Happy 4 th of July!
Good in the Neighborhood
Holiday celebrations planned
with blues and fireworks
Annual event puts local
communities in good light
See Focus, pages B2 and B3
‘Citv of Roses
See photo essay, Page AS A
^lortí¿tnó (Ohsmìcr
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIV • Number 25
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • lune 30. 2004
Jefferson
® FOCUS
Moving ahead on two
plans to boost success
by J aymee R. C uti
T he P ortland O bserver
Two groups are moving for­
ward in plans to boost achieve­
ment at Jefferson High School
serving north and northeast
Portland.
The school board recently
ado p ted a plan to rem ake
Jefferson into a school within a
school, divided into the School
of Pride, apreparatory academy
for freshmen and sophomores
and School o f Champions for
advanced studies, designed for
juniors and seniors.
Meanwhile, a group of com­
munity members were approved
fora planning grant by the state
to research the possibility of
re lie v in g P o rtla n d P u b lic
Schools of Jefferson altogether
and converting it into a charter
school.
Com m unity leaders in both
o f these efforts are rising to
the forefront o f the debate,
Tony Hobson o f Self
Enhancement, Inc.
supports a plan to turn
Jefferson into a charter
school as a vehicle to
raise academic
standards.
'V '
Portland School Board Co-Chair Lolenzo Poe takes a
moment to meet Pierre Dembo at Jefferson High School.
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I
I
!
though their goals appear to
coincide.
“You make something smaller
can focus on kids" said Lolenzo Poe, co-
chair of the Portland Public School board
and Jefferson High School alumni. “The
district has some responsibility and if the
competency of teachers and instruction is
there, then Jefferson will reach it s goal.”
Tony Hopson, executive director of
Self Enhancement, Inc. and fellow Jefferson
grad, thinks students will excel when the
community gets involved.
“ I t’s not the a p p ro a c h ; i t ’s the
people,” Hopson said. “ I d o n ’t believe
that it (sm aller schools) will be the sys­
tem that will make the difference. It will
be the teachers that work in that system
and the leadership in the adm inistration
that guide the process and how they
involve the rest o f us: the com m unity
and parents.”
He says the advantage of a charter
school is handpicking leadership, from
the principal and administration to the
teachers and students.
H opson’s organization will open SEI
Academy, a charter middle school, in
the fall.
Poe says he’s willing to consider what­
ever solutions are necessary to bring stu­
dents up to state benchmarks.
“I am in favor o f what will get those
kids the greatest academ ic gains and
experiences as those kids can have. If
the district can ’t deliver and a charter
dem onstrates itself to be a viable op­
tion, then yes, it’s som ething we have
to consider,” said Poe. “The goal is to
get these kids educated.”
Poe says many factors contribute to
challenges in educating Jefferson stu­
dents, beyond the school program itself.
continued
on page A6
photos by M ark W ashincton ^T hk P ortland O bserver
Road Map to Educational Options
School choices bring unique learning opportunities
by J ohanna S. K ing
T he P ortland O bserver
Navigating your way through the
public education system can be a dif-
ficult task.
“From alternative to charter, from
magnet to other special program s,
picking the school that is the right fit
for your child can be a major frustra-
tion, says Lew Frederick, inform a-
tion officer of Portland Public Schools,
“There are many discrete differences
betw een the educational program s
that each school uniquely offers to
their students,” Frederick said. “It can
be hard to see that and make the best
choice.”
Expect each school to have a blendec
mosaic o f differences and realize thal
children’s destinies are ultim ately al
hand. A lternative and charter school
program s exist to provide students
more individual attention and more flex-
ibility while catering to a student's
w ide-ranging learning styles.
The common objective is to offer
students and their fam ilies’ meaning-
ful choices that meet the different
learning needs and educational in ter­
ests o f all students, according to Kathy
™nt,nued
V
° n P“8<
Destination Northeast Portland
Al Roker stops at Hannah Bea’s for pound cake and gab
Hannah Bea's Pound Cake and
More owner Anita Smith shares
her cookbook recipes with Al
Roker during a taping of his
‘Roker on the Road' show on
the Cable Food Network.
NBC Today Show w eather­
man AI Roker made northeast
P o r tla n d ’s H a n n a h B e a ’s
Poundcake and More a stop on
h is ro v in g c o o k in g sh o w ,
“ Roker on the Road,” on the
Cable Food Network.
Roker stopped in at Hannah
B ea'sat3969N .E . MartinLuther
King Blvd. last Saturday to cook
salm on croquettes with chef
Saan Patterson and sample the
r e s ta u r a n t’s fa m o u s pound
Hannah Bea's
ChefSaan
Patterson (from
left), and restau­
rant owner Anita
Smith share
recipes with Al
Roker during his
culinary trip
through northeast
Portland.
PHOTOS BY
D avid P i . e < h i ?
continued
on page A 6
T he P ortland
O bserver
11 ” took in a w hop­
ping $21.8 m illion in
its first three days,
becom ing the first
docum entary ever to
debut
as
Iraqi Court to
H o lly w o o d ’s to p
Charge Hussein
w eekend
film .
Saddam Hussein will be trans­
M oore’s assault on
ferred to Iraqi legal custody and
President Bush’s ac­
face charges in an Iraqi court this
tions after the 2001
week - but he w on’t goon trial for
terrorist attacks, won
months and he will stay in a U.S.-
the top honor at last
run ja il because the co u n try
m onth'sC annes Film
d o esn ’t have a suitable prison,
Festival
the prime m inister said Tuesday.
T,Wcek¡n
TheReview
Fahrenheit 9/11
No. 1 at Box Office
Michael M oore's “Fahrenheit 9/
Supreme Court to hear
Medical Pot Case
The U.S. Suprem e C ourt agreed
to d ecide w hether the federal
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h av e a d o t i o i s i t a
Bush Interviewed
in CIA Leak
ominendation
F e d e ra l in v e s tig a to r s q u e s ­
tioned P resident Bush for m ore
than an hour as the in v e stig a ­
tion into the leak o f a CIA
o p e ra tiv e ’s nam e reached into
the O val O ffice.
Army Calls Up
Retired Troops
U.S. Hands
Power to Iraq
Army i, preppr-
' * 1 ° "°" >
5,600 retired and d is­
charged soldiers who are not
m em bers o f the N ational Guard
or Reserve that they will be in­
voluntarily recalled to active duty
for possible service in Iraq or
Afghanistan, Army officials said.
The U.S.-led coalition transferred
sovereignty to an interim Iraqi
governm ent two days early M on­
day in a surprise move that ap­
parently caught insurgents off
guard, averting a feared campaign
of attacks to sabotage the his­
toric step toward self-rule.