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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1985)
A look at Portland's Black educators A review o f som e o f the edu cational ladders in the Portland School District by Lamia Duke, C rassroot News, N. W., with p h o to g ra p h y b y R ich ard J. Brown. Herman Washington Herman Washington is the conductor o f the educational experience at H a r riet Tubman Middle School. C urrently housed on the M onroe campus site, Harriet Tubman ws founded in 1981 as part o f the District’s desegregation efforts which called for a middle school in Northeast Portland to serve the Black community. " W e are a magnet m iddle school with a duel purpose,” Washington ex plained. “ T o provide an excellent ed ucational opportunity as well as foster ing integration" W ashington said his aims are “ to Nathan Jones provide students with a good founda tion to go on to high school. W e start with students at their ability level and o ffer them as much and as varied a curriculum as a student requests and hasa need for.** I A student of Jefferson High School has re- tumed as principal. Nathan Jones is entering his third year as principal and in three short years, Jefferson’s image has improved and their student body is growing. Jones said his goal is to provide students with a foundation to either pursue a higher education or to go o ff into the world o f work. "W hen they finish here we want to have them ready.” Jones indicated that lus education approach instills in the student a desire to learn. “ The desire for education comes from within. I f a student does not want to learn, then he or she can’t be taught." Through a variety of programs, Jefferson is developing an outstanding reputa tion in performing arts. This reputation has built the school up in the eyes of the students, community and parents. Jones wants students at Jefferson motivated to achieve even after they finish high school. One element o f this motivation is Project Pride " It started with the freshman class as an image awareness program, and later it was suggested that As a magnet school. Tubman has a variety o f info rm al and form al edu cational o fferin gs. “ A n education should help every person to be the best person he or she can be. You move in the w orld according to your edu cation and we prepare our students* minds to give them access to their goals." Washington added What course has Washington plot ted to lead his students to the promised land o f quality education? “ W e gather the best teachers to w ork w ith stu dents to develop their unique poten tials. Students are people who have all sorts o f abilities which need help in shaping, developing and refining. W e teach them to love and respect themselves and to know who they are and where they come from. W e teach our students this: W e serve ourselves best when we serve others,” Washing ton concluded. this same positiveness spread throughout the school. Other than providing an education we want to motivate kids to build positive images for themselves and other students. Those ingredients are just as important as a formal education. You can’t have one without the other,” Jones concluded. PATRICIA RVAN Patricia Ryan Patricia Ryan is principal o f la n e Elemen tary School, located in outer Southeast Portland “ I t ’s an older neighborhood, but unlike other older neighborhood, there is no rallying point where the com munity can congregate." Ryan said residents o f la n e are between a rock and a hard place. “ The large park next door is not cared for by the Q ty or Multnomah County. Also, many o f the services you take for granted in the city do not exist here. So, in a lot of ways, residents of Lane are just as disfranchised as those in A lbina." Ryan has served as a principal for eight years in every part o f the city except Northwest. Wherever she goes, Ryan carries this educational philosophy: "Given the opportunity, all children can learn," she explains. She said the trick is to find the right balance between curriculum knowledge and non-curriculum kinds of problems. " In the city we have a large number of students with non-curricular kinds o f needs and we as a school are supposed to concentrate on the curricular.” She advises teachers not to lower their expectations because of the non-curricu lar events that affect children. “ Aim for getting children at grade level or be yond," H lh M A N WASHINGTON NATHAN JONES Pioneer to Poverty PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE t > <5 < Helps Celebrate ■ tfr iíL í BLACK HISTORY MONTH l.-iiU--- A ¿s»**. Matthew Alexander Henson IV The story of Columbus, who m ade the ambitious crossing of the Atlantic to the West Indies and yet died a poor man. unrecog nized. is no less sad than that of Mathew Alexander Henson Join us io hear He was the first person to reach the North Pole on the Arctic Continent He was a member of the Peary mission the last polar expedition in 1909 — and was sent ahead of the main party, reaching the North Pole some 45 minutes ahead of Peary Poet, Colleen McElroy professor, University of Washington February 26, 1985 Noon Cascade Auditorium 705 N. Killingsworth The two explorers planted the symbolic flags together and celebrated the historic moment Some 46 years later when Henson died he was living in Harlem on a pension of $1.020 a year Portland 'Community College THE PEOPLE AT PACIFIC POWER Portland Observer, February 20, 1906, Section II, Page 5 xr > ' * « U ' r- • * ’.ÇJ v e r- • • '
