Page 10 Portland Observer, September 8. 1982
OBSERVATIONS
FROM THE SIDELINES
by Kathryn Hall Bogle
No fewer than eight black
principals are on hand to open
school doors for children in the
Portland School District as they
return this week after the long
summer vacation.
Among the eight is Nathan Jones,
new principal at Jefferson High
School, who was form erly a
prinicple at Marshall High School.
Jones has been in the Portland
system since 1964. He received his
education in Oregon, w ith degrees
from Lewis and Clark and from
Portland State University.
His special interests and certifica
tion are in the fields o f Health, Busi
ness and Physical Education. He
continues his outside association
with the National Football League
as a referee. Jones was on hand to
referee the recent games between the
Redskins and the Buffalo Bills
played in Washington, D.C. last
week.
Michael Jordan, an Oregonian by
birth, principal now at Bridger Ele
mentary School, graduated from
Jefferson High School. His degrees
were earned from University o f
Portland and from Portland State
University. Bridger, in Southeast
Portland, has an enrollment o f
nearly 400 pupils and operates a
center fo r the deaf in its program.
Jordan’s experience
includes
teaching fifth grade at Sunnyside El
ementary School and four years
with the USAF in Thailand during
the Vietnam war. Home unscathed
from the wars, Jordan is now M ajor
Jordan with the A ir National Guard
where he serves a stint each month.
Jordan returned to teaching with
an assignment at King in 1970.
Jordan, a single parent to his 11-
year-old daughter Paula Renee, is a
steelhead fisherman, whenever it is
possible. He likes jazz and plays a
good game o f tennis.
Herman
Washington
expects
about 485 children to enroll at H ar
riet Tubman M iddle School in
Northeast Portland where he is the
newly appointed principal.
W ashington, enthused about the
Tubman program, sketched in some
o f the attractions the program holds
for students and their parents. “ We
have a strong mathematics and
science program ,”
Washington
said, “ and we are the only middle
school in the district to have a com
puter program as a magnet. Our
language department is extensive,
too. We are prepared to teach
French, German, Spanish and Swa
h ili.”
A native o f Alabama, Washing
ton had undergraduate work at A la
bama State College, an all-black
school, now racially integrated.
Since then Washington has ex
panded his educational experience
to include a doctoral degree in polit
ical science from the University o f
Colorado. He became a Fullbright
Scholar for studies in India at Mad
ras, Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta;
he became a Japan Scholar in con
junction with the government o f Ja
pan and has had a National Science
Foundation grant to study sociology
at Western Michigan University.
In Portland, Washington taught
Social Studies at the now-closed
Washington High School until 1974,
when he went to the Oregon State
Department o f Education as a Spe
cialist for Social Studies. His offices
were in Salem.
A t 39, Washington is single.
HERMAN WASHINGTON
JOY BROCK PRUITT
THELMA UNTHANK BROWN
Thelma Unthank Brown, new
principal at Hum boldt School, has
assumed duties there after two years
at Rice Elementary School as princi
pal.
“ H um boldt,” says Brown, “ o f
fers Early Childhood Education —
from pre-kindergarten through the
fifth grade. We are expecting an en
rollment this year o f about 600.
When they leave us our students en
roll at either Tubman or Ockley
Green.
“ Here we have a HOST program,
a cooperative plan using the input o f
students, parents and persons from
the general community. These vol
unteers help our staff o f 60 teachers
and aides to participate in the team
work necessary for some o f our stu
dents to achieve goals. The program
gets its name HOST from its pur
pose: ‘ Help One Student to Suc
ceed’ .”
Brown was born in Portland, the
daughter o f the late Dr. and Mrs.
De Norval Unthank, prominent
Portland citizens. She was educated
in Portland, received higher educa
tion at Spellman, at Oregon State
University, Atlanta University and
at Portland State University.
Brown is a single parent rearing
three daughters.
Joy Brock P ruitt is principal at
Grout Elementary School in South
east Portland. This is her fourth
year at Grout whose pupils may en
ter at kindergarten age to attend
through fifth grade. P ru itt expects
about 350 children to enroll this
week.
The Grout special program, ac
cording to Joy Pruitt, is shaped to
best serve the m ildly handicapped
child and those who have some de
velopmental considerations. “ Grout
is a structural learning center for
[thesej other children with learning
disabilities. We have 18 certified
teachers and eight teacher aides on
our staff. They are responsible for
our successes.”
Pruitt is a Jefferson High School
graduate, with degrees from Lin*
field College, Portland State U ni
versity and a teaching certificate
from Lewis and Clark College.
Joy P ruitt is the wife o f Dr. C lar
ence Pruitt, a former professor o f
dentistry at the Dentistry School o f
the Oregon Health Sciences Univer
sity. They have three adult sons.
Samuel Cameron, the new princi
pal at M artin Luther King Elemen
tary School, is also a new arrival in
the Portland community.
Cameron came to Portland d i
rectly from Seattle where he was
principal at Garfield High School
fo r two years. The longest teaching
and administrative experience came
through 27 years in New Jersey
schools, says this gregarious man.
His experience includes both urban
and suburban situations on the East
Coast and West Coast. He is a prod-
■tet o f M ontclair State, New York
University Biblical Seminary and
the University o f Washington.
“ I like a multi-ethnic school pop
ulation,” says Cameron. “ We are
expecting close to 550 youngsters
and I am looking forward to meet
ing them all. We have a ‘ prescrip
tio n ’ learning program here at King
— a program tailored to develop the
strengths o f each individual child.
The district has been generous to
give us a good staff and staff-aides
I
SAMUEL CAMERON
for our resources.”
Cameron is married. He likes to
sing, has a good baritone voice,
likes to sing in churches and to help
put on concerts for church benefits.
Cameron may be new to the com
munity, but he w ill be well-known
soon.
Gloria Gostnell, the new principal
at Glencoe Elementary School,
presides over a sprawling, beige
Spanish tile-roofed building in
southeast Portland. The building
houses about 450 youngsters and 25
or more sta ff persons.
Gostnell may be new at Glencoe
but she is not new to teaching nor to
the Portland Public School District.
An
experienced
teacher
and
administrator before she came to
Portland four years ago to work in
the office o f the dean at Clackamas
Community College, Ms. Gostnell
transferred to W oodlawn school for
another two years to teach basic
skills to elementary pupils.
” 1 was born in D etroit,” says
Ms. Gostnell, “ and I was educated
there. My undergraduate work was
completed
at
Michigan
State
University. I received my Masters
degree
in
Supervision
and
Adm inistration from Bank College
o f Education in New York. I (aught
eight years in New York C ity ’ s
elementary schools and later I
taught teachers at Grand Valley
State College - again in Michigan.
“ Here at Glencoe wc have a good
basic curriculum and an enrichment
program staffed by involved parents
who participate with teaching staff
in a ‘before and after’ school
program. We are fortunate also to
hve a computer purchased by
parents.
"O u r
classwork
runs
from
kindergarten through fifth grade for
our m ulti-racial student body. We
have about 18 per cent m inority
enrollment
including
American
Indian, Asian, and black children
and our regular programs o f Great
Books,
A rtist
in
Residence,
Brotherhood M onth, Conservation
A ctivities w ill interest everyone.”
Ms. Gostnell is married and has
four children - none at Glencoe.
(Photoa: Judith Slawart)
Rosemary Daniels, at Edwards
Elementary School on S.E. 32nd
Place, was head teacher at Brooklyn
Elementary before transferring this
fall to Edwards. Ms. Daniels,
herself,
attended
Woodlawn,
Jefferson High .School and Portland
State University. As a graduate
student she earned her Masters
degree in administration, also
from PSU.
Ms. Daniels has had 18 years
experience teaching at King and at
Llewellyn where she was a unit
leader or support person for staff.
She also has been active in
curriculum being a part o f a team
selecting
books
on
“ reading-
adoption” as well as being a
committee person for the State of
Oregon, inform ing the various
districts o f the level o f their
children’s w riting skills.
The 300 yoiungsters at Edwards,
a “ year around” school, enjoy
going to school for nine weeks and
then having three weeks at home,
returning to school for another nine
weeks, and so on for the entire year.
Their parents appreciate this style o f
school attendance, according to Ms.
Daniels. “ On any day we see as
many as 50 parents in our school.
They come to tutor, they come to
assist in the library or to help in
some school
funcitons,”
said
Daniels.
Parents at Edwards arc busy at
plans for this Sunday when they will
honor Rosemary Daniels at a
“ Welcome to Edwards” party or
picnic on the beautiful green prks
form ing the campus at Edwards
school. Neighbors and friends w ill
jo in in the welcome.
Ms. Daniels is married and has
one son, an elementary pupil at
Faubion school.
(Photographs o f Ms. Gostnell and
Ms. Daniels were not available.
Watch this column./