perspective on issues. >> we work really hard to develop very in depth content, but if they don't have a venue, they do not have a way to show us, then this work is only staying here inside and nobody knows the brilliance and the amazing work that the students are doing. >> the term has changed over time from a very basic who has a computer and who doesn't have a computer to now who has access to the internet, especially high speed internet, as well as the skills and the knowledge to use those tools effectively. . >> the city is charged with coming up with digital inclusion. the department of telecommunications put together a 15 member san francisco tech connect task force. we want the digital inclusion program to make sure we address the needs of underserved vulnerable communities, not communities that are already

very tech savvy. we are here to provide a, b and c to the seniors. a stands for access. b stands for basic skills and c stands for content. and unless we have all three, the monolingual chinese seniors are never going to be able to use the computer or the internet. >> a lot of the barrier is knowledge. people don't know that these computers are available to them, plus they don't know what is useful. >> there are so many businesses in the bay area that are constantly retiring their computer equipment that's perfectly good for home use. computers and internet access are helping everybody in the community and people who don't have it can come to us to help with that. one of the biggest problems we see isn't whether people can get computers through programs like ours, but whether they can understand why they need a computer. really the biggest issue we are facing today is helping people understand the value of having a computer. >> immediately they would say

can i afford a computer? i don't speak any english. how do i use it. then they will start to learn how to do email or how to go back to chinese newspaper to read all the chinese newspaper. >> a lot of the barrier still is around lack of knowledge or confusion or intimidation and not having people in their peer network who use computers in their lives. >> the important thing i learned from caminos was to improve myself personally. when i first came to caminos, i didn't know anything about computers. the second thing is i have become -- i have made some great achievements as an individual in my family and in things of the world. >> it's a real issue of self-empowerment where new immigrant families are able to communicate with their families at home, able to receive news and information in their own home language, really become more and more connected with

the world as well as connected even inside their local communities. >> if we value the diversity of our city and we value our diverse neighborhoods in the city, we need to ensure that they remain economically viable. equiping them and equiping residents in those areas with jobs that will enable them to stay in san francisco is critical to that. >> the important thing that i see here at caminos is it helps the low income community, it helps the women who wouldn't have this opportunity otherwise. >> the workers with more education in san francisco are more likely to be able to working that knowledge sector. where they are going to need that familiarity with the internet, they are going to find value with it and use it and be productive with it every day. and half of the city's population that's in the other boat is disconnected from all that potential prosperity. >> we really need to promote content and provide applications that are really relevant to people's lives here.

so a lot of the inspiration, especially among the immigrant community, we see is communications with people from their home country but we as much want to use the internet as a tool for people to connect within the local san francisco community. >> i think it's our job as public educators to give them this access and give them this opportunity to see that their efforts are being appreciated beyond their immediate reach. >> you have to blend this idea of community network with computer equipment with training and with support. we can pull all that together, then we've got it. >> it's as much about social and economic justice -- in fact it's more about social and economic justice than just

is our last meeting of 2012. >> commissioner yee? >> yes, go ahead? >> just an update, we wanted to remove an update on student nutrition services and will be taken up at a special meeting next week. >> thank you.. so i will move on to item c, recognition and resolutions of commendation. the first one is an commendation of "the world as it could be," human rights education program on the occasion of the 2012 international human rights day. offered by commissioners murase and mendoza. >> is there a motion? >> so moved. >> second. >> reading of the resolution by commissioner murase or

mendoza. >> whereas san francisco became the birth place of the united nations with the signing of the u.n. charter at the war memorial veterans building in 1945 and annually december 10th marks international human rights day to celebrate the universal declaration of human rights, the first achievement. united nations. and whereas the san francisco-based foundation founded by the legendary rock band the grateful dead has advanced education about the universal declaration of human rights among youth and adults called the world it's could be." and whereas by delivering human rights curriculum to the creative arts the groundbreaking curriculum is designed to engage youth, inspire learning and critical thinking and positive social interaction, encourage youth who are often marginalized due to learning or physical

differences to enjoy participation in school-wide events, engage the broader community to celebrate accomplishments of youth and showcase the importance and value of creative arts to personal development and vibrant culture. providing collaboration opportunitis among non-profits, public universities and schools. and commissioner mendoza, if you would like to read the rest it of a will read the next one. >> it also offers a three-day summer institute, hosted by usf annually and free of charge. i am hoping that teachers are listening to this program tonight, so they can sign up so learn for example teachers of academic subjects, social studis, language, arts and how to implement arts into the teaching of the universal declaration of rights. therefore be it are resolved

that the san francisco unified school district board of education commends that "the world it's could be," supporters and organizers on the occasion of the 2012 international human right s day. [ applause ]. >> let's us vote first. roll call, please -- or any other comments on this? commissioner mendoza? >> i wanted to thank sandy and the recs foundation and if you think about as something this complex can be interpreted through the arts and performed by students on the stage in the auditorium, you walk away breathless and it's remarkable. it's an incredible

interpretation of some amazing work that we have done in our country and i just want to appreciate the translation that you have done of the work, and we look forward to continuing to work with you on our schools. >> if you haven't had a chance to get out there to see it, please do [stkpwhro*-frplt/] thank you, roll call please (roll call ) six ayes. >> thank you. >> is there a presentation of the certificate, commissioners murase and mendoza?

>> i am sandy, the executive director of the recs foundation and it is a great honor to be here tonight to receive this. i want to start by thanking commissioner mendoza. i was actually in the spring in 2006, when we came to her office and said we have this idea. it's an original production that we wanted to raise awareness about the human rights framework and we wanted youth to be the teachers and we were showcasing the terrific work of high schoolers at destiny arts and youth speaks. it was commissioner mendoza who called over to balboa high school, and said would you be interested in hosting this presentation? and so began what has now led to this incredible evening. and the whole idea has been we've learned in our work that the universal declaration of human rights that eleanor

roosevelt shepherded and adopted bit general assembly 64 years ago is actually not known by a large proportion of our population. and we also found that when youth and adults found out about it, they got very excited and, in fact we got the name because someone said my goodness this document spells out the world it's could be. it has been the creative spirit of the administrators and students at balboa that have really brought this to life. we're now, i just got to see on friday, their third student-produced assembly about the universal declaration of human rights and it's breathtaking to see how their whole culture has taken on this path and that they are setting an example for how to help us bring forward eleanor roosevelt's work and make it continually relevant to the world today. i would love to have you here from kevin curr, the principal

of balboa and oxy trejos, sr. to explain what it is to them. thank you so much. >> good evening commissioners. superintendent. you know, we live in kind of a high-stakes world in high schools. whether it's the california standards test, ap testing, sat. these are very important parts of just kind of growing up as a student now in our kind of complex world. but it's nice on occasion to kind of step back, and remind us of what life is really all about. and this idea of really teaching kids that human rights is not just something that lives in a far-off, distant land, but something that they need to shepherd themselves and protect in their own communities. so i couldn't be more proud of the work we do in

regards to the universal declaration of human rights. i cordially invite you, a little less than 350 days from now, to attend our next assembly. it was really an incredible experience for all of us. there was a moment when we had our choir sing the last selection from "les mis." that was enough for me and i had to step out and compose myself because it was such a moving experience. i did bring with me today oxy, who is a senior and who was our master of ceremonies at the assembly and i wanted her to talk a little bit about her experience with the universal declaration of human rights. >> hi, guys. i don't know the proper way to say hi. so i'm just going to say hi to all of you guys. so i was the mistress of ceremonies, and it was a little

hard, because you know, as a student in the assembly myself, i never really understood what it was about. i understood that i had rights and i made it my personal mission to make sure that students in the assembly knew exactly what they were hearing and didn't leave with questions. what we did was we played videos and we had people from pathways -- we have pathways at our school that have specific goals around the same purpose. and a lot of people were really engaged and had a lot of students usually at our assemblies of course. there are students who don't understand, but at this assembly, everybody was paying attention. people were engaging. people were moved. i think that teaching students this on a regular basis every year as part of their classes is something that should happen, something that

shouldn't be just at balboa or in san francisco, but all over the world. you know, because these are our rights and people know that they have rights. they just don't know what they are and because they don't know what they are, they take them for granted. this assembly really brought up a lot of points that people needed to know. our students now, i hear them talking about it all the time in the hallways. they are like oh, my god, oxy, it was amazing, but what does this mean? they will come to me and saying we have these rights and i am, like, yes, you have these rights, guys. just because you are minors doesn't mean anything. so i think it was a really good thing that this program was founded and i thank you for that. thank you, guys. [ applause ] >> if i could just say thank you to commissioner murase, who took the time to learn more about the program and went through all the effort to recognize us. thank you. we look forward to being part of the school district work in