Updates 4/11-We successfully returned from our trip and are hard at work putting together all of the information we gathered. A big thank you to everyone who welcomed us with open arms and let them into their lives, especially Eva and family in New Orleans and Ms. Wilson and her students and families at MGM High in Semmes, AL! In the meantime, check out our pictures, which are linked on the itinerary page, as well as some reflections.  Six students and four teachers from Oakland Unity High School, a public charter school in East Oakland, will travel to the Gulf Coast for six days in late March. Daniel Zarazua, social science teacher, and Lillian Hsu, journalism teacher, spearheaded the trip to New Orleans, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; and parts of Mississippi to complement what students are learning in their respective classes. Students will experience first-hand what they have learned in their government class about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and will practice the interviewing and reporting skills developed in their journalism class. Students will work in two three-member teams to produce two digital documentary films. One film will examine the tensions that have emerged between long-time African-American residents of New Orleans and recently arrived Latino immigrants who found work in post-Katrina clean-up. Another will explore how culture and environment have shaped the college and career aspirations of students at Mary G. Montgomery High School in Semmes, Alabama. When they return, students will edit and share their documentaries with the east Oakland community. As part of this trip, the Unity students will also display their paintings in a joint art exhibition organized by Mary G. Montgomery art teacher Gloria Wilson and Oakland Unity High art teacher Jamie Treacy. Unity students will also spend a day shadowing Mary G. Montgomery High School students, who will host the Oakland students in their homes during their stay in Mobile. Itinerary.htmlReflections.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1

Oakland Unity High School (Unity) is an independent charter high school serving all students in Oakland. The school opened in the fall of 2003 and currently enrolls about 210 9th to 12th grade students.


Unity is a safe, high expectation/intensive support school with a rigorous curriculum that is responsive to the individual developmental and academic needs of students and allows them to achieve academic success and positive social/cultural development.