4 THE GRANTONIAN March 8, 1968 Students seeking summer employment given advice, pointers to land position Wanted: One home with a family willing to sponsor an American Field Service student. Qualifications: A heart—large enough to share a portion with another child from another country for a year—and probably forever. A mind—open to the different life and culture the student will bring with him, open to accepting him for his differences and not for his similarities. And a share of laughter and gaiety to shrink the problems which may come up and to strengthen the bonds of communication. We are lucky enough to receive two of seven AFS students sent to Portland each year and the student body accepts these foreign students with open hands and hearts—at school. But has anyone considered the problems that arise each year when houses are sought for these students to call “home” for one year. Five students, all girls, have applied to sponsor an AFS student in their homes next year. No boys’ families have applied. If this lack of enthusiasm exemplifies the rummage sale which is being held specifically for the purpose of raising funds for an exchange student—Grant may have no foreign students at all next year. Uniform, ^radin^ ôyôtem advocated As the end of another grading period draws near, students begin to ponder where they went wrong and how they can bring their grades up in the next term. A problem to many students are the methods of grading which differ­ ent teachers choose. Some of the most common complaints about methods of grading are: (1) a student doesn’t know where he stands, (2) the grading system is not uniform, (3) teachers are not following the accumulative grading pattern. All of the above are legal complaints. If a student doesn’t know what he is doing in a class, quite often, by the time he finds out, it’s too late to do anything about it. If a grading system is not uniform, the teacher is not giving an equal chance to all students. Finally, grades are meaningless if there is not a set time span over which the person is graded. What this and most Portland schools need is a set, uniform system of grading. Finding a system closest to perfect would be difficult, but as a start it would have to insure the student of a fair, unbiased grade, cover­ ing a set span of time (averaging so many terms together). A system where the student would not only know if he were flunking, but also to what de­ gree he was passing is needed. Even better yet, a system could be advocated where a teacher would give only two grades, “F” (flunking) or “P” (passing). Through this tech­ nique the emphasis could be placed on learning instead of points and grades. No one has all the answers and maybe a standardized grading system would be impossible, but now is the time for teachers to evaluate their grading methods and discover whether they áre answering the needs of their students., especially the three needs listed above. If grading practices are not answering student as well as teacher needs, it would be impossible and also unfair to students for teachers to change systems now; but instructors have six months to develop new sys­ tems before another year of students make the same complaints about grading practices. by Cecile O’Rourke An important question to most stu­ dents at this time of year is, “How can I secure a summer job?” The number of job openings available is limited and only those students who make good im­ pressions or have good connections will make it. In securing a job many things must be considered. The type of work a. person feels he is able to do important. According to Wayne Robinson, vocational counselor, a prospective employer will more readily hire a person who knows the type of work he can do, rather than the person who says he’ll take anything. “It is important that an employer knows the level of work which a student feels he is capable of doing,” Mr. Robin­ son stated. If an employer knows your capabilities, even if the job you’re apply­ ing for isn’t available, perhaps he can place you in a position almost equal to it. After a person has decided his capabilities he must make contacts. He should place applications in many different places. If a person is given a job interview, he should remember the name of the inter­ viewer. Then he should keep going back to these places every few weeks and make sure that he sees the same person he saw before. “Remembering your face is im­ portant,” Mr. Robinson emphasized. If an applicant makes several ap­ plications, follows them up, and makes sure he sees the same inter­ viewer each time, that interviewer will begin to associate the person’s application with his face. According to Mr. Robinson, a person who follows these steps will eventually land a job. There are, in addition to these steps, however, many other valuable pointers. To find job openings a prospective worker should notify his friends and relatives of the type of work which he is seeking, because many employers hire new employees through those already on the payroll. Consulting the nearest local office of the State Employment Service, Mr. Rob­ inson and the local newspaper want ads will also increase a person’s chances of finding a job. Making an impression is essential in securing a job. A neat appearance, neat handwriting and correct grammar and spelling on the application are impor­ tant. How a person behaves in an interview is important. Knowing something about Cafeteriq cited as worst problem Custodian Pulsifer outlines duties, funny incident “Yes, we have a pretty big job,” com­ mented Custodian Leon Pulsifer. Leon has been here for three years and had been previously employed with Franklin high school, Couch grade school and Child’s Service center. “All in all I have been doing custodial work for 13 years,” he said. The custodians’ work begins at 2:00 p.m. and goes on till 10:30 p.m. with a one-hour break for dinner at 6:00, and a coffee break. Every five weeks Kenneth Hughs, head custodian, switches all of the men to work in a different section of the build­ ing. When asked which section of the school was hardest to be in charge of, the answer was, “The cafeteria, of course.” The library and auditorium sections were found to be the easiest. Altogether there are 11 custo­ dians, not counting the assistant cus­ todian. They do not work on the weekends but Monday through Fri­ day. The head custodian must arrive at school promptly at 6:00 a.m., working through the day until 2:00 p.m. No general carpenter work is to be Leon Pulsifer done by the custodians, although often they are finding themselves being called into classrooms and asked to help out with such tasks as opening lockers, fix­ ing pencil sharpeners, and helping teach­ ers who often get their keys stuck in the keyhole. “On one occasion I had to take the entire doorknob apart, for a teacher to finally be able to unlock her door,” commented Mr. Pulsifer. When asked about the largest and big­ gest problem found by the custodians the answer was, “The cafeteria and outside garbage problems. All it takes is to step a few feet and drop their trash in the can, but instead they throw it right along the side. “I would think the students would have more pride in their school and keep it clean inside as well as outside,” con­ cluded Mr. Pulsifer. During the summer the custodians work from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. scrubbing and waxing floors and doing a complete clean-up job. This summer Mr. Pulsifer; and his wife are anxiously awaiting Mr. Pulsifer’s three-week vaca­ tion for a trip to New York and Indiana. the company, being polite, well-spoken and neat are all essential. “It’s seldom that we have enough jobs for everyone,” ended Mr. Robinson. Because of a state law that certifies that workers under the age of 16 may not work before 7:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m., jobs for the student 14-16 are espe­ cially difficult to find. In order to help these students various organizations have been set up. Pre­ viously many students aged 14 and up have been hired by Multnomah County for summer work. It is unsure as yet whether this program will be continued, but county officials informed Wayne Robinson, vocational counselor, that they would know by April 1. Anyone inter­ ested in this opportunity should contact Mr. Robinson. The Youth Task Force (Ox Bow) will be hiring 262 students from 14-21 years of age for summer work. Workers will work for approximately 25 hours a week at a rate of $1.30-$1.40 an hour. Applications for the Youth Task Force program will be available after April 1 and may be obtained from Henry Pond, assistant vice-principal. Other opportunities available for the younger students are jobs in the com­ munity. Yard work, baby sitting, house cleaning and other community work can be obtained through the vocational coun­ selor, Mr. Robinson. The Youth Opportunity Center, 25 N.E. 11th avenue, is also a place for young students to go when looking for employment. Generalities The annual Red Cross Blood drive will be held March 21 from 2:00-7:30 at the Alameda grade school cafetorium. Be­ sides blood donors, typists and reception­ ists are needed, according to Mrs. Don­ ald Fraser, Parent-Teacher association representative. Volunteers can call Mrs. Fraser at 282-1533. There has been the traffic, the drop­ out, the sports season, and the racial ten­ sion, but none of these can possibly com­ pare to the unsurpassable, ever-lasting, yearly litter problem. Each year everything from posters and pep talks to placing garbage cans every 50 yards apart is performed in hopes of inspiring the student body into initiating an awareness of a broblem which defi- nitely exists and its definitely over­ looked, despite all efforts, by the stu­ dents. We’ve heard it from the administra­ tion, from the teachers, and from the community; our cafeteria is a pig-pen. In an interview with Leon Pulsifer, cus­ todian, he stated that the worst problem at Grant as he sees it is the cafeteria and garbage in general. This year Girls’ League has decided to try their hand at solving the unsolvable by instigating a campaign to be carried out through the lunch periods.