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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1995)
P.Atif. A3 I UI P oh n and O ksi rvi k • J anuary 2 5 , 1995 Meyer Memorial Trust Funds Whitman “I Have A Dream” Program Above: Brian Detman is director of the "I Have A Dream” summer program at Whitman College. Left: Michael Wooderson (left) and Marcus Shambry (middle), two students enrolled in the ‘‘I Have A Dream” program in Portland, worked their way through a series of science experiments last July during a summer program at Whitman College. Watching their experiment (at right) is Ray Price, a Whitman science student. Both Portland students are in the 9th grade this year. College, takes a quick look at a piece of artwork Brandy Russell created last July during the “I Have A Dream" summer program at the Whitman campus. Russell is a 9th grade student this year at Jefferson High School. Working on another piece of artwork was Sharhonda McCauley (left), a 9th grader this year at Madison High School. As many as 100 Portland students are expected to take part in the program this summer at Whitman. The Meyer Memorial Trust o f Portland, Oregon, has awarded a two- year SI 10,000 grant to Whitman College to continue a summer educa tional program for middle school and high school students enrolled in the ■ I Have A Dream (I HAD)" project in Portland. The Year 1994: CSD Releases Trends On Adoptions The Children’s Services Di vision has just released the agen cy’s adoption trends for the year 1994. CSD looks for adoptive homes for special needs children: those with physical or mental dis abilities; some were born drug- affected; brothers and sisters who need to be placed together; minor ities; children over eight years old. “ I am pleased to see that we found homes for470 special needs children in 1994." said Jan Reed, CSD Interim Adoptions Manag er. “At any given time about 200 kids are waiting for adoptive fam ilies and the majority o f the chil dren have been abused or ne glected." Key points in CSD adop tions in 1994: • Adoption placements totaled 470, down slightly from 4 8 1 in 1993 • More younger children are be ing adoptively placed; 3 1 % are children under three years old. • l oster parents became adop tive parents for 55% o f chil dren placed. • Nearly 95% o f CSD adoption placements continued without disruptions compared to other states where disruption rates can be as high as 30%. • 67" o o f the children placed are The summer residential pro gram, which brings the Portland stu dents to the Whitman campus for a variety o f academic classes and ac tivities, is designed to give students a taste o f college life, encourage and inspire their dreams o f pursuing high er education, and reinforce and strengthen basic academic skills. Students live in campus resi dence halls and take classes taught by Whitman faculty members and teachers from the Portland public schools. Whitman students serve as residence hall counselors and men tors. “Whitman is delighted to learn ofthis important grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust," Whitman president Thomas E. Cronin said. “The I Have A Dream summer program is a vital part o f what Whitman does and we are pleased to host this valuable ser vice program.” Support from the Meyer Memo rial Trust has been critical to the success o f the program, said Brian D etm an, the 1HAD d ire c to r at Whitman. “ We have had funding assistance from other organizations, and from the college itself, but the Meyer Trust has been our primary funding source from the very begin ning.” Encouraged by several o f its Portland-area alumni. Whitman be gan working with the Portland IHAD Foundation in 1992 on possible part nership programs. A two-year pilot project was launched during the sum mer o f 1993, supported in large part by an earlier $ 120,000 grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust. About 130 Portland IHAD students have spent from one to three weeks on the Whitman campus the pas, two sum mers “The W hitman summer residen tial experience has been o f great val ue to all the Portland students who have participated,” said Kenneth Lewis, a Portland businessman who sponsors one class o f students cur rently enrolled in the Portland IHAD program. “This program gives our stu dents a very intense and beneficial introduction to college and higher education,” Lewis added. “Our stu dents look forw ard to going to Whitman each summer. W e’re elat ed the Meyer Memorial Trust has once again supported our program." The Portland IHAD Foundation is part of a nationwide organization founded in 1981 byNewYork philan thropist Eugene Lang to support in ner-city, economically disadvantaged students in their quest for higher edu cation. Lang received an honorary degree and served as the keynote com mencement speaker in May, 1993, at Whitman, a private, independent lib eral arts and sciences college of 1,250 students. In his commencement ad dress, Lang applauded the unique na ture of Whitman's summer residential program, saying he hoped it would serve as a model for other IHAD foun dations throughout the nation. T he first tw o su m m ers o f W hitman's IHAD program were a d e fin ite su c c e ss, a c c o rd in g to Detman. “From alI indications, w e' re doing a very good job o f getting these students excited about learning and excited about obtaining the great est possible benefit from their over all educational experience," he said. “Many o f the students were doing well in the classroom before they came to Whitman, and we try to encourage and reinforce that as much as we can, but these students also are starting to do well outside the class room. Many o f them are becoming student leaders and role models, and we think our program has had a ma jor impact on them in that way.” Next summer, the program will provide five weeks o f on-campus programming for as many as 100 IHAD students in three different classes. Students will range from the seventh through the tenth grade and stay on campus for one to two weeks. Efforts to refine and strengthen the educational experience for the studentsarecontinuing, Detman said. “Some o f the older students, in fact, have told us they think the program needs to be more academically rigor ous. We have no problem intensify ing the program in that way. We may want to assign homework for some o f the nights they are here, for example This isn’t to say these students haven't been involved in their classes the pas, few summers. As the students get older and closer in time to their college years, however, it's impor tant for their academic experience here at Whitman to become increas ingly more intense.” One way to strengthen the pro gram ’s educational component is to focus heavily on basic skills such as reading, writing, spellingand vocab ulary, Detman said. “ We think we can give the older students more o f a college preparation workshop and still maintain our general, thematic approach to the academic program. We want to drill them intensively in those important basic skills as part o f a curriculum that is still intriguing and gro u n d ed in our belief in multiculturalism and personal and political responsibility " Detman said the IHAD students also expressed a strong interest in expanding the cultural exchange ac tivities involving students form the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton, Oregon “The multicultural education we did last summer with the IHAD stu dents, most o f whom are black, and the students from the Indian reserva tion was extraordinary," Detman said “We broke new ground. Those two groups o f young people come from two different worlds, and bringing them together created a remarkable experience for both sides." Above: Tara Barnett, a 9th grade student at Benson High School, follows the classroom discussion in a language arts class last summer at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, She was one of about 60 "I Have A Dream” students who spent two weeks at the college, living in campus residence halls, taking classes taught by Whitman faculty and Portland Public School teachers. Below: Theodore “Teddy" Freeman, a 9th grade student this year at Jefferson High School, enjoyed his reading material last summer in a language arts class at Whitman College. Freeman and other I Have A Dream" students from Portland also took classes in science, music and fine arts during a two-week stay at the college. Spectacular Low Prices Prices effective January 25 through January 31,1995 at your nearby Saleway store. Red Flame or Thompson Seedless Grapes A healthy & quick snack for the family. ‘ 0 Lb. Nalley, 15-0unce Chill With Beans Hardy winter meal idea! 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