September 13, 2017
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INSIDE
The
Week in Review
M ETRO
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Portland Community College is providing classroom space for McCoy Academy, saving a future for the
non-profit private high school serving underserved students in Portland since 1988.
McCoy Gets a Lifeline
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
O PINION
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
F OOD
New support
puts Academy
back in action
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by d ana L ynn b arbar
t he P ortLand o bserver
The McCoy Academy is back
and better than ever! The alterna-
tive school for underserved and
disenfranchised youth has found a
second home with Portland Com-
munity College’s Cascade Cam-
pus in north Portland.
Originally located on Northeast
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard,
the academy faced financial strug-
gles when they lost their lease to
a building that was sold and de-
molished to make way for con-
dominiums. The school’s founder
and executive director, Rebecca
Black, strived to obtain the funds
necessary to stay, but could not
raise enough and the academy was
forced out in June.
Now the school has the fortu-
nate opportunity to continue on
with PCC. Part of the nonprofit
Oregon Outreach, McCoy Acade-
my had already built a relationship
with the college over 25 years.
After the loss of property, how-
ever, Dr. Karin Edwards, presi-
dent of the PCC Cascade Campus,
helped with an initiative to create
a space for McCoy within the col-
lege. From there, Black worked
with Rakeem Washington, who di-
rects the Opening Doors Grant, a
juvenile justice educational reen-
try program at PCC. Washington
also serves as Executive Director
for the Portland Observer.
Part of McCoy’s diverse stu-
dent population benefits from the
Opening Doors program. Togeth-
er, PCC and the alternative school
found a way to keep McCoy active
by offering classroom space and
enrollment options at the college.
The students’ first day of classes
was Monday.
The students are now provid-
ed with the chance to earn col-
lege credits, as well as a chance
to acclimate to a college campus,
which is more than they received
at the previous location.
Katie Carpenter, assistant exec-
utive director of Oregon Outreach,
plans to implement a new pro-
gram for adults to obtain a G.E.D.,
which can be housed at the office
site now that the students are at the
college campus.
Black and Carpenter are thrilled
that McCoy Academy, a long-time
resource that has offered signifi-
cant help to the community, was
saved.
“As hard as it was to move, the
end result was amazing,” Black
said.
McCoy Academy was named
after the late Gladys McCoy, a
former Multnomah County chair-
person, school board member and
the first African American elected
to public office in Oregon.
Big Scare as Truck Speeds by Protest
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A truck twice speeding through
a street lined with protestors in
Vancouver caused quite a scare
on Sunday in an incident with
echoes of Charlottesville, Va.
when a white racist was accused
of driving into a crowd of peaceful
protestors last month, killing one
woman.
There was no arrest or inju-
ries reported in the Vancouver
incident. It happened after a rally
organized by a right-wing group
called Patriot Prayer drew counter
protests in both Portland and Van-
couver.
Police said the driver involved
may have been provoked to speed
away from a threat. There were
reports of people dressed in black
covering their faces, clothing
throwing rocks and water bottles
at the truck. The driver was ques-
tioned, detained and released. His
truck was described as a black
Chevy Silverado with Oregon
plates, flying two large American
flags, several small flags from the
windows, along with a Confeder-
ate flag decal.
Police said seven people were
arrested in Portland when some
counter-protesters gathered at
Waterfront Park began to throw
rocks, smoke bombs and other
projectiles at officers.