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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1997)
Committed to cultural diversity. Volume XXVII, Number 38 SEPT. 17, 1997 (Hu' -¡jìnrtlanh (©bserüer ZfT nnint u n ity MXaI e n h a r SECTION B New curriculum tackles low test scores School physicals for food School and sports physicals are offered for a donation of two cans of food and $ 15 at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine e&stside center, 11231 S.E. Market. Call 255- 7355 to schedule an appointment. Staying slim and fit Free exercise and w ellness classes are offered every M onday, W ednesday and F rid a y at 10 a m . at th e N o rth e a s t M ulticultural Senior C enter, 5325 N.E. M artin L uther King Jr. Blvd. Virgo birthday bash The annual V irgo B irthday Bash will be held at the M ecca T em ple, 72 E. B urn side, featuring a dance, all-m ale fashion show, food and entertainm ent. T his is one event you d o n ’t w ant to miss. For m ore inform ation call 238-3552. Jazz concert in park Frem ont United M ethodist C hurch is inviting friends and neighbors to a ja zz concert in the park as part o f its 75th anniversary celebration. T he Jon N ilsen Com bo will perform T hursday, Sunday at 4 p.m. in A lam eda Park directly behind A lam eda School on 27th and Frem ont. Sanborn joins symphony Superstar saxophonist D avid Sanborn will join resident conductor M urry Sidlin and the O regon Sym phony for a special event concert on T uesday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. at the A rlene Schnitzer C oncert Hall. Life skills for over 50 ; "Getting your second wind: Putting Mean ing and Purpose into the Second Half of Lite” is the title of a four week workshop offered by Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation. The class meet Tuesdays, Sept. 30 to Oct. 14 from 7 to 9 p in. at Luepke Center, 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd. To register call (360) 696- 8236. Prostitution alternatives ; The Council for Prostitution A lterna tives, in conjunction with the Red Rose School, will conduct an eight w eek course on the subject o f prostitution. T he class will begin with a historical look at sexual slavery, including a slide show on the im pacts o f pornography. For inform ation call 232-5043 or 230-0488. Portsmouth Middle School teacher Abby Myers leads morning reading for students like Alix Scwartz (left) and Justin Walston. B y N eii .H eii . hern School's morning routine now starts with reading verybody reads m ore these days at Portsm outh M iddle School, w here a new chapter is being w ritten in its educational approach. Reading has becom e the sc h o o l's pri here,” he said, "but they d id n 't learn to read mary focus this year, with all 450 students and we knew we needed to do som ething poking their noses into books for the i n i d iffe re n t.’’ tial 45 m inutes o f each d a y 's first class. M any questions were posed about the Like oth er area schools, Portsm outh inability of so many students to grasp read educators last year took a look at alarm ing ing concepts. In his search for answ ers. reading tes, scores and decided to answ er Pickett talked with professors at most the challenge. area colleges and zeroed in on the theories In N ovem ber 1996, a score o f 212 was o f Dr. Ellen A rw ood o f the University o f considered okay for high school gradua Portland. tion, said Pickett. New state-m andated W ith a wide m ixture o f cultures repre benchm arks require fifth graders to achieve sented in Portland schools, it was im portant a 2 15 score, eight graders to have 2 3 1 and to realize that “the reason most children 10th graders to have 239. d id n 't learn to read the first time is they are Pickett said 61 percent o f his incom ing visual learners, not auditory learners.'' said students could not read at the 5th grade P ickett. benchm ark levels. He said the theory recognized that som e “The children were in school five years, cultural groups learn language from a visual w ith certified teachers, before they got E view point, seeing pictures as ideas, while other culture groups m ade w ider use o f auditory signals to convey the same ideas. Pickett also noted how “television has a significant impact on the way we deliver in stru ctio n .” The program started changing last Jan u ary. with 30 m inutes o f m orning reading, upped to 45 m inutes this year. The students were tested and each grade was grouped according Io reading level. Extensive reading inventories were taken and replacem ent reading m aterials were sought. At first the school found older 1980 read ing textbooks from the school district w are house b asem en t T h is y ear, the school "w orked out a w onderful arrangem ent" with (Photo by Neil Heilpern) textbook publisher H oughton-M ifflin," said Pickett. "W e becam e a dem onstration site and go, a lot of instructional m aterials for nothing." Now, w hen teachers ask students to open their "Im ages" reading texts they see live lier responses to the m agazine style g rap h ics. Pickett vow ed that "until our eight g rad ers reach the 2 3 1 level, I will keep asking why. If we teach every student to read before sending them Io high school, they will have a ch ance to graduate in four y ears.” The trad e o ff is less em phasis on sci ence and m ath, but the principal noted that w ithout good reading skills students will not succeed in those other subjects. R esults? "T he kids are com ing up, and it will take tim e," said Pickett S tandard tests are due in A pril, but the end o f O cto b er will bring the sc h o o l's first quarterly tests to see if it is on the right track to better reading. Equinox party set Saturday at 7:30 p.m.. O M SI and the Rose City A stronom ers, will celebrate the A utum nal Equinox with a free star party ! H ere’s your opportunity to view the planets Jupiter and Saturn, star clusters, nebulae and other objects up close and personal through telescopes and learn more from local experts. Celebrating cultures Create better tomorrows Guila Muir will present a workshop on how to make your community a safer and healthier place to live and how to make sure our kids don’t get in trouble with alcohol, drugs and violence, during a better tomorrows meeting Oct. 2 at 5 p.m in the community rcxim at 8920 N. Wixilsey Avenue. Women’s show coming T hree entertainm ent stages, hosting c e lebrity appearances, fashion show s, aero bic dem onstrations, hair styling, beauty m akeovers, sem inars and more will take place Sept. 26-28 form 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the N orthw est W om en's Show at the O regon C onvention Center. YWCA hears Roberts F orm er G ov. B arbara Roberts, will speak at the annual m eeting o f the YW CA o f greater Portland, on her experiences as a w om an in politics and the im portance of w om en taking leadership roles in their com m unities. The public address at the Central Library is held Sept 2.3 at 6 p.m. SI O M IS S IO N S : C o m m u n ity ( a le n d a r in fo rm a tio n « i ll In* given p rio rity i f le e c h e d tu o weeks before the even, dale. ___-----------------------------------------------—_____Í ... . Faces of northeast workforce alnut Park neighbors are entertained Saturday on stage by Vicci Vei, Mr. Rue and Mikel, while other area residents in native costume dance to share their cultural roots. The community multicultural celebration was sponsored by the Walnut park Community Committee with the help o f the Northeast Community Development Corp. (Photos by M. Washington) Kimberly Mason (left) and Marnie Vlahos work at Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives. 4829 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr., to bring affordable and attractive housing to north and northeast Portland. See related story, page A3. (Photo by Gary Washington) Brandon shows support for Grant errell B randon visited his alm a m ater. G rant High S chool, Friday and presented a check for $25,000 to the school. Brandon, N ational B asketball A ssociation sportsm an ol the year, m ade the presentation during an all-school assem bly in G rant's new gym . The tw o-tim e N BA all star said the gif, can be used for either academ ics or athletics at G rant, although he hopes to ensure that all interested students can participate in athletics, even if they can , afford athletic fees T
