Good news in December

Our second issue of the Oaktown came off the press this week with 30 stories/features from 8 schools -- Oakland High, Castlemont/CBITS, Fremont/Mandela, McClymonds/EXCEL, Skyline, Fremont/Media Academy, Oakland Technical and Unity High. To date, more than 75 students have contributed to the newspaper. Almost all low-income students of color.

As of 7:41 p.m. on December 15, the Oaktown Teen Times is $273 away from fulfilling its Donors Choose grant, with a match from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation!

Those who wish to donate to this all-city newspaper, can send a check, payable to Oaktown Teen Times, c/o Media Alliance, 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 500, Oakland, CA 94612.

Check back with us soon on this blog as we hope to provide links to our updated newspaper website.

Donations Big and Small Will Be Matched!

Any donation made to the Oaktown Teen Times through DonorsChoose.org now through Dec. 6, 2009 will be matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Your donation through DonorsChoose is 100% tax-deductible. To donate this way, simply click on this link http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?keywords=urban+scholastic+newspaper&x=9&y=17

Donations may also be mailed directly to the Oaktown Teen Times, 574 48th Street #302, Oakland, CA 94609.

If you wish to receive a receipt for tax deduction purposes, please make checks payable to Media Alliance, our fiscal sponsor, and place "Oaktown Teen Times" in the memo.

Writers receive national attention

A half dozen stories by Oaktown Teen Times writers have gone national.

The stories were picked up for the national edition of http://www.my.hsj.org/, a Web site run by the American Society of New Editors that hosts nearly 3,000 school newspapers.

"Based on their quality and appeal to a broad teen readership. ... these selections [were chosen and] represent stories that were the most interesting or moving of the week," according to ASNE officials in charge of the teen journalism site.

Oakland stories chosen for the national edition were: "From zoo critters to cool fashion: Senior Projects break ground, develop talents," by Ellissia Hill, MetWest High; "Principal returns to school after 10-day suspension," by Isabel Rodriguez-Vega and Eugene W. Lau, Skyline High "Oakland Tech grad Rickey Henderson selected for baseball hall of fame," by Hiroyuki Ito, Oakland Tech "Oakland teens shocked by police killings," by Gabrielle Carbaloc, Karina Gonzalez, Brisa Padilla and Dolores Quintara, Unity High School, "'Watchmen' works and not just for comic fans," by Bradley Izaguirre, Unity High School and "BART shooting reveals community mistrust of cops," by Javier Panzar, Skyline High School.

OTT editors recognized by school board

Oaktown Teen Times editors Beatrice Motamedi and Lisa Shafer received recognition from the Oakland Unified School District board at a June 10 meeting.

District spokesman Troy Flint said that he had been impressed with the quality of reporting by student journalists as they gather news about the district.

OTT students win NFPW writing awards

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF PRESS WOMEN -- Bay Area winners

OTT writer Ronald Johnson of Media Academy won first place in features writing for "Oakland develops 'Great Debaters,'" a story on the inaugural year of the Bay Area Urban Debate League.

Another first place for OTT work went to the editorial board of the Skyline Oracle. Their editorial, "Blocking the web limits free speech," was reprinted in the February issue of the OTT. Students contributing to the editorial were Javier Panzar, Diamond Broussard, Sam Lubin and Isabel Rodriguez-Vega.

The Oaktown Teen Times also picked up a pair of third place prizes from NFPW. Emely Srimoukda of Media Academy won third for her news story, "Define Google: learning tool or off-limits?" And Alenna So of Oakland High won third for her column "Sadness, sorrow facts of life in Darfur."

Congratulations to all!