Student blogger: Emily, 8th grader

Spark students will now share their apprenticeship experiences on our blog! Meet Emily, an eighth grader at Presidio Middle School who is currently learning about business, communications, marketing, and educational development with Liz Kroboth, product director at Socratic Technologies.

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I would be at a library probably on a Saturday after school. I will be meeting Liz, who communicates a lot with people and she does research on surveys and other research. Since we'll be working at the library, it will be quiet and peaceful. It will probably smell like books or old musty books. I love communicating with people and doing research. And this is why I picked this. I'm interested about meeting my apprentice teacher again and communicating with her. I get to do some research with her and she told me about how she dresses for her work. I'm most nervous about being with my apprenticeship teacher and I'm nervous about what I will be talking about when I'm with her.

On the first day, I will be working with apprentice teacher Liz at a library. We will be communicating a lot and sharing our interests. I won't be at her office since we will be working on Saturday.

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Keep posted for more blogs from our students and news about upcoming Discovery Nights!

Student blogger: Josh, 8th grader

Spark students will now share their apprenticeship experiences on our blog! Meet Josh, an 8th grader at Presidio Middle School who is learning all about the technical aspect of music production as he works with Hideki Yamashita at Pyramind.

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For the first day, I took the bus there.

As I walk off the bus, I feel relief. Humming a tune by mine, I walk off Geary towards the Mason Center. The studio is close by. One the way, I remember why I love the city. A mildly unpleasant smell reaches me, and I stop. Coincidentally, I'm outside the studio. I walk in, and Dex is waiting for me. His expression is unique, a bizarre mix of anticipation and discomfort. 

We greet, and he says, "I found a composer to talk to you."

"Great," I say, and he brings me into the "lab."

A man, somewhat overweight and pasty, smiles. He has a very thin smile, his discomfort is obvious. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to talking to him. An hour later, our time is up, and I leave. It is dark, and I feel glad my dad is there to pick me up. We pull onto Geary. The lights are all green. It's vaguely pretty, and a nice bit of symbolism. We go home.

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Keep posted for more blogs from our students! 

Student blogger: Gloria, 7th grader

Spark students will now share their apprenticeship experiences on our blog! Meet Gloria, a 7th grader at Presidio who is learning about nursing as she apprentices San Francisco General Hospital nurse Erica Eshoo.

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I imagine myself working in an old and brick clinic. I would meet up with Erica and she would introduce me to her coworkers. The place would smell like medicine or paperwork. I would be nervous that I might get lost on the way there (on the bus). I am excited about meeting new people and getting to work with something I am very interested about.

In the first day she would meet me outside over her office, then I would introduce myself properly. After that she would show me around the hospital and introduce me to her coworkers. After that she would bring me to her office and tell me some things about her job. Then we would work on a project together like maybe researching some medicines that are not tested on animals.

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Keep posted for more blogs from our students! In the meantime -- check out Sugar Rush recap & photos from Leanna Yip of the SF Appeal here!

Student blogger: Raul, 8th grader

Spark students are now sharing their apprenticeship experiences on our blog! Meet Raul, an 8th grader at Hoover Middle School in Redwood City who is now in his second semester at Spark. This term, he is learning all about law enforcement. 

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My experience at Spark has certainly turned out to be very influential to my life and well-being. What I learned from my apprenticeship is what it takes to have a career in law enforcement.

 

What I learned from this experience is that the police car has various features that a regular car does not. What I liked about the apprenticeship is that the career itself is both stable and interesting because I could get paid pretty well and its something that I really want to do in life. 

What I liked about the first week was the tour of the police station, because we saw the shooting range, briefing room and the old jail and so on. When we were actually patrolling the streets of Redwood City, I instantly knew that this was a career that I want to pursue. 

The second week was better than the first because the officer told me about the crime rate in Redwood City, which has dropped by 10% during the past 3 years. There was also more action the second week because there was one call where a guy was mad because one of his former friends was kicking and punching his car. Also, there was a call on a suspicious person walking back and forth around a building complex. 

One of my goals for Spark is to learn fluently about what a day in law enforcement would be like, how a police car works and how police officers are trained. In general, my experience in the Spark program has turned out to be a blissful one! 

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Keep posted for more posts from our students!

Student blogger: Leslie, 7th grader

Spark students will now share their apprenticeship experiences on our blog! Meet Hoover Middle School 7th grader Leslie, who is currently doing an apprenticeship with HIP Housing counselor Carolyn Moore.

Leslie's self-portrait!

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Why This Job: I feel that I’m really good in that, and I’ve chosen that throughout my hard child life. I’m good in getting into hearts even though I got an early age.

Why I’m excited: Finding out what are the first steps to do in a situation.

One thing that makes me nervous: If she’s going to be serious, and hard to talk to. I want my apprenticeship to be exciting and most of all really interesting and I also want to hear stories from the psychologist that may help me in my future. I also want my apprenticeship teacher to be excited to work with me because I’m excited and it would be cool when we’re both passing through the same emotions. I want my teacher to be full of fun stuff to do and especially to be my kindred spirit and finally talk to someone that has had the same goals as me.

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Keep posted for more posts from our students!

Spark in the News!

Spark is featured in SF Examiner!

"Every kid has a dream. The trick is empowering each child to live it."

-- Jodi Freedman, SF Tween Education Examiner

A middle school teacher for close to 20 years, SF Tween Education Examiner Jodi Freedman knows the importance of getting kids off on the right foot when it comes to education. Check out the article here!  

Kicking off Fall Semester

Fall semester has officially begun!

We're excited to work again with students at Hoover and Garfield middle schools in Redwood City and Presidio Middle School in San Francisco. This term, for the first time, we're also working with students at James Denman Middle School.

The Spark team has been hard at work -- let's take a look at what Fall Semester has in store for some of our students!

• Gino will be learning the ropes of stand-up comedy
• Kanani will shadow a photographer
• Maria will learn what it takes to be a jewelry designer
• Johnathan joins the rhythm section as he works with a drummer
• Fabiana shadows a dentist

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A couple of photos from our past semesters!

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This fall, some Spark students will also share their experiences on the Spark blog! Keep posted!