High school seniors! Now that your college applications are complete, do you need help completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid? Scholarmatch is holding hours for FAFSA help on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 5:30PM, starting Thursday, January 12th, and running through Thursday, March 1st. We’re offering this free service for students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch, and who currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area counties.

Students must e-mail us at generalquestions@scholarmatch.org or call us at 415-652-2766 one day before they plan to come. Help is also available in Spanish for parents or students. They are located at 849 Valencia Street in San Francisco and hold regular office hours Monday-Friday from 12PM-5PM (or by appointment).

Below is the schedule for FAFSA workshops, free for any high school senior from any high school, you will be assisted with filling out your FAFSA and be able ask questions if you’re confused. (The workshops for 1/14,  1/21 and 1/28 are private, but any student from any school may attend the other workshops)

GirlVentures, a non-profit organization based in the Women’s Building, is currently recruiting girls for their after-school program called Girlz Climb On. This program pairs girls (grades 6-9) with an adult female mentor – they climb, laugh & learn together once a week for ten weeks at Mission Cliffs Climbing Gym (Harrison @ 19th Street). All girls are encouraged to apply (no experience necessary and scholarships are available).

The program begins with a one-day ropes course experience and culminates with a weekend day outing to Castle Rock State Park (where girls get to climb outdoors on real rock). For the ten weeks girls climb one-on-one with their own personal mentor, learning not only climbing skills and techniques but also discovering their strengths and talents through a range of verbal, physical and creative self-expression activities.

Core to our success and unique to GirlVentures is our commitment to bringing together girls from diverse ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds. 2/3s of our participants receive financial aid for our courses. Scholarships are offered on a first come, first serve basis – so please apply early. Visit our website for more information and to apply: http://girlventures.org/our-programs/school-year/girlz-climb-on/

Spring 2011 Dates

January 28th – High Ropes course - 9am-4pm

January 30th – First day of program (at Mission Cliffs Climbing Gym) – 4:30pm-7:15pm  10 consecutive weekly meetings at the gym

April 7th – Outdoor Climb at Castle Rock State Park - 8am-6pm

Quotes from past participants:

What did you like about being in a program with all girls?

“Being in a program with all girls made me more comfortable in expressing my feelings” (GCO Spring ’11 participant)

“If its all girls i find it easier to express my opinions and overall just feel more comfortable” (GCO Fall ’10 participant)

How would you describe GCO? 

“A place where girls get to be themselves, rock climb, and hang out with other girls” (GCO Spring ’11 participant)

What did you like about GCO?

“Getting to climb every monday and having a mentor. Being in a comfortable environment where I feel confident to step out of my comfort zone and do new things” (GCO Fall ’10 participant)

Why just Girls?

GirlVentures was founded on the belief that every girl has natural strengths that will help her develop into a healthy woman. Investing in girls—particularly in the critical pre-adolescent phase by encouraging them to stretch beyond their comfort zone and explore new physical and creative activities that nurture and exercise their strengths—can provide a lasting impact that girls carry with them throughout their teenage years. At GirlVentures, we encourage physical and creative risk-taking in a safe and supportive environment.

Through our single gender programs we provide our girls with opportunities to: 1) experience physical success; 2) express creativity; 3) celebrate girls’ diverse identities; 4) practice group decision-making and problem solving; 5) develop community responsibility; 6) engage in healthy conflict resolution; and, 7) cultivate a sense of appreciation and stewardship for nature and the environment.

Census information is used to decide many things including how to redraw district borders. A task force has already been established: San Francisco Redistricting Task Force.

Redrawing district boundaries is a delicate subject since it can alter or shift power in the city. Changing lines may split solidified communities and merge them with others.

Special Project coordinator Carlo De La Cruz (via San Francisco Examiner) further explains, “We’re simply trying to ensure that the voice of our community members are not diluted by lumping them together with other communities that do not share their working-class background.”

Larry Del Carlo, President and CEO of the Mission Housing says that Centro del Pueblo is a non-profit in District 6 that has helped the Mission community in District 9. Around the time of the 2000 U.S Census, district lines were redrawn, separating what he calls “North Mission” (the area around in between Mission & 14th to Mission and 18th) from the rest of the Mission. Carlo says,”We feel like the mission got divided geographically” and points out that District 9 lost 7,000 people as a result of redrawing the District lines.

To follow the progress and participate. Follow the work at The San Francisco Redistricting Task Force.

It is an event that grew out of student interest in learning more about the perspectives, aspirations, and experiences of women in our society, and how women can create social change.

This year’s conference is designed for college students from across the Bay Area and will focus on women’s leadership roles in both personal and public spaces, paying particular attention to the work of women in the political sphere in this presidential election year.

The conference is organized around the celebration of International Women’s Day, which originated at the turn of the twentieth century and is currently celebrated in over 100 countries.

Their use of “Wo/men” developed out of their mission to be an inclusive community. The conference invites women and men to explore the influences of race, class, gender, sexuality, personal identity and social constructs in our society. The conference welcomes students, activists, faculty and community members. Participants: 130 college students from across the Bay Area

Workshops: They are looking for individuals and groups to facilitate 70-minute interactive workshops and 20-minute information sessions.

A Workshop Proposal Form is attached and can also be found on their Conference Website:
http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/events/womens-conference-2012

The Program will be held at 944 Market St, steps away from the Powell BART station. Sessions will be held Fridays from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm for 14 consecutive weeks starting mid-January.  Babysitting is available with some limitations. Prizes and incentives will be awarded throughout the 14 weeks, $50 gift cards will be awarded to each graduating family and there is a family meal at every session. To participate families must be: San Francisco residents, willing to commit to a 14-week program and participating youth must be ages 12-16 years old.

If you would like more information please call Pedro at 415-296-9900 for program details. Click here for the program flyer.

Ed Lee won with roughly 30% of the vote, while John Avalos and Dennis Herrera trailed behind with 18% and 11% respectively. For the first time San Franciscans voted for their mayor in a ranked-choice format.

Proposition results:

Prop A: School Bonds — Passed
Prop B: Road Repaving and Street Safety Bonds — Passed
Prop C: City Pension and Health Care Benefits — Passed
Prop D: City Pension Benefits — Rejected
Prop E: Amending or Repealing Legislative Initiative Ordinances — Rejected
Prop F: Campaign Consultant Ordinance — Rejected
Prop G: Sales Tax — Rejected
Prop H – School District Student Assignment — Passed

Clean energy supporters in San Francisco can breathe a little easier. CleanPowerSF, the long-awaited renewable energy alternative to PG&E’s electric generation, if passed by the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor, would roll out in mid 2012 and grant all San Franciscans access to greener energy, increased consumer protections and local control, and the ability to choose between energy service suppliers.

The program allows San Franciscans to live and operate in significantly greener ways with little effort. As San Francisco’s custom-tailored Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program, CleanPowerSF takes on the task of acquiring renewable energy so that individual households and businesses are not burdened with the costs and complexities of the alternative energy market. It also propels the City toward a more aggressive renewable energy goal: CleanPowerSF will be100 percent green at the start of the program while costs to electric bill will be slightly more costly than PG&E. Another key component of the program increased conservation and energy efficiency efforts.

San Francisco, along with Marin County, which has a CCA program (Marin Clean Energy), can be models for other local governments that seek community-based decision-making when it comes to energy generation.

How it will work

See an animated presentation about how CleanPowerSF works here: cleanpowersf.org/media/cleanpowersf-in-a-nutshell/).

CleanPowerSF will be administered by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), the City’s water, sewer, and municipal power utility. The SFPUC has a long, successful history supplying San Francisco with essential public services. The SFPUC already generates approximately 20 percent of the city’s energy needs through renewable resources such as solar power and hydropower that produce zero greenhouse gas emissions.

CleanPowerSF will have minimal impact on how customers currently receive their electricity and bills. Unlike a full public power system, PG&E will continue to own and operate the electrical grid in the city and distribute electricity to residents and businesses. San Franciscans will not have to go out of their way to be part of the municipal energy program, and PG&E will continue to send customers monthly bills. The difference is that the generation line-item component of the bill will now come from CleanPowerSF. Customers will not perceive a change in their daily electricity service but will be receiving cleaner, more renewable energy.

CleanPowerSF will not affect taxes, as the program will be self-funded: The money that customers currently pay to PG&E for energy generation will now fund CleanPowerSF and more renewable energy resources. Individuals and businesses who do not wish to be part of the program will not have to contribute any money to it.

Benefits of CleanPowerSF

Cleaner, more renewable energy. CCA programs allow cities and counties to pool their citizens’ purchasing power to buy electricity. Thus, CleanPowerSF will provide San Franciscans with tangible environmental and consumer benefits that are difficult for individual households and businesses to obtain. There will be a 100% renewable energy at start of the program far exceeds the state’s minimum renewable energy requirements—and is significantly greener than PG&E’s current energy which is generated from nuclear, coal, natural gas, and other sources. In fact, PG&E has not met state laws which require that 20% of the energy they provide come from renewable sources by this year. According to PG&E’s website PGE’s energy mix for 2010 was 24% Nuclear, 25% Natural Gas/Fossil, 18% Unspecified Sources, 17% Large Hydroelectric, 16% Eligible Renewable.

Consumer protections and choice. CleanPowerSF aims to inject an element of competition into San Francisco’s energy markets by giving consumers an alternative choice to PG&E’s energy generation—a choice where none currently exists. Increased competition can help mitigate the risks of a monopolistic market, such as high prices, limited regulation, disincentives to innovation, and ultimately lower-grade products. After years of being told by PG&E what is and is not possible, San Francisco has an opportunity to craft an environmentally-sound energy generation system that better aligns with its role as a national leader and a system that will provide for public participation in determining which technologies will be used to meet local electricity needs.

Long-term price stability and energy independence. CleanPowerSF will add a premium to your current bill based on how much electricity you use but renewable energy resources such as solar and wind never run out, which translates into long-term price stability for San Franciscans. Community investment in renewable energy generation will provide a natural hedge against increases and instabilities in future fossil fuel costs. (When blackouts rolled across California during the energy crisis of 2000 and 2001, self-governing municipal utilities fared much better than PG&E and other investor-owned utilities. Ironically, PG&E ended up filing bankruptcy, and customers are still paying off their debt.)

Local benefits from local control. With a long-term goal to build renewable energy generating facilities, CleanPowerSF will create green jobs to bolster San Francisco’s economy. As a not-for-profit public service, the program will be committed to establishing energy efficiency and education programs that go beyond minimum requirements. Local control also means that future energy decisions can be made with the people of San Francisco’s best interests in mind, rather than investor interests.

Environmental equity. Historically, low-income and minority communities have borne the brunt of pollution generated by power plants within the city. The Bayview Hunter’s Point neighborhood recently won its battle to close the Potrero Power Plant; investing in clean energy sources will help ensure that disadvantaged communities will not have to fight such battles again. More importantly, CleanPowerSF will give San Franciscans universal access to clean energy and low-income discounts will still apply.

Current status

The SFPUC is finalizing the terms of the program. In the meantime, SFPUC in conjunction with the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), under the direction of Chair David Campos (District 9), has embarked on a citywide public education campaign so San Franciscans can fully understand CleanPowerSF and make an informed decision to stay with the program when it rolls out.  The term sheet, which provides the template for the final contract, has passed the joint LAFCO/SFPUC Commission.

For more information and updates on CleanPowerSF, or to request a presentation for your organization, email cleanpowersf@sfwater.org or call (415) 554-3289. Also, stay engaged online at http://CleanPowerSF.org, www.facebook.com/CleanPowerSF, or www.twitter.com/CleanPowerSF.

San Franciscans will see no change when they flip on a light switch or plug in their appliances. PG&E will continue to own and operate the electrical grid in the city and provide billing services for customers. However, CleanPowerSF will provide consumers with two things that PG&E’s energy generation currently lacks—long-term rate stability and a hundred percent clean energy. CleanPowerSF is the best opportunity for our City to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, invest in local renewable energy and efficiency, and make San Francisco a healthier place to live and work.

Schools in the Mission and surrounding districts are invited to host tables and talk to 4th and 5th grade families.

For any questions contact Reth Meas at rmeas@kidsclub.org or call 415.983.9305

Click here for the flyer

Click here for the English flyer

Click here for the Spanish flyer