Addressing Gun Violence in Oakland: 10 Years of Student Voice, Healing-Centered Learning, and Visioning Beyond Violence at Lighthouse Community Charter School
- Visioning Beyond Violence
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
The story begins with Jacob
The Addressing Gun Violence (AGV) curriculum is dedicated to Jacob Gonzalez and his
family. Jacob’s loss brought the reality of gun violence close to Lighthouse in a way that could not be ignored, and his mother, Carmen, chose to share her family’s story so others could learn, organize, and prevent more families from experiencing the same pain.
Jacob’s life and loss became a turning point. The students at Lighthouse were asked to study gun violence in depth. Not because anyone wanted tragedy to become a lesson, but because Lighthouse students and educators were already living with the weight of gun violence around them. They needed a way to hold that truth with care and a path forward rooted in healing.
Why this work matters in Oakland
Oakland has made real progress recently, but gun violence continues to shape daily life for many families. Here is the clearest and most defensible way to talk about it:
Oakland police and city leaders reported 67 homicides in 2025, described as the lowest annual total in decades and about a 22% drop from 2024.
A separate report based on preliminary police data through Dec 28, 2025, counted 56 murders, compared to 74 in 2024 and 117 in 2023, plus declines in aggravated assaults and armed robberies.
Oakland’s 2025 total is also described as the lowest since 1967 in additional statewide reporting.
Note: you may see different numbers in different articles because some are full-year totals (67) and others are preliminary counts through a specific date (56 through Dec 28), and outlets may use “homicides” vs “murders” depending on how they’re summarizing police data.
This is the context in which Lighthouse students are growing up. Lighthouse Community Charter Schools chose to respond by building knowledge, care, and agency rather than fear. The progress in Oakland has a great deal to do with grassroots efforts from organizations like Youth Alive!, Visioning Beyond Violence, Lighthouse Community Public Schools, and others.
How Adressing Gun Violence curriculum was born at Lighthouse in East Oakland
Lighthouse Community Public Schools has been a steady anchor in East Oakland since 2002, growing from a small founding cohort into two high-achieving TK–12 public charter schools serving over 1,600 students. Their mission is clear: prepare a diverse TK–12 student population for college and a career of their choice, and their vision is equally grounded in what students deserve: love and rigor, student-centered learning, and the belief that young people can become lifelong changemakers who build equity in their own lives and communities. That same commitment shows up in how Lighthouse takes on real-world issues with care. Their educators have created space for students to study hard topics through interdisciplinary, project-based learning, including partnerships that supported middle school students in examining gun violence through art, dialogue, and community learning.
When Lighthouse educators began building what would become AGV, they started where good prevention starts: by listening.
They conducted an inventory of community needs and assets and asked rising 8th graders what they wanted to study. Students named both East Oakland’s strengths and the challenges they faced. In the end, students voted to study gun violence, an issue that had made Oakland infamous nationally and was also shaping students’ daily reality.
That student choice mattered. It moved the work from “adult-designed curriculum” to youth-centered learning. It also created a clear mandate for educators: how do you honor Jacob, honor his mother, and help students develop tools to stay safe, speak up, and build change?
What makes AGV different: education as prevention
The AGV curriculum is designed as an Expeditionary Learning unit that engages middle school students in a deep study of gun violence in America, culminating in a public exhibit of student learning. It is designed for trauma-informed educators who understand that this topic can be triggering and must be taught with a healing-centered lens.
This program is not a single assembly or a short awareness week. It is a full learning arc that develops students as:
Visionaries who imagine alternatives to violence
Storytellers who communicate lived experiences with dignity
Community activists who share learning with an authentic audience
This approach is also grounded in Expeditionary Learning’s “learning expeditions” and integrates CASEL-aligned Social Emotional Learning throughout.
This curriculum is a three-month, interdisciplinary learning experience that moves students from curiosity to context to community impact. Students begin with a kickoff that centers safety and emotional well-being, then build foundational knowledge about gun violence in the U.S. and its local history in Oakland. From there, they explore root causes and impacts through storytelling in Humanities, analyze statistics and data in Math, and engage in dialogue on solutions in their Crew (advisory) class. The learning culminates in artistic expression, where students create original artworks and write artist statements that communicate their message and vision for prevention. The final phase is a public sharing of student work, designed to spark dialogue and invite community-led solutions. From there, Visioning Beyond Violence works with each school or organization to tailor the experience, selecting the right content, pacing, and supports based on the community’s needs and goals.
Visioning Beyond Violence
Visioning Beyond Violence (formerly known as Vision Quilt) partnered with Lighthouse to amplify student voices and help communities develop solutions through art and inclusive dialogue. Their model brings volunteers and local expertise into the student process and supports exhibitions and conversations that extend beyond the classroom.
Today, Visioning Beyond Violence shares this work nationally so educators and partners can adopt it in their own communities.
Download the AGV Toolkit here: https://www.visioningbeyondviolence.org/toolkit
10 years later: the impact is measurable, and it is human
Over a decade, this approach has helped students build knowledge, confidence, and agency. Visioning Beyond Violence reports strong outcomes, including increased knowledge of gun violence and its causes, a higher likelihood of intervening when someone is being bullied or hurt, and a greater belief in the power of creative expression to drive change.
But the deeper impact is what you hear in student voices and see in their work: a shift from silence to expression, from fear to connection, and from feeling powerless to becoming a changemaker.
The learning does not end after the exhibit. Visioning Beyond Violence hosts a Growing Virtual Art Gallery, a living archive of visionary panels and messages created by youth and communities across the U.S.
Visit the Virtual Art Gallery: https://www.visioningbeyondviolence.org/take-action
Bring AGV to your school or community
AGV can be brought to your school, youth program, or community organization through a training or guided workshop. We will work with your team to tailor the experience to your context, timeline, and audience. Book a consultation with Visioning Beyond Violence.
Get the free AGV Toolkit: https://www.visioningbeyondviolence.org/toolkit
This curriculum exists because Jacob mattered, because students asked for learning that reflected their reality, and because a community chose to respond with courage, care, and creativity.
This work comes to life in community. Join us for the Addressing Gun Violence Student Art Exhibit in Oakland to experience student-led art, research, and storytelling, and to stand alongside youth visioning safer futures.
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