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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2012)
local news Coach continued from page 1 teach them the value of true sportsman- ship.” The award honors Kirk Wellnitz, the son of a Tualatin Valley coach, who lost his life while training with the Air National Guard. The Wellnitz recognizes coaches whose teams display the highest standards of con- duct. Yarbrough’s teams show that superb sportsmanship, as well as playing like champs. His 2008 3rd and 4th Grade team won eight games to zero giving up just one touchdown all season. Yarbrough got into coaching almost by might be terrible, but when you go out there on the football field, you can control who you are,” he says. “You teach them about responsibility, teamwork, and all those aspects of life. You teach them through sports.” Yarbrough helps transport players and he welcomes them into his home. Some keep coming even when they move into high school. “They just want to hang out,” he says. “They want to be in a situation where they can feel confident and safe and not have the stress of everyday life.” As one of the first students to be mentored through the Self Enhancement Inc. pro- gram, Yarbrough remembers selling bricks to raise money for the building. And he cred- its his SEI mentor for helping him find a productive path in life. He got his first job immediately after high school and currently works as a billing specialist for Oregon Sleep Associ- ates. He became a father early, at age 20, and now has two children: Naaman Jr, 12, and Caalyn, 10. He wants a better life for them, he says, and for every student he works with. So far he has coached every kid on the SEI football roster except the fifth graders. His students are a mixed bag. Some play- ers have turned out to be star athletes. And this year he had several players who were very easy to coach. Naaman Yarbrough wins prestigious 2012 Wellnitz award for Sportsmanship placing his players and Self Enhancement Inc. in spotlight accident. His son was a keen football play- er on a third grade team when one of the coaches had to leave midseason. Yarbrough stepped up, and has never looked back. It means a lot to him, he says, partly because he was forced to drop out of football in his sophomore year of high school because he didn’t have a stable home life. Today, working with some students who face similar challenges, Yarbrough can be the stable force in their lives. “Your circumstances when you go home SEI Coaches: from Left: Anthony Deloney, Alex Robinson, Naaman yarbrough and tony Melson “I never had to call them in. I never had to tell them more than once –and they did it with a smile.” Of course, not all players are little angels, especially when they lack stability at home. “Some kids are full of energy and you have to harness that,” he says. “You get some aggressive kids out there. And I was an aggressive kid too. So you teach them about responsibility, teamwork and all those aspects of life. You teach them through sports. It’s a real joy to work with those kids.” Yarbrough sees football as an ideal arena for character development because the game demands so much from everyone involved. “When these kids get on the field they’re fighting for each other and risking their health for one another. When they are out on that field they are all they’ve got. So the level of respect they have for one another is different.” That camaraderie continues even when athletes choose other sports in high school, he says. “They’ll wrestle and pick at each other, but they have each other’s backs.” in all hospitals, they questioned how 12 housekeeping positions will be covered. Online responses to the Lund Report article, some from posters who identified them- selves as hospital staff, asked why housekeepers are being cut instead of administration costs. O’Brien said she understood the decision was not personal, but business. Still, she felt the deci- sion could have been delivered personally. “It just makes me sad that after 13 years it means nothing,” she said. At 3 p.m. Jan. 20, O’Brien’s supervisor told her the cuts were on the table, but no decision had been made.” At 5 p.m., she says, a union representative handed her a list with the names of 51 peo- ple who were being laid-off. Her name was on the list, along with her staff number, hire date and benefits information. That stung. “I got told at the nurses station in front of all my co-workers,” she said. “I felt extremely stupid.” O’Brien says she understands the layoffs are not personal, but an official announcement would have been kinder. financial aid process. “It’s important not just for the youth to get in but to also finish,” says Ladd. “As high as the dropout rate is for high school, it’s even higher for college.” Ladd says the success of youth in second- land-Vancouver-Beaverton area. The study says these students would collectively earn $40 million more a year if they had earned their diplomas. It also says their increased earnings would allow them to spend an additional $29 million and invest an addi- tional $10 million a year. Lastly, the study says the spending and investments would be enough to support 350 new jobs and increase gross regional product (GRP) by $55 million. Upcoming events for Future Connect utilize everything from hands-on demonstrations to social media to give students college and career insight. The first of these events is the “Path to Scholarships Workshop,” which will be held at Mt. Hood Community College on Jan. 28. It goes from 10 am to 4 pm and includes lunch. The workshop is designed to help students learn where to find scholarships and fine tune their college application essays. Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com Layoffs continued from page 1 staff cuts because he had not yet been briefed on the result of the negotiations. But he said the cuts were necessary because of a $30 million cut in Medicaid reimburse- ments from the state of Oregon. “This will impact nursing,” said one nurse, who asked to remain anonymous. “because they’ll be doing the jobs the secre- taries used to do. They’ll be answering the phones, organizing transportation and directing people. “There will be nobody there to do that. The nurses will have to do that.” Three other Legacy staff spoke to the Skanner news, but asked not to be identi- fied. With strict hygiene standards required With strict hygiene standards required in all hospitals, they questioned how 12 housekeeping positions will be covered Gossip, however was flying around the hospital, she says. Other staff were asking her if the rumor was true: all the unit secre- taries were to be laid off. Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com Future continued from page 1 one counseling and skill training for stu- dents. Future Connect utilizes a partnership between businesses, colleges and communi- ties. “We certainly don’t have the resources to do it on our own,” says Ladd. “This helps get the word out.” Future Connect is funded by a grant the Mayor’s Office secured from Volunteers in Service to Amer- ica (VISTA). Currently, VISTA members work as community strate- gy coordinators at Matt Dishman, East Portland and Mt. Scott Commu- nity Centers. The City of Portland has invested half a million dollars into scholarships for stu- dents to attend local colleges and trade schools. According to Ladd, the investment will provide scholarships for 200 students. Part of the program allots college coaches to students. These coaches help the students with emergency funds and navigating the The City of Portland has invested half a million dollars into scholarships for students to attend local colleges and trade schools ary education helps the community’s over- all livability. According to the state report, she says that increasing the number of youth who complete post secondary education by one percent would produce a $1.6 billion increase in revenue for the region. According to a study by the Alliance for Excellent Education, there were 6,900 dropouts in the Class of 2010 in the Port- Ladd says that college counselors in high schools can’t be expected to handle the needs of all their students when they are tasked with serving hundreds of students by themselves. The second Future Connect event is “I ‘Like’ Financial Aid.” It will be held from 4 to 8 pm on Feb. 9. In order for students to participate they need to go to the Future Connect Facebook page, where they can get real-time answers from experts. Teen F/X will be hosting “Tech Night” at Mt. Scott Community Center on Feb. 17. The event will go from 7 to 9 pm. According to Portland Parks and Recre- ation, it’s an opportunity for students to explore technology careers and participate in hands-on activities. “The youth don’t know what’s out there,” she says. “These are growing fields where you can make good money.” Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com January 25, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 3
