SNC’s Student Tutorial Endeavor Program (STEP) is a year-round after school and summer program that provides educational, recreational, and mentoring programs for low-income students of color in West Oakland.  Through STEP we become an additional parent in the lives of these young people to give them support, resources, guidance and encouragement so that their education is the foundation to their success in life.  We simply add to what our students receive from school and their home situations.

There are no fees for the children and youth we serve.

SNC’s Student Tutorial Endeavor Program (STEP) is concluding another successful year in our “new normal”.  We maintained our tutoring format, student vaccinations and PPE protocols (with tweaks), plus we implemented:

STEP “Endemic and Adapting Education Forward”.

First, for the 2023-24 school year we are maintaining a 9:3 student-to-tutor ratio in our STEP program with our student teams and tutoring groups.  This ratio is a gradual response to the increasing academic needs of our students due to the global pandemic.  The academic statistics of the last few years leave no doubt that nearly all students, in all schools and in all communities, suffered educational setbacks due to a lack of resources, proper access to the internet and emotional & mental stress.  These negative factors impacted even the wealthiest of school districts!  Therefore, no imagination required to realize the huge problems these issues caused in poor school districts like Oakland Unified School District.  A June 2023 San Francisco Chronicle article put forth that “what California needs for Christmas is 5.9 million tutors” …a tutor for every student!  We will maintain a 9:3 student to tutor ratio for the foreseeable future. 

Secondly, we are adding the Health Sector as a career option for our students.  This focus contains numerous components:  Healthy living, making good lifestyle choices, is one area that has been a part of our individual educational incentives for years.  Next is our healthcare system, which like so many of our national systems, is fraught with racial bias and inequities. Additionally, the pandemic exposed our healthcare system as woefully underfunded and inadequate as a whole, but especially for non-white and poor people.  Black and brown people continue to suffer disproportionately in our current state of medical care.  Research shows that here in the U.S. black men have the lowest life expectancy of any major demographic and black women are three to four times more likely to die as a result of complications from pregnancy than white women. In addition, inadequate access to health care is a sobering issue, for instance, our SNC student families often share the stories of the “all day” time commitment to see a doctor or dentist due to wait times. For people of color, it is not only a risk but also an ongoing source of frustration to seek medical care!

Our medical system needs revamping plus an infusion of resources and staffing at every level.  Black and brown people are sorely underrepresented and especially needed in the higher professional medical levels.  With black and brown people encouraged to enter the medical professions to fill the vacancies not only meets a looming need but it also provides a chance to correct the institutional racism and cultural bias plaguing our healthcare.

A recent Stanford University study set up a pop-up clinic here in Oakland concluded that “increasing the amount of black physicians could lead to a 19 percent reduction in the black-white male cardiovascular mortality gap and an 8 percent decline in the black-white male life expectancy gap”.  We are going to encourage our students to check out medical careers ranging from Radiation Therapists to Pharmacists to Dentists to Doctors.  Medical careers are a growing demand; a noble and well-paid profession; meaningful and lifesaving.  The lifesaving aspect is a “win-win” component that is critical, especially for black and brown people, because it is not only their lives but also their culture that they would be saving!

Third, we are continuing the STEP components reinstated last school year:

     Vocational Career Alternatives…The Green Economy:  Before the pandemic paused life our STEP students had just scratched the surface regarding the myriad of career opportunities in the green vocational sector.  For many of our students, both female and male, they had no idea of the potential salaries or of the field work career options.  Present day reveals that companies are looking for “green solutions” in the race with climate change.  In fact, the United Nations Environment Program developed a guide for youth on sustainable career choices:

     Science skills:  The green economy of the future will be heavily reliant on      workers with a strong science background. Key roles will include                     environmental scientists, biologists, hydrologists and biochemists. People in these jobs will monitor, manage and protect natural resources including land and valuable water supplies.

     Architectural and planning skills:  Buildings will become more energy           efficient, with fewer resources used to construct and operate them.                Architects and planners will design these buildings to comply with                environmental regulations and client demands for green spaces.

     Green engineering and tech skills:  Today’s young people will be                tomorrow’s green engineers, helping to design and maintain solar panels, wind turbines, low emissions vehicles & other green economy technology.

     Agriculture skills:  As farming and food supply becomes more                     sustainable, there’ll be a growing number of green jobs in areas such as           organic farming, urban farming and precision agriculture. This involves           using data to measure and improve farming efficiency.

     Environmental justice skills:  Workers in this field will operate at the           intersection of human rights and environmental rights. They will gain                legal, social and historical awareness to ensure humanity does not repeat the mistakes of the past which led to racial and social injustice and poor environmental and social health.

     Systems skills:  The green economy will need workers who can design,           operate and monitor a wide range of systems. They’ll need to assess                systems against performance indicators and find ways to optimize and                improve system operations. They’ll need skills in macroeconomics to build           sustainability into long-term infrastructure projects.

Our plan during the school year is to give our students a serious look into the growing green economy.  We will utilize resources such as Green Teacher which provides guides, activities and webinars.  Students will tap on “green apps” on their iPads as well.  We revisit our initial goals and objectives of the “green economy”:  What are the careers?  Who are the top companies and areas right now?  What are the fledgling areas?  What educational path is required?  What are existing companies doing to reshape their business model in order to reduce their carbon footprint and eventually to incorporate a sustainable green model?

Student teams will have research contests on: “going green”; “saving the planet”; “alternative foods”; and “human responsibility to co-exist with Nature”.

Student teams’ research projects on companies, organizations and communities:

     “Green Solutions” startups and companies.

     Companies making/made the transition to “green”.

     What “green mandates” should be done at the institutional level?

     What can our local schools do to become “green”?

     What can SNC change to reduce our carbon footprint?

     What lifestyle changes can individuals do?

We are fortunate to live in the SF Bay Area where there are numerous companies, start-ups, groups and organizations that are leading, or involved, in the “green revolution”.  Our students enjoyed an exciting school year of learning!

*Long-term STEP Program educational components:

Team Building Computer Hardware:  Our STEP Program digital and technology component resumes the STEM computer building kits that emphasize teamwork.  These kits contain modular electronics, magnets, power supplies, touch screens and regular screens with various circuitry. The motifs of the kits are for small groups of students to work together…a team building exercise in creativity, design and production.

Software Coding and Creating Code and Apps:  Our STEP program has been emphasizing learning to code for the last few years.  In 2016 we introduced our students to the Apple iPad program called Swift.  Swift is user friendly and is founded on the belief that “everyone can code”.  Coding leads to creating apps.  The app economy is a huge business and app development is in high demand.  Learning how to code and create apps is a fundamental idea for SNC as we push our lower income students toward ideas and careers that are based in the tech sector.  We are giving extra STEP points to those students who come up with the most creative ideas, coded of course, within a team setting.

Established (Pandemic) Endemic Mandates for our STEP students:  

The number one priority continues to be making sure all our students have an up-to-date Apple iPad and access to the internet.  Our STEP tutoring pods will operate daily for our students.

     SAFETY Priorities:

{}{}{}{}     ïVaccinated and wearing a mask inside SNC (optional 2023>>>).

{}{}{}{}     ïReport to assigned classroom and checkout an iPad.

{}{}{}{}     ïConfirm student team “social bubbles”.

     ACADEMIC Priorities:

{}{}{}{}     ïStudent school assignments and homework.

{}{}{}{}     ïPDF workbooks of grade level curriculum on STEP student iPads.

{}{}{}{}     ïStudent Teams STEM projects!

The comprehensive curriculum of basic grade level skills PDF workbooks remains critical. Reinforcing educational fundamentals and refreshing skills in reading, writing and math ensures a solid educational path in all careers.Vaccinated and wearing a mask inside SNC (optional 2023>>>).

     In addition, we ensure our STEP students have an up-to-date iPad for home use and we fully utilize the Apple ID Family Sharing with our students so that the expense of the workbook PDFs and coding apps can be shared on multiple devices. We are also continuing the iPads with Wi-Fi/Cellular program that allows students access to the internet via a cellular connection.  Access to the internet is both vital and bipartisan!  The pandemic revealed that this is yet another area of injustice that needs to be addressed in our country and in the global community.

          ïSecond:  Report to assigned classroom and checkout an iPad

     ïThird:   Confirm student team “social bubbl

OUR BOTTOM LINES:

{}     ïThe health & safety of our students, volunteers and staff is our top priority.

{}     ïEducation and Emotional and Mental Support of our STEP students.

{}     ïEXPANSION of MEDICARE should be a top priority for our country.

{}     ïBuilding COMMUNITY based on the twin goals of SAVING MOTHER EARTH and EQUALITY FOR ALL…OUR ONLY CHOICE FOR A SUSTAINABLE & BREATHABLE FUTURE.ï

     The health & safety of our students, volunteers and staff is our top priority.

     ïEducation and Emotional and Mental Support of our STEP students.

     ïEXPANSION of MEDICARE should be a top priority for our country     ïBuilding COMMUNITY based on the twin goals of SAVING MOTHER EARTH and EQUALITY FOR ALL…OUR ONLY CHOICE FOR A SUSTAINABLE & BREATHABLE FUTURE

P.S.  PANDEMIC>VACCINATED>ENDEMIC…We follow the science and do whatever’s best for ALL involved.

P.S. P.S.  Our financial situation improved dramatically thanks to unprecedented grants from the Kelson Foundation and the Louderback Family Foundation!  Thanks to these funds we ended our fiscal year at an income level not seen since the tech boom of the 1990’s!  We shared the wealth throughout our STEP program components and replenished our depleted reserves. In addition, our excellent financial health will buffer the closing of a very generous supporter over the years…the True North Foundation.  What more can I say?  Oakland, and OUSD, continue to struggle while SNC is a beacon of hope and a steady resource for the students we serve.

Steven Reimer

Summer 2024

          Summer 2024