Share the Spirit: An East Oakland teen’s grades plummeted during COVID. Then he met a soccer coach.

Share the Spirit: An East Oakland teen’s grades plummeted during COVID. Then he met a soccer coach.

OAKLAND — There are shared languages that transcend what is written down or spoken aloud. Young people seem to understand this better than most. The teenagers at a recent after-school study hour in East Oakland spoke mainly in Spanish, but when they exchanged knowing grins, or burst into sudden laughter, it was clear that even behind a language barrier, this was an environment they trusted. The session was held by Oakland Genesis, a nonprofit th…