Oakland Local is looking for Oakland students who are computer literate, love to write and have deep ties to one or more Oakland communities to work as interns this Spring.

The Urban Teacher Leadership Program at CSU East Bay is designed for experienced, dedicated, locally developed urban educators.

Situated in Fruitvale Village, ARISE High School is a small charter with about 200 students. Last year, its graduating class boasted a 100-percent, four-year college acceptance rate.

This success didn't go unnoticed.

"Oakland knows how to open a library,"  California State Librarian Stacey Aldrich exclaimed this past Saturday when hundreds gathered to witness the grand opening of Oakland's newest library branch.

Who would’ve known that an inquisitive fifth grade Bulgarian girl, Zvedelina Stankova, would become so fascinated and enthralled by a math problem she couldn’t solve.

This will be the year that I learn to play the guitar.

While the Merritt College Environmental Management and Horticulture programs are helping students to work at the survival of the planet, the programs also are surviving the budget crunch.

"Twenty-ten" was an interesting year for Oakland.

Amidst rebellion and protest in the streets, the invasion of an occupying army of police in riot gear and senseless shootings on both sides of the law, there was actually quite a bit of hopeful positivity where arts, culture and entertainment was concerned.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are 10 things that Oakland Local believes helped improve Oakland’s cultural index in 2010.

“When I started breastfeeding, my great grandmother would sit across from me and sing what I was doing wrong,” explains actress ‘Rie Shontel, who is known as Anita Woodley offstage. 

Shontell transitions seamlessly into her great grandmother’s voice singing, “That’s not how you do it/You’re gonna kill that baby with that milk.” The first few minutes chatting with the journalist who grew up in Funktown on 13^th Avenue and East 17^th is filled with laughter. She share’s some of most memorable interactions with the woman who inspired “Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Image,” which shows Wednesday and Thursday - Dec. 29 and 30 - at the Black Dot Café in Oakland.

It’s no coincidence that the largest room at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul building is the dining room. In an organization where 1,000 meals are served a day, the poor are no longer just being fed, they are also learning to cook and become great chefs.

Four times a year the Society - or SVdP - on 23rd Avenue accepts 20 standout individuals dealing with various levels of distress into its culinary academy and job placement program. Twelve weeks, 400 instruction hours and 30 tests later, the Kitchen of Champions Culinary Academy graduates “lean, mean cooking machines.”

The class of December 2010 is no different.

Haven't got a thing to wear this holiday season? Street Style and Dream Seams Fashion Academy has just the thing.

This Wednesday, Dec. 8, a teen-created fashion art showcase will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Main Library's TeenZone, 125 14th St. in Oakland.

“Oakland is a leader,” said Susan L. Taylor. “Oakland is a cultural leader in the nation. So much of what happens throughout the nation begins in the Bay Area.”

That is why the Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Essence magazine and founder/CEO of National CARES Mentoring Movement decided to make Oakland the first pilot city for the movement's A New Way Forward Initiative. She did so with an introduction evening at the Oakland Convention Center Friday, followed by a weekend retreat in Santa Cruz.