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Oakland Tribune (CA): For an East Oakland elementary, Cesar Chavez Day was a time to rebuild

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For an East Oakland elementary, Cesar Chavez Day was a time to rebuild

By Katy Murphy
Oakland Tribune

  
OAKLAND — Fewer than three weeks ago, students and staff members at East Oakland PRIDE Elementary found their school in disarray. Burglars had broken into about 30 classrooms, smashing windows and stealing valuable equipment.

But on Friday, they will find a different kind of surprise: long rows of planter boxes on the playground.

About a dozen local organizations and businesses have joined to build an outdoor classroom at the former Webster school campus, adjacent to Arroyo Viejo Park. Jason Arenas, East Oakland PRIDE’s after-school coordinator, said that after the burglary, organizers decided to hold the first workday on the Cesar Chavez holiday as a call to action.

PRIDE students Issis Mendoza, 10, and Emma Romero, 9, said they were scared the people who broke into the school will come back. But the "disaster," as they call it, inspired them to make East Oakland PRIDE a nicer, greener place.

"I want to see the plants growing," Emma said.

The participants included Aspiranet Oakland, Super Stars Literacy, Oakland Home Depot, Coming of Age, Oakland Rotary, Oakland Landscape Committee, Living Labs Project, Keep Oakland Beautiful, and Oakland Public Works.

Next week, high school students from San Ramon with the Home of Hope Youth Chapter will donate $500 to help the school replace stolen equipment.

       

Parent volunteer Jorge Romero, center, dumps soil into a newly-constructed planter box at East Oakland PRIDE Elementary School, Thursday, March 31, 2011 in Oakland, Calif. In honor of Cesar Chavez, teachers, parents and volunteers came together to build a set of planter boxes and perform other maintenance on the school. (D. Ross Cameron/Staff)

  

Volunteers move a newly-constructed planter box into position on the campus of East Oakland PRIDE Elementary School, Thursday, March 31, 2011 in Oakland, Calif. In honor of Cesar Chavez, teachers, parents and volunteers came together to build a set of planter boxes and perform other maintenance on the school. (D. Ross Cameron/Staff)

  

Teachers Alex Jones, left, and Jen Carpenter staple plastic liners onto the inside of a newly-constructed planter box at East Oakland PRIDE Elementary School, Thursday, March 31, 2011 in Oakland, Calif. In honor of Cesar Chavez, teachers, parents and volunteers came together to build a set of planter boxes and perform other maintenance on the school. (D. Ross Cameron/Staff) 

  

East Oakland PRIDE Elementary School students shovel dirt for new planter boxes into waiting wheelbarrows, Thursday, March 31, 2011 in Oakland, Calif. In honor of Cesar Chavez, teachers, parents and volunteers came together to build a set of planter boxes and perform other maintenance on the school. (D. Ross Cameron/Staff)

  

Part-time teacher Craig Green, right, moves to empty a wheelbarrow full of dirt into a new planter box at East Oakland PRIDE Elementary School, Thursday, March 31, 2011 in Oakland, Calif. In honor of Cesar Chavez, teachers, parents and volunteers came together to build a set of planter boxes and perform other maintenance on the school. (D. Ross Cameron/Staff)