Saturday, July 31, 2010

1990 Milwaukie High School grads find American dream despite tough odds | OregonLive.com

1990 Milwaukie High School grads find American dream despite tough odds

Published: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 12:00 PM

Bill Graves, The Oregonian
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Doug Beghtel/The OregonianMembers of the Milwaukie High School class of 1990 gather for a casual evening at Macadam's Bar & Grill in Southwest Portland as part of their 20th reunion. A survey of the class five years out of high school in 1995 showed that most had yet to find their footing in life and were still scrambling to complete college or find a stable job.

Fifteen years ago, the American dream looked like a long shot for Milwaukie High School's class of 1990, when five years out of high school most members still faced uncertain job prospects and a shapeless future.

But at least some of those who showed up for the class's 20th reunion in Portland last weekend proved that persistence and hard work still deliver a home, family and middle-class life, even when the odds seemed stacked against them.

In 1995, Milwaukie High graduate Mercedes Cochran Cook, already married with two children, seemed mired too deep in obligations to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Classmate Stacey Baker seemed to have squandered her college degree on a receptionist job for a shoe company, and Jonathan Heiden was scrambling from job to job as he tried to support his wife and daughter.

Today, Cochran Cook is a professional actress, Baker has traveled around the world outfitting athletes for the Olympics, and Heiden has a stable job driving a garbage truck, earning enough to support his family and buy a home.

"I figured out how to make a living doing what I love in Oregon," says Cochran Cook. "I'm pretty proud of that."

A team of Oregonian reporters in 1995 set out to track down graduates of Milwaukie High's class of 1990 to see how well a typical Oregon high school prepared young people for their next stage in life, whether work or college. The team chose Milwaukie because it was, in almost every way,

Twenty years of Japanese American waterfront memorial to civil rights

By Carolina Hidalgo, The Oregonian

July 30, 2010, 11:15AM

On the west bank of the Willamette River, between the Burnside and Steel bridges, stretches a 100-year story. Through poems engraved in granite stones, it chronicles decades of hard work, injustice, new beginnings and, finally, hope. Full story »

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School district administrators: Just what do they do to earn their pay anyway?

By Wendy Owen, The Oregonian

July 30, 2010, 11:00AM

At budget time, people want to know why school districts don't trim more from the top. Calendars of top schools officials show that they are busy. Full story »

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Top 12 administrative salaries for 5 Oregon school districts

By The Oregonian

July 30, 2010, 11:00AM

How the Hillsboro School District's top 12 administrative salaries compare with other districts in Washington County and other districts of like size. Full story »

Weblogg-ed � Not “What” You Know

Not “What” You Know

by Will Richardson

From Michael Schrage in the Harvard Business Review:

When I look at who is getting hired, purported knowledge almost always matters less than demonstrable skills. The distinctions aren’t subtle; they’re immense. How do they manifest themselves? These hires don’t have resumes highlighting educational pedigrees and accomplishments; their resumes emphasize their skill sets. Instead of listing aspirations and achievements, these resumes present portfolios around performance. They link to blogs, published articles, PowerPoint presentations, podcasts and webinars the candidates produced. The traditional two-page resume has been turned into a “personal productivity portal” that empowers prospective employers to quite literally interact with their candidate’s work.
Unsurprisingly, this simultaneously complements and reinforces the employer-side due diligence

The Best Sites For Learning About The Flooding In Pakistan | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The Best Sites For Learning About The Flooding In Pakistan Pakistan is being hit by terrible flooding, and I thought readers might find it useful to see this short compilation of related resources. I’m also adding this list to A Compilation Of “The Best…” Lists About Natural Disasters. Here, so far, are my ...

“Tours From Above” Tours From Above is a new site hosting spectacular aerial panoramic images from around the world. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Panoramas. Thanks to Google Maps Mania for the tip.

Recordr.tv Recordr.tv is a very simple application that lets you make online video or just a audio messages that you can send online. No registration is required. The only negative is that you can see the most recent messages other people sent, which can be ...

Our Five Thousand Year Obsession with the Angry Father Figure | Lefty Parent

Our Five Thousand Year Obsession with the Angry Father Figure

by Cooper Zale

I find our human history a fascinating narrative, an evolutionary adventure that appears often to unfold as an exciting three steps forward followed by a frustrating two steps back. Particularly from my reading of Riane Eisler’s The Chalice and the Blade, Karen Armstrong’s A History of God and The Battle for God, Allan Johnson’s The Gender Knot, and Jacques Barzun’s From Dawn to Decadence, I have come to this admittedly provocative framing of the last five millennia of our tenure on planet Earth. “Who’s your daddy?” has been the operative organizing principle of human society, but it is past time that we move beyond this obsession with parental figures to a question more like, “Who’re your peers?”

I go back 5000 years based on the archeological findings of Marija Gimbutas as woven into the historical

NY Times declares NEA the winner! “The most retrograde union.” � Fred Klonsky's blog

NY Times declares NEA the winner! “The most retrograde union.”

by preaprez

My retired teacher buddy from the Western ‘burbs sends me this note:

Look Fred. We’re the more retrograde teacher union! I believe that means we’re actually a union and not an educational reform group (Illinois might be an exception!)

He’s referring to the editorial in today’s NY Times:

The grant program has focused the country’s attention on school reform and has angered the unions, especially by pushing the states to take student

Sweetwater Schools to Put Ads on Campuses .voiceofsandiego.org/education/ #Education #edu

Education

Sweetwater Schools to Put Ads on Campuses

Sweetwater schools will soon bring advertisements onto middle and high school campuses and school websites, hoping to yield as much as $1 million in new revenue as their budgets are crunched.

Under an agreement with 4 Visual Media Group, the school district will choose which advertising companies are acceptable. It plans to split the money 50-50 between school sites where ads are placed and the larger school district budget. If all schools sign on, it expects to generate up to $1 million.

Sweetwater Union High School District spokeswoman Lillian Leopold said as it stands now, the ads will likely be for juices, sports drinks and clothing. A committee of educators and parents is setting out guidelines for what works and what doesn't. USA Today reported earlier this year on one reason why advertising in schools is so sensitive:

"This is really tricky stuff for school districts, though," says Richard Colvin,

Road Show for School District Critics Continues

San Diegans 4 Great Schools, a newly formed group that is seeking changes to how San Diego Unified is governed, brought its message to a tough crowd at the Ocean Beach Town Council Wednesday night.

A retired teacher called it an overly vague "dog and pony show" that didn't address real problems in schools. "Governance is a minor issue," said Mike Berrill, who used to teach in East County. "You've got a problem that's way bigger than how many board members are squabbling."

Scott Himelstein, who organizes the group of philanthropists, business leaders, parents and other community members, said he respectfully disagreed. "Governance plays a big role,"

School District Delays Paying Back Bonds

San Diego Unified is seeking to borrow more money for school renovation and pay it off over a longer period of time.

Doing so could help accelerate school fixes and upgrades, which have been delayed because of dropping tax revenues from a bond that voters approved two years ago.

But taking longer to pay off the bonds will also mean that San Diego Unified pays more in interest. The question that the school district is wrestling with is whether the added costs of paying off bonds over a longer period of time -- just like taking longer to pay off your credit card -- will be offset by getting money to build and renovate schools sooner while construction prices are low.

AP-Univision Poll: College dreams for Hispanics - Boston.com

AP-Univision Poll: College dreams for Hispanics

Yajahira Deaza poses for a photograph in her apartment in the Bronx borough of New York Wednesday July 28, 2010. More than 10 years have passed since she gave up her pursuit of a degree in computer science, but Yajahira Deaza still has regrets. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Trevor Tompson

Associated Press Writers / July 29, 2010

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WASHINGTON—More than 10 years have passed since she gave up her pursuit of a degree in computer science, but Yajahira Deaza still has regrets.

"I feel incomplete," says the 33-year-old, a customer service representative for a major New York bank. Her experience reflects the findings of an Associated Press-Univision poll that examined the attitudes of Latino adults toward higher education.

Despite strong belief in the value of a college diploma, Hispanics more often than not fall short of that goal.

The poll's findings have broad implications not only for educators and parents, but for the economy.

In the next decade, U.S. companies will have to fill millions of jobs to replace well-trained baby boomers going into retirement. As the nation's largest minority group, Latinos account for a growing share of the pool of workers, yet their skills may not be up to par. Aware of the challenge, some California State University

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Saturday, July 31, 2010