Today, January 20, 2020, marks the 25th anniversary of the MLK Day of Service. Observed each year on the third Monday in January as “a day on, not a day off,” MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities.
Each year, the Blake Mini Library book drive kicks off on the MLK Day of Service, collecting through Valentine’s Day. The project encourages and supports the caring acts of children who work with their communities to collect books for the Hamilton Families shelter program here in San Francisco. This youth philanthropy effort supports the reading, writing and science literacy of children ages birth to 21 living in homes for runaways, homeless shelters and foster care. The project began in 2013, when a 6-year old boy named Blake Ansari began a book drive in New York City with the support of his family and friends.
In 2020, we invite friends and families to share acts of compassion and creativity, in celebration of the 5th annual Blake Mini Library Book Drive in San Francisco.
Learn more about the issue of homelessness and the impacts on children and finding ways to help. Baharav, H., Leos-Urbel, J., Obradovic, J., & Bardack, S. (2017). The Educational Success of Homeless and Highly Mobile Students in San Francisco Unified School District. Stanford, CA. John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, Stanford Graduate School of Education.
Inspire children by showing that you support their efforts.
“When you listen to the community, learn from the community, and help the community, you connect to your best self”
On Monday, January 13, 2020, Dianne Feinstein Elementary School will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service (1/20/2020) with a special assembly, “Breaking Barriers” with Marcus Shelby & Friends.
Artists have long used music and images to communicate ideas and emotions, to inspire action and movement towards a more just society. Music is a unifying force that has been used across generations to pass on stories of determination and courage.
Composer/bassist Marcus Shelby says, “I use music to reveal how we got to where we are; to reflect history in the most positive and truthful way.” “Breaking Barriers” will illustrate how unique voices have collectively used “The Blues,” an art form with deep roots in African-American history. Students will hear stories and songs associated with notable historical figures, such as Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jackie Robinson, and hear how the strength and bravery of everyday people has helped to shape America’s history.
MARCUS SHELBY is a composer, arranger, band leader, bassist, and educator who currently lives in San Francisco, California. His work focuses on the history, present, and future of African American lives, social movements, and music education. Currently, Shelby is an artist in residence with the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival and a new resident artist director for the San Francisco Jazz Festival 2019-2020. Shelby leads the SF Community Music Center’s Teen Jazz Orchestra program and is also an artist in residence at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival where he is the music director of the 100 member Freedom Jazz Choir, youth choir, and youth music ensemble. Shelby has composed several oratorios and suites including Harriet Tubman, Beyond the Blues: A Prison Oratorio, Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Black Ball: The Negro Leagues and the Blues, Green and Blues, and a children’s opera Harriet’s Spirit produced by Opera Parallèle in 2018. Shelby also composed the score and performed in Anna Deveare’s off Broadway Play and HBO feature film Notes from the Field and many other productions over the past 21 years. Shelby has served on the San Francisco Arts Commission since 2013. https://marcusshelby.com/
It was the most powerful song of the 20th century. It started out in church pews and picket lines, inspired one of the greatest freedom movements in U.S. history, and went on to topple governments and bring about reform all over the world. Word for word, the short, simple lyrics of “We Shall Overcome” might be some of the most influential words in the English language.
The song’s first publication gives credit of authorship to, among others, Silphia Horton of the Highlander Folk School, who learned the song from the tobacco workers, and Pete Seeger, who helped to popularize the song and gentrified its title from “We Will Overcome.”
With a 2017 court settlement, the melody and lyrics for We Shall Overcome officially entered into the public domain.
Artist Kadir Nelson illustrates Kwame Alexander’s poem “The Undefeated”
CHILD OF THE DREAM: A MEMOIR OF 1963 by Sharon Robinson
“Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life” is a baseball-themed character education program developed by Major League Baseball and Scholastic Inc. Using America’s sport, baseball, as the metaphor for life, the curriculum is based on the values demonstrated by barrier breaker Jackie Robinson: citizenship, commitment, courage, determination, excellence, integrity, justice, persistence and teamwork.
THE UNDEFEATED by Kwame Alexander, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
This poem, originally performed for ESPN’s The Undefeated, is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world’s greatest heroes.
Kadir Nelson (b. 1974) is an American artist who currently exhibits his artwork in galleries and museums nationwide and abroad. His paintings are in the private and public permanent collections of several notable institutions including The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, the International Olympic Committee, and the US House of Representatives. https://www.kadirnelson.com/
Artist Kadir Nelson illustrates Kwame Alexander’s poem “The Undefeated”
CORETTA SCOTT KING BOOK AWARDS
The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Seal was designed by artist Lev Mills in 1974. Learn more about the history of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and the symbolism in the seal on the American Library Association website.
Designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. Further, the Award encourages the artistic expression of the black experience via literature and the graphic arts in biographical, social, and historical treatments by African American authors and illustrators.
DFES students are also invited to assist with the fifth annual BLAKE MINI LIBRARY BOOK DRIVE to benefit homeless children in San Francisco.
Each year from MLK Day through Valentine’s Day, students are invited to help to collect book donations. Students are invited to help create posters and Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for the book drive or contribute reviews recommending their favorite books. Students can also support the processing of books by writing special notes of encouragement for future readers.
The 2020 Blake Mini Library Book Drive kicks off on January 20th. This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday marks the 25th anniversary of the day of service celebrating the Civil Rights leader’s life and legacy.
This year’s book drive donations, which will include a specially curated selection of titles on the theme of “Breaking Barriers,” will be delivered to the Hamilton Families on Read Across America Day (3/2/2020).
The second of four DFES Family Art Nights with the Del Sol String Quartet’s Angel Island Project will explore the importance of storytelling and the written word through the art of bookmaking. Cheryl Ball and C.K. Itamura of Book Arts Roadshow will teach us how to make our own books, and The Del Sol String Quartet will play!
In celebration of the 8th annual Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking Project, we’ll also consider the role that children’s books play in sharing the important stories and historical contributions of all Americans.
A light dinner is provided with the PTA meeting from 5:30pm – 6:00pm.
Pictured from left to right: Traditional Chinese bookbinding, art from The Chinese Knew by Ezra Jack Keats (1958); art by Chris Sasaki from Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong: Immigrant and Artist (2019)
Thanks to an Artists and Communities in Partnership – Creative Youth Arts (ACIP-CY) grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission and the support of the Dianne Feinstein ES PTA, these family evenings with The Del Sol String Quartet and teaching artist Andi Wong will explore the history of Angel Island, capture positive cross-cultural stories and create opportunities for the school to collaborate and contribute a new work of art that will be shared at the Angel Island premiere.
“Your Wall is Our Canvas: The Angel Island Project” will bring the poems of Angel Island to life in the very space they were created. Composed by Huang Ruo, the 45-minute oratorio for string quartet and chamber choir will weave a story of immigration and discrimination of then and now. The premiere performances will occur at the Angel Island Immigration Station in October 2020.
This project is supported in part by the Hewlett Foundation 50 Arts Commissions. Additional funding has been provided by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, and the San Francisco Arts Commission.
The Del Sol String Quartet: Ben Kreith, Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates, Sam Weiser. photo: by Lenny Gonzalez
Thanks to an Artists and Communities in Partnership – Creative Youth Arts (ACIP-CY) grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission and the support of the Dianne Feinstein ES PTA, a series of four Family Art Nights have been planned with The Del Sol String Quartet and teaching artist Andi Wong. These family evenings will introduce the Del Sol String Quartet as musical neighbors who are ready to play well with others. Together, we will explore the history of Angel Island, capture positive cross-cultural stories and create opportunities for the school to collaborate and contribute a new work of art that will be shared at the Angel Island premiere.
Our first DFES Family Art Night will introduce THE ANGEL ISLAND PROJECT and the members of THE DEL SOL STRING QUARTET, who will play especially for us. Participants will learn how to conduct an oral history interview, and use the Story Corps app. Families will also collaborate on a work of art that honors our ancestors.
A suitcase filled with stories on Angel Island.
“Your Wall is Our Canvas: The Angel Island Project” will bring the poems of Angel Island to life in the very space they were created. Composed by Huang Ruo, the 45-minute oratorio for string quartet and chamber choir will weave a story of immigration and discrimination of then and now. The premiere performances will occur at the Angel Island Immigration Station in October 2020.
This project is supported in part by the Hewlett Foundation 50 Arts Commissions. Additional funding has been provided by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, and the San Francisco Arts Commission.
AIM concert at Davies Symphony Hall. Photo by Kim Huynh
Established in 1988,San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music (AIM) is an interdisciplinary program that integrates live music performances and related music education experiences with everyday classroom lessons in language arts, social studies and other subjects. Designed in partnership with the SFUSD, Adventures in Music (AIM) ensures that every child in grades 1–5 in every San Francisco public elementary school receives equitable access to music education for five consecutive years. Presented free of charge to schools, AIM incorporates in-school ensemble performances, tailored classroom materials and resources, professional development for teachers, and a private concert by the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall. AIM is the most comprehensive music education program of its kind of any American symphony orchestra.
AIM 2019-2020 Theme: “Sounds of Music”
This year’s AIM theme, “Sounds of Music,” explores music and the science of sound in a cross-disciplinary manner. A teacher workshop on Thursday, October 10, 2019, introduced attendees to the basics of the AIM program and gave participants a chance to try some hands-on sound science with educators from the Exploratorium.
Exploratorium-designed classroom activities will invite students make their own instruments, from a Straw Oboe to a Water Xylophone. Playful science activities presented by the Exploratorium team included making a Head Harp with a piece of string, and exploring resonance with pasta & marshmallows and making sounds with a Siren Disk. Students who enjoy experimenting with sound have so many more Exploratorium Science Snacks to choose from!
Third, fourth and fifth grade students can keep school humming with their very own SF Symphony harmonica, while a SFS kazoo will be given to the first and second graders.
In-School Concerts & Classroom Resources
Music Makers and Shakers visits Dianne Feinstein Elementary School.
AIM I Program (3rd, 4th, and 5th grade)
AIM school visits: Four ensembles will play for AIM I students
Supersonic Sounds – Woodwind and Brass Quartet
Keys and Clefs – String and Keyboard Quartet
Music Makers and Shakers – Latin Percussion Ensemble
Percussion Party – Percussion Band
Along with a specially prepared AIM study guide for each student, classroom teachers will receive two books that are specially selected to support their students’s exploration of music. Special editions of the resource books, created especially for the SF Symphony’s AIM program, will be freely available online, without the need for a password. Students will be able to read and play music selections from classroom computers, and they can continue their exploration of music at home.
From the cello to the clarinet to the trumpet to the drums, Those Amazing Musical Instruments! takes readers on a musical tour, with notes on the history, construction and sounds of the instruments from each of the major instrument “families.” They can see the parts of the violin working together, read about the flute in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” or hear the different sounds of the tuba. Interactive content includes individual musical samples giving readers an audible taste of each instrument, as well as full orchestra pieces showing how they play together.
Sounds
that surround us can be vastly different. Still, the earsplitting blast of a
car horn and the melodious chirp of a songbird travel to our ears in the exact
same way. This eye-opening book explains how sound travels as well as the
connection between sound and energy. Readers will delight in the vibrant panels
and enlightening facts, which are conveyed in an accessible and compelling
comic-book design. Quiz questions, puzzles, and humor abound in this must-have
addition to any elementary science library or class.
AIM II PROGRAM (1st, 2nd GRADe)
AIM school visits: Four ensembles will play for AIM II students
An original, colorful, and lively approach to learning about music. With classical music tracks featuring every instrument in the orchestra, with clear audio examples. Includes 60 beautifully illustrated pages that children will love.
This series introduces simple science topics using everyday objects and situations that readers can recognize in the world around them. This title looks at sound: how sounds are made, how they travel, how we hear them, what makes a sound high or low, loud or soft.
Adventures In Music
Now in its 33rd year of partnership with the SFUSD during the 2019–20 season, AIM serves every child in grades one through five in every San Francisco public elementary school, as well as a number of the City’s parochial and independent schools. AIM reaches 24,500 children and their teachers annually, and is presented to schools absolutely free of charge. Since its inception in 1988, more than 150,000 children have gone through the AIM program.
“…Children must receive musical instruction as naturally as food, and with as much pleasure as they derive from a baseball game. And this must happen from the beginning of their school lives.”
— Leonard Bernstein, New York City, 1977 Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Select Education regarding a bill calling for a White House Conference on the Arts
Leonard Bernstein, the educator
Michael Tilson Thomas and Leonard Bernstein, 1983
In 2020, San Francisco Symphony conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who has served as music director since 1995, is scheduled to retire at the end of his 25th season, to be succeeded by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
The DFES community is invited to ART NIGHT ~ Please join us and help to welcome new incoming Kindergarten families to Dianne Feinstein ES with an “UNDER THE SEA” WELCOME TEA! Around the school, you’ll find an OCEAN OF ART created by students working with art teachers Crystal Hermann, Sharon Collins, Scott Perry and Suzie Berndt.
Enjoy a nice cup of tea and treats and offer a neighborly hello to the incoming K families in the Octopus’ Garden in the lobby. Help to build a coral reef with Ms. Crystal in the Art Room! Swim on down to the MPR and enjoy fun activities for the whole family!
ALL TOGETHER NOW!
In the DFES MPR, you can learn more about the newest Mission Blue hope spot — your heart’s desire in your own backyard — with DOER Marine, quality maker of submarines! DOER, aka Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, was founded in 1992 by Dr. Sylvia Earle. Today, the DOER tradition is upheld by subsea specialists Liz Taylor and Ian Griffith.
We invite you to share your wild ideas of how to repurpose the giant steel case that transported DFES mascot Edwin the Panda across the Pacific from China with DOER!
Kid Speaks for Parks founder Robbie Bond and DFES Principal Chang hang loose with Edwin the Panda. During his May 8th presentation to the fourth and fifth graders at DFES, Robbie shared a quote from his mentor, master navigator Nainoa Thompson, “You can’t protect things that you don’t understand, and you won’t protect them, if you don’t care.” Robbie, who recently moved to Nevada from Hawaii, shared his love for the Green and Blues, and encourages all students who have all received an Every Kid in A Park pass to enjoy and protect their National Parks and National Monuments.
The Hawaiians have a saying, “He wa’a he moku, he moku he wa’a,” which translates as “the canoe is an island, and the island is a canoe.”
THE WAYFINDER is an immersive 360 film that follows the story of a real-life “Moana” – a young Hawaiian who dreams of sailing in the wake of her ancestors. As Kamai learns how to guide a canoe using the ancient art of wayfinding, she discovers tools that will help her guide the future of her islands – and navigate the voyage of her life. Catch a VR screening of The Wayfinder from from 5:00pm to 5:50pm in the MPR.
Filmmaker Gail Evenari founded Maiden Voyage Productions in 1994 with the production of Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey, an award-winning PBS documentary funded by National Endowment for the Humanities, which chronicles the history and renaissance of Polynesian voyaging and navigation. In 2012, MVP launched World Wise Adventures, introducing multicultural perspectives to teens through meaningful interactions with diverse global communities. World Wise Interactive combines Virtual Reality immersive experiences with an interactive curriculum to raise young people’s awareness of diverse cultures and critical global issues – inspire them to action.
THE ALOHA UKE SQUAD is a ukulele ensemble bringing joy through music and the aloha spirit. We are thrilled that they are coming to play at Art Night. The Aloha Uke Squad sing-a-long takes place in the MPR, with brief introductions at 5:50pm and the singalong beginning at 6:00pm.
“There’s something about the ukulele that just makes you smile. It makes you let your guard down. It brings out the child in all of us.” — Jake Shimabukuro
2019 marked the fourth annual Blake Mini Library book drive for the Hamilton Families Shelter Program, San Francisco’s leading service provider to families experiencing homelessness. It was wonderful to receive the invaluable support of the two student councils at Dianne Feinstein Elementary School and Rooftop Alternative Pre-K-8 School.
This year’s special curated book selection explored the theme, “From darkness, into the light.” Special editions donated to this year’s book drive included the 75th anniversary edition of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, Fred Korematsu Speaks Up (Fighting for Justice) by Laura Atkins and San Yogi, She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lynn Fulton, Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression by Carole Boston Weatherford, The Wall of Birds: One Planet, 243 Families, 375 Million Years by Jane Kim and Thayer Walker and Where’s Rodney? by Carmen Bogan.
On February 1, World Read Aloud Day 2019, with the support of the staff at the Internet Archive, we invited people to read aloud from The Dream Keeper and other poem by Langston Hughes, a book of poetry on Open Library. The ultimate goal of the Open Library is to make all the published works of humankind available to everyone in the world. How wonderful to hear and record all of the different voices reading the poems out loud!
The Dream Keepers — the wonderful volunteer readers at the Internet Archive!
On Thursday, February 7, from 5:30pm-8pm, we hosted a special screening of Won’t You Be My Neighbor for the DFES community. The film is a very thoughtful and moving look at Fred Roger’s groundbreaking work in education, childhood and media, and the screening gave parents a wonderful opportunity to consider the impact of acts of kindness towards children. Blake Ansari, the young founder of Blake Mini Library, was six years old when he hosted his first book drive for homeless children and children in foster care in New York. Blake loves to read and wants other kids to have the opportunity to enjoy reading too.
Dianne Feinstein students help to process the books for donation.
We were especially grateful that children’s book author/illustrator Ashley Wolff was able to stop by Dianne Feinstein to lead “Kindness, Kids & Kritters,” a special art workshop that taught students how to draw the two DFES school mascots. Leona the Lion and Edwin the Panda couldn’t be more different, but, like Ashley, these two friends share a special love of books and reading. Ashley kindly created a special poster for the 2019 book drive.
After her visit, Ashley asked Blake if he had a favorite animal. What a wonderful surprise to receive Ashley’s special act of kindness a few days later… a brand new logo created especially for Blake Mini Library featuring the fastest land animal on Earth — the amazing cheetah!
A new logo for Blake Mini LIbrary — a special gift from Ashley Wolff
Thank you to all our friends and neighbors who helped to make the 2019 Blake Mini Library book drive such a special and speedy delivery!
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