Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1981)
Page 2 Portland Observer, December 31, 1981 Rance Spruill: Finding alternatives in education G rassroot News, N . IF .— Rem nants o f the era o f social agencies find themselves fighting extinction against a backdrop o f the era o f Big Brother. W ith attention riveted to wards traditional educational sys tems people involved in alternative education can send ripples through the entire spectrum o f education with the concern, commitment and accom plishments they show w ith children who are exiled from the tra ditional school system. M arva C ol lins o f Illinois recently gained na tio n al prom inence while Ranct Spruill o f the Albina Youth Oppor tunity School has always had grass root respect. S p ru ill, the directory, sum m ar ized his program: " A .Y .O .S . is a re laxed, structured environment for kids who have a demonstrated prob lem dealing with the structure im posed by public school. W e have structure here but we don’ t have a situation where we try to create competition. W e’re more concerned with kids developing self-confidence so when they leave here their skill level will be built up and they will be able to survive in a public school where that attention is not given. Most o f the kids have been going to school, but not as a part o f the school. They were just there.” A child will end up at A .Y .O .S . through a c o n fro n ta tio n w ith a teacher or or a a fight. teacher fight Spruill Spruill concedes concedes that the fights and confrontations are a big problem. “ But the m ajor problem that I concern myself with is kids who have attendance prob lems. How do you get kids to go to school so they w ill feel it ’ s a place where they can go do things fot themselves. I f they aren’t at school you can find them at home, walking up and down the street or in some body’s car.” This involvement with kids dates back in to the m id-sixties. Docs Spruill notice any change w ith the children o f the Vietnam era as com pared w ith the childen o f today? “ The kids o f the late ’60s and early ’70s had a lot more intim ate things going for them. They didn’t have a lot o f options available to them and they attended regularly. Over the years you have so much neighbor hood competition that the kids are just program hopping. They will go from wherever to whoever’s paying the buck.” The children that come in contact w ith A .Y .O .S . are considered “ bad." “ I don’t think that children go b a d .” Sp ru ill explains. “ C h il dren are a product o f their environ ment and sometimes you don’t have t nyone else to hold responsible so you hold that child responsible. Is it ti kid’s responsibility to feed himself or clothes herself? A lot o f kids are >ut in that situation. They are not necessarily being children. They are a d u |ts and by the tim e th e y ’ re 15 adults years old they have gone through things that most 25-year-o ld s haven’ t gone through. W hen they reach young adult-hood they have done it all. They have gotten so far out there that they are lost in the s h u ffle .” Spruill summarized this thought by stating that kids just sur vive from one day to the next. The biggest problem is that kids caught up in this existence are not very flex ible. “ Kids have m ore in fo rm a tio n a va ila b le to them to d a y and they will even dare you. I f a child decides that he wants to be a rebel and if his parents come down on him too hard they will be accused o f child abuse. I f he goes to school and acts up the schools can’t do anything about it. When they go to the courts most o f them live better in the court system than they do at hom e.” Spruill be lieves that although th e re ’ s a lot more in fo rm atio n surrounding to day’s children, they are not making the wisest decisions. Sp ru ill’s commitment is refresh ing in a time where those who were com m itted have become d is illu sioned. “ I d o n ’ t feel that I could have gone anywhere else in this country and gotten this grassroot o rientation. I have a real com m it ment to the com m unity in which I live.” For 16 years Spruill has been the D ire cto r o f the A lb in a Y o u th O p p o rtu n ity School and his com mitment shows. mitment shows. PCC provides child care program The child development center at Portland Community College. Cas cade Campus, announces the begin ning o f flexib le hour child care available immediately. “ We are o f fering more flexible scheduling for child care so we can meet a wider range o f child care needs for PC C students and fo r other parents working in the co m m u n ity,” says L u z V illa lb a , head teacher at the child development center. Previously, only PCC student and s ta ff children enrolled in the on going preschool program could be left at the center. Now area parents can leave children ages three to five for full days, morning or afternoon sessions everyday M onday through F rid ay or some co m b in atio n o f those days. Several options are available to cover child care costs. Parents may pay for the service on a sliding fee scale or negotiate a work exchange option wherin equal hours o f work at the center are exchanged fo r equal hours o f child care. O r they may combine the fee and work op tion. Hot lunches, morning snack and afternoon snack w ill be furnished for children left full days. Those at tending mornings only receive snack and lunch, and child ren in a fte r noon sessions only w ill receive an afternoon snack. C h ild re n enrolled in the w in ter program must be three years old by January 15. Additional information may be obtained by calling the child developm ent center at P C C , 283- 2541. We’re getting closer to you than ever This brand new farmers Insurant e otfke is an exam ple of what can happen when folks are really con cerned about you and your family. I’ve opened up in a con venient new location to better learn your needs and to bettei fill them If you already know me. stop in and say hello. If not, come in for a sample of farmers fast, fair, friend ly service on your present insurance problems. V IV IA N I. W A R R E N q . FARMERS H E R E R O Designs a visual and performing arts company will host a benefit for the M att Dishman Com m unity Center located on 77 N .E . Knott on Friday Jan. 15th and Sat urday Jan. 16th. The evening’ s en tertainment will be by the H E R E R O Complete Laundry & Dry Cleaning Services 1 Block N orth o ff Eoat Bumalda 1 0 5 n o S tn ave P o r t la n d . O r e g o n 9 7 2 3 S p ro n e 3 3 9 -4 1 OO g o r d o n g. w o n g Happy New Year EL DORADO RESTAURANT 5016 N.E. Union Ave. 287-4755 Read the Observer every w eek. Subscribe today! C a ll 283-2486. Breakfast Lunch D inner 1 am -11:30 am M i a o u * W afflM Servad with hot maple ayrup 11:30em-2p«n 4 pm 9 pm unlimited. Resale Clothing "First Quality T he Ser ond I ime Around" brings recognition and bolsters the good and services arenas o f the community. The Band will also be available for h a lf-tim e p erfo rm ances at high schools, colleges and professional sports events. Men's, Women », Children’s Clothing and Household Items Al l SIZE S AVAILABLE The Jazmin Band director and co ordinator have been working hand in hand with some o f the communi ty ’ s m ajor service organizations. They are hopeful that more resi dents will want to become involved through donations. A ll o f the band members do not have instruments. The Band is asking that community residents donate instruments that they have in their homes that are not being used to the Band. I f a resident wants to make a contribution either o f time, money, scholarship, or in strument donation, call the Urban League Northeast Youth Service Center at 288-6708. (Continuedfrom page I column 6) It has been suggested that the ex cessive drinking associated with some New Y e a r’ s Eve parties is a relic o f the deliberate disruption and chaos practiced by primitive peoples at the end o f each year. The din and racket we now think we’ re making just for fun and cele b ra tio n — the blowing o f party horns, the tooting o f car horns, the ringing o f bells, the banging o f pots and pans and, in some places, the firin g o f guns— was o rig in ally meant to scare away low and evil spirits. M akin g a good start in the new Special Plata of the Day B a r-B -Q A ll The T im i has the potential tor being an eco nomic asset to all o f its residents. Performance and musical scholar ship possibilities are the immediate goals o f the director for the Band. But M em ory looks fu rth er than these im m ediate goals to what the possibilities are for the community as a whole. The Band wants to plan some festivals on a future perform ance date that w ill attract bands from all over the country. P er formances o f this kind are not seen in the N orthw est, and for a com munity to play host to such an event R Consignments Accepted (Quality Merchandise Only| By Appointment Please 281-9418 R Musicians of tha marching band being put togathar by Thara Memory meat on Thursdays at Jefferson High to practice. Bass Clarinet, Ronnie Tolbert; Flute, Adrienne Dixson; Trumpet, Charles Johnson. (photo: Richard J. Brown) This New Year N e w C hina Laundry Cr D ry Claanars Students. Further inform ation con tact Sevedious Simington, 282-1460 or M arvin Johnson, 288-9535. DANZERS. Tickets are a va ila b le th ru the M a tt D ishm an C e n te r. Cost o f shows are $3.00 for A dults, $1.50 Memory organizes community band On October 16, 1981 the Jazmin Community Marching Band started rehearsals towards their first per formance goal, the 1982 Rose Festi val. The Band is the first o f its kind in the Northwest. Its marching style is based on the Southern high school and collegiate band styles o f a Flori da A & M or a Grambling. Presently the Jazmin C om m unity M arching Band has fifty members from the North/Northeast communities. The age range is officially 14 to 21 years, but the Band is accepting younger members who still work their way into the m a jo r perform ing group which w ill eventually number 100 members. Rehearsals are held at Jefferson High Scoool every Thurs day evening from 4 pm to 7 pm. Soon the Band will hold a weekend rehearsal to attract youth whose schedules conflict with weekday practice. Some members have already made sacrifices in their planned fall school schedules to become mem bers o f the Band. Some have fo r feited being on the football and bas ketball teams and one member comes all the way from Vancouver, W A in order to participate. Since moving to the Northwest some twelve years ago from Florida, the Band's director, Thara Memory, has dreamed o f a Marching Band in the Northwest o f the caliber seen in the South. A C om m unity M arching Band 1727 N .E . 13th 284-9999 RANCE SPRUILL (Photo: Richard J. Brown) year by resolving to change some thing or “ turning over a new leaf” has been part o f New Y e ar’ s plans for ages. W atching to d a y ’ s New Y e a r’s resolutions fall by the way- side as the year progresses doesn’ t mean it was all for naught. And to the Babylonians, the pub lic h u m iliatio n and subsequent reinstatement o f the king meant a new beginning for him, even if it did reduce him to having his nose tweaked and his ears boxed. The culmination o f the festivities, it is thought, was the celebration o f new birth with feasts and the restor ation o f order. Even the ancient Greeks carried a baby around in a basket as a symbol o f the new year long before we ever thought o f par ading a young one w ith the year printed on his diaper. So, this New Y e a r’ s Eve, as the gray, decrepit man representing the old year staggers out your door and the bright-eyed baby, the new year, bounces in, take a moment to re flect. As you stare in to the punch bowl and review the past 365 days, look to the future, too. In a thous and years, others might be staring into a punch bowl, wondering how people celebrated a new year in the 1980s. 2406 N.E. Union Ave Parking On NE Sacramento St If you want to stay on top, you have to stay in touch. ‘S M 1 J1? 1 keeP * V° U ln COn«tant touch P rm iding direct dial, tone alert, tone voice, and m obile telephone service. 713 8.W It t k A m . Portland. OR 97M S 2 M -1 M 7 H
