Bronwyn Harris, Author

This guest blog is written by my friend "Walter" (he chose the pseudonym, not me!) who has been involved with the two boys I've been writing about for several years now. I have known the boys for four years now. I met them through the author of this blog when we took them to the Exploratorium one da y - that was the first time I had ever met them. The kids were very polite and very cautious at first. They didn't go far from us and watched us the whole time until we got to the Exploratorium and they started running around and playing with stuff. Then they started to loosen up and have fun. By the end of the day that first day, they were smiling and having fun; getting to be kids. It was really neat to see them getting to be children. I was hooked. I said, "OK, we need to do this again. You guys had a good time, I had fun." Once they got to put off the hard exterior and be kids, I really loved who they were and that they got to be children. I wante...

Some of the questions the littler boy has asked me. He's never been to camp; before and is a little nervous. Do they have toilet paper? Can I only go for one day? Can I bring my DVD player? Can I skip camp so I can watch my TV program? Will they feed me? Do they have Gatorade? Are there girls? Can I bring a chair? Can I use your sleeping bag? Does my brother have to go? Are there bears?

That's the nickname of the younger kid I've been working with, "Luis." He's been going to the science day camp program at Chabot Space and Science center , and it is incredible. He wasn't sure he wanted to go last week, and his brother totally flaked out. Poison Oak, however (it's fun to type that) made it, although a day late. He had a stomachache on Monday, which I suspect was an excuse to not try something new/nervousness. On Tuesday, he was really nervous but he went. When I picked him up, he talked the whole way home about how much he loved it and how he couldn't even imagine being mad because he was so happy. On Thursday, Luis told me he wanted to go again next week. I told him that we didn't have the money (my friend and I paid for half of the camp and Chabot gave him a scholarship for the other half) but that he could go next year. However, the next day, the director offered to transfer the amount paid for his brother so that Luis c...

I promised I'd include a link to the trip to DC that was taken by my new favorite middle school in the district. Sounds like it was a great experience for everyone involved!

... when taking a class to the Hall of Health in Berkeley for a field trip. 1. They will call it the Hall of Hell and aren't trying to be funny, they just didn't hear the "th" at the end. 2. Make sure the staff -- who are really quite wonderful -- cover up the reproductive system display. Third graders are not mature enough for that display. Neither are their chaperones. 3. When a kid says -- looking at the picture of an exploded meth lab for the display on how drugs hurt your body -- that that's his uncle's apartment, believe him. He's right.

First of all, Stephanie is in Europe at this very moment! She is probably the only kid on the trip whose daddy couldn't just write a $4500 check for the trips, judging by the surprised response I got from the agency when I asked about fundraising possibilities. But I don't think she will care. Her dad deserves some serious credit for working double and triple shifts to get her there, and my friends who donated money are pretty awesome too. I'm excited to hear how it has gone. Secondly, Oakland's middle schoolers created a poetry anthology that has been made into a real book and is for sale at the Barnes and Noble in Oakland on Saturday, April 12. I think it will be a very interesting read.

Happy New Year! If you can't read his headgear, the dog is also wishing you a happy New Year. I chaperoned a field trip right before Christmas - we took the kids to the Nutcracker . I was thrilled to not be the person actually in charge, so it was a fun day for me! Trips are much more fun when I'm not the one in charge of figuring out how we're going to get there, pay for it, not kill each other, and get home with everyone still in the group. The principal started off by being his charming self. Mrs. Dwyer set up the field trip and got people to donate the tickets as well as their time - she actually got enough drivers to take the whole class downtown. The teacher was very organized about getting everyone into the correct cars and keeping track of everyone. Mine was the second to last car to leave. As we were getting into my car, I saw the principal come over and talk to the teacher. Apparently he told her that he hadn't approved the field trip. Good timing, d...

I want to tell the story of taking kids to the Nutcracker but I am too tired tonight, so I'll do it soon. In the meantime, I have gotten several questions about why the name of the blog is "Being Light Skinded" and if I haven't misspelled "Skinned." You'll find the answer here . More stories coming soon, I promise. I have some good ones!

To continue the BART stories: When we'd get on BART to go wherever we were going, the kids were actually usually on their best behavior. They would occasionally yell things like, "Let that lady sit down, she's old!" that you wish they wouldn't yell, but it really did show that they meant well. One of their favorite games was to pick up discarded newspapers and pretend to read them. Sometimes they'd really read them, but usually they didn't want to put that much effort into it. If I asked them what they were doing, they'd let me know that they were playing businessman. To them, that's what businessmen (and no, it was never businesswomen) did. They read newspapers on BART. Once, one of them told me that she was looking for a new job for me, so that I could "have a better job." We met some real businessmen on BART once, and it turned out that they were even BART businessmen. They were BART executives who rode BART periodically to see ...

Today, we're going to talk about BART - Bay Area Rapid [not really] Transit. I think BART is great; I just don't think the rapid part should be in there because it's a lie. We often took BART on field trips. It was very convenient, because the school was not far from one of the stations. All right, it was about 3/4 of a mile, which was - for children completely unaccustomed to exercise - pretty far. And usually the chaperones were also unaccustomed to exercise. So the walk could actually get kind of long. Kids are funny: they whined and whined about their feet hurting, and the minute I said, "Run to the corner," they ran as fast as they could. Before going on any field trip, we had a very serious talk about behavior. We talked about how the students were expected to behave on the BART or bus, as well as on the way there. Some points that were always covered were to stay with the group, not get ahead of the teacher, and not to run two at a time through the ...

Stephanie 's dad called me yesterday to let me know that she got a 4.0 in her first trimester of 7th grade and to thank everyone who is helping her get to the leadership forum in Europe by donating... specific thanks to Doug, Lindsay, Chris, Lynn, Carrie & Jason, Laura, and Alex (and some others who wish to remain anonymous. You guys are awesome and every little bit helps! This is a girl who will NOT waste the experience - she's amazing. One person expressed concern that the organization does not set up an easy tax-deductible way to fundraise - I think, honestly, it's because most of the kids don't have to raise funds. I think the fast majority of them just have their parents write a $4500 check and they're off. Stephanie's dad is taking extra fights (professional boxer) and working tons of extra shifts to try to pay for this, which is why I'm trying to get people to help. If you are someone who has always wanted to help public education and doesn...

In honor of my students from last year (who are going on a field trip today and invited me... sadly, I couldn't go), I thought I'd put up a piece of writing by one of the kids last year. This is "Our Field Trip to the Zoo." Watch out for dangerous chipmunks! When we got to the zoo what I had did was since the zoo wasn't opening yet, we had went to the little park down by the zoo. Then when the zoo was opening we had went in. Then we had put our lunches on the bench. Then we played on the spider web. Then I had saw three crocodiles and two turtles. Then we had went and saw two tigers in their cave. Then we saw lot of giraffes and goats and a little bit of birds. We saw three elephants one was looking at us for kind of a long time. Then we saw some monkeys and some birds. Then we had saw the lion. Then we saw camouflaged big pigs. Then we saw this dangerous chipmunk. We had went to the petting zoo last but not least we had went back to the little park...

This is the lovely lady you'd be helping get to a leadership conference in Europe if you want to donate some money (any little bit helps). Yes, I have her dad's permission to put this picture up.

If you want to help her out - please make a check out to "People to People" and send it to me (email me or leave a comment and I'll send you my address). I'll get it to her. Tomorrow I'll put up her picture (with her dad's permission) and a copy of the letter that the leadership forum sent her so you can see that this is for real... She really is wonderful if you want to do something good with some of your money. Hi, my name is Stephanie and I am in the 7th grade. I go to one of the new smaller schools in Oakland called Coliseum College Prep Academy and I'm a straight A student at the school because of the help off some of my previous teachers and my family. Some of my teachers that were helpful to me during this were Ms. Harris, my third grade teacher, Ms. Smith, my fifth grade teacher, Ms. Cofield and Ms. Knole my 6th grade teachers and my principal Mr. Townsend. I have two brothers and one sister. My brothers are 18 and 6 and my sister is 4. My fa...

Some of you remember (and some of you helped!) Stephanie trying to raise money to go to the People to People Leadership Conference for middle schoolers in April in Washington DC. She went, and she's been invited to go to one next year in Paris and London! I don't think I need to point out how exciting it is for a kid from East Oakland to be invited to this kind of thing - many of them never leave their neighborhood, much less their country. She's a talented, creative, intelligent girl who really does exhibit leadership skills. Hi, my name is Stephanie. I'm 12 years old and in the 7th grade. I have been chosen to go to a People to People World Leadership Forum in Paris and London. I went to one last year in Washington DC. It was very fun and educating. I learned a lot about our government and our country's history. I also got to see a lot of interesting statues, monuments, and a lot of historical sites. For me to participate in this forum, I will need $4200....

Our incredible volunteer, Kathy Dwyer , did it again! Along with Ann Katz of the Children's Book Project, she set up a wonderful field trip for us. And the kids got to see Marin County for the first time in their lives. Meet Blackie the horse: (from www.blackiethehorse.org ) Who was Blackie? For 28 years you couldn’t leave or return to Belvedere or Tiburon, California, without passing a swaybacked horse named Blackie. A cavalry horse in his youth, Blackie later became a cutting horse at rodeos, appearing in the Salinas, California, rodeo although his owner, Anthony Connell, doesn’t remember the year. He was retired to a private pasture at the corner of Tiburon Boulevard and Trestle Glen Road when he was 12 years old. Mr. Connell visited him daily, as did children and adults alike who could be seen regularly feeding Blackie apples, carrots, and sugar cubes. Those who lived in the area when Blackie was alive considered him as belonging to everyone. In spite of his age and swaybacked ...

Yes, the photos below are of the gecko eating his peeling skin. He doesn't have problems; all leopard geckos eat the skin that they shed, both because it has nutrients and as a way to hide evidence of their existence from predators. He pulls it off with his little teeny tiny teeth and eats it. The other random photos of reptiles scattered around amongst the posts are from a program, in which Owen of the East Bay Vivarium came and showed the kids a bunch of reptiles, and a few centipedes, millipedes, tarantulas, and amphibians. It was pretty awesome.

Stephanie is going to the People to People Forum next month. She sent me this email (she had a couple supporters in readers of this blog, so I thought I'd share). I'll have her write a little entry when she gets back. It couldn't happen to a better girl! The girl is smart, friendly but by no means a pushover, a natural leader... really, I just can't say enough good things about her! It's almost time for my trip. I'm so excited to go because I have never been out of state before.Thank you for the card. I have not been on the computer for a while so I have not had time to write. I maybe able to come see you & Ms.Smith on the 6th before my trip.I'll send you & her a post card from Washington. Getting late gotta go. From, Stephanie

Totally just realized that science with Dr. Suzy didn't make it on the blog because I was slow in getting the pictures. I'll do that soon because it was AWESOME! In other errors, for some reason, the butterflies posted down under a few other posts, so make sure you see the cool pictures. Warren and his super-zoom lens get credit for all the photos. Speaking of Warren, he's been a great volunteer this year. Besides Science with Mr. Smith and the butterfly field trip, he has come a number of times to help with math. (Even though the first time he was there this year, he got accosted by an administrator in the hall and asked - not so nicely - who he was and what he was doing at the school. After he had signed in and gone through all the necessary paperwork. Right. And we wonder why we don't have volunteers). Each time he comes, he takes about three kids at a time and goes through word problems or new math procedures with them; things that are too complex to be tau...

It was a crazy field trip full of misdirections to the library, kids who want to run in front of cars, and other third grade hazards. But look at the beautiful butterflies that come to two trees in one golf course in San Leandro each year! (Warren gets credit for the photos)