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lune IO. 2009
(© b s e rU e r
Page A3
Ground Broken for Learning Garden
Humboldt students,
partners celebrate
Students, teachers, parents
an d c o m m u n ity m e m b e rs
gathered on Thursday for the
symbolic ground breaking for
the Humboldt Learning G ar
den next to Humboldt Elemen
tary School in north Portland.
The rep resen tativ es from
key project partners included
the Lower Columbia River Es
tuary P artn ersh ip , P ortland
Public Schools, the Housing
A u th o rity o f P o rtla n d and
Portland’s Bureau o f Environ
mental Services.
The cerem ony was the cu l
m ination o f many months of
planning. Plans for the g ar
den call for new fencing, new
paths, an outdoor classroom ,
native plants and raised veg
e ta b le g a rd e n b o x e s fo r
Humboldt students and resi
d e n ts o f th e H o u sin g
A u th o rity ’s H um boldt G a r
d en s h o u sin g d ev elo p m en t
across the street.
E v en tu ally , as ad d itio n al
funds are raised, a large bur
ied cistern will be installed to
capture storm w ater from the
school’s roof to reuse for gar
den irrigation.
Once com pleted in w inter
2010, Humboldt School staff
and students have big plans
to use the garden for science,
art, and other educational pur
poses. Food grow n in the
raised garden beds may even
tually be used in the school
c a fe te ria . R esid en ts o f the
H um boldt G ardens housing
developm ent will utilize the
site in the sum m er as a com
munity gardening plot.
M ic h e lle M a th is fro m
G reenw orks PC designed the
photo bv
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Students from north Portland's Humboldt Elementary School join Chris Hathaway o f the Lower Columbia River Estuary
Project (center) to turn a shovelful o f dirt for the groundbreaking for the Humboldt Learning Garden.
Learning Garden with input
from Humboldt School staff
and students. Drakes 7 Dees
Landscaping is serving as the
project contractor.
T he E stu a ry P a rtn e rsh ip
also is working with Humboldt
School on educational pro
gramming and service learn Partnership’s direction, stu
ing d ay s th a t tie in to the dents will plant native plants
garden’s construction. Next and conduct garden m ainte
f a ll, u n d e r th e E stu a ry nance.
Self Defense Skills Build Confidence for Girls
Pilot program
reaches out
O n a su n n y a f te r n o o n at
Humboldt School in north Portland
five girls stand in a line with stem
faces as they scream , “Go aw ay!”
“Back off!” at Carolyne H aycraft
and Sara Johnson who walk slowly
tow ard them. W hen they get within
an arms reach the girls break out in
gales o f laughter.
The girls are participating in Girls
Strength, a pilot program sponsored
by the Portland Police Bureau. The
program takes a holistic approach to
young women’s self defense, incor
porating confidence building exer
cises as well as lessons on how to
ward off predators.
A cco rd in g to , H a y c ra ft, G irl
Strength’s coordinator, the program
has reached about 100 middle school
girls in about five months.
Johnson, the director of the Police
Bureau’s WomenStrength! — a 30-
year-old program Girls Strength is
modeled after — said the latest out
reach was created after enough par
ents and teachers asked if there was
a program like it for girls.
“It became a need,” said Johnson,
who explained that it’s the only pro
gram o f its kind offered freely to
middle school girls,
Johnson said that middle school is
often a time when girls’ self-esteem
suffers and it’s crucial that they learn
to be confident and assertive.
Haycraft and Johnson w on't go
into the specifics of the self-defense
techniques taught to the girls, since
a predator might anticipate them, but
stress that the program does more. It
includes activities to get girls feeling
confident with their bodies and intu
ition, learn to build alliances to cope
with bullying, and generally be more
assertive.
“There are choices you can make
as a girl or a woman that can prevent
certain situations,” said Haycraft,
who explained that the program isn’t
“fear based,” meaning girls aren't
bombarded with statistics and horror
photo bv J ake T homas /T he P ortland O bserver
Girls practice non-verbal skills that tell a potential threat to ‘back o f f
during a Portland Police Bureau Girls Strengh self-defense class at
Humboldt Elementary in north Portland.
stories about violence toward women.
Instead, the program aims to instill in
girls enough mettle so they can face
the dangers they could potentially
face. It also provides girls with simple
strategies to keep them out of harm’s
way.
“Girls Strength is one of the best
things I’ve ever done,” said Davis,
a fifth-grader at Humboldt School.
She added that she feels confident
that she can dodge sketchy situa
tions and confront them if need be.
“It makes you more com fortable.”
Emogene Hillman-Jackson, fifth-
grader at Humboldt, also feels less
fearful from doing the program. She
liked the “the strength part,” and “the
girl part too.”
In one exercise the girls sit in chairs
arranged in rows of two. The girls pre
tend they are sitting on the bus when
Haycraft and Johnson approach them
pretending to be “creepy" men who
ask them their names and where they
go to school. Each girl assertively
tells them to buzz off, causing
H aycraft and Johnson to express
mock chargrin.
M any girls said they liked to
physical activities the best. One of
them involves the girls huddling in
a circle and grabbing each others
hands. They then spin around until
they are in a perfect hand-joined
circle.
Haycraft said that the program is
still a work in progress, and has
changed after visiting five schools to
incorporate more physical activity.
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a recycling company called Agn-Plas Inc. came up with a breakthrough. They devel
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L o t t e r y g a m e s a r e b a s e d o n c h a n c e a n d s h o u ld b e p la y e d f o r e n te r ta in m e n t o n ly
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