the executive vice president for the united educators of san francisco, linda, thank you. and our president of united educators of san francisco, denis kelly. thank you as well. whenever you go down this path, you are going to miss someone. with all due respect, as i see you, i will call you out as we go through the program. thank you for being here. i serve as the separate -- deputy superintendent for social justice. what i would like to think about, as the good to this dedication ceremony, this is a tangible, real world artifacts of social justice. if we believe social justice is about kids having opportunities to explore career paths, opportunities to have jobs in

the real world, if it was not for these types of opportunities, that is social justice. we are happy to have you here to be part of the celebration of social justice. on a personal level, i will say to you, this is so important to me, because i stand before you as the son of a dirty man she metalworker. local 353 in tucson, arizona. why is that important? it is important because mayor lee mentioned, you cannot run a city, have infrastructure for a city, without these jobs. there is a connection between college and career and career and college. they are very much interconnected. as my father, who never graduated from high school, later earned a ged, the person who taught me geometry was not my geometry teacher, who had a

master's degree. she was wonderful, but i was just one of those kids. i learned geometry with my father actually doing the work. when you are cutting out sheet metal, bending the angles, you have to make it fit and you have to measure. i learned about ankles and how geometry works by actually doing it. when i say that career tech education is about college readiness, it is about utilizing all of those skills that we send kids to school every day to learn. this gives you a reason to read and write and do arithmetic, because you get to apply it. that is the duty of what is happening here today. happy to have you here. what a wonderful building. what do you think? do you like this building? [applause] this is our flexible use green building. we call it the text 21 building.

we have not named it officially yet, but there is a naming opportunity for you, if you want to take advantage of that. just kidding. before we dive into the program, i would like to talk more about all the wonderful individuals that have made this a reality. this has truly been a collaborative effort on the part of our partners, union partners, labor partners, educators, former administrators. you will hear from the former principal, dr. schultze, who was part of the original work. before we get to that, i want to introduce the current principal, martin gomez. this high school is named after one of san francisco's own labor champions, and john o'connell.

i want to introduce to you the man leading the academic work in collaboration with all the wonderful teachers here at john o'connell high school. [applause] >> it is a lot more full than it was five minutes ago. as principal, i want to welcome everyone to this event. it is important, not only for o'connell students, but all of san francisco. the district is making a push to include, improve, and pushed toward education. today, we are here to celebrate another reason of how o'connell is supporting and encouraging all students to be prepared for college and for a career. while some people are spending their time looking at what students are going to college, which are going to a career, with this new tech 21 program,

the courses will support students to be prepared for a career, and for college. that is the difference between the programs of before and now. the new tech 21 courses will require students to be able to apply tougher math concepts. the program will recruit students that are college-bound and students that want to go straight into the workforce. the whole purpose is to make sure that these students are prepared for the requirements that internships and jobs are asking for out of high school. we want to ensure all of the graduates are prepared for these requirements because we are promising them jobs and internships, which is huge for our students, and for san francisco. i want to thank mark, david, the

entire ct department, all of the stakeholders, dr. schultze, the previous administration, for making this building, and the course of the reality, which is much needed in san francisco. it is an exciting time to be a high school student in san francisco, but particularly, that john o'connell, and if you are excited about these tech 21 classis, please stay in touch with us as we figure out ways to continue supporting students. thank you for your time, thank you for coming out, and let's move this forward. [applause]

>> this is our costume shop. we build all of the clothes for all of our shows. we have been in this building for 13 years. it is an amazing locally hired, locally sourced workspace with amazing artisans. we build all the clothing. we use them in our performances. it is an amazing rental facility. we rent costumes to everybody for halloween, opera companies, theater companies, all over the city and country. it has always been a hive of activity. it was the brainchild of our

director that we use the front space as a performing space. we really want to make a contribution to the incredible thing is happening in san francisco, the revitalization of the corridor, through the arts. i want to give a big shout out to all of the artists who are here. i know i am predicting a bunch of view. there are wonderful, local artists who have been in this neighborhood for a long time. we want this to be a place where artists can gather. lots of different groups can rent the space. feel free to pass the word along. we are flexible. we can perform in different configurations. we have had lots of interesting people here. it is a great creative hub for our schools.

education is a big part of our lives. we want young artists to think about why they are making the work they are making and for what community they are making it. he has been a partner with us in exploring the neighborhood. [applause] he is the most patient man ever. he has been looking around and helping us make the connection. i think we're all in for a bright future. we have a fantastic new mayor. charles shultz said last night that the main buzzword he wants for his -- charlotte shultz said last night that the main bus or the ones for his administration is accessible. -- the main buzzword for his administration is "accessible." we are honored and thrilled he is here. we want to welcome him to the

stage. [applause] >> congratulations. thank you. welcome, everybody. you have got to know what is going on in my mind. i do not talk a lot about things sometimes because they are very personal. i have to share with you the level of excitement coming into this store tonight. in preparing, i am feeling the same way as win in college -- when in college and performed in my first drama class. i performed in "butterflies are free." i was 3,000 miles away from my original home, from seattle to maine. i felt like i could do anything i wanted and my friends would not laugh at me. i took drama class. i was really excited.

i got to perform. this is kind of how i feel tonight with this opening. it is wonderful. congratulations. act coming to mid market is huge. we have wanted the active arts to be such a great part of this. they have been paired wit.-- the been a big part of this. to have act joining us in a deliberate move to revitalize the area and make arts the leading factor, to join the great art foundation, burning man, all of the business locating here, it is wonderful. i feel very excited about this. this is another smart thing on behalf of our arts community to join the mayor's office, the office of workforce development.

i know amy and jim are excited, the whole crew. [applause] thank you. i share in her staff's excitement when they can make an agreement and get the right funds together. a lot of it is still about financials. if we can leverage what we have with the excitement that you bring in, we are on our way to a good foundation for revitalization. this community needs it. it has the connection to the soma and tenderloin. i think we're on our way to a very positive, a successful story of how we work together to make this community, alive. you already know what we have done. we have done anchors with twitter. on fifth and market, we have the

first of many financial institutions. it is the fifth largest bank in china that has now opened their office on the market street. that is to complement what we're doing your business-wise. that is along the lines of what some of the smaller agencies are doing. you will hear more about this. dottie's blues cafe will be around the corner. we're committed to the six st. sub-station. you are already seeing the community ambassadors walking the streets. they are greeting people. they're getting to know everybody. please know them by first name. they will be your partners to make everybody feel safe along the street. i have to thank act for taking

this opportunity, activating the space, making it available. i know you are an educational institution as well as a performance institution. your masters of the arts program will be delighted to embrace your best grant students as they perform here, really get their education started. it is the performances and people you bring your that well and live in the area. -- that will enliven the area. i cannot remember what i did with "butterflies are free," but i do remember the excitement of that performance. thank you. congratulations. thank you, everybody, for coming here tonight. [applause] >> we are going to give you a little taste and performance. our board president will

introduce it. we have two other great allies here from the unified school district. this is going to be a space for education programs and young people to come in and perform. we're honored am thrilled they are here. >> thank you so much for joining us today, mayor lee. we're deeply appreciative. you are so encouraging. it is a great launch. i am nancy livingston, i cha ir the board of act. we want to welcome all of you here today, particularly our sister organizations in the arts. we are so thrilled to be putting down serious routes -- roots here. the kind of work that will be

done here is very different from what we're doing elsewhere. we have amazing opportunities to do cutting edge work, kind of grassroots and community-based work we do not have the opportunity to do in a 1000 seat theater. we are thrilled to welcome all of you today. as the mayor indicated and everything you have read in the newspapers, act is dedicated to putting down community roots in a significant and serious way in this area. the costume shop has been here for a while. we are dedicating and inaugurating this brand new space. we have dreams of putting in a second stage in this neighborhood. we want to be good neighbors and good friends. come often. bring your friends. thank you so much for your

support today. rusty? [applause] >> we have to think another institution, the irvine foundation. it is making the performances that happen here available to us. that is really great. it takes a village. it takes fund-raising to make these things happen. the irvine foundation has been awesome to us. thank you to them even though they are not here this evening. we have a special performance tonight. we have our class of 2013, we call them our second year's. they will be doing a musical revue, two songs. if you get a chance to come see it, we would love to have you come back into the space and see

it. you can see the full performance tomorrow night at 7:30, friday at 1:00 in the afternoon, saturday at 2:00 and 7:30. we would love to have you come back and see it. it is directed by travis greisler who did "tales of the city" last year. it is a family affair tonight. we are all here together. we're going to let them come up and do their thing. the exit stage right. -- we exit stage right. [applause]

>> please spell chimera? >> can i have a definition? >> highly unrealistic, imaginative. ♪ [vocalizing] ♪ ♪ if i go to washington, will i be on my own? because if i go to washington, who will be my chaperone?

♪ ♪ we always knew you were a winner. we smiled when you smiled. from the beginning when you are a beginner, you were the perfect child. we always knew you were a champion. if you should feel my [inaudible] blame it on your memories.

i love you. i love you and. i love and remember you. i love you. ♪ >> i love you. >> my dad said -- >> i love you. ♪ i love everything about you, dear. maybe it is true. i love you. ♪ ♪ i wrote you a letter. mama, but you didn't react.

you never asked me if i joined you in the bombay sun. mama, when are you returning? i know we agreed. tell me what you are learning. i think dad takes out on me what he wants to take out on you. mama, i think that is angry. i do not know what to do. mama, mama, mama, how i wish you

were home. how i wish you were home. i wish you were here. ♪ we always knew you were a winner ♪ ♪ i wish you were home ♪ we could not be prouder ♪ ♪ i love you ♪ i love everything about you, dear. baby, it is true. i love you.

i love you. i love everything about you. baby, it is true. i love -- >> chimerical. highly unrealistic, highly danceable. -- highly fanciful. >> that is correct. ♪ i love you ♪ [applause]

>> ♪ i wish i could go back to college. life was so simple back then. >> ♪ what would i give to go back and live in the dorm with a meal plan again? >> ♪ i wish i could go back to college. in college, you know who you are. you sit in the sun and think i am going to go far. ♪ ♪ how do i go back to college? i do not know i am any more. >> ♪ i wish i could just drop a class.

>> ♪ we could be sitting in the computer lab before the final paper is due, cursing the world, seeing the rest of the class. ♪ i wish i could go back to collegeby wish i had taken more pictures. >> but if i were to go back to college, then what a loser i would be.

oh my god. >> these kids are so much younger than me. ♪ [applause]