August 10. 2005
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
M etro
Îlîc ^ o r tla n b ffibseruer
c o m m u n ity
C a le n d a r
Bridge Pedal Weekend
Sunday, Aug. 14 is the big day for
the 10th A nnual P ro v id en ce
Bridge Pedal, an 8 bridge, 14 mile
ride through the city. Start times
are6:30a.mand9:30a.m.Formore
inform ation visit w w w .provi
dence.org/bridgepedal.com or
call the Bridge Pedal hotline at
503-281-9198.
Oxbow Campfire Program
On Friday, Aug. 12 or Saturday,
Aug. 13 come to Oxbow Regional
Park to learn how plants have
been used for thousands of years
for food and medicine with natu
ralist Natalie Norman and Miriam
Burk from Portland Parks and
Recreation. The event starts at
8:30a.m. and lasts until 9:30p.m.
For more information, call Metro
at 503-797-1850.
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
I
Flower Arranging
The Ohara Ikebana Show featur
ing the 500 year old art of Japa
nese flower arranging, takes place
at 10a.m. on both Saturday, Aug.
13 and Sunday, Aug. 14 at the
Japanese Garden in Washington
Park. For more information on
this event or others at the Japa
nese Garden call 503-223-1321 or
visit www.japanesegarden.com
Summer in the Garden
The beautiful therapeutic garden
at the Oregon Burn Center at
Legacy Emanuel Hospital, nor
mally closed to the public, will be
open on Monday, Aug. 15 for
garden arts and crafts. Horticul
tural therapy students will con
duct garden tours and artist dem
onstrations are planned.
Real Estate Networking
A business investment and real
e sta te
n e tw o rk in g
event
benefting the O.A.M.E. Youth
Entrepreneurship Program will
take place on Friday, Aug. 12 at
Windows Cafe in the Red Lion
Hotel on Grand Ave. Doors open
at 5 p.m. with entertainment at
8:30 p.m. Admission is $10. For
m o re in fo rm a tio n , e-m a il
jproperty @ peoplepc.com.
Learn First Aid
Learn first aid safety for yourself
and your family at the American
Red Cross. Current class offer
ings include learning how to baby
sit children for children and per
forming CPR. The techniques
learned in the courses may prove
necessary for crisis situations.
F o r m ore in fo rm a tio n v isit
www.redcross-pdx.org.
Beginning Drumming
The North Star Ballroom. 635 N.
Killingsworth Court, hosts begin
ning drumming and Ghanaian
rhythm classes on Tuesdays at 6
p.m. On Wednesdays, an interme
diate level of the drumming is of
fered in addition to an African
aerobics/dance class. All classes
are taught by Chata Addy. For
moreinformationcall503-632-04l 1.
Summer Play Days
All summer long come join other
families in Irving Park every
Wednesday at 10 a.m. to gather
with Waldorf School oriented and
inspired families who wish to play,
snack and get wet in the new
water play area. For more infor
m ation, contact www.shining
starschool.com .
Shining Star School
Openings for fall enrollment at
Shining Star School, a W aldorf
Initiative School near Northeast
Sixth Avenue and Prescott Street,
are now available for kids going
into grade 1 and 2. Twelve chil
dren will be accepted for this small
community based school. For
more information visit www.
shiningstarschool.com or call
503-753-4459.
years*
PHOTO BY
N icole H ooper /
T he P ortland
O bserver
Exotic dancing as instructed by Isis Leeor is not for the strip club scene, but for women
who want to enhance their body image.
Stripping or exotic dancing clubs
are often the meeting place for bach
elor parties, nights out with the guys
and business meetings. The women
at these so-called gentlemen clubs
are there to help male customers fan
tasize. But the strippers often get a
bad rap because they are viewed as
smutty with no respect for their bod
ies. Why else would a woman take off
her clothes? Is she desperate or does
she like the attention?
With women like dancer Sheila Kelly
making appearances on the Oprah
Winfrey Show, housewives and women
all over the world are now being intro
duced to a variety o f “ learn to strip"
videos. Even Carmen Electra has a DVD
collection to teach the regular woman
how to take it off and be “fit to strip” .
In Portland, the instruction has moved
from the privacy o f the home into the
classroom.
Three ti mes a week, Isis Leeor, a former
exotic dancer turned counselor, teaches
Stripping 101 at the Milk and Honey Stu
dios in southeast Portland.
Her classes teach stripping as a way to
explore your sexuality and improve your
body image.
Leeor believes her time as an exotic
dancer taught her how to move her body to
be comfortable. But it was her counseling
background that inspired the class. She
studied hypnotherapy and thought pattern
management for many years.
She started the stripping classes two
continued
on page H6
Local Students Learn Latest Trends
The project, funded through the
N ational Science Foundation, is a
partnership betw een PCC, O regon
State U niversity and the co n stru c
tion industry. The students also
used their recent construction e x
perience and met w ith the com m u
nity garden com m ittee at Rock
Creek to help plan the building o f
a “green” structure.
Last year, the group researched
m a te ria ls , e s tim a te d b u ild in g
c o sts, and d e sig n e d and c o n
structed a scale model o f a w eather
station for the Rock Creek E nvi
ronm ental Science Center.
“ I am alw ays in awe o f the c re
ative designs these kids com e up
w ith."said Hinkle. "W atching how
engaged they are in building their
m odels and presenting their d e
signs reinforces my b elief that
m eaningful hands-on learning gets
re su lts.”
The purpose o f Fram ing S tu
dent Success is to increase know l
edge am ong high school students,
parents, teachers and counselors
of rew arding careers in the c o n
struction industry and its educa
tional pathw ays. In addition, it is
designed to strengthen the math,
science and w riting skills o f stu
dents in high school construction
program s.
T he p ro je c t a lso a id s high
school teachers in developing c u r
riculum that is designed to engage
stu d e n ts.
Weather station
built with straw
bales and dirt
H igh sc h o o l s tu d e n ts from
around the area were not only build
ing a w eather station, but also
building their future.
A dozen high school students
from A loha, Franklin, and Benson
took part in the second year o f a
three-year project o f Portland Com-
m unity C o lleg e’s Building C on
stru c tio n T e c h n o lo g y program
called “Fram ing Student Success.”
In July, the students constructed
an eco-friendly w eather station on
the Rock Creek in northw est Port
land.
It is the first com m ercial straw -
bale structure to earn a perm it from
W ashington C ounty, says Spen
cer H inkle, Building Construction
T echnology instructor.
At each stage o f construction
the students learned about “green"
construction techniques such as
sifting dirt.
“ W e’re trying to get smooth dirt
so that we can put the first coat of
plaster around the straw bale,” said
Due Ho, a senior at Benson Tech
student. “The plaster is made out
o f sand, w ater and dirt. The first
coat keeps the insects out o f the
hay, otherw ise th e y 'll eat it and
ruin the structure.”
Ho said ever since H abitat for
Hum anity helped build his m other
a house, building construction has
fascinated him. W hen the Fram ing
for Student Success project started
last year, he jum ped at the oppor
tunity.
“I was very excited,” he said.
“ I'v e learned a lot o f things and
this has been the greatest ex p eri
ence ever.”
continued ~
on page R6
Benson senior Due Ho (left)
sifts dirt in techniques needed
to create plaster in Portland
Community College s
Building Construction
Technology program.
com m unity s e r v i c e
i
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