Talking to High School Students

As we were setting up the bike and kiosk, we attracted the attention of a group of high school kids having their lunch. They are from the Lighthouse Charter School located a few blocks from City Hall. They take their lunch at the plaza everyday. At first the kids were shy about writing their responses, but soon they came over to the trailer to look at the map. Then their teacher followed, and they had an impromptu geography lesson. When the teacher asked what you can use if don't know 'north', 'south', 'east' and 'west', one of the girls coyly, "My daddy! He knows everything!" The teacher looked chagrined and said, "No, the sun!" Most of the kids are from East Oakland. A few of them warned us: "Don't go riding there---it's dangerous!" Here are some of their drawings: (To see all of the drawings we collected today, click on the flickr on the right side of the page.)