Robert Wayne Bronnenberg, 69, of Fortuna, went home to be with his Heavenly Father on August 7, 2021.

He was born at Glendale Hospital in Glendale, Calif. to James and Margaret Bronnenberg on October 19, 1951. He grew up in Sun Valley and Sylmar, Calif. He graduated Sylmar High School in 1969 and shortly after he served in the Army 509th infantry paratroopers. He was a true patriot.

He had worked with his Dad and brother doing brick, stone, and concrete work, later becoming a General Contractor for many years until his retirement.

He had a passion for fishing, riding motorcycles, classic cars, dune buggies, walks along the ocean, and also made sure everyone had a great time no matter what we were doing.

He loved life and lived it to the fullest with the greatest of smiles.

He always put his family first and was the best husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He was a proud Christian, and believed that we will all be rejoicing in Heaven.

He was always ready and willing to help anyone in need and considered everyone his friend.

This world will never be the same without him.

He was preceded in death by his parents, James and Margaret, brothers Allen and Carl, and sisters, Barbara and Cindy.

He leaves behind his wife Sandy of 43 years, his sons James (Kelly) of Meridian Idaho, Michael (Janell) of Fortuna, daughter, Jennifer (Bobby) of Bieber, Calif., 10 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews, his sister Juanita of Fortuna, his sister-in-law Linda of Canyonville, Ore., and his dogs Buzz (who was always at his side) and Mytzy his lap dog.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Bob Bronnenberg’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

Christopher Ryan Sanderson passed away in Eureka on November 29, 2021, after a small stay in the hospital due to renal organ failure.

Chris was born on December 17, 1983. He grew up in Rio Dell with his family and many friends that eventually became family. He played baseball his whole life and played it very well. He loved camping, hunting and fishing with his brothers and family. He graduated from Fortuna High School in 2002.

Chris lost his way early in life but never once lost his kind soul.

He is preceded in death by his granny, Alsie Isabel Sanderson, and father, Ronald Dwyane Sanderson. He leaves behind his five-year old daughter, Clover, his papa, Darrow Sanderson of Rio Dell, his mother Penny Hall of Fortuna, his sister Gina/Bret Lamb of Washington, his brother Ronald/Meggan Sanderson of Carlotta, Ben/Tiana Sanderson of Rio Dell, Elijah Sanderson of Fortuna, Brandon/Sasha Sanderson of Carlotta, and many of nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles and cousins, and so many loving and caring friends that helped him with something to eat, a ride or a couple of bucks though his journey.

A memorial service will be held on his birthday on December 17 at the Rio Dell Fireman’s Hall at 2 p.m. All are welcome. Please come and share your favorite stories of Chris.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Chris Sanderson’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

While much of the earth is heating up, data shows that Eureka winters are getting progressively colder.

Of the 250 U.S. cities studied by Climate Central — an independent organization of climate change researchers — only five have experienced colder winters on average since 1970: Eureka; Biloxi, Mississippi; Denver; Idaho Falls, Idaho and Marquette, Wisconsin.

While uncommon, Deputy Director of Climate Resilience for the California Department of Water Resources John Andrew told the Outpost that Eureka’s climate trend isn’t unexpected.

“We never expected climate change to be the same everywhere, and our experience is confirming that perspective,” Andrew said. “While winters are generally getting warmer, it is not unusual that specific locations are exceptions to that rule. And even places that are warming on average can still experience cold events in winter, sometimes severe ones.”

During the last 51 years, Eureka’s average winter temperature has dropped by 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit. While experts were unable to give a more definitive answer without proper research, local NOAA meteorologist Matthew Kidwell told the Outpost that this trend is likely related to Eureka’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean.

“Temperatures in Eureka are driven by different factors than inland areas due to the proximity of the ocean,” Kidwell said. “One example of that is the past few weeks. The coastal clouds have kept the temperatures at the coast below normal while the inland areas have been above normal. Beyond that, it is difficult to say without doing more research.”

Ink People Center for the Arts press release:

Ink People Center for the Arts is excited to announce Leslie Castellano as its new Executive Director. Castellano will succeed Libby Maynard, who is retiring this December after 42 years leading the organization.

Leslie Castellano’s name will be familiar to members of the arts community through her work as an educator, artist, business owner, organizer, volunteer, and Eureka city councilmember.  Trained as a dancer, she serves as executive and artistic director of the performance group Synapsis Collective. As an arts administrator, she worked with collaborators to organize the inaugural outdoor land art exhibition Outer Roominations during the pandemic. She works as an instructor at Trajectory, a career development program in Eureka for visual, performing, and literary artists and fine artisans with disabilities. As a current member of the Eureka City Council, representing Ward 1, she advocates for the arts and culture as instruments of community wellbeing and civic engagement.

Castellano’s involvement with and support of Ink People projects is longstanding. Prior to accepting a position as Executive Director she served on the Ink People Board of Directors for fifteen years, holding positions as secretary, vice president and, most recently, past president. As director of Synapsis Collective and a longtime employee of Trajectory, she has worked directly with two DreamMaker projects and is familiar with the scope and complexity of the DreamMaker program, with its over 100 separate independently directed, community-initiated ventures.  

In her role as executive director of Synapsis, Castellano taught dance and acrobatics to children, youth, and adults, in addition to writing grants that made it possible to fund free community-based art programs, an accessible dance program, a street festival, and a  community mapping project. She was responsible for maintaining these projects’ budgets, supervising employees and volunteers, and designing strategies for successful program delivery. 

Castellano spent three months performing as a dancer with Carpetbag Brigade Physical Theater in Monterrey, Mexico at the United Nations World Cultural Forum. She also danced in Karl Frost’s “Great Bear Wilderness Project,” which had performers spending several months filming in the Canadian wilderness in order to bring awareness to places that would be impacted by oil spills and pipelines. Through feralferal, her ongoing collaboration with Kevin Dockery, she creates original dance pieces that explore concepts including otherness, society, and the wild.

She ran successfully for Eureka City Council in 2018 with a slogan of “Together We Thrive,” listing a robust and ecologically sound economy, housing, youth programs, and neighborhood safety as key priorities. “Caring for people and building community has been at the core of all my work,” she said at the time. “I am familiar with the energy, commitment, and organization it takes to develop projects that include feedback and input from a wide range of perspectives. In addition, I have years of experience creating diverse partnerships between organizations and citizens.” 

“After a competitive recruitment process, we are very excited about the selection of Leslie Castellano and are assured by her creative vision to develop the organization’s legacy,” board member Robert Sataua said. “Leslie has already contributed so much to The Ink People as a culture worker, community organizer and artist. We are impressed with her ability to merge her talents across a myriad of projects, and grateful she has decided to focus her energy with us. In this era of immense change, we are confident she can build on our strengths to reimagine how we champion culture and art.”  

Maynard, who co-founded the Ink People in Eureka in 1979, expressed confidence that Castellano is the right person to take the organization into the future.  “Following a well thought out and fair process, the Ink People Board of Directors has chosen Leslie Castellano to succeed me as Executive Director, and I couldn’t be happier,” she said. “Leslie has a great vision for the future, is thoughtful and kind, and has new ideas to lead the Ink People into the next 40+ years.”

“Now that I am Executive Director,” Castellano said, “my hope and my excitement is to bring my passion for people and for cultures to the Ink People, building on its strong foundations to take the organization forward into the future.” 

As Executive Director, Castellano will work closely with staff and board members to ensure that the organization can continue adapting to serve people of this region by weaving the arts into the fabric of our community. A California native, she grew up in the Florida panhandle and has lived in Humboldt County since 1998. She studied anthropology and sociology at New College in Florida and studied dance and postmodern performance through intensive work with Sara Shelton Mann, Karl Frost, Keith Hennessy, Diego Piñon, and others. She lives with her husband Derek Shaw, two cats, and a dog above the stage of the new Synapsis performance space in Eureka. 

About Ink People Center for the Arts

The Ink People Center for the Arts seeks to encourage people to exercise their humanity, build civic discourse, and engage their creative potential. Since our founding in Eureka in 1979, our vision has been weaving the arts into the fabric of our community.  Through our DreamMaker Program, we provide administrative and logistic support to more than 100 independently directed, community-initiated arts and culture projects. Our other core projects include facilitating public art, promoting community artists and culture bearers, creating arts programming for youth and the differently abled, and partnering with municipal, state and tribal authorities to promote the arts. 

Your President of Positivity recognizes that we are well into the season of giving and wants to gently remind everyone that children are quite fond of toys. We know this because for each year since back in the 1920s the Humboldt Bay Firefighters Union, Local 652 has been bringing joy to local kids through their annual toy drive. 

And it’s not too late for you to get in on this goodness! Just bring a toy to any Humboldt Bay Fire station by Dec. 17 and you’ll be good on karma ‘til at least Christmas. Ciao Bella!

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Joselyn Marroquin, a freshman at Lincoln High in San Francisco, challenged herself by taking two math classes this year.

Because the San Francisco Unified School District requires students to wait until 9th grade to take Algebra 1, Joselyn enrolled in both Algebra 1 and Geometry at the same time so she can make it to AP Calculus by her senior year.

“The stress of taking two classes and having homework for each was difficult to manage,” Joselyn said. “It was hard at first, but I got used to it.”

In 2014, district officials decided to delay Algebra 1 until 9th grade in hopes of lowering the number of Black, Latino and low-income students failing Algebra 1 in 8th grade. The goal was to get these students into higher level math classes and eventually to careers in science, tech, engineering or math. The change succeeded at reducing the number of students failing courses, but has coincided with a drop in test scores at some schools serving higher-needs students, a point of criticism relevant to all of California because the state plans to recommend the same policy for every school district statewide as part of a new math framework.

At the same time, the change has led families with resources, like Joselyn’s, to find ways to help their kids get ahead in math, perpetuating some of the inequities the policy was meant to eliminate.

To make sure Joselyn could handle taking two math classes this year, her grandfather Rex Ridgeway, who oversees Joselyn’s education, paid $850 for her to enroll in an Algebra 1 class during the summer after 8th grade. Ridgeway, who is Black, said he hoped that going into high school already knowing Algebra 1 would lighten the burden of taking two math classes.

“I had her take Algebra 1 over the summer so she could master it when she took it again with Geometry,” Ridgeway said. “A lot of Black families don’t have the resources to do what I did.”

The state’s recommendation of the same policy in its controversial math framework has reignited San Francisco parents like Ridgeway who opposed the measure nearly eight years ago. After blowback from parents and math experts, the state will be releasing the revised framework in January before finalizing the guidelines in July. The framework, however, is a set of suggestions and there will be no penalty for districts that opt to ignore it.

Ridgeway said he was furious when he learned about the district’s policy and sought ways to get Joselyn to Calculus by 12th grade and maximize her chances of attending UCLA, her dream school. Other parents in the district have done the same. Teachers aren’t surprised.

“It has led to even worse inequities and driven them underground,” said Elizabeth Stratmore, a math teacher at the district’s Lowell High, the city’s top performing public high school. “People with means started finding other ways to get ahead.”

A calculated move

San Francisco’s status quo before 2014 wasn’t great.

“Our kids were flunking out of Algebra in 8th grade, and I would say there was an equity issue,” said Emily Murase, who was a school board member in 2014. “Our math curriculum was clearly not serving our Black and Latino kids who were failing Algebra 1.”

Schools in the district have come up with a variety of ways for students to get to calculus by the 12th grade, even with the policy change. Some schools offer a summer geometry course for which low-income students get priority enrollment. At other schools, students can take a one-year class that combines Algebra 2 and Precalculus.

Lizzy Hull Barnes, who oversees math instruction at San Francisco Unified, said these options count towards the admissions requirements for the University of California and the California State University.

The change meant that all students would take the same math classes from grades 6 through 8. The district at the same time adjusted the curricula for middle school math classes to better align with state standards: While students aren’t taking a class called “Algebra 1” in 8th grade, they are still covering almost all the concepts they would have previously, like linear equations, proportional relationships and systems of equations. They should know everything they need going into their 8th grade standardized testing.

Barnes said all students, but especially Black, Latino and low-income students, are better prepared to succeed in Algebra 1 if they focus on learning these foundations in middle school.

“The concepts from Algebra 1 were pulled apart and redistributed in more thoughtful ways,” she said. “We wanted to interrupt racialized outcomes associated with math.”

Ridgeway and other parents of high-achieving students said the district was holding back students. But Barnes said the Algebra 1 now taught in 9th grade is more advanced than the one taught in 8th grade prior to 2014. The curriculum now includes concepts from Algebra 2 and data science.

Under the district’s framework, students can decide whether they want to take more advanced math classes in high school once they have a better understanding of their own interests and skill levels in math. Before 2014, Barnes said, students were placed onto pathways, or “tracks,” far too early.

“I think the most important thing we want to convey is that students who want to achieve higher level mathematics are able to,” Barnes said. “We’re not taking anything away from anyone.”

San Francisco’s mixed math results

Fewer students across all demographics failed Algebra 1 in the years after the district adopted the rule in 2014, according to the district. It reported more students across all racial demographics have enrolled in both advanced math and completed more math and science credits during their high school careers since the policy was adopted.

“It really helped the bottom and average achieving students to take more math,” said former board member Murase. “The big surprise was that students took more science as a result. That was an unintended consequence.”

But standardized test data paints a more complicated picture.

Districtwide, the percentage of students meeting what the state considers an appropriate level of math knowledge increased by 2.6 percentage points between the 2014-15 and the 2018-19 school years. The percentage of Black and Latino students meeting standards also increased by 2.6 points. But the gap between the percentage of low-income students and the percentage of students district-wide meeting standards has grown by 2 points.

Schools with high proportions of Black and Latino students have fared far worse on standardized tests.

O’Connell High School enrolled the highest percentage of Black students among the district’s comprehensive high schools in the 2018-19 school year. In the 2014-15 school year, based on standardized tests, a mere 6% of the school’s Black students met math standards. As bad as that sounds, it got worse after the district changed the way it taught math. In the 2018-19 school year, that number dropped to 0%.

Willie Brown Middle School had the highest percentage of Black enrollment that same year among middle schools. Since it opened in 2015, the percentage of students meeting math standards dropped from 14% to 7.8% in 2019. The percentage of Black students meeting standards remained below 4% during all four of those years in between. In the 2018-19 school year, only 1.5% of the school’s 84 Black students met math standards.

At James Lick Middle, nearly three-quarters of its 568 students were Latino in the 2018-19 school year, making it the school with the largest share of Latino students in the district. That year, however, only 7% of Latino students met math standards, a five-year low. Meanwhile, 18.16% met English Language Arts standards, a five-year high for the school’s Latino students.

At Presidio and Roosevelt Middle Schools, the two middle schools with the highest percentages of white students, test scores saw significant improvement. The percentage of Black and Latino students meeting standards increased by double digits at both schools.

As for the various ups and downs in test scores at San Francisco Unified, Polikoff said “there’s a million different things that can explain trends in test scores.”

Morgan Polikoff, an education professor at the University of Southern California, said if more students are taking more advanced classes and receiving good grades, that could be a good sign. But standardized test scores would show whether students are actually learning the material.

“Grading standards can be watered down,” he said. “But the standardized test is supposed to serve as independent evidence.”

As for the various ups and downs in test scores at San Francisco Unified, Polikoff said “there’s a million different things that can explain trends in test scores.” San Francisco Unified officials refused requests to discuss test score data in detail.

California’s standardized tests are based on the same standards that guided the policy change, so offering Algebra 1 in the 9th grade should have in theory resulted in more equitable outcomes on state tests.

But Barnes said the number of students enrolling in higher level math is a more effective measure and that test score data “is not the measure we would use to evaluate impact.

“In high school they take the test one time in 11th grade,” she said. “It’s difficult to use that as a measurement for success in all of mathematics.”

Polikoff said that although standardized tests aren’t a perfect measure, the district can’t simply dismiss them, especially because they test exactly what students should have learned under the district’s policy change.

“You can’t say, ‘We’re going to pass this policy, and we can’t evaluate it with test scores,’” he said. “That’s not acceptable.”

Murase maintains that test scores would have been even worse if San Francisco Unified stuck with its old ways.

“You would have to compare the trajectory of math scores to what it would have been under the old system,” she said. “No one would think those scores would’ve been any higher if we kept Algebra in the 8th grade.”

Local outcomes, statewide implications

Delaying Algebra 1 is one of the core ideas recommended by California’s proposed math framework. The framework, a set of non-binding guidelines for math instruction in the state’s public schools, also recommends using more inclusive language in the classroom and more real-life examples in math lessons, with the goal of getting a more diverse student body engaged in mathematics.

Parents, educators and mathematicians statewide oppose the framework for a variety of reasons. They accuse the authors of watering down math with social-justice oriented lessons.

Parents also say the framework holds back high-achieving students. The authors of the framework disagree. They said the revisions will include more explicit recommendations for advanced students.

While California’s proposed math framework stirs controversy nationwide, in San Francisco it’s revived the ire of some parents who vehemently opposed these ideas back in 2014.

Maya Keshavan is the mother of two recent graduates from the district and a member of Families for San Francisco, a group of parents fighting against California’s proposed math framework. Keshavan and other members say the framework should not recommend delaying Algebra 1 until 9th grade based on some inconsistencies they found in San Francisco Unified’s reported successes.

A report by Families for San Francisco said the district published misleading data on how often students had to repeat Algebra 1: While the rate of students re-taking the class dropped from 40% to 7% in the year after it pushed Algebra 1 to 9th grade, the district also eliminated an Algebra 1 placement test, which Families for San Francisco said is likely to have reduced the repeat rate by removing an additional hurdle to getting to the next math class.

Barnes said the district does not have data showing how many students had to retake Algebra 1 because of the placement test alone.

Keshavan, a woman of color who works as an electrical engineer, said she understands the need for diverse viewpoints in the fields of science and technology. But she said that the questionable data reported by the district raises serious doubts about the merits of delaying Algebra 1 until 9th grade.

The authors of the state’s framework, however, cite the reduced number of students repeating Algebra 1 as evidence of success. Jo Boaler, one of the authors of the state framework and a professor of math education at Stanford University, co-wrote an editorial citing these reported successes at San Francisco Unified. The current draft of the framework references this editorial.

When asked about this potentially misleading data at San Francisco Unified, Boaler said the proposed state framework is in no way based on the policies at one district. She said, unlike the policies at the district, the state framework calls for high schools to integrate Algebra and Geometry rather than teaching them as two separate classes.

Boaler also declined to comment on the declining test scores at the district. Ben Ford, another co-author of the framework, said he would revisit the references to San Francisco Unified in the current draft.

Keshavan’s daughter, who graduated in 2020, was part of the first cohort required to take Algebra 1 in 9th grade. Keshavan, however, paid $700 for her daughter to take an Algebra 1 course with a private company during 8th grade.

And like her daughter, she said, students across the state who come from privileged backgrounds will keep the upper hand when it comes to college admissions and entering careers in science, tech, engineering and math.

“I knew I had to work around it for my daughter,” Keshavan said. “To this day I feel it was unfair that she had the advantages of being able to pay for the external class.”

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CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

U.S. Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay:

At 9:30 a.m., watchstanders at USCG Sector Humboldt Bay received a relayed report from CALFIRE of a woman who broke her leg while hiking on a remote section of the Lost Coast Trail south of Punta Gorda.

Sector diverted an MH-65 helicopter crew that was already airborne on a fisheries patrol. The aircrew quickly located the hikers, deployed the rescue swimmer, and successfully hoisted the injured hiker and her spouse.

They brought her back to Sector Humboldt Bay where she was transferred to an awaiting EMS in stable condition.

Congratulations to the crew on a well-executed rescue, especially LT Justin Lovell and AMT3 Owen Maurer!

LT Lovell recently received his Aircraft Commander designation and this was his first duty-day as Pilot in Command. AMT3 Maurer just finished his Flight Mechanic qualification, and this was only his fourth duty-day. Bravo Zulu to all!