Committed to cultural diversity.
Volume XXVII, Number 38
SEPT. 17, 1997
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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