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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.