Over 200 participants walked together to places of worship of Abrahamic religions in Davis

On Sunday, Oct. 22, the Celebration of Abraham hosted an Interfaith Walk in Davis. Participants had the opportunity to learn about the three Abrahamic religions — Judaism, Islam and Christianity — as they walked to each place of worship. Participants enjoyed refreshments and snacks while learning about the common interests of the different religions.

The idea of the walk sprouted from members of the Congregation Bet Haverim, who recently visited Oxford, England and participated in a peace walk. They brought the idea to Rabbi Greg Wolfe, who then presented it to the Celebration of Abraham, and within a short couple of months, the idea became a reality.

“When some of the stuff happened this summer, I thought it would be a great idea to build solidarity and a nice opportunity to help people get to know each other in our community,” Wolfe said. “Each clergyman talked about their traditions, but the theme was what [do] our traditions say about living together with others who aren’t us, and how do we live in a society with lots of different religions.”

The day started at Bet Haverim, where everyone listened to Rabbi Wolfe speak about Judaism and the elements of the religion that promote a sense of community among all people of different faiths and backgrounds. People then made their way over to the Islamic Center of Davis, where Imam Amar Shahin echoed this theme of community in his talk. Finally, they ended the day at the Davis United Methodist Church as Reverend Brandon Austin concluded the event.

“I think people were very pleased with the experience of the walk and really having an opportunity with people that they don’t run into in their day-to-day experience,” Wolfe said. “It was really interesting to be able to break down some of the walls and even misperceptions.”

This generally positive feedback came from people of all backgrounds. Helen Roland, the president of the Celebration of Abraham, explained that approximately 250 participants took part in the event and helped make the event a success by bringing such a diverse array of backgrounds.

“There were people who were not from a particular religious tradition who came,” Roland said. “There were people who don’t identify as religious but came. So it was broader than just the three Abraham religions.”

Roland also noted that what was most interesting were the interactions between people as they walked together to each place of worship. People had the opportunity to interact with each other and learn from each other, which was a unique experience for everyone involved.

“I think when people don’t interact with each other and don’t see each other as people, it becomes easy for them to start thinking in stereotypes and start to presume things about people they don’t know, and it then makes it easy for people to build on fears,” Roland said. “And it leads to a degradation of the whole community.”

The day concluded with event-organizers giving participants the opportunity to donate to fire victims. As a result, they were able to raise $515, demonstrating the positive effects of efforts in community building.

“Especially nowadays, it seems that people have retreated into their various tribes,” said Mairaj Syed, a professor of religious studies at UC Davis. “People think, ‘I’m going to live by my tribe, and I’m going to die by my tribe.’ And there isn’t much communication between people who have found their tribe, so any kind of dialogue that crosses those boundaries is good in my opinion.”

The Celebration of Abraham is currently preparing for its annual January event, which it hopes will be particularly successful this year, due to the positive feedback from the community. The event, “Embodying Hope: A Call to Action,” will be held on Jan. 29 from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at the Saint James Catholic Church, located at 1275 B Street.

Written By: Hadya Amin — city@theaggie.org

Educators anticipate District’s decision toward a proposed educational initiative

For the past year, Sacramento teachers, students and parents have rallied for the acceptance of an educational initiative to make Sacramento a Destination District for California. The Board of Education’s rejection of the proposal moved educators and other Sacramento Unified School District faculty to approve a strike with 97.2 percent endorsement.

“It’s the last thing we want to do,” said Nate Starace, a social science teacher at C.K. McClatchy High School. “We get into teaching for the students, but the process has been so long. There’s been every opportunity to avoid a strike. At some point, you do have to take a stand.”

Proponents of the Destination District proposal call attention to the initiative’s potential to positively impact Sac City students and teachers. The Destination District plan proposes to lower class sizes, ensure credentialed educators for each classroom, improve psychologist- and nurse-to-student ratios, better resource special education programs and increase student accessibility to arts, music and physical education, among other district goals.

While the district has rejected the proposal on multiple occasions, citing financial stability concerns, the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) continues to point out that the district is more financially secure than it has ever been, making now the perfect time to fund the initiative. According to statements from the SCTA, the district’s reserves ballooned 320 percent over the past four years, reaching over $81 million. While the district continues to hire new administrators with increasing salaries, Sacramento has the lowest average salary for veteran teachers in comparison to all other California school districts.

In Calaveras County, teachers recently went on strike for four days before securing a deal with the Calaveras Unified School District to improve student and teacher prospects. In a statement released on Oct. 24, the Calaveras Unified Educators’ Association stated that a new contract with the district will help reduce class sizes, resolve school safety issues and alter teacher salary schedules in order to enhance recruitment and retainment of qualified educators.

David Fisher, the president of the SCTA and a teacher and parent of Sacramento students, equates the District’s rejection of the proposal on the grounds of financial stability concerns to financial misappropriation.

“This is what we say, ‘It’s great in your family — you should save for retirement. But not before you’ve fed your kids,’” Fisher said.

Sacramento educators will wait until Nov. 1 for the fact-finding panel to make a “non-binding recommendation, which either party can reject or accept.” SCTA members hope that the proceedings of the panel will negate the necessity for teachers to strike. However, with an overwhelming majority of educators in favor of a potential strike, a final rejection by the district would likely result in the closure of many Sacramento classrooms before a resettlement in favor of the Destination District proposal is reached.

Written by: Eliana Sisneros — city@theaggie.org

Promoting student transportation safety through survey, grant

Street Smarts, the City of Davis’ bicycle, pedestrian and car safety program, recently surveyed local grade-school parents for their input on Davis’ transportation system regarding how their children are getting to school.

The survey was administered by The National Center for Safe Routes to School, which uses the data to better understand how children are getting to school and if cities are doing their job in getting them there safely. According to Loretta Moore, the Street Smarts coordinator for the City of Davis, Street Smarts is funded by Safe Routes, a locally-based organization.

Street Smarts collects data on the various modes of student transportation in order to get a better sense of the overall distribution. This tally is conducted by the schools themselves and is then sent to Street Smarts.

“[The tally] is to both increase our knowledge about how students travel between home and school and to determine where changes need to be made,” said Seth LaJeunesse, a research associate at the National Center for Safe Routes to School. 

The parent survey is used to give parents a voice in their child’s transportation options and is offered in both English and Spanish.

“It’s encouraging to see a local organization attempting to get parents’ input in their children’s transportation options,” said Courtney Newton, a Davis resident and mother of two grade-school children. “These types of initiatives are what makes Davis one of the most walk-, bike- and transit-friendly cities in the country.”

According to the last tally in 2015, approximately 46 percent of grade-school students used green transportation (walking or biking) to get to and from school. This is much higher than the national average, which is 13 percent. Despite Davis’ “neighborhood-school” concept, about 50 percent of students still travel to and from school by car. Just 1 percent of grade-level students in Davis travel to school by transit.

“[Officials] anticipate interest and engagement in walking and biking among students to increase significantly for the foreseeable future,” LaJeunesse said.

Organizations and events such as Vision Zero and National Bike to School and Walk to School days and the emergence of community-level activity plans are dedicated to pedestrian and bike safety in cities across the world.

The tally and survey are being conducted in 18 Davis grade-schools: four private elementary schools, four public junior highs and 10 public elementary schools.

According to a press release from the city, the California Transportation Commission awarded the city a $3.54 million grant on Oct. 18 to design and construct a bicycle and pedestrian bridge connection between the Highway 40 multi-use path, which runs along East Olive Drive and the Pole Line Road overcrossing. 

The project emerged from the city’s recently completed Walk Bike Audit Report conducted by Street Smarts, which identified infrastructure safety needs for the City’s 14 elementary and four junior high schools. By doing so, Street Smarts hopes to improve student transportation options and their safety.

Written by: Dylan Svoboda — city@theaggie.org