On Jan. 23, Alameda Rotary Club declared Joseph Picchi, a senior at St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, the winner of its youth speech contest.

The Bay Farm Island Library, 3221 Mecartney Road, will bring in the Year of the Dog with a special Lunar New Year event from 2 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 10. The highlight of the program will be a multimedia story time for children ages five and above. 

This Saturday, Feb. 3, marks the fourth year of the Alameda Spelling Bee. The contest to prove the best student speller in town takes place at 9 a.m. at Otis Elementary School, 3010 Fillmore St., and is open to Alameda students in grades 4 through 9.

Out of 900 participants, Encinal High School DECA Chapter students stood out at the NorCal Development DECA Conference held Jan. 12 to 14 in San Ramon. Encinal’s team of 64 students participated strongly with many of the students being recognized and receiving awards, medals and trophies.

The Alameda Free Library launches its new Sensory Friendly Family Film series with the film The Secret Life of Pets this Saturday, Jan. 27, at 2 p.m. in the Main Library’s Stafford Meeting Room at 1550 Oak St.

On Saturday, Feb. 10, St. Joseph Notre Dame High School (SJND) will welcome approximately 180 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students from 28 participating schools to compete in the Ninth Annual Diocese of Oakland Science Fair.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently dropped by St. Joseph Notre Dame (SJND) High School.

The 190 participating members of the U.S. House of Representatives announced the winners of the 2017 Congressional App Challenge recently. Over the last four months, thousands of students coded original apps as part of district-wide competitions.

On Nov. 4, two students at Alameda High School, brothers Patrick and Andrew Nguyen, organized “Warmth in the Winter,” a music and dance benefit concert. The event, which took place at St. Philip Neri’s O’Brien Hall, included youth from across Alameda.

St. Joseph Notre Dame High School (SJND) has named Beatrice Levy the school’s 2017-2018 Poet Laureate. The school made the announcement at Prisms’ annual Evening of Readings and Music. Prisms is the school’s literary art magazine.