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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2002)
Page B2 ' J î o r t l a n h O O b s e r U e r __________________________________ December 18,2002 S ports / metro Board Chops Spring Sports Damon Stoudamire donation helps but more fundraising is needed by W ynde D yer T he P ortland O bserver A generous gift of$250,000 from Port land Trail Blazer Damon Stoudamire may not be enough to save spring sports at Portland Public Schools if the Portland Interscholastic League cannot raise an other $300,000. W ith the exception o f A frican A m eri can school board m em ber Derry Jack- son, all m em bers o f the Portland Public School present on T hursday night voted to support $2.4 m illion in budget cuts o u tlin e d by S u p e r in te n d e n t Jim Scherzinger. “ I d o n ’t alw ays agree with D erry,” said M onica Dixon, the m o th e r o f a B en so n H igh School Senior. “ But I alw ays respect him because he will lis ten. The others, they a re n ’t even trying to listen.” O n M o n d a y , D ec. 9 all sch o o l b o ard m em b ers but Jackson w alked out o f a m eet ing w hen the p u b lic began booing a pro p o sal. So T h u rsd a y ’s special m eet ing w ith 45 m inutes o f public com m en tary g av e stu d e n ts, p a re n ts, teach ers and co n c e rn e d co m m u n ity m em bers a glim p se o f hope. But in the end, left on the chopping board, along with spring sports funding was the O utdoor School, a w ilderness science program for sixth graders, two- top level adm inistrative jo b s, 20 other jo b s and a round o f early retirem ents. “ In all my years 1 never though I’d see this happen,” said Y vonne Shaw, w h o ’s daughter O ris is on the state cham pion Harrington ‘Fine’ After Irregular H eartbeat track team at Benson. “ W hen a state suffers budget cuts the schools are the first things to go. The students, who should be the future, should be the last to su ffer.” Shaw said she put her faith back in the pub lic school system and took her daughter out o f private school in fourth grade. It was a big fam ily decision, she said, and now they are w ondering if it w as the w rong one. O ris, a junior, suffered a stress frac ture in her leg last year and could not com pete in track and field. She hoped this season w ould be her com e back Danny Van Voorhis, a junior at Franklin High School, wears a sign on his back thanking Portland native and NBA guard Damon Stoudamire for his $250,000 donation to keep spring sports funding. I c a n ’t think o f any reasons to go to Portland Public Schools right now .” H arrison’s daughter, C am elle Taylor, now a freshm an on scholarship at PSU w ho took fifth in sta te fo r sp rin tin g w h ile at Je ffe rso n , said sp o rts are so m etim es the o n ly c h an ce low -in- —Yvonne Shaw, parent of a com e stu d e n ts have to m ake it fin a n Benson High School junior c ia lly in c o lleg e. She said not e v e ry body can get sc h o la rsh ip s for a ca d em ics alone and she fears the e lim i year. “ It hurts,” O ris said. “ I was hoping I n atio n o f sp rin g sp o rts w ill have a n e g a tiv e im pact on w o m e n ’s a th le tic was going to get a scholarship.” Som e p a re n ts w ho d o n ’t have the involvem ent. “ W om en already d o n ’t play m any o p tio n o f sen d in g th e ir c h ild re n to p riv a te school said sp o rts are the only sports,” T aylor said. “ H alf o f the sports w ay th e ir kids w ill be able to afford they do play are in the spring.” W hen Karis Stoudam ire presented her co lleg e. “ M y c h ild w o u ld n ’t be at P ortland c o u sin ’s pledge to the board she asked State U niversity rig h t now if it w e re n ’t them to take notice o f the role sports fo r s p r in g s p o r t s ,” s a id R o n n y e have played in the success o f so m any H arriso n , an elem e n ta ry school m usic athletes. “ D am on w o u ld n ’t be w here he is to te a c h e r and the fa th e r o f a Je ffe rso n H igh S chool g rad u ate. “T h e y ’v e a l day w ithout sports,” she said. "W tteil I read y cut m usic - now they cut sp o rts? told him w hat was going on he said, * W hat if they had cut w inter sports when I w as in high school?” ’ (AP) — Lions rookie quarterback and former Central Catho- The board graciously accepted the lic standout Joey Harrington will miss the rest o f the season pledge and thanked the Stoudam ire fam because o f an irregular heartbeat. ily for providing what chairw om an Karla Harrington, the No. 3 overall draft pick out o f Oregon, left W enzel called “a catalyst for students to Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay with the heart problem see their dream s take shape.” and was taken to the hospital for tests and observation. Som e are optim istic that schools will Doctors said Harrington’s heartbeat returned to a normal be able to raise the additional $300,000 rhythm before he was hospitalized. Lions coach Marty to keep spring sports, but the future for Momhinweg said the ailment is not career-threatening. O utdoor School looks bleak. PHOTOS BY W V N D E D y ER/T h E PORTLAND OBSERVER In all my years I never though I ’d see this happen. Jefferson High School graduate Camel le Taylor and her father Ronnye Harrison listen to public comment Thursday at a Portland Public School Board meeting that cut spring sports. Taylor said she would not have received a scholarship to Portland State University if she had not played spring sports. U nless donors can raise m ore than $400,000 in outside funding. O utdoor School will end in the spring. Several O utdoor School youth coun selors stressed the im portance o f the program for its ability to teach sixth graders to get to know nature along with other students o f different races, reli gions and lifestyles. Form er O utdoor School staff m em ber • B riggie Thom as said she m oved to Port land 10 years ago because Portland was a city that cared about natural diversity and hum an diversity. “All o f these things that Portland cares about are w hat kids learn, in this pro gram ,” Briggie said. “ Please save O ut door School.” P eninsula L ittle L eague The power to quit smoking is within your reach. Application for Board, Committees & Manager/Coach Positions Be the “U” in Your Community: Looking for a few dedicated people! The Peninsula Little League of Portland is now accepting applications for Board members, Committee members, managers, and coaches to oversee the 2003 baseball and softball season. Applications are beingacceptedforall League positions. If you are interested in being considered, please complete the following and return it to Peninsula Little League, P.O. Box 11581, Portland, Oregon 97211 or by fax to 503-284-1910 Name: _________________________ — —---------------------------------- Address: __________________________________________________ S tate/Z ipC ode:--------------------------------------------------------------- — • Phone Number: ________________ ___________________________ Email:____________________________ -------------------------------------- O ccupation:______________ __ ______________________________ Organization affiliations:________ ____________________________ We know how hard it is to quit smoking and we know what y works. Let us give you a helping hand. Call us today. )( dhs Oregon Department of Human Services I am interested in serving on the Peninsula Little League Board/ Committee/M anager/Coach or Umpire because: My primary community interests are: Oregon Tobacco Prevention & Education Program www.healthoregon.org/tobacco 1-877-2NO-FUME (Spanish) TTY: 1-877-777-6534 Kwanzaa is the time to reflect on what is important to you. Please pick up your gift Kwanzaa bookmark from the African American Health Coalition, local merchants, or the Urban League of Portland. For more information call 503-702-7043 or visit our web site www.peninsulalittleleague.org and complete our volunteer appl ica- tion. Thank you for your support. I Ç
