Committed to Cultural Diversity
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May 23. 2 0 0 7
AREER
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special edi m a
Keepingthe Faith
SECTION
Opera student dreams o f
singing professionally
by G aii . I. D ana
T he P ortland O bserver
Chandra Curtis radiates energy.
Small and compact with golden brown
eyes and a wreath of curly black hair,
she sits in a coffee shop near Portland
State University, sipping tea and re­
flecting on her life.
"It starts," shes says, "with my
dad." Curtis' father loved classical
music.
"I rem ember when I was very
young," she says, "hearing a woman
sing opera. My dad had switched ra­
dio stations and I heard this voice and
I thought ohmigod that must be what
angels sound like."
Curtis was a natural who sang rock,
pop, the blues, anything but opera.
"It wasn't our music," she says.
But in college, Curtis appeared in a
musical.
"I was part of the chorus." Her
voice rang clear. "A lady from the
audience came up and offered me
voice lessons." She meant opera.
At the time Curtis was working her
undergraduate degree in acting at
Ithaca College in New York. She was
waiting tables and acting in small plays
to pay her way through school.
"I was told by theater people," she
says "you have to do only theater. You
can't do anything else with your life."
But Curtis was also passionately in­
terested in science. And, she loved
photo by J erry H art /C olrtesy P ortland C ommunity C ollect
to si ng the operatic notes she'd learned Portland Community College student Chandra Curtis pursues a career in Opera.
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from her new teacher.
She took her Bachelor o f Fine Arts
in Theater Arts from Ithaca, and then
moved to Portland, hoping to diversify
her life. Curtis registered immediately
at Portland Community College.
PCC was inexpensive and she un­
derstood the quality of classes was
comparable toother universities. Some
of the same teachers teaching at PCC
taught the same subject at the more
expensive PSU.
She began studying to secure es­
sential prerequisites for a Master's
Degree. She studied science. "It's all
about combustion," she says. "Differ­
ent elements coming together to cre­
ate something new." She studied act­
ing. "It's about combustion, too. Two
characters coming together and cre­
ating conflict that changes their lives."
And, she studied voice.
That's when opportunity met prepa­
ration: While attending a local play a
di rector spotted Curtis, intraduced him­
self and cast her as the daughter of
Hecuba in a then upcoming play. "It
was thrilling," she says. Reviewers
praised her performance.
She performed in other small plays
as time allowed. But with studying and
working she had little spare time.
Meanwhile Curtis connected with
Wendy Parker, a voice instructor at
the University of Portland, for intense
continued
on page H5
KWMWMHMMSMHMMGI
A Gateway to Career Opportunities, Resources
work.
“This was a chance to come to­
gether and be united as a school,” she
said.
by S arah B lount
Karim Brown, a junior and aspiring
T he P ortland O bserver
civil engineer, said he wanted to make
Amid the constant staff turnover Jefferson's voice stronger so people
and myriad news reports of school could see more than what’s on the
scandals, Jefferson High School stu­ news.
dents walk the halls of the large north
Fellow junior Nyesha Sims, an as­
Portland school each week, pursuing piring 2008 class valedictorian, said
graduation and quietly becoming suc­ she wants people to see how Jefferson
cess stories.
is changing and how the students are
But sometimes they are given an the solution.
outlet to speak their minds, and such is
Sims' words were inspired by the
the case with the student conference theme of the Jefferson conference:
they participated in on May 18. Spon­ “We are not the problem, we are the
sored by REAP, Inc. (Reaching and solution.”
Empowering all People), the day-long
Jackson said he chose that phrase
activity included workshops and panel because he wants the faculty, district
discussion designed for Jefferson stu­ and community leaders to hear di­
dents and staff to find better ways of rectly from the students.
supporting their campus.
“Who better to engage than the
Mark Jackson, a coordinator with students?" he asked.
the Portland-based mentoring group,
For junior Celeste Jackson, joining
made sure the conference was tai­ the conference was a way to show
lored to the Jefferson campus by ad­ others the true side of Jefferson, but it
vance meetings with the school's stu­ was also a way to build her leadership
dents and faculty . REAP gets its sup­ skills. She said opportunities like the
port from local corporations, local REAP conference have helped her
school districts and community lead­ “get out there and get going." a skill
ers.
she knows she'll need to open herown
For sophomore Sydney Melson, the massage therapy business someday.
conference was a chance to put many
continued
on page H2
suggestions for positive change to
Mentors reach and
empower students
photo by S arah
B i . o in t /T iie P o rii and O bserver
Jefferson students Celeste Jackson, Karim Brown, Nyesha Sims, Leily Villea, Sydney Melson and Abby Mas show
they're ready to advance their education and future careers at a student conference by REAP, Inc. (Reaching and
Empowering all People), a Portland-based mentoring group.
Mother, Daughter Earn Degrees
Advocate
Creates an
After School
Program
A mother and
daughter from
Portland are both
members of the
Class of 2007
Follows passion
to help kids
See inside, page B2
See page B7
Get Ready for
the Real World
Career guide has
tips for women of
color
See page B 3
I