Several people shared inspiring words at our Groundbreaking Ceremony, but only one did so in song! Check out the video below of the TomKat Foundation's Kat Taylor singing "Sausage and Kale," her tribute to all that's good about The Center.

Here are Kat's lyrics:

​Sausage and Kale
(to the tune of “Ex’s and Oh’s” by Elle King)
 
Once upon a time we had a different tray
Filled with food so sketchy, we just threw it away
Hey, hey
But then there came a new day
 
Farmers and food service staff concocted a deal
More delicious local-grown ingredients steal
Our hearts
And make a brand new meal
 
Leafy greens, spices and tangerines
Jicama, tomatoes like we’ve never seen
Beans, meat, cheese of the un-processed kind
Fish tacos, chicken rice bowls - how you blow our mind
 
Sausage and k-a-ale
We wantcha
Antipasta, turkey Sriracha
And we won’t let go …
 
Salad bars and chicken sliders
How we love you
Healthy dressings are right above you
And we won’t let go …
 
Oh, no, no, no
 
Sausage and kale
 
Oh, yea, yea, yea

Groundbreaking Ceremony - April 7, 2016

Just before a group of Hoover Elementary students put their shovels in the dirt at the conclusion of our Groundbreaking Ceremony on April 7, OUSD Regional Community Engagement Specialist Charles Cole delivered this message to them: 

"With The Center, we're about to have a world-class building in West Oakland, and all of you students deserve it." 

We were so proud to celebrate this chapter of The Center's story, particularly with the students who will benefit, and we thank the more than 100 of you who attended the inspiring ceremony, including the morning's speakers:

Charles Cole, Regional Community Engagement Specialist
Kokomon Clottey, Attitudinal Healing
Jumoke Hinton-Hodge, Oakland Board of Education Director, District 3 
Darius Aikens, Student Director, Oakland Board of Education, Oakland NAACP Leader
Antwan Wilson, Superintendent, OUSD 
Jennifer LeBarre, Executive Director, Nutrition Services, OUSD
Zenobia Barlow, Executive Director, Center for Ecoliteracy and Measure J Co-Chair 
Ruth Woodruff, Parent, Oakland School Food Alliance and Measure J Co-Chair
Kat Taylor, Tomkat Foundation
Marcia Argyris, S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
Renia Webb, West Oakland resident, OUSD parent, Community Engagement Advisory Committee Member, Neighborhood Construction Liaison
Nayaa Lacy, West Oakland resident, Community Engagement Advisory Committee Member, Neighborhood Construction Liaison
David Silver, Director of Education, Office of the Mayor, City of Oakland

Check out a gallery of photos from the Groundbreaking Ceremony below!

On Saturday, February 27, the District held a Public Meeting to provide the community with information about the construction of The Center: Central Kitchen, Instructional Farm and Education Center. Below are the updates OUSD shared:

Construction Update, February 26
Our February 26 newsletter offers an update on the Construction activity expected at The Center over the next few weeks.  You can read the update here. For Spanish, click here.

For more information, please read our Construction FAQ:
• English
• Spanish

Peralta Colleges radio station KGPC recently covered the latest construction at The Center site: 
​
"On Tuesday morning, a bulldozer continued to demolish a school that was shut down by the state in 2004. But while demolitions often foretell upcoming condos, this lot has something better in store..."

Read and listen to the full story here!

Our January 29 newsletter offers an update on the construction activity expected at The Center over the next few weeks. You can read the update here.

"An ambitious plan by the Oakland Unified School District to build a $40 million central kitchen, instructional farm and education center at the corner of 29th and West streets in West Oakland will transform how school meals are made throughout Oakland.

One of the first of its kind in the nation, the 48,000 square-foot center will provide learning opportunities in the culinary arts and agricultural instruction, and help urban school kids learn where their fruits and vegetables come from and how food is prepared."

​Read the entire piece here!