Jamestown Programmatic Update Fall 2020

Jamestown Community Center is pleased to share our top priorities for the 2020-21 school year. With the implementation of online learning at all San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are focused on the well being and academic growth of our students during this challenging time. In the past few months we have been diligently working to serve our families and ensure all of their needs are met. These are just some of the initiatives we have been implementing:

Cesar Chavez Elementary students show off their art.

• Over the summer, we supported 126 families with income relief through the Cesar Chavez Go Fund Me campaign and the San Francisco Family Relief Fund.

• Through our affiliation with the Latino Task Force we have been supporting food distribution, sharing informational resources and COVID-19 test sites in the Mission and Excelsior districts as we face unprecedented crises related to the pandemic.

• We are collaborating with school sites to connect students to internet access and devices, while also providing school day support working with teachers, tutors, and students to continue to improve literacy and social-emotional development.

• With the cancellation of Fall soccer, the Sports team has been working diligently to provide quality programming based on the needs and interest of the families and coaching staff. The sports team will be piloting one OST (Out of School Time) pod of approximately 14 youth in the Mission District focusing on physical activity and individual soccer development. The pilot program will be observed closely and follow the safety guidelines set forth by the SF Dept. of Public Health. In addition, Metas Para Atletas - a virtual training program that consist of weekly challenges that allow youth to learn new exercises, stay active and build soccer skills in the comfort of their homes will relaunch next month.

• Starting September 14th we will be hosting a Community Education Hub in collaboration with 826 Valencia and DCYF to serve 12 of our most vulnerable students, so they can maintain a healthy level of learning.

• Strengthening Families Program (SFP) begins this fall. This is a 14-week program where youth and their guardians will learn about communication, listening, respect, setting expectations, and personal responsibility as tools to build healthier family dynamics. All SFP facilitators attend Trauma-Informed Systems trainings funded and led by the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

• Loco Bloco will begin to deliver quality virtual Afro-Latino dance and drumming and stilt walking instruction to encourage our primarily Latinx students, to discover the connections, history, and politics behind the art they practice and strengthen their sense of identity and cultural pride. In addition, a team of Loco Bloco artists are currently working with the Zoo Labs artist accelerator program to craft a musical project and accompanying visuals to engage and celebrate the historic LB community in a new and profound way.

Please consider giving to Jamestown and help us continue our important work. We thank you for your continued love and support.

Presenting Loco Bloco's Carnaval 2020 Theme: From Roots to Reincarnation

Through our artistic expression, we will create:

An embodiment of the ancestral traditions & wisdom living in the land & carried in our spirit

An act of community healing from our ancestral trauma as our scars evolve into adornments of empowerment
A reclaiming of our strength, power & voice as we transform our vision for our collective future

Join us March 7th at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 School for our Spring Resource and Carnaval Registration Fair 11am - 2pm. If you want to get involved before this, join us every Monday at Brava Theater for our Free Community Drum and Dance Classes 5 - 6:15pm. Stay updated on all things Loco Bloco by following on Facebook and Instagram.

Loco Bloco Presents - Back Of The Bus: A 14-Mission Love Story

Loco Bloco is looking forward to a wonderful ride this year after taking home the First Place Overall prize in 2018’s Carnaval San Francisco -- Loco Bloco and The Jamestown Community Center are proud to announce our 2019 theme, BACK OF THE BUS: A 14-Mission Love Story.

We’re taking a trip down memory lane, back to the early Mission days and that one ride we always could depend on: the 14-Mission bus. Back to the days of bumping beats on a ghetto blaster and throwing a freestyle way in the back, we'll bring together the years of memories through hip hop, drumming and familiar recorded samples that are sure to evoke a sense of nostalgia.

This theme, selected by our Youth Artivists, celebrates the youth, families and laborers whose method of migration through the City is the 14-Mission bus. We honor their perseverance to maintain a tight grip and keep their feet firmly balanced as they roll through a city rapidly changing around them. The back of the bus has formed communities, birthed movements and inspired music and art. It has become a symbol for resistance and solidarity.

As an organization, we are excited to bring this time capsule to life with our amazing community of families and students from our after school program. Every year our contingent team of families, artivists and community members come together to create new memories as we celebrate past ones made in the Back Of The Bus. Please join us!

*Rehearsals for our Main Bateria & Dance sections begin Monday Jan 7, 5pm-6:15pm at Brava Theater - For Ages 11-24
*Registration for our Full Contingent (ages 3-24 & families) begins Sat., March 23 at our Orientation & Resource Fair at James Lick Middle School

Please spread the word & join us in getting down in the streets of La Misión. Join the contingent and come to our rehearsals!
Artwork by the Mission’s own @chrystianguillermo