May 8, 2019
Page 11
DePass has deep roots to community
C ontinueD from p age 7
attended Benson High School.
DePass attended both Metro-
politan Learning Center, an al-
ternative high school known for
its successful and experimental
learning techniques, and Jefferson
High School, during the heyday of
its exceptional dance program in
the 1970s.
She completed a Master’s de-
gree in Sustainable Business at
the Bainbridge Graduate Institute
in Seattle and a bachelor’s degree
in Community Development from
Portland State University.
DePass has gained a wide va-
riety of professional experience
over the years, from academic, to
private, to public. The work has
included construction, budget and
program management; and work-
ing in the energy conservation
field. In terms of government ex-
perience, in addition to her current
role at the city, she’s worked for
the regional government Metro
and Portland Parks and Recre-
ation.
She has served as a communi-
ty volunteer for years, including
chaperoning students, and leading
Girl Scouts Beyond Bars, a pro-
gram making connections for girls
with incarcerated mothers and
grandmothers. She has led out-
door expeditions for kids of color.
She’s also taught business basics
at King Elementary and at Beau-
mont middle school.
“I have the experience of ac-
tually dealing with the issues that
are current right now at the district
level and I have the time to serve.
As a single parent I’ve been vol-
unteering for the schools for 28
years in Portland and that’s before
I had children,” DePass said.
As to her strategy to mak-
ing improvements in Portland
schools, DePass points to a 2017
Oregon Legislative report called
the African American/Black Stu-
dent Success plan, which was
developed by some of the most
prominent equity education lead-
ers in the state.
She supports the report’s call
for school districts to provide
more wrap around services, cre-
ating interventions to bolster early
childhood literacy, and expanding
some of the programs that provide
things like housing assistance and
food to low income families, like
the SUN School program, which
she said does “a great job.”
DePass said she knows from
personal experience the plight of
surviving in a low-income up-
bringing and the disruptions that
situation causes for learning. As
a child, she and her family were
homeless at times.
“I know for myself that I
showed up [to school] and I was
not focused on what was happen-
ing in the classroom, I was focus-
ing on we don’t have a place to
live…I know that that’s happen-
ing, this level of trauma is hap-
pening more and more, especially
due to the housing crisis,” DePass
said. “21st century schools need
to recognize and address that all
of their kids are maybe not ready
to learn and need extra support to
stay in school and to be successful
in school,” she said.
DePass boasts the endorsements
of both Portland Association of
Teachers and Oregon Education
Association, two organizations
that provide significant backing
both monetarily and in credibility
to school board campaigns. Even
so, they have snubbed past can-
didates of color for school board:
Jamila Munson in 2017 and José
González in 2015, specifically.
But DePass said that’s no rea-
son to believe the candidates en-
dorsed by PAT and OEA are “an-
ti-candidates of color,” adding that
PAT has been advocating for more
diversity on the board.
When asked if DePass support-
ed KairosPDX--the public charter
school whose mission is to close
the achievement gap for grade
school –aged kids of color, par-
ticularly black kids--DePass said
“absolutely.”
“I know in that case that they’re
doing an excellent job. I fully sup-
port Kairos. I‘d love to see 17 of
those Kairos’ around the commu-
nity because I know they’re doing
a great job.”
She also said she’s really ex-
cited to support getting an Ethnic
Studies Bill that was passed fully
implemented, to mandate ethnic
studies in K-12 schools, which
she said is slated to happen this
upcoming school year in the fall.
“How empowering is that, to
walk into a classroom and see a
black teacher and hear about the
greatness of your people? Rather
than just being erased out of histo-
ry,” she said.
DePass lists three things that
aligned at just the right time to
motivate her to run for the board.
The first was that she previous-
ly went through the Emerge Ore-
gon Program in 2017, which is a
program that teaches Democratic
women how to run for public of-
fice. At the time, she completed
the 70 hour training program with
“the sole goal of supporting other
women running for office.”
The second was that her young-
est son is soon set to graduate at
Benson--and thus enable her to
have more time to dedicate to be-
ing a school board member. As a
mom who cooked a hot breakfast
everyday and a hot dinner every
night, and focused on spending
fleeting time with her children, it
was a significant chunk of time
gained, she said.
The third reason was prompted
by a recent audit of Portland Pub-
lic Schools by the Oregon Secre-
tary of State’s office and the real-
ization that the district was facing
a lot of issues that she felt she had
the experience and qualifications
necessary to address them.
Among some of DePass’ en-
dorsements are former Gov. Bar-
bara Roberts, State Sens. Lew
Frederick and Michael Dem-
brow—both former teachers of
hers, Multnomah County Com-
missioner Susheela Jayapal,
AFSCME Local 189, Stand for
Children, Portland Public School
Board Member Julia Brim Ed-
wards, Beaverton School Board
Member Donna Tyner, and many
others. For more information, visit
DePassforPPS.com.
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Obituary
In Loving Memory
Willie Kemp Jr.
Sunrise: March 8, 1943
Sunset: April 28, 2019
Willie Kemp Jr., a resident of
Portland since the 1970s was orig-
inally from Flint, Mich. He was an
18 wheeler truck driver for Port-
land General Electric for 40 years.
He is survived by his wife Per-
ry Wills Kemp; daughter Wen-
dy Murchinson; sons Tommie
(Kimberly) Kemp and Kevin
(Stephanie) Kemp; three sisters,
Fannie Smith, Louis Evans and
Cora Kemp, all of Flint, Mich.;
two brothers, James Kemp of
Lansing, Mich. and Inell Kemp
of Flint; eight grandchildren, 12
great-grandchildren, an aunt and
uncle and a host of nieces, neph-
ews, cousins and close friends. He
was loved by many. He will be
truly missed.
He was preceded in death by his
parents, Beatrice and Willie Kemp
Funerals ~ Memorial Services ~ Cremation ~ Preplanning
“Dedicated to providing
excellent service and
superior care of your
loved one”
Sr.; grandparents, two sisters and
two brothers; and a grandson, Cal-
vin Richman Davis.
Public Viewing will be held
at Terry’s Family Funeral Home,
2337 N. Williams Ave., on Friday,
May 10, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m.
Services will be held Saturday,
May 11 at 11 a.m. at Bethesda Bap-
tist Church 1730 S.E. 117th Ave.
Funeral Home staff
available 24 hours
503-249-1788
Terry Family Funeral Home
2337 N Williams Ave, Portland, Or 97227
www.terryfamilyfuneralhome.com