For seven days, 36,000 Oakland public school students supported teachers by striking until a settlement was reached regarding their requests for higher wages.

Teachers on average in America gain about 58 thousand a year; that’s around $27.88 per hour (Niche). The cost of living in the Bay Area is not like it used to be, as “the average one-bedroom apartment in Oakland costs about $2,680 per month” (Campbell, Vox.com). Teachers requested a pay raise as they can no longer afford to live in the area at this rate; however, the school district had consistently delayed them.

How the strike affected the school district…

As 86 Oakland public schools went on strike, some students who didn’t attend their regular classes went to take classes elsewhere, attended rallies to further support their teachers, or just treated it like another school break. Oakland Unified has a “net loss of $1 million in state funding daily during the first four days of the strike, or a total of about $4 million, based on average daily attendance figures, according to the district” (Ruggiero, The East Bay Times).

What a parent had to say…

A parent, who allowed their child to strike with their teachers, said, “The Oakland teachers went on strike because they had been working without a contract for a year and a half…I believe the teachers have a very important job…If we don’t fund teachers and public schools, only the people with a lot of money will have access to a good education..” They went on to say, “the strike lasted over a week, so kids lost a lot of class time. I believe that it was still worth it, since we all learned by going through that experience. We learned about sociology-economics, politics, budgets, education, society, systems, culture, labor unions, history, equity.”

The contract…

A contract had been created after the strike ended. Oakland Unified agreed to a four year long contract that provides things such as “an 11 percent salary increase, a 3 percent bonus…smaller classes, more support staff and a five-month moratorium on school closures” (Harrington, Edsource.org). It may not be extremely much, but the teachers still got something out of this experience after all, as well as the students and parents.

The following graph shows how teachers wanted a 12 percent raise, but instead got an 11 percent raise and a one time 3 percent bonus (Green, KQED).

The parent claimed that, despite her child being away from school at the time of the strike, their grades remained the same; the experience for them was very worthwhile as it didn’t interfere with their overall learning experience. The parent continued to add that they felt “overall…the district responded in a positive way…but the contract failed [to give the teachers everything they wanted].” However, the parent thought that regardless, the protest was a success, since teachers “received most of what they were asking for.“

Sources:

Campbell, A. F. (2019, March 04). Oakland teachers return to class after 7-day strike. Here’s what they won – and lost. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/4/18249872/oakland-teachers-strike-pay-raise

Green, M. (2019, March 05). GRAPHIC: What Oakland Teachers Wanted Vs. What They Got. Retrieved fromhttps://www.kqed.org/news/11730668/graphic-what-oakland-teachers-wanted-vs-what-they-got

Harrington, T. (2019, March 03). After seven-day strike, Oakland teachers approve new contract. Retrieved from https://edsource.org/2019/tentative-agreement-reached-in-oakland-unified-teachers-strike/609342

Ruggiero, A. (2019, February 21). Oakland teachers’ strike: What parents need to know. Retrieved from https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/02/20/oakland-teachers-strike-what-parents-need-to-know/

Ruggiero, A. (2019, February 27). Oakland teachers strike: Where are the students? Retrieved from https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/02/26/oakland-teachers-strike-where-are-the-students/

Rocks hold all sorts of secrets. These secrets are materials used to create and build things. It’s amazing to think that most things out in space are just rocks of all shapes and sizes. Rocky planets are called “terrestrial planets”. In our solar system, there are only four terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. However, Earth is the only terrestrial planet in this solar system that harbors life. It’s interesting to imagine if other terrestrial planets out there in the universe could be habitable for us, or maybe other beings we are still unaware of. There’s a lot of unsolved mysteries in this world that probably won’t ever get close to the truth.

Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sky-space-milky-way-stars-110854/

Paper is one of my favorite things of all time. Without paper, I would of never been able to draw as a kid, and then art would probably never become a hobby of mine. Paper has many uses, such as creating important documents or creating art, or even for folding to create neat, miniature statues, also known as “origami”. Despite all of these uses for paper, it’s also something that covers our planet with so much pollution. Something we need to learn to do whenever is to recycle paper more often. If we have a bigger demand for paper due to recklessly throwing it away, then we can put trees in danger of getting cut down. Since paper is a common resource in our lives, please remember to take your paper with care.

Source: https://www.istockphoto.com/gb/illustrations/paper-airplane?mediatype=illustration&phrase=paper%20airplane&sort=mostpopular

Scissors are a very helpful tool. Two blades are connected together, which gives it’s user more accurate cuts than a single knife. There are all kinds of different scissors. Some are used for arts and crafting. The crafting blade can be shaped in various ways, like “zig-zagged” lines or wavy lines, to cut paper in unique styles. Some are used for cutting hair, and some are used for cutting food; there’s all sorts of scissors. An interesting kind are large scissors which are stronger and sharper than smaller ones; therefore, can be used for bigger projects, like cutting hedges in a garden. Something that I like about large scissors is that they also can be used to cut special ribbon during an event. It’s a special prop for all sorts of occasions. I don’t know what made us all get excited by just seeing a large pair of scissor being placed next to a large ribbon. Again, there’s a lot of mysteries in this world. Just be sure not to run with them!

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Source: https://www.cgstudio.com/3d-model/scissors-394908

Pets are great. Having one is like having another family member. Obtaining a pet comes in two different ways: shopping or adopting; adopting, however, is the better option. If you plan on getting a pet, there are various reasons why you should adopt and rescue one than going to a breeder to get a very specific kind of breed.

First off, there are breeding mills. Breeding mills are places that work in similar in ways like a factory. Animals in these mills are forced to mate with one another, continuously, and the living conditions are extremely unsafe and unbearable. Living conditions include: being forced to live their lives in small cages, poor hygiene, and even poor veterinary care. If the animal isn’t a newborn and is used for breeding, they are treated as machines; when they no longer can produce offspring they are usually killed or abandoned (ASPCA). If animals are spayed they will be in better health conditions than if they are not. Spaying can let your pet be more calmer as they are less likely to be in heat; this can make them more well behaved. “Spaying [also] helps prevent uterine infections and breast cancer, which is fatal in about 50 percent of dogs and 90 percent of cats” (ASPCA). Letting an animal to just breed at any opportunity possible is no way to let an animal live; buying from breeding mills supports corrupt activity like this. Animals are not objects, they have feelings just like we do, and they can suffer mental trauma and physical problems because of these kinds of experiences.

Secondly, animals that are in need of homes at shelters are set on a time limit. Shelters are overloaded with so many animals that they’ll eventually euthanize them if no one wants to adopt them. “For a dog, the shelter is an immediate sensory overload. A dizzying diversity of scents, sounds and strangers” (Cotroneo). The atmosphere of an animal shelter is scary, being in an unfamiliar place around unfamiliar people and scents. They will obviously act in ways that do not reflect their true self, and that can be considered very unattractive to those who want a happy and sweet, fun-loving pet right off the spot. The answer to this is, you’ll still get that sweet pet even if they look completely different in nature at the shelter, all you need to do is take a chance. “If your dog is old or an undesirable breed, you can expect him to be euthanized…Any sort of bully breed dog has very little chance of being adopted” (Cotroneo). There’s a common theme within animal shelters, specifically being chihuahuas and pit bulls. They are less desired than most other dog breeds. Despite how they look in an animal shelter their problems can more or less start by being in the shelter, and it doesn’t reflect how they’ll behave as a pet when they get to know you at your home. There are stereotypes on pit bulls being aggressive, and chihuahuas having a bad attitude; nevertheless, if you interact with one of them individually you may be pleasantly surprised that they can be just as affectionate as other dogs.

All the pets I’ve ever had were rescues. I never had a choice on how they looked, I just wanted to save them. They repaid me back by being apart of my family. Having a pet is an amazing thing. The experience of having a pet can keep you in touch of what it’s like having connections with others that aren’t solely human. It can teach you great lessons on how to properly support and take care of others. Pets can be also used in a therapeutic way to help you calm down when you need to relieve yourself of the stress from your daily life. These animals are dependent on YOU to give them a forever home filled with love and care; they cannot survive on their own and they all deserve great lives. Breeding mills continuously creates animals in need of being rescued instead of minimizing the problem. It does not matter if you prefer a certain breed, any animal will give you love if you love them back. Consider adopting at an animal shelter than going towards a breeder. If you can’t afford to take care of a pet, you can always try donating if it’s ever possible. I’d still recommend having a pet at least once in your life because in my opinion it can teach you very many valuable things. Thank you for reading.

Works Cited

ASCPA. “The Hallmarks of Cruel Breeding.” ASCPA. https://www.aspca.org/barred-from-love/puppy-mills-101/hallmarks-cruel-breeding. Accessed 30 Jan. 2019.

Cotroneo, Christian. “If Everyone Read This, The Shelters Would Be Empty.” TheDodo, 30 Dec. 2015,
https://www.thedodo.com/dog-shelter-guide-adoptions-1532460278.html. Accessed 30 Jan. 2019.

ASCPA. “Top 10 Reasons to Spay or Neuter Your Pet.” WebMD. https://pets.webmd.com/reasons-spay-neuter-pet. Accessed 30 Jan. 2019.

Hello, my name is Cameron, and I’m apart of the DGME 101 class. I’ve lived in California all my life and I’ve only been outside of it a few times. I enjoy video games and art. I take a huge pride in my hobby of art, and I plan on possibly becoming an Art major of some sort because of that hobby. I do a lot of digital art, and I’ve been experimenting with animation in the mean time. My preferred kind of media is the type of media where you can just blog. In my opinion a lot of super social media, where posts can just flow throughout everyone’s feed in an instant, are tiring for me, and I don’t spend a lot of time in it like I used to. I am semi-confident in my writing skills. Writing is another hobby of mine and I plan on improving my writing skills through this class. I enjoy these media classes because they also teach me about a lot things in the media I’ve been ignorant of for so long-every class time shows me something new and I am interested to see what many topics we will delve into! By the time I leave this class I hope that my writing skills are improved and less repetitive, and I hope I learn many new things about digital media.