Committed to C u llili ul Diversity
WHW.portlanuobservcr.com
Mon h 22. 2006
High Octane Action
M etro
Australia’s Leigh Warren
Dancers dazzle
î,!l ^îo rtlan b (Observer
set* Focus page B3
-
/Community
V a le n d a r
SECTION
S h a r in g ¿Creative E x p re s s io n s
Community Wellness Fair
The non-profit Holladay Park
Plaza retirement com m unity will
host its 4"' Annual C om m unity
W ellness F air on Friday, March
24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the
main floor o f the H olladay Park
Plaza, 1300 N.E. 16*. RSV Ps are
appreciated but not required. For
more inform ation call 541-280
2216or toll-free at I -800-777-5517.
Grant Rummage Sale
A com m unity rum m age with
quality items and baked treats
sale takes place Saturday, April
8 from 8 a m. to 4 p.m ., at Rose
C ity P ark U nited M ethodist
Church, 5830 N.E. Alameda Ave
benefiting the Grant High School
Royal Blues C ham ber singers.
Lead-Safe Remodeling
M etro offers household lead test
kits and hom e im provem ent
m anuals for do-it-yourselfers
w orking on hom es built before
1978 during a free w orkshop on
Saturday, April 8 from 10a.m. to
noon at the H istoric K enton
Firehouse, 8105 N. Brandon Ave
No registration required, for more
information call 503-988-4000.
Get Wet Indoors
All March, spring break extended
hours take place at the Colum
bia. M att D ishman, Mt. Scott
and Southw est C om m unity C en­
ter pools. Register for spring
classes by calling Portland Parks
and Recreating at 503-823-5130.
Courageous Moms
Seminar
Rick Johnson will present Cou
rageous M oms: Raising Boys to
Becom e G ood Men. M arch 18,9
a.m. to noon at Parkrose High
School and C om m unity Center,
12003 N.E. Shaver St. C hildcare
and activities for kids provided
Cost is free, but lim ited to first
100 registrants. To register call
5 0 3 -6 6 5 -3 7 6 1
o r e -m a il
rick @ betterdads. net.
Siren’s Echo backs
student show
Jefferson High School students will
share their creative expressions about
their lives, their community, and their
world during a ‘Take Back the M ic'
celebration featuring the hip-hop and
R&B group Siren’s Echo.
The community is invited to the free-
for-all-ages event, Friday, March 24 on
the Cascade Campus of Portland Com­
munity College in north Portland. A
student arts show kicks off the special
night at 6 p.m. in Room 104 of the new
Moriarty Arts & Humanities building,
followed by student poets at 7 p.m. and
a special performance by Siren’s Echo
at 8 p.m.
Siren’s Echo will light up the stage
with themes of justice, community, rhyme
and soul. The Portland group is known
for its tight cuts and neck-breaking beat,
bringing real, crafting songs with intelli­
gence and heart. These ladies have the
ability to bring it hard and rugged or soft
and soulful. With the combination of
powerfully, emotional production and
lyrics of struggle. Siren’s Echo pull you
out of pain and lift you above the mad­
ness.
“Take Back the Mic” is sponsored by
the A m erican F riends S ervice
Committee’s United Voices Youth Pro­
gram, Veterans For Peace Chapter 72,
Portland Community College, local vi­
sual and performing artists and Jefferson
High School teachers and students.
Siren's Echo
will perform Friday
on the Portland
Community College
Cascade Campus
in north Portland
for a ‘Take Back
the M ic' poetry and
art show featuring
Jefferson High
School students.
Mt. Olivet Drawn into School Battle
Over church
backed academy
Elephant Birthday
by S arah B lount
T he P o rtland O bserv er
C e leb rate E lephantastic! It’s
Packy’s 44,h birthday party, Sat­
urday, April 8 and 9 from 10a.m.
to 4 p.m. at the O regon Zoo.
B irthday cake fo r everyone,
Packy too! Cake served at 2 p.m.,
free with zoo admission. For more
information, call 503-226-1561.
Creative Space For Dance
Aurora Dance Studio, 5433 N.E.
30th, offers an array o f classes
for children, teens and adults at
all levels o f ability. Call 503-249-
0201 o r v is it o n lin e at
w w w .hevanet.com /auroradance
for m ore information.
Women in NAACP
W om en in N A A C P m eets from
10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. the first S at­
urday o f each month at the Ameri­
can R edC ross Building, 3 131 N.
V ancouver. For questions, call
503-249-6263.
K
Portland School Superintendent Vicki Phillips
A redesign strategy for Jefferson High
Seh(H)l is finally com ing together, but amid
the shuffle, the recent approval o f a church-
backed academ y has incited alarm s by
some parents and com m unity members.
The A cadem y o f C haracter and Ethics
is sponsored by one o f Portland’s oldest
A frican A m erican co n g reg atio n s. Mt.
O live, Baptist C hurch. It is slated to be­
com e an alternative school inside Jefferson
High School this fall.
M axine K ilcrease, assistant superinten­
dent for the Portland School District, said
final approval for the school is pending
before the School Board.
The academ y plans to focus on charac­
ter, ethics and academ ic rigor, and includes
elem ents o f an early college high school
model. But the opposition com es from
those unhappy with its connection to a
church.
"M y primary concern is the outrageous­
ness o f a church-sponsored school in pub­
lic school,” said Julie Pous, o f the watchdog
group Neighborhood Schools Alliance.
Anne Trudeau, another m em ber o f the
group, accused the academ y o f being
form ed undem ocratically, violating the
district’s non-discrim ination rules and ig­
noring the separation o f church and state.
Basic Rights Oregon, agay rights group,
raised the issue o f Mt. O live, providing
$ 15,000 to the backers o f Ballot M easure
37, the initiative that outlaw ed marriage
betw een sam e-sex couples in the state.
"W hat type o f ethics will be taught at a
school with leadership w hose values in­
clude the core value, according to Mt.
O liv e t's website: M arriage is the perm a­
nent union o f one man and one w o m an ,'”
Basic Rights executive Roey Thorpe said.
Kilcrease flatly rejected that religion
will play a role at the school.
She said the academ y will have a co n ­
tract with the school district and receive
public m onies on a daily rate per student.
A self-elected board will make all school
decisions.
A nother com plaint was in how the
school was approved.
O ther opposition is com ing from how
the academ y was approved.
T ru d e au said the sch o o l w as not
brought up at any com m unity Jefferson
Design team meetings. Only one m em ber
o f that team is on the new im plem entation
team, a follow -up com m ittee form ed last
month, which includes Mt. O livet’s pas­
tor, Jam es Martin.
A letter w ritten by Phillips earlier this
month d id n 't offer a direct response about
religious concerns, but focused ideally on
the academ y forging new territory and
creating a niche a, the new ly redesigned
school. Phi I lips expressed regret that many
inaccurately believe the academ y is a faith-
based program.
O ne of the academ y’s main architects,
school ad m in istrato r and coach Paula
Kinney, said a church/school partnership
is actually a good thing for the com m unity.
Kinney has a track record o f starting
alternative schools. She grew up attend­
ing a black church in D es M oines, Iowa.
She said the church w as her central source
ofinform ation.
“ In the A frican A m erican com m unity,
black churches are the hubs. It’s not un­
com m on for a church and a com m unity to
com e together.”
She said Mt. O livet w on’t influence
curriculum, but congregation members will
provide after-school tutoring.
Work Against Abuse
Com m unity A dvocates invites
those interested in protecting
children from abuse to becom e
an event volunteer, event out­
reach, technology expert, graphic
artists o r office support team
member. For more inform ation,
call 503-280-1388.
Red Cross Teaches Safety
The A m erican Red C ross offers
a range o f safety classes for cri­
sis situations, from learning how
to baby si, to perform ing CPR.
The courses are intended for
children aged 8 through adult.
F o r m ore in fo rm a tio n v isit
w w w .redcross-pdx.org.
years
«f
•^community service
6Open Eyes’ Unites Social Consciousness
Art and social justice are
com ing together with local men
and w om en com m itting them ­
selves to supporting the prin­
ciples o f the M illions More
M ovement.
Troy M uham m ad and Sul­
tan X o f the M uham m ad Study
G roup, through their com pany
O pen Eyes Productions, are
am ong those w orking to unify
artists through their talents for
the upliftm ent o f the human
family.
Sim ilar to the Million Man
March in 1995, many o f these
attendees are striving to unify
their local com m unities. Their
televised production, “O pen
Eyes," a post tribute to Sav­
iors’ Day 2(X)6, was recently
te le v ise d on p u b lic ac cess
Channel 22.
F o r m o re te le v is io n
broadcasting pertaining to
artistic and cultural devel­
opm ent, P ortlanders can
tune to “O pen Eyes” each
Friday at 5 p.m.
Muhammad Study
Group participants
gather for the produc­
tion o f ‘Open Eyes. ' a
media presentation to
support the principles of
the Millions More
Movement.