Dennis on the Road

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Not a day has passed in recent weeks without someone asking me what my plans are for when I return from my travels at the end of this year. I feel like the students we just graduated who get asked over-and-over-again, “so, now what are you going to do with your life.” Many folks have made practical as well as creative guesses…. this from a recent email from my friend Judy: “Are you leaving Oakland Schools altogether, or coming back to work elsewhere in the system? Or.......maybe teaching or principaling abroad----now there's a thought!”

The reality is that I am purposely not making plans. As I responded to Judy, “one of the promises that I made myself is that I’m going to leave w/o any defined plans for my return. This way I can really be open to the infinite possibilities rather than limiting myself to something I’ve predetermined.”

I feel blessed and scared, excited and nervous. One never knows what will be discovered in a quest for self-discovery.

~~~~~~~

The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean~
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down~
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Sunday, June 26, 2005

New Photos are Up

I've posted a bunch of pictures on my photos page

I've selected some of the best shots from this year's races (and will continue to up-date this). There is also a folder of select shots from Oasis High School and a folder of scandolous staff photos!

Keep checking back. I'll be posting new photos there frequently.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Oasis High School Graduates in the Press!


Oasis High School graduates were featured on the front page of this week's Oakland Post! The article is posted... for this week only... here . (They don't archive articles, so you have to be quick to see it.) The text is copied below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oasis High Fertile Ground for Students
By Zusha Elinson - Post Staff Writer

High School is not always geared for students that have to work, nor is it geared for students that can’t make it anywhere else.
But last week four seniors who met those conditions became the first graduating class at Oasis High School, a new charter school in Oakland’s Fruitvale District.

“I was always capable of doing well in school, but I didn’t put any work into it because I never felt like I was part of the community” said Antonio “Tone” Torres, an Oasis grad who attended Skyline High School before transferring this year.

Being part of the community is required at Oasis. High School is not always geared for students that have to work, nor is it geared for students that can’t make it anywhere else.
But last week four seniors who met those conditions became the first graduating class at Oasis High School, a new charter school in Oakland’s Fruitvale District.

“I was always capable of doing well in school, but I didn’t put any work into it because I never felt like I was part of the community” said Antonio “Tone” Torres, an Oasis grad who attended Skyline High School before transferring this year.

Being part of the community is required at Oasis.

When this reporter arrived at the school, the four seniors were meeting with School Director Dennis Guikema to put the final touches on a graduation ceremony they planned by themselves.

“Our mission is to provide an educational setting where kids who may not have done well in a traditional school can flourish,” said Guikema, 35, who worked in Oakland public schools for over a decade before signing on as the director of Oasis a year ago when the school opened.

The school has 70 students, covering grades 9-12. It offers all the usual high school courses, but with smaller classes (about 20 students per class) and a steady involvement in the community-internships for students, and homework assignments that include interviewing local community leaders and historians.

It was the small class size and flexibility that brought Shanika Stuart-Riascos to Oasis.

Working at a copy store with her shift starting in the early afternoon, finishing high-school wasn’t always such a sure thing for Stuart Riascos.

Now she is headed to community college to study Sociology next year.
“I’ve been taking a sociology course at Laney, since Dennis helped me get enrolled there,” she said.

Three out of the four seniors enrolled in community college courses this year and all four are planning on going to college next year.

Torres, currently taking an auto class at community college, wants to attend Wyoming Tech-one of the most prestigious automotive schools in the country.

Javier Aguinaga, who struggled at Oakland’s Life Academy before coming to Oasis, is enrolled in an auto class and wants to attend Wyoming Tech or a local community college for auto mechanics.

Marcus Easley, who attended the now-defunct School of Social Justice, will be attending Fresno City College to study Communications.

“We set ourselves up for a challenge by working with kids who haven’t made it in other settings,” said Guikema.
Other teachers agree and the mild uproar that erupted when Oasis math teacher Ronn Willie stepped out of the classroom to speak with this reporter confirmed that.

“A lot of the issues that these kids have, come up during class,” said Willie. “But, we are able to take the issues on in this smaller setting.”

Willie said he likes the setting where teachers can focus on community issues and individualized instruction, but, he said, it takes more time.
The teachers meet for nearly an hour after every school day to discuss the students.

Though the teachers are not union members, the pay scale is the same as the public schools and according to Willie, who described himself as pro-union, the school is small enough that any issues can be solved without a union.

Each of the graduating seniors spoke at Thursday’s graduation.

When they left the stage, singer Goapele’s “Closer to My Dreams” played over the loudspeaker, a song that the four graduates had picked because, as they all confirmed, they are closer to their dreams.

Friday, June 24, 2005

One Week Countdown


I can’t believe that I have only one more week of work! Just ahead is freedom, time for reflection, and adventure. At the same time I know I’m going to miss the students, the community, and the work. I can’t believe that I’ve been an educator in Oakland for 11 years, during which time I’ve helped to start three schools. Time flies… I wish I could make it pause for a bit.

One week ago (June 17) Oasis celebrated our first graduation. It was a wonderful capstone to an intense year. We graduated all four students who enrolled with enough credits to be able to walk the stage by the end of this year. Each of the students gave inspiring speeches and helped to create a ceremony that was as unique as each of them. Three of the four completed community college courses at three different local campuses in sociology, auto mechanics, and Spanish. They were featured on the front cover of this week’s Oakland Post. (The current issue is not yet on-line, but you might want to check back at www.postnewsgroup.com later.)

I’m planning on putting together a photo album to compliment this blog. I’ll start with picture from graduation, so check back soon.

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Dennis' transition begins


I would rather be out on the bike on this SUNday than in the Mac store, but the fact that I'm getting a new iBook for free (finally after 3 previous logic board deaths) makes this worth while. I'm killing time by setting up this blog, so I have a place to keep folks (that's you) up-to-date on my adventures (without flooding your email).

Here's the current Tour de Dennis plans...

June 17... the first Oasis High Schooler's graduation!
June 30... my last day of work
Early July... driving East
July 9 - 24 Superweek!
Late July (and a few days during Superweek) visiting family and friends in Grand Rapids
August... return trip West
September 3... Fly to Trinidad
September 15 - 19 Tobago International Cycling Classic
Late September - November 30... Venezuela!

more to come!