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May 2. 2007
PageAS
Heading Off Trouble
at New Columbia
continued
from Front
trated in in tim id a tin g num bers
along N .E. M artin L uther King Jr.
B oulevard last sum m er, getting
into alterca tio n s w ith neighbors
and police.
But M cGranahan doesn’t define
the activity as gang-related.
“T he root problem is that kids
a re b r in g in g p r o b le m s fro m
school, g etting g roups to g e th er
and sp ark in g fig h ts,” he said.
“ A nd w ith 50 to 75 kids w atching
the fight and w ith tech n o lo g y ,
they can say ‘it’s h app en in g right
n o w ,’ w hich brings m ore people
into the a re a .”
N ew C o lu m b ia has suffered
som e fairly serious assaults and
robberies associated w ith these
crow ds, and M cG ranahan said a
recent fight occurred after a black
youth told a Latino youth "this was
a black park and he needs to stay
o u t.”
C urrently, two full-time officers
patrol the neighborhood and the
housing authority recently agreed
to pay for a third. The precinct
plans to hire this third officer by the
first week o f May, m eaning the area
will be patrolled seven days a week
instead o f Thursday through M on
day.
But the biggest part o f the solu
tion, M cG ranahan says, is rallying
the involvem ent o f those who per
sonally know the kids.
" I 'm not sure cro w d co n tro l is
the so lu tio n ,” he said. “ W e’re
getting youth p ro b atio n o fficers
out there, and p aren ts and co m
m unity m em bers are in teractin g
w ith k id s.”
A com m unity safety meeting last
week was m eant to be a presenta
tion on gangs and training, but as
police officers anticipated, the re
cent youth problem s dom inated the
discussion.
Several neighbors signed up for
foot patrol that evening and volun
teered for neighborhood watch.
Also, the housing authority is d o
ing their part to curb violence in the
park.
H A P ex e cu tiv e d irec to r Steve
R udm an said that w ith in the next
m onth they will increase the light
ing at the park and rem ove a clim b
ing structure that o b sc u re s the
basketball court from street view ,
t h e r e f o r e in c r e a s i n g
w hat
Rudm an calls "th e m ost fish b o w l
like place o f the w hole n eighbor-
M cC O Y PARK
ID PARKS a RECREATION
HOURS- 5A M -I0W
photo by M ark
W ashington /T he P ortiand O bserv er
Community Liaison Leslie Esinga works to keep McCoy Park safe in the New Columbia neighborhood of north Portland.
h o o d ."
A lso, since many o f the youth
d o n 't live in the neighborhood, they
rely on T ri-M et’s No. 4 bus line to
gather at the park. Rudm an said
New Colum bia is w orking with the
transit agency’s rider advocate pro
gram to help suppress any prob
lems that occur on the bus ride to or
from the area.
“We d o n ’t want families to feel
afraid,” Rudm an said. "A nd part of
reclaim ing the park is reusing the
park.”
But Esinga, who has an intimate
perspective o f New Colum bia, says
residents must be patient with the
burgeoning com m unity.
Two Events on School Success
P o rtlan d P u b lic S ch o o ls is
reaching out to the local com m u
nity with two events this w eekend.
On Friday, May 4, student danc
ers and musical groups from Port
land Public S chools’ W ilson C lus
ter in S outhw est P ortland and
Jefferso n C luster in north and
northeast Portland will perform at
"Show case 2007: Dream , Believe
Succeed” at H ighland Christian
C om m unity C enter. 7600 N.E.
G lisanSt.
The evening begins at 6 p.m. with
refreshm ents and an opportunity for
students and fam ilies to connect,
and continues at 7 p.m. with the
perform ances.
On Saturday. May 5. the Jefferson
high school com m unity will host a
conference for all PPS parents and
teachers. “Schools and Parents C ol
laborating for Student Success,”
takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, M ay 5, at King School,
4906 N.E. Sixth Ave.
There is no cost, and breakfast
and lunch will be provided for free.
Educational leaders will provide
collaborative strategies forparents
and teachers to help students suc
ceed. M aterials will be available in
English and Spanish.
Preregistration is requested but
not required by calling Lionel Clegg
at 503-916-6282.
"Y ou have a lot o f new people
com ing in who d o n 't know each
o th e r ,”
sh e
sa id .
“The
connectiveness isn’t there because
it's all too new ."
"G ive it tim e," is her advice.
Advertise
with diversity //?
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Call 5(13-288-0033
ob
Seth Franco, the first Caucasian Harlem Globetrotter since
1942, will be a guest of honor this week at the Doris Verbout
Memorial Basketball Tournament at the Moore Street Salvation
Army in north Portland.
Globetrotter Prays;
Shares Success Story
Seth F ranco w ill share his p e r
sonal life story in w hich his d e d i
catio n to p ray er and study gave
him the d irectio n he needed to
succeed in life and becom e the
f ir s t
C a u c a s ia n
H a r le m
G lo b etro tter since 1942.
Franco wi 11 be the guest o f honor
this week at the Doris V erbout
M emorial Basketball T ournam ent
at the Moore Street Salvation Army,
5325N . W illiam s Ave. The tourney
runs from Thursday, May 3 through
Sunday, May 6.
For the specific times of Franco's
appearances,call Tim Fuquaat 503-
493-3925 or visit F ranco’s website
at sethfranco.com .
MM MMMMMMNNMMMM
De La Salle on Solid Ground
continued
from Front
Roosevelt. Fifty five percent o f stu
dents at De La Salle are a racial
m inority and m ore than 50 percent
live in poverty.
But the cu rricu lu m at De La
Sal le is com pletely d ifferent. T he
c a th o lic school is p art o f the
C risto Rey N etw ork w ith m ore
than 15 schools acro ss the c o u n
try. All are faith -b ased and all lay
m ost o f the re sp o n sib ility for
ed u catio n on the student. De La
S alle o ffers jo b training and other
th in g s th a t P o r tla n d P u b lic
S chool stud en ts d o n 't get, but
still the sta ff is hum ble.
“ We never bash Portland Public
Schools," said H ennessey, "M ost
o f th e s tu d e n ts h e re are
underserved and the goal was to
b ring a rig o ro u s ed u c a tio n to
people who co u ld n 't afford it."
A nother com ponent o f De La
Salle is the dress code. Male stu
dents must wear ties to school and
female students must w ear button
dow n shirts. Dressing for success
is im portant at De La Salle and also
for their jobs.
Freshman Darnell Peterson, who
attended nearby Holy Redeem er
for m iddle school, currently works
at Xerox in W ilsonville. As a stu
dent at De La Salle, he and his
classm ates must do an internship
one day per week.
W orking fast food, a com m on
right of passage form ally kids earn
ing m oney to spend at the shop
ping malls, is surpassed by De La
Salle students w ho find they are
already paying for their education.
Approximately 70 percent o f stu
dent tuition is earned by the stu
dents.
Sophom ore M ichelle Perea, 16.
said that applying to the school
was worth it
Perea w orks at On Point Credit
Union as an intern and she enjoys
the work atm osphere at her intern
ship.
She says that the appearance
requirem ent adds an elem ent to
learning.
“W hen you w ear sw eats, you
get relaxed," said Perea. "If you
dress this way (m ore formal), I feel
I am more focused."
Darnell Peterson was one o f the
115 incom ing freshman who ap
plied to De LaSalle. The school was
only able to take 85.
Senior Titus Stupfel, 18, is leav
ing before the big m ove to the
Kenton campus.
"This cam pus has character, but
it does ge, crow ded," said Stupfel,
who is one o f 38 seniors at De La
Salle and is trying to choose which
college to attend.
The student population at De La
Sal le is scheduled Io from 230 to 350
by the year 2011.
For more inform ation about De
La Salle and how to gel a child
enrolled, call the school at 503-285-
9385.
THAT’S A CALL FOR HELP.
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call for help. Treatment is free,
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