March 5, 2007VOL. 45, NO. 5Oakland, CA

Failed furnace adds new challenges
for inner-city school

The fundraising candy box features seventh grader Mario Hernandez and second grader Yesenia Salcedo.

By Sharon Abercrombie
Staff writer

St. Anthony School in Oakland has a new dress code –heavy coats, gloves, scarves, warm socks and boots. Nobody is a bit happy about this state of affairs since it is very hard to write while wearing gloves. But who can argue with a heating system that has temporarily run out of steam?

Not Therese Ramirez-Larouche, the new principal. Ramirez-Larouche has initiated a fund drive among parents and friends of the school to pay for furnace repairs so that her students, staff and faculty can be warm and comfortable once more.

Ever since the weather turned chilly, they have been suffering from the school’s cranky, temperamental heating system -- radiators not working in some classrooms and reaching summer desert-like temperatures in others.

It will take anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000 in repairs to fix the boiler.

Two weeks ago, after deciding the price was something the parent community of this inner-city school could take responsibility for, Ramirez-Larouche initiated a fund drive.

“We can handle paying $5,000 to $7,000,” she said. She is asking for a minimum of $5 from school families and friends. As a thank-you premium, each donor will receive a five-ounce box of chocolates. A photo of two students, “feeling cold,” – seventh grader Mario Hernandez and second grader Yesenia Salcedo -- graces each candy box. A catchy caption across the box reads “Keep Me Warm Campaign.”

The slogan became all too real on Feb. 26, kickoff day for the fund drive. There was zero heat in the building because the furnace had completely conked out over the weekend.

As a first-time principal, the former teacher at St. Paul School in San Pablo said that she has been focusing on academic and staff enrichment. That the physical school plant would need bolstering was something she had not anticipated.

However, clad in a long, heavy coat, sturdy boots, a wool scarf and gloves, Ramirez-Larouche, who has a degree in counseling psychology in addition to her education credentials, reflects philosophically, “The furnace is screaming. It is saying ‘Pay attention to me, I need help, too.’”

On Feb. 28, an engineering technician had fiddled with the old furnace so that there was heat throughout the building.

But until more extensive repairs are forthcoming, the situation could revert back to its wintery state of affairs. “The technician said we might need to call him every day,” Ramirez-Larouche said.

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