That’s always been woven into who we are,” said Moncharmont. “We make sure we produce an environment where every student is valued. If there are ways we can strengthen that, I hope we are doing that. There’s always room to be better. With over 70 zip codes in our student population, people travel from all directions and different backgrounds, and that only contributes richness to our academic background. Our focus on community and respecting the space of each student translates to the other students and benefits all of us.”

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any of the Morning a tspeople.

MUSIQUE SHOPPE Many of the instruments at Lark in the Morning are handmade by craftspeople.

A Whole World

Berkeley’s Lark in the Morning features instruments from around the globe BY j. poet

s one walks through the aisles of the Lark in the Morning store on Camelia Street in Berkeley, one is transported into a world of music. The store features instruments from Africa; China; Balkan countries; Russia; Southeast Asia; Native cultures from North, South and Central America; and much more.

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FOLK LEGACY Eric Azumi ditched tech after becoming fascinated with Lark in the Morning’s largely online collection of instruments.

and turn into a bagpipe, but there are only two guys left that make them. One was a retired gentleman in Poland. A contact put Azumi in touch with the instrument maker, and he agreed to make one. Azumi then hired a musician to play some traditional songs on it and to make a video and book about it. “Then the man who made mine called me for payment,” said Azumi. “Before I could send it, he passed away. His family decided to keep [the bagpipe] since it was his last. I was amazed he’d gone through all that effort for me. I guess there’s only one man left making them now, so we’re trying to get in touch with him.” Since he’s a musician, as well as a businessperson, Azumi thought the store would fit into both aspects of his life. “I’m a little bit of a musician, and I emphasize ‘little.’ My career was largely spent abroad, building websites to teach English online, with the Swedish company EF Education. When I returned to the U.S. in 2016, I figured I’d stay in tech, which was one of

PHOTO OF ERIC AZUMI COURTESY OF LARK IN THE MORNING

“At any given time, we’ve got about 1,500 instruments,” said store owner Eric Azumi. “Many of them are available in the showroom for trying out. This is one reason we’ve located off the beaten path, in the Blick Art Supplies Building. I don’t want to have to worry too much about theft or damage.” Azumi said many of the instruments in the store are handmade by craftspeople from around the world. Instrument makers often get in touch with him. He also takes trips to find unique instruments. “I’ve been to Europe a few times and once to Southeast Asia, to visit Vietnam, but it was a bust,” said Azumi. “I arrived during the Lunar New Year, and everything was shut down, but I experience unique aspects of the culture everywhere I go. People love to talk about it and share it with you. That’s what made me want to get hold of a Polish goat bagpipe.” Azumi explained how the instrument is made from a whole goat that they skin

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the reasons we chose to live in the Bay Area,” he explained. After applying for a few jobs, Azumi realized his heart wasn’t in it. He didn’t want a corporate position. “I had a little money, so I looked for a small business to buy,” Azumi said. His criterion was simple: It had to be something he found interesting and could improve upon. When he saw the collection of instruments Mickie and Beth Zekley had accumulated for their store, Lark in the Morning, Azumi was fascinated. “When I contacted them, the business had moved online, and their website needed improvement,” said Azumi. “I figured I could bring my expertise to bear there while learning more about the world of musical instruments. I’m still learning new things all the time.” Lark in the Morning was started by Mickie Zekley, a musician who played traditional music from Ireland, England and France. It was first a mail-order business but slowly expanded to physical locations in Mendocino, San Francisco and Seattle. “Mickie sold it in 2002, to a couple that went bankrupt,” Azumi said. “He bought up the inventory, after the stores went out of business, and moved online. He had an extra building on his property and stored the instruments there. Then he went looking around for another sucker to come and buy it. That was me.”

Azumi got to know the Zekleys fairly well and stayed with them for about a month after he bought the store, so he could get to know the business. “I was frequently in touch with them during the first couple of years,” said Azumi. “As I learned more, I stopped bugging them as much, but I’d talk to Mickie every couple of months about one thing or another. Mickie passed last October and I’ve missed him. I’m still in touch with Beth. We’re helping her sell off some of Mickie’s amazing collection of instruments. “He was an amazing guy. He played guitar, flute, Celtic harp and most folk instruments. He had paid gigs most of his life. He grew up in the ’60s and lived at the Hog Farm Commune for a while. He also started the Lark Camp, a week-long folk music festival up in Mendocino, with lessons, concerts and camping out. I’m not directly involved with them, but we have a good relationship. We have a booth at the camp every summer, and there’s crosspromotion on our websites,” he continued. After buying Lark’s online business, Azumi moved the inventory to a warehouse in Berkeley. Lark had built up a community of supporters over the years and, as word got out, Azumi began to receive visitors. “It got to the point where I was spending a few hours a week talking with them while grabbing and unboxing instruments from the shelves,” he said. “I figured it would save time to open up a

small showroom where we might be able to sell a few more instruments.” Having a physical location required more time than Azumi expected, but it also brought in more revenue. “We thought about opening a store on Telegraph Avenue,” said Azumi. “But with all the traffic we’d get, I’d have to have someone standing at the door, watching the inventory. That’s not the vibe I want to communicate.” The instruments at Lark in the Morning are delicate, many one of a kind. Azumi wants people to be able to play them and touch them. “My interest is world music,” Azumi said. “I’m always discovering new instruments, from regions of the world I’m unfamiliar with. I also enjoy meeting the makers of the instruments and observing their craftsmanship and the care and attention they put into their work. I’ve always liked working with my hands, so getting to meet Monty Levenson, a shakuhachi maker, was inspiring. He has a Ph.D. from Columbia, but when he discovered the world of shakuhachi, he dove into it. I find stories like that inspiring. “No one’s getting rich here,” said Azumi. “I’m in this for the love of the music and, being my own boss, I can’t think of a better place to be in, at this time of my life.” Lark in the Morning, 1001 Camelia St., Berkeley. 12pm to 6pm, Tue-Sat; 707.964-5569, larkinthemorning.com, harmony@ larkinthemorning.com.

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