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.
<Jhe fjrantonian
Published bi-weekly Fall semester and
weekly Spring semester by the advanced
journalism class of Ulysses S. Grant
high school, room 203, 2,245 N.E. 36th
Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97212. Phone
288-5975. Printed by Modem Typesetting
company with a circulation of 3000. Sec
ond class postage paid at Portland, Ore.
Subscription cost $2.00 per year.
Vol. 72, No. 6 — March 8, 1968
Editor....................................... Jan Kelley
Staff Members ... .June Ammon, Bonnie
Brown, Steph Daly, Julie Ferry, Mar
lene Feves, Cecile O’Rourke, Kathy
Walton
Advertising Manager.............. Lisa Rose
Circulation Manager .... Kathy Walton
Assistants . Gerald Holmes, Diane Sweet
Photographers .. Sterling Bennett, Tami
Brandt, Raylene Erickson, Nancy Mc
Cready, Helen Wall
Adviser .... *......................Willard Mohn