Committed to Cultural Diversity
May 23, 2(M)I
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I e it b a r Schools Looks for New Superintendent
YMCA Sponsors
W orld’s L argest Run
T heC larkC ounty Family YÄ4CA, located
in Vancouver, W ashington will be having the
“W orld’s Largest Run,” a 5k run/w alk on
Saturday, June 2 at 2 p.m .. It will be sponsored
by 1,300 Y M CA s in 700 cities throughout
North America. This is in celebration o f the
150"' Anniversary o f the YM CA in the United
States. To register, call 503/228-5079 o r360/
885-9622.
A rchitectural Treasures
of Portland
A lice Cotton, a local author will be giving
a slide show presentation at M ultnomah
County Library on W ednesday, June 13, 7
p.m. inhonorofP ortland’s 150th anniversary.
H er specialty is on revealing the unique stoTy
o f beautifully designed buildings in the city
and highlighting its architecture.
June Lead Poisoning
Prevention Workshop
A June Lead Poisoning W orkshop spon­
sored by Com m unity Energy Project will dis­
cuss the health effects o f childhood lead
poisoning. Incom e-qualified Portland resi­
dents receive a free prevention kit worth
about $45. The event is free and open to the
public. Freechildcare provided. Itw illbeheld
June 5 from 6-7:30p.m . at W hitakerCom m u-
nity School, 5700N .E . 39"' Ave.
Friendly Poets Society
T he Friendly Poets Society is offering a
$ 1,000grand prize in their Poetry C ompetition
2001, free to everyone. There are 28 prizes in
all, worth over $3,000. The contest is seeking
poem s on any subject, using any style, with
a life-affirming inspirational theme. Form ore
in f o rm a tio n ,
go
o n lin e
to
www.friendlypoets.com. Deadline is June 15.
Free Tennis Lessons
H ave you ever w anted to leant to play
tennis, but w eren’t sure how to go about
doing so? W ell, here is your chance! The
United State Tennis A ssociation has desig­
nated the m onth o f M ay as “U SA Tennis
M onth” throughout the entire nation! To
celebrate, the V ancouver Tennis & Racquet-
ball C enter staff, in conjunction with the
Vancouver, W A C om m unity Tennis A sso­
ciation, will be offering FREE 1.5hourintro-
ductory group tennis lessons to interested
groups and/or organizations. Free lessons
are available for kids ages 7 to 15 until June 9.
Call360/696-8123.
Baby Sitter Training at
the Red C ross
R edC ross will offer Babysitter’s Training
at University Park C om m unity Center, lo­
cated at 9009 N. Foss in Portland. The class
will be held on Saturday, M ay 26, from 4:30
p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Babysitter’s Training is an
eight-hour Red Cross course that teaches
youth ages 11 to 15 the skills needed to be
responsible childcare givers. Call 503/823-
3631 to register.
P o rtlan d P u b lic S ch o o ls S u p erin ten d en t
B e n ja m in O . C a n ad a , P h .D ., an d th e P o rt­
la n d P u b lic S ch o o ls B o ard o f E d u catio n
h a v e a g re e d to e n d th e ir em p lo y m e n t re la ­
tio n s h ip e ffe c tiv e June 30, th e B o ard a n ­
n o u n c e d F rid a y .
Jim S c h e rz in g e r, c h ie f fin an c ial o ffic e r
fo r th e d is tric t a n d a fo rm e r d ire c to r o f the
O re g o n L e g isla tiv e R ev en u e O ffic e, w ill
se rv e as in te rim su p e rin te n d e n t un til the
se a rc h for n ew le a d e rsh ip is co m p leted .
T h e b o a rd w ill ap p o in t a L ead ersh ip A d ­
v is o ry C o m m itte e , ch a rg ed w ith re c o m ­
m e n d in g a p p lic a n t q u a lific a tio n s an d s e ­
le c tio n c rite ria . T h e b o a rd w ill th en seek
c o m m e n t th ro u g h c o m m u n ity m e etin g s,
p e rso n a l in te rv ie w s an d o th e r o p p o rtu n i­
tie s fo r p u b lic resp o n se .
T h e tim e lin e fo r co m p letin g the in itial
sta g e o f th e se a rc h p ro c e ss w ill be a n ­
n o u n c e d n e x t m o n th . O n c e co m p leted , the
b o a rd w ill a p p ro v e a jo b descrip tio n , q u a li­
fic a tio n s a n d se le c tio n c rite ria , and w ill
in itia te th e se a rc h p ro cess.
“ D r. C a n a d a h as b ro u g h t m any p o sitiv e
c h a n g e s to P o rtla n d o v e r th e last th ree
y e a r s ,” s a id S ch o o l B o ard C h air D eb b ie
M e n ash e . “ T h e se in c lu d e lead in g th e c r e ­
a tio n o f th e S tra te g ic P lan fo r th e d istric t,
fo ste rin g a fo c u s o n a c h ie v e m e n t for p rin ­
c ip a ls a n d te a c h e rs in all P o rtla n d sch o o ls,
o v e rse e in g im p ro v e d ach iev em en t an d ris ­
in g te st s c o re s th ro u g h o u t th e d istric t, an d
p u ttin g in p la c e a h ig h ly ta le n te d m an ag e-
m en t team .
“ H e h as led th e d istric t to a n ew p lace,
w ith n e w o p p o rtu n itie s - a p la c e th a t b oth
B en an d th e B o ard ag re e no w req u ires a
d iffe re n t k in d o f le a d e rsh ip ,” M en ash e
se rv e as s u p e rin te n d e n t th ro u g h Ju n e 30
an d w ill co n su lt w ith th e b o a rd for a p eriod
o f tim e to a ssist in tra n sitio n a l m a tte rs an d
to sh a re h is e x p e rtise .
S c h e rz in g e r w ill g u id e th e d is tric t
th ro u g h th e tra n sitio n .
H e w ill w ork clo sely w ith D ep u ty S u p er­
intendent Pat B urk to co n tin u e the d istric t’s
e ffo rts to reach th e ir e d u c a tio n a l goals.
“T h e B o ard is c o n fid e n t th a t th e d istric t is
in ex c ellen t h an d s w ith th is team in p la c e ,”
M e n ash e said. “ T he n ex t step is to b eg in a
se a rc h fo r a n ew lead ersh ip . W e need to
d e fin e w h at th e d istric t n eed s, an d w hat
te a c h e rs, p are n ts and co m m u n ity w a n t.”
Dr. C a n ad a w as h ired as su p e rin ten d e n t
o n A ug. 3, 1998. P rio r to co m in g to P o rt­
lan d , he se rv e d as su p e rin ten d e n t o f the
A tla n ta S ch o o l D istrict.
W ith 31 y ears o f e x p e rien c e in ed u c a­
tio n , he is cu rre n t p resid e n t o f T h e A m eri­
can A sso c iatio n o f School A d m in istrato rs.
Heated Exchanges Disrupt School Board
Ben Canada
ad d ed . “ T h e B o ard th a n k s him fo r h is h ard
w o rk an d v alu ab le c o n trib u tio n s o n b e h a lf
o f th e d istric t and w ish e s h im w ell. W e are
p a rtic u la rly grateful fo r his e ffo rts to b u ild
a d istric t-w id e fin an cial an d in fo rm atio n
sy ste m s in fra stru ctu re th a t w ill se rv e us
w ell in th e fu tu re, an d h is su c c e ss in im ­
p ro v in g o u r c re d ib ility w ith th e O reg o n
L e g isla tu re .” Dr. C a n a d a w ill c o n tin u e to
Heated arguments between mem­
bers of the Portland School Board
and Education Crisis Team eventu­
ally led to a board member walk out
Monday.
The crisis team has been leading a
battle to improve the education of
minority students in the district.
“They (minorities) have not been
given the most rudimentary elements
of an education,” said Ron Herndon,
one of the group’s leaders.
“Now if that means we have to go
in and protest, we’ll do that.”
The protest was a direct confron­
tation with school board chairperson
Debbie G oldberg M enashe who
pleaded for the protests to end in
order to deal with a set agenda that
included the honoring of valedicto­
rian students.
The school board says they have
implemented many of the changes
the Education Crisis Team is calling
for. School board members did come
back after the interruption to resume
discussion on another controversy,
the ban against military recruitment
within the schools.
A motion was approved that al­
lows teachers to approach students
and students can approach teachers
about military recruitment, but teach­
ers have to inform students that the
military discriminates against gays
and lesbians.
Election Names County Chair
D ia n e L in n h a s w o n a s p e c ia l e le c tio n
to b e c o m e th e n e w c h a irw o m a n o f th e
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty B o a rd o f C o m m is ­
s io n e r s .
L in n s u c c e e d s B ev S te in , w h o ste p p e d
d o w n a f te r a n n o u n c in g h e r in te n tio n to
ru n fo r g o v e r n o r in 2 0 0 2 .
L in n , a fo rm e r c o u n ty c o m m is s io n e r ,
r e c e iv e d 54 p e r c e n t o f th e v o te s in th e
M a y 15 v o te -b y - m a il e le c tio n . T h e m a r ­
g in w as m o re th a n e n o u g h to a v o id a
ru n o ff. L in n ’s c lo s e s t c h a lle n g e r, fo rm e r
s ta te R e p . Jo A n n B o w m a n , re c e iv e d 25
p e r c e n t o f th e v o te .
In a s e c o n d c o u n ty r a c e , M a ria R o jo
d e S te f fe y fin is h e d w ith ju s t u n d e r 51
p e r c e n t o f th e v o te fo r th e D is tr ic t 1 s e a t
o n th e c o u n ty b o a rd . S h e n e e d e d to f in ­
ish w ith m o re th a n 5 0 p e r c e n t to a v o id a
r u n o f f o n J u ly 10.
Diane Linn
Neighborhoods Find
Appreciation fo r Clean Rivers
Tai Chi in the Park
Portland Parks & Recreation will be having
sum m er Tai Chi courses at N orm andale Park,
located at N.E. 57* & H alsey beginning
W ednesday, June 6 - July 18. There will be an
introductory class on the “8 W ays,” to im­
prove equi librium and muse le strength build­
ing foundation to leam Tai Chi form. Wed.
9 :3 0 a .m .-11 a m . Call 503/823^328.
Vermont Honors
Portland’s Parks
Director
Providence Health
Support G roups
The three Providence H ealth System hos­
pitals in Portland - Providence Portland
Medical Center, Providence S t V incent Medi­
cal Center, and Providence Milwaukie Hospi­
tal - host regular support group meetings for
cancerpatients and their families. All support
groups are free. For a schedule and more
information, call CancerCounseling Services
at503/216-2917,503/216-2280or503/215-6015.
YMCA Day Camp
The YMCA o f Columbia Willamette is
currently holding open registration for Day
Camps for youth entering I’ S*1 grades. Weekly
camps begin June 18* and ran through August
31“. Programs ran from6:30a.m. to6p.m. and are
conveniently located at over 30 sites. For Eastside
Camp locations contact 503/287-4069. For
Westsidelocations,call503/641-3345,ext 105.
P hoto by M ark W a s h im ; ton /T ht P ortland O bserver
Shane Alexander discovers how water is tested for quality and contaminants with the help
o f Stephanie Reid of Portland Environmental Services. The booth was one o f many
activities at the Big Pipe Party and Fish Friendly Fair on Saturday at the Columbia Boulevard
Treatment Plant. The celebration marked the completion of a new 3.5-mile pipeline that
keeps about 350-million gallons of combined sewer overflows out of the Columbia Slough.
The University o f Vermont bestows an honorary Doctor o f Law degree
upon Portland Parks and Recreation Director Charles R. Jordan Sunday
during graduation ceremonies. Jordan, a former Portland City
Councilman and longtime civic leader, has earned a national reputation
for helping design and fund parks systems. He serves as a member and
past president o f the National Parks and Recreation System.