August 30, 2017 The Skanner Page 3
Internship
cont’d from pg 1
had an interest in fash-
ion. For her, interning at
Dress for Success was an
incredibly welcoming ex-
perience.
“I like how everyone is
super kind. They treat
you like a part of the
team, and you never feel
left out,” said Duku, who
will be a junior at in the
fall.
A program of Worksys-
tems
Inc.,
Summer-
Works secured funding
merWorks first provides
work-readiness and soft
skills training in the
month preceding. With
the help of its partner,
Immigrant & Refugee
Community Organiza-
tion, the program then
matches the young par-
ticipants with suitable
employers based on their
skills and preferences.
The target is that each
participant will con-
tribute 180 work hours
to provide paid intern-
ships for some 1,154 teens
and young adults this
year. Youths between the
ages of 16 and 24 in Mult-
nomah and Washington
counties are eligible to
apply.
Established eight years
ago through the Obama
administration’s Amer-
ican Recovery and Re-
investment Act, Sum-
merWorks had initially
served 1,300 youths. Fed-
eral funding is no lon-
ger available, but the
program has made con-
siderable strides with
multiple
partnerships
and expanding its spon-
sorship through Mult-
nomah County and the
city of Portland.
This year, Summer-
Works placed the highest
number of youths since
its 2009 launch.
It’s also hit some note-
worthy milestones over
the years, including 89
percent of youth com-
pleting their internships
and receiving positive
evaluation from their
supervisors; and 93 per-
cent of youth returning
to high school, post-sec-
ondary school or becom-
ing employed.
While the job place-
ment runs from June 1 to
Sept. 30 each year, Sum-
Studies
to their job placement
over the course of four
months. The pace is
steady and manageable,
said
SummerWorks
coach Mukendi Kim of
IRCO, but that’s a deliber-
ate choice.
“The slow process helps
the participants absorb
more of the skills,” Kim
said.
Worksystems
Inc.
reports that over the
past 10 years, summer
youth employment has
dropped from 44 percent
to 26 percent. Among
diverse and low-income
youth, employment is as
low as 12 percent
That’s why over 90 per-
cent of SummerWorks
participants are low-in-
come, while 76 percent
are youth of color.
During last week’s
luncheon, Multnomah
County Commissioner
Loretta Smith shared
a few words with the
young interns, urging
them to value “how im-
portant that first job ex-
perience is for your fu-
ture career.”
Accruing employment
after the internship is
finished is also a hopeful
goal of SummerWorks.
Read more at
TheSkanner.com
This year’s Hood to Coast and Portland to Coast took place from Aug. 25 - 27, 2017. The Skanner’s team — The West Coast Steppers —
were among the thousands of participants in the event. Hood to Coast/Portland to Coast Relays is the most popular relay race in the
world with 20,000 participants from 50 states and 43 countries. The event has sold out for 19 consecutive years, and annually places
an additional 40,000 hopeful runners and walkers on a waiting list. Portland to Coast is the largest walk relay in the world and one of
Oregon’s largest walking events of any kind.
ACLU
cont’d from pg 1
reform.
For the ALCU of Oregon ac-
countability does not equate
to building and filling prisons.
Rather, says the organization, it
should reflect an increase in ac-
cess to education, mental health
treatment, re-entry support and
ensuring equal treatment.
“If we’re going to take a signif-
icant step forward in moderniz-
ing and reforming our criminal
justice system — making it fairer
and more effective – we’re going
to need much higher levels of
voter engagement with district
attorneys,” said David Rogers,
executive director of the ACLU of
Oregon.
District attorneys are lawyers.
But they’re also the top prosecu-
tors of criminal offense and rep-
resent “the state” on a county lev-
el. They decide who goes free and
who is incarcerated; how severely
one is charged with a crime and
the number of charges faced. The
district attorney also decides if a
youth is tried as an adult, and if
an individual enters a treatment
program or receives jail time.
“District attorneys are the most
powerful elected officials that re-
ally no one’s ever heard of,” said
Rogers.
“
their district attorneys stand for.
The ACLU has already begun
canvassing in Marion and Wash-
ington counties, knocking on
over 15,000 doors to get a sense
of what residents know about dis-
District attorneys are the most power-
ful elected officials that really no one’s
ever heard of
Through a poll it conducted, the
ACLU of Oregon found out that
only 23 percent of Oregon voters
know who their district attorney
is. Furthermore, less than 40 of
people are aware that district at-
torneys are even elected.
The organization is looking to
change that by having as much
on-the-ground presence as possi-
ble, leading up to the elections in
May 2018.
In as many counties as possible
the ACLU will be organizing re-
sources for Oregon voters to help
them get a better sense of what
values, policies and practices
trict attorneys and criminal jus-
tice reform issues.
Marion and Washington coun-
ties are two of the largest in the
state, and have two of the longest
serving district attorneys in Or-
egon. Next spring both counties
will have an open race, providing
significant opportunities for vot-
ers to reach out and engage.
“Accurate and complete infor-
mation provided to educate and
inform is the answer, not attack
ads designed to inflame,” said Bob
Hermann.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
cont’d from pg 1
eral testimonies from students of col-
or, who argued the inclusion of ethnic
studies was critical for the success of
students of color.
“Ethnic studies is important because
“
Hood to Coast Relay
I envision a K-12
where my baby
brother can learn
that our ancestors
weren’t just slaves
African American history goes be-
yond slavery. I envision a K-12 where
my baby brother can learn that our an-
cestors weren’t just slaves. Imagine the
positive impact you will create in gen-
erations to come,” Raishel Covington, a
sophomore at Milwaukie’s Rex Putnam
High School, said at a March hearing.
Advocates also argued more inclu-
sive curricula are directly correlated
with student success: a campaign site
for the bill cites a Stanford study say-
ing students enrolled in ethnic studies
classes not only increased their atten-
dance (by 21 percent) and grades (by 1.4
grade points), they also increased the
number of course credits they earned
(by 23 percent).
The Oregon Ethnic Studies Coalition,
formed to fight for the bill, included
the Parkrose School District, the Ore-
gon Student Association and the Asian
Pacific American Network of Oregon.
APANO was also a key player last year
in a campaign urging Portland Public
Schools to adopt an ethnic studies cur-
riculum — which it did.
As The Skanner reported at the time,
PPS’ resolution required the district to
convene an advisory group to devel-
op an ethnic studies curriculum and
to train teachers, and to add an ethnic
studies elective class to every Portland
high school by 2018.
PPS spokesperson Jon Coney told The
PHOTO COURTESY OF APANO
“
The slow process helps the
participants absorb more of
the skills
PHOTO BY BERNIE FOSTER
News
Youth who worked on the campaign to implement an ethnic studies program in Portland Public Schools
pose with their fists extended in 2016.
Skanner this week that the oversight
committee and student advisory com-
mittee have recommended the piloting
of the first ethnic studies courses be
delayed until 2010 “to ensure enough
time and input is provided for the de-
velopment of suitable curriculum, nec-
essary teacher training and support, as
well as a and framework of ES that is re-
flective of the unique and evolving city
of Portland.”
PPS’ resolution required the district
to form two committees : an oversight
committee and a student advisory
committee. The oversight committee is
composed of teachers and community
partners, and the student committee is
composed of high school students.
Read the full story at TheSkanner.com
