P age B3
T he P ortland O bserver • J anuary 19,1994
BLAZERS REWARD KIDS
by
achievement to students with signifi­
cant improvement in a number of
different area depending on the indi­
vidual student.
Random names are then drawn
by the Blazers from the pool of stu­
dents who received improvement cer­
tificates presented by the teachers.
The four students from Dayton
High (Jerry Evan, Mary Street, Jason
Uwing and Bruce Smith) were emo­
tionally overjoyed by the experience.
They seemed proud not only of
their accomplishments, but to have
the chance to represent their small
community tucked into the scenic
highw ay betw een N ew berg and
McMinnville.
The looks in their eyes expressed
feelings of excitement and accom­
plishment. Although they seemed a
little intimidated by the capacity
crowd, the reasons for being there
were not far from memory.
“I was doing horrible in school,”
E ric N oon
How do four small town high
school teenagers become the most
popular kids in school overnight?
They win tickets to last Tuesdays
Portland Trailblazer game against the
Seattle Supersonics in the packed
Memorial Coliseum.
The four students from Dayton
High School were presented with tick­
ets through the B.A.S.I.C. (Blazer,
Avia, Scholastic, Improvement, Con­
cepts) program.
This small school in Dayton,
Oregon, with an enrollment of around
225 students held an all school as­
sembly to present the winning stu­
dents with the tickets.
In a time were Blazer tickets are
in high demand, the BASIC program
rewards high school students from
around the state for their efforts in the
.classroom.
,
Based on improvement the Blaz-
■ ers and Avia reward certificates of
said 15 year old Mary Street. “Then I
just turned it around.”
W ith the concept o f BASIC
focused on im provem ent, grades
w ere n o t a lw a y s the a re a o f
achievem ent. Just m aking it to
school on a regular basis is im ­
provem ent for som e.
“Jason missed a lot of school,”
said Heather Toller one of the two
teachers accompanying the winners.
“Now Jason makes it to school almost
everyday.”
Some of the kids got to meet the
program player representative Blazer
Clyde Drexler before the game.
“I really enjoy seeing the kids
and talking with the parents when I
can,” said the proud Drexler. “It’s
really a tribute to the Blazers and
Avia for making this possible.”
Although the kids from Dayton
didn’t get to see Drexler in action due
to injury, they witnessed the best game
of the season.
The B lazers dom inated the
game from tip -o ff and led by as
many as 28 points in the second
half against the best team in the
league before cooling o ff for a
108-99 victory.
This program just shows another
example of how sports can have a
positive link o f influence with today’s
children.
The positive relationship between
athletics and education is going to
continue to be a hot issue as the money
for schools keeps dwindling through­
out the state.
With the “Stay in School” pro­
gram and others like BASIC the NBA
is finding routes to influence today’s
children the importance of education.
I not only met four winners of
tickets to the Trailblazers game last
week, but I met four winners in the
game of life for understanding that
education can give them a winning
record.
The Name Of The
G am e Is Changing
...At least as far as city parks are
concerned. Formerly known as the
Portland Bureau of Parks, the city has
changed that moniker to Portland
Parks and Recreation.
“The reason for the title change
is to leave the public with a better first
impression and to more accurately
reflect the character of the organiza­
tion” explains Director Charles Jor­
dan. “The term bureau sounds like a
cold, faceless office, but that is not
who we are. We work with Portlanders
to insure that they get the most out of
their leisure time. Our staff design
fun, healthy and educational activi­
ties for people o f all ages and work
hard to maintain areas of solitude and
beauty. We think that focusing on the
words Parks and Recreation in our
tittle expresses that a little belter.”
A n o th er aspect o f the change
is that it follow s cu rren t p ro fes­
s io n a l s ta n d a r d s . U n til n o w ,
P o rtlan d ’s was one o f the few
rem ain in g park d ep artm en ts that
did not in corporate the word re c ­
reatio n in its title. T he ch an g e
w ill bring the o rg an izatio n in line
with o th er agencies th ro u g h o u t
O regon and the nation.
The policy will take effect imme­
diately and is already reflected in
spoken references and printed mate­
rials. Residents will still see the old
title at various parks around the city
however. In order to keep costs down
and reduce waste, the department
decided not to change them until they
are in need of replacing.
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