Eugene teachers vote for small schools project
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Teachers and staff members at
North Eugene High School have vot
ed to continue with plans to break
the large school into three separate
learning academies.
The school was one of eight in Ore
gon selected to receive a grant from
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
and Meyer Memorial TTust to divide
into smaller schools in an effort to
boost student achievement.
But some staffers at North Eugene
had doubts about the plan, leading to
the anonymous vote over whether
the school should proceed with the
split.
A committee of both critics and
supporters of the small-schools plan
had agreed in advance that they
needed a two-thirds majority to move
forward. The vote was 72 percent in
favor.
“I was relieved it’s over,” said Prin
cipal Peter TYomba, who has tried in
recent months to calm concern over
the proposed change among his staff,
students and community. “Now we
don’t have to keep asking ‘if’ — now
it’s ‘how.’”
Casandra Kamens, a French
teacher in her eighth year at North,
was among those who voted against
the change.
“I voted no because I don’t feel as
a school right now we have a clear vi
sion of why we’re going forward,”
she said.
But other teachers, even some who
confessed to having lingering con
cerns and questions, said they be
lieve the small-schools model holds
great potential.
“I was nervous, but I know it’s
best for the kids,” said fourth-year
teacher Jesse Sherman, the yearbook
adviser. “It’s not going to be best for
the teachers. It’s going to be hard
work. ”
North Eugene’s $900,000 grant is
being used primarily for travel to visit
other schools, training and staff time
for planning. Staff members have
come up with proposals for seven
schools, each with a distinct focus;
by the end of the year, with input
from staff, parents and students,
three to five will be selected.
At least one will open in fall 2006,
the rest in 2007.
Had the vote gone the other way,
North Eugene might have been the
first of many schools around the na
tion to turn down the remainder of a
Gates small-schools grant.
Karen Phillips, director of the
Gates-affiliated Oregon Small Schools
Initiative, said North Eugene was the
only grantee in Oregon to take a sec
ond vote on whether to move ahead.
Dana
Harlan,
left, places
her jewelry
out for
display
with
assistance
from junior
Vanessa
Ward.
Harlan’s
show ran
Saturday
and
Sunday at
the Kappa
Kappa
Gamma
sorority
house.
Zane Rrrr | Photographer
Jewelry: Harlan's business
to hit the Web next month
Continued from page 1
$20 for a pair of earrings to close
to $100 for more elaborate pieces;
about half of that pays for the cost
of materials.
In addition to earning spending
money, Harlan said making jewel
ry is also relaxing.
“When school gets stressful, I
make jewelry,” Harlan said.
She said it takes her between half
an hour to an hour to make a
piece of jewelry.
Harlan has held jewelry sales at
the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority
house where she lives. A sale just
before Christmas made almost
$1,500 in two hours, and a sale
this weekend that coincided with
the sorority’s Mother’s Weekend
events garnered another $2,000.
As her audience expands, Har
lan said she sees her jewelry in
public more frequently.
“I’ve seen it on people I don’t
know before,” Harlan said. “I’m
excited for the day when that be
comes more of a normal thing.”
“You can’t wear her jewelry and
not get a compliment on it,” jun
ior Sharon Howell said. Howell,
who is studying public relations at
the journalism school, is Harlan’s
friend and housemate and helps
promote her jewelry.
Next month, Harlan plans to be
gin selling jewelry over the Inter
net. Senior Jen Ness is making
Harlan’s Web site.
“It’s going to be a pretty cool,
artsy Web site,” Ness said.
Ness, who majors in advertising
and minors in multimedia design,
said she normally charges a fee for
her Web site services, but Harlan
pays her with jewelry.
“It’s a pretty good trade,” Ness
said.
Harlan’s next public jewelry
sale will be held May 1 at the
Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority
house, 821 E. 15th Ave., from 1
p.m. to 3 p.m.
evasylwester@dailyemerald. com
IN BRIEF
Strong earthquake hits
Indonesia near Sumatra
JAKARTA, Indonesia — An un
dersea earthquake that hit Sunday
near the Indonesian island of Suma
tra sent people fleeing from their
homes in panic, but the temblor
was not strong enough to generate
a tsunami, seismologists and meteo
rologists said.
The 6.8-magnitude tremor’s epi
center was centered about 70 miles
southwest of Padang, a city in west
ern Sumatra, at a depth of nearly 19
miles, the U.S. Geological Survey
said.
Tremors from the earthquake
were felt in several areas surround
ing the Malaysian city of Kuala
Lumpur, national meteorological
chief Chow Kok Kee told TV 3 news.
The quake was recorded at 5:29
p.m. (6:29 a.m. EDT) in the Kepu
lauan Mentawai region, the USGS
said. There have been no reports of
damage, USGS spokeswoman
Clarice Ransom said.
—The Associated Press
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