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Berkeley Block: Stories from Down the Street
Our lives are full of routines. From when we wake up, to what we eat for breakfast, to our transportation from place to place. Whether you’re walking, driving, or biking, there are familiar streets to get you from point A to point B. in them? It’s a question reporter Noah Boustin pondered while riding Bus 72 down San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley. One day he got off the bus with a microphone in hand and decided to create a sound collage of small businesses and the unique stories behind them.
A bridge to a new kind of back-to-school experience
Ten-year-old Hemer Santiago Godinez likes to sing church songs as he walks eight blocks to his new middle school in East Oakland. Her music makes her relax. This year, Hemer felt a familiar dread as she started her sixth grade at a new school. When she first arrived in the US from Guatemala with her father, she was in her freshman year and was terrified of school. But her Hemer experience during her first year changed her and how she sees herself in the world. Students and parents across California are hoping for a more normal school year this year. However, the pandemic has resulted in an increase in depression, suicidal ideation, and anxiety among young people, and many students are still suffering. are investing billions of dollars in KQED’s girlfriend Julia McEvoy traced the money to her one school in Oakland and told us how the money was used to help children like her Hemer.