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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 19, 2010)
il’e Jjortiauì» (.Obsvnil'r Page 4 May 19. 2010 Urban Planners Recruit Students with Eye on Diversity In these challenging economic tim es, partnership between orga nizations is critical. In Vancouver, the Am erican Planning A ssocia tion is working with the city o f Vancouver to support and encour age diversity in local government, urban planning and related pro fessions. The A PA has established an Ambassador Program which is de signed to connect students, par ticularly students o f color, with practicing planners in two main efforts: to expose them to the field o f planning and related com m u nity developm ent careers. The program provides a unique opportunity for planners to be come directly involved in the re cruitm ent and developm ent o f a diverse new generation o f future planners that positively reflect the diversity o f the com m unities they will serve. M atching up with V ancouver’s diversity initiatives, the program P o rtlan d area c o n su lta n t and strives to build a workforce that form er Oregon APA president reflects the diverse com m unity Greg W interowd o f W interbrook and is respectful o f diversity. Planning, to develop a netw ork o f T h ro u g h th is o u tre a c h , interest and support for com m u Vancouver and the American Plan nity and educational outreach to ning A ssociation hope to inspire diverse student in the greater students to consider careers in Portland/V ancouver region and public service and the planning link them to university and com related professions. m u n ity c o lle g e s p ro g ram s in As part o f the partnership, Larry W ashington and Oregon. Vasquez, a planner for the City o f For more inform ation on the V ancouver has team ed up with Oregon APA C hapter’s program , contact Ann M. Pytynia at 503- 6 1 8 -2 8 5 9 or A nn.P ytynia@ ci.gresham .or.us. For inform ation on the city o f V ancouver’s diversity initiatives, contact Nancy Pionk at 360-619- 1148 or n a n c y .p io n k @ ci.vancouver, wa.us. For infor m ation on careers in planning and com m unity developm ent at the city o f Vancouver, contact Larry V asq u ez at 3 6 0 -4 8 7 -7 8 1 1 or larry.vasquez@ci.vancouver, wa.us. Future Teachers Complete Degrees Grads fill gaps To Place Your Classified Advertisement Contact: Phone: 503-288-0033 Fax: 503-288-0015 e-mail: classifieds@portlandobserver.com The 2010 graduates o f the Port land Teachers Program will be hon ored Friday, May 28, at Portland Com m unity C o lleg e’s C ascade Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth St., with a celebration in the Moriarty Arts and Humanities building from 5:30p.m. to7:30p.m. The graduates this year are Quiana Allen, Meriba Asencio, Jalia Campbell, Reginal Cole, Tina Dang, Yolanda Flores, Sarah Gonzalez, Antoinia Griffin, Rosina Hardy, Mario Interian, Tawanda Jones, Martha Rodriquez and Andre Wash ington. They have spent the past five y ears earn in g first th eir bachelor’s degrees, and then com pleting a year o f graduate work and student teaching to get an Oregon teaching license. The program was created to place more culturally and ethnically di verse teachers in local public school classrooms, an important tool in addressing lingering inequities in our society, said Deborah Cochrane, the program’s director. “1 think that placing more teach ers in the classroom who are com mitted to social justice is one o f the ways in which we can get at the systemic aspects o f racism and in equity that still plague our culture,” said Cochrane. This y e a r’s celebration also marks a milestone in the program’s history. Sarah Gonzales is the first Portland Teachers Program gradu ate to arise from the program’s part nership with the Beaverton School District, first established in 2007. G onzales, who attended grade sch o o l and high sch o o l in Beaverton, will return there to as sume her teaching duties. Nearly 60 aspiring teachers and a host o f alumni will also be recog nized at the celebration. The future teachers range from freshmen to graduate students, and the alumni represent teachers and administra tors who have graduated from the program over the past 20 years. Also in attendance will be partici pants’ families; leaders from the African American, Native Ameri can, Latino and Asian American communities; and representatives from education, business and gov ernment. The celebration honors a cultur ally diverse group o f people who have chosen a career that will ben efit their communities and society as a whole. The event recognizes participants in the program for the positive choices they have made, and highlights the program’s gradu ates for the effort and sacrifices they have made to complete the long journey to become educators. “Good teachers shape the minds o f our future leaders and citizens,” Cochrane said, “sb we need to sup port and encourage good teachers, those who have the courage, pa tience, dedication and love to do this important, challenging work. Teachers are the single most impor tant factor in the classroom in terms o f academic achievement, and yet as a society, we place far too little value on teachers and teacher edu cation.” The Portland Teachers Program is a partnership among Portland Public Schools, Portland Commu nity College, Portland State Univer sity, the University o f Portland and Beaverton School D istrict, de signed to increase the number of culturally competent teachers for Portland and Beaverton schools, with a focus on the recruitment of underrepresented groups. Since 1989 the program has gradu ated nearly 140 teachers, most of whom continue to teach or adminis ter in Portland schools. For m ore in fo rm atio n , call Deborah Cochrane, 503-978-5444.
