Sustainable Peralta

Oakland Green Jobs Corp students celebrate their graduation by raising their commemorative green hard hats. (photo courtesy Ella Baker Center)

200 hundred people, including Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Peralta Colleges Chancellor Elihu Harris, packed into Laney College’s Theatre at 4pm this afternoon to celebrate the graduation of the 1st class of the Oakland Green Jobs Corp, the first program of its kind in the world.

“You folks, all 35 of you, are the astronauts of the Green Jobs movement,” said Mayor Dellums to the graduates sitting next to him. “You have gone where no one else has gone, but where thousands of people will go. You folks on the cutting edge you are part of an elegant idea, fight poverty and fight pollution simultaneously.”

Laney College’s Career Technical Education programs provide classes in home energy efficiency, solar photovoltaic panel installation, electrical, carpentry, insulation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

The students received life- and job-skills training at the Cypress Mandela Training Center, based in West Oakland. Cypress Mandela also selected the first group of trainees from its on-going programs.

Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Growth Sector is working with regional green businesses to place graduates into full-time jobs. … continue reading »

Architect Sarah Mohd. Salleh designed arcologies for Kuala Lumpur that integrates housing and gardening in a naturally ventilated, small-footprint tower.

On Friday, May 1, I attended a workshop on “Sustainability and Curriculum” lead by Dr. Geoff Chase. The workshop opened my mind and eyes to a new reality. As a teacher, I know I am teaching students material to further their future goals. Most of my students take my class as a requirement, not as a major. The workshop brought out an important idea: I am teaching students to exist in a world that I will know nothing about. … continue reading »

Laney ESL Instructor Nikki Ellman rolls out of campus at the end of the day.

Nikki Ellman teaches ESL at Laney College, and she is one of the most devote bike commuters in the Peralta community. Two or three times a week, she hops on her mountain bike, complete with cargo toting panier bags, and rides 5 miles from her Berkeley home to Laney College. A full-time faculty member, Ms. Ellman has been biking to Laney for the past 10 years.

“It’s just really fun. I just can’t imagine commuting any other way,” says Ms. Ellman. “I only take my car when I have to be at Laney at 8am or when I’m leaving late in the day.” She also doesn’t ride during heavy rains, although drizzle is OK to ride in. She didn’t own a car until the age of 25. As she does today, she felt trapped in a machine.

… continue reading »