August 22, 2012
®lf* JJortlanì» (¡Observer Diversity Special Edition
Page 5
Racially, Spiritually, and Culturally Diverse
De La Salle
North students
develop job skills
Their peers are enjoying the break
from school by hanging out with
friends, riding bikes, watching mov­
ies, and playing video games. But
the incoming freshmen at north
Portland’s De La Salle North Catho­
lic High School are putting on ties,
donning business attire, and com­
ing to school in the middle of sum­
mer for “business boot camp.”
At De La Salle North, a school
that serves a very diverse popula­
tion of low-income students in north
Portland with a college preparatory
education, students need to be ready
to go to class and to work on the first
day of school.
As Matt Powell, president of De
La Salle North and a founder of the
school says, “These 14-year old
students are making the deliberate
choice to do a radical thing— give
up part of their summer to prepare
for their future.”
In addition to the rigorous cur­
riculum, each student at De La Salle
North works one day a week off-
campus at a corporate job site as
part of a Corporate Internship Pro­
gram. During two weeks in July and
August, community volunteers, rep-
De La Salle North student Miles Glover picks up job skills as part of the school’s outreach into the business community.
resentatives from local businesses,
and De La Salle North staff members
conduct a training session, or “busi­
ness boot camp,” to help get the
student body ready for their new
jobs.
Students take classes on office
skills (data entry, computer skills,
reception, filing, and office ma­
chines), ethics, confidentiality, or­
ganization, initiative, positive atti­
tude, dress code, etiquette, and
conversation with adults.
They also participate in mock job
WE STAND UP FOR
OUR FUTURE
It is our primary goal as a labor union to better the lives of all people working
in the building trades through advocacy, civil demonstration, and the long-held
belief that workers deserve a "family wage” - fair pay for an honest day’s work.
OUR FAMILIES & OUR COMMUNITIES
A family wage, and the benefits that go with it, not only strengthens families, but
also allows our communities to become stronger, more cohesive, and more re­
sponsive to their citizens’ needs. Our ongoing efforts to establish Area Standard
wages and benefits knows no bounderies of race, creed, color; gender, beliefs,
or country of origin.
c
^ Ñ C IL O*
Pacific Northwest
Regional Council
of
www.nwcarpenters.org
Q
interviews. With classes and feed­
back processes to help them inte­
grate new knowledge, students are
armed with the initial information
they need to be successful and con­
tributing employees in their new
workplaces.
Jim Trolinger, owner and presi­
dent of Portland Valve and Fitting,
a board member at De La Salle North,
and an employer in the program,
says, “As a result of this training,
continued
on page 6