About McClymondshigh.org
WRITTEN BY MR. ROACH

McClymondshigh is the official update of the implementation of the Healthy Economics Model initiated by David Roach (known as Mr. Roach) during his years (1996 -2002)directing the business academy at McClymonds High School,

Since those days, i have volunteered in developing the (Friends of McClymonds High School a.k.a FAM (which helped revitalize the alumni association, a PTSA board member, Advisory Board Member of the Global Trade Academy, and Board Member of Merit Awards.

McClymondshigh.org is my attempt of providing general information (sometimes minutes) of each of the above organizations.

My motive for choosing McClymonds High School was not that i chose Mcclymonds, but McClymonds chose me. literally, it did. A brief story. I had started a desktop publishing magazine called Lunda that promoted Black history. I met with Principal Mr. Willie Hamilton at McClymonds (in pursuit of McClymonds buying a bulk number of magazines). During the meeting, he says, "you can do that here and teach business." I said o.k.

The name of the magazine was Lunda -The Idea of Familyhood.Lunda was the vehicle of spreading the awareness of Mo' Better Foods agenda of developing a partnership between African American farmers and the African American community to create sustainability in our neighborhoods.


McClymondshigh is dedicated to Mr. Belford. Space does not permit me to explain all the reason why, but in short, he Loved McClymonds high school and not only advocated for McClymonds High at the board meetings, but he did a lot of small things around the campus which helped promote a special spirit at McClymonds. For example, at times, I woud stumble across Mr. Belford with a hammer and nails fixing something around the school. Other times, I would see him walking around the school with old yearbooks and talking to students about McClymonds past. He also wrote a one page newsletter that he would stick in the teachers boxes practically ever week to inspire service to the students..

When Principal Mr. Hamilton said, " you can do that here, "here" became a number of roles at McClymonds for me, but mainly the Direcor of the Business Academy and Student Government ( Leadership) Class.

Through my role as the Director of the Business Academy we started the first Farmers Market in Oakland at a school location in Oakland (maybe California, maybe Nationally). If someone knows one before the Mo' Better Food Market please let me know.

It was partnership between our non-profit, The Familyhood Connection, The Business Academy at McClymonds and other community organizations. We called the market the Mo' Better Food Market.

Our vision was to demonstrate that a school could be a distribution location for small farmers to sell fresh food directly in communities that lack fresh fruits and vegetables.

My Business students adminstered the market and The African American Farmers of California sold their produce on the schools front lawn.

Since those days, I believe Oakland Unified School District has 30 plus school based farmers markets or school gardens, which is good, but there are certain aspects of our program that are different.

For example, in addition to becoming a distribution location for local farmers to drop off their food (which is what most of the school farmers do), the Mo' Better Food Farmers Market Program is designed to train the students ( as mentioned above) to own and operate the future needed grocery stores in their community.

If you know West Oakland, you would agree, we have so far to go in defining West Oakland as a sustainable, Healthy, West Oakland.

McClymondshigh.org is my personal voice of connecting this past (I've shared above) to to actually achieving a Healthy sustainable West Oakland,

This Healthy, Sustainable Community is what we call Healthy Economics,

I define Healthy Economics as the day a community once termed low-income, underserved, becomes self sufficient, independent, sustainable.

Healthy Economics seeks to connect the above organizations (im already apart of) and others to join forces in strengthening the food system of the school and its surrounding community.

For more information about healthy economics visit: healthyeconomics.org

To further illustrate the steps of building healthy economics, check out - The Four Steps of Hotep. I wrote it for others to learn of our past, present and future attempts of building Healthy, sustainable communities.

In service,

David Roach