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The Portland Tribune Thursday, June 7, 2012
Roosevelt grads make a college connection
program called Future Connect. Students in the program meet frequently, and are advised and tracked as a Roosevelt group once they enroll, as well as helped with scholarships. “We can chase down the ones who are falling off and celebrate the ones who are doing great,� she says. Roosevelt students at PCC show about a 20 percent higher retention rate than the community college’s overall retention rate, Nusom says. In addition to PCC and WOU,
for infrastructure projects. It noted that local governments were facing financial restrictions because of Oregon’s property tax limitation system. The report also noted that the buying power of the state gas tax was falling because motor vehicles were become more fuel-efficient. And it accurately predicted that federal funds for infrastructure project were drying up. The report was something of a reach for Metro. The regional government must authorize all major transportation projects in
the urbanized parts of Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. Voters have also authorized it to buy natural areas, some of which been opened to the public. Metro does not have any direct authority on other infrastructure projects, such as water systems and sewer facilities, however. But it has approved a 2040 Concept Plan that calls for new development to be concentrated along major transportation corridors and in urban centers, which need a wide range of infrastructure
projects to succeed. After the report was released, a group of regional business and community leaders began talking among themselves about the need to find new ways to fund such projects. They soon convinced Metro to provide staff support to help prepare a formal set of recommendations, beginning with the strategic plan. Metro is not expected to take action after the plan is presented. It has already pledged another year of support to the group, however.
Celebrating success
owned by the Port of Portland group is a new funding source for the maintenance and construcnear Interstate 205. Construction on the extension tion of city streets and state highstarted in spring 1999, and the ways. The group believes the exline opened on Sept. 10, 2001. To- isting gas tax is outdated because day, the 5.5-mile extension pro- motor vehicles are becoming vides service to the airport from more fuel efficient — including the entire regional MAX system. electric cars, which use the roads The group believes that addi- but don’t generate any gas tax revenue. So the tional private group has endorsed funds for public inefforts by the Orefrastructure projgon Department of ects are available. Motor Vehicles to For example, the design a voluntary California Public regional alternative Employment ReVehicle Miles Travtirement System is el pilot program reportedly willing that could ultimateto invest $3.8 billy replace the gas lion in such projtax with a fee based ects — $800 million on actual mileage. in California and Perhaps the most $3 billion in the radical idea suprest of the country. ported by the group Tapping such is to expand the sources can help definition of infrabuild needed restructure to include gional projects public schools. The without increasing — Karen Williams, group originally taxes, according to Community Investment formed after Metro the group. Initiative issued a report preThree other dicting a $15 million members of the group also will appear before the to $20 million funding gap for Metro Council. They are: Co- such traditional infrastructure Chairman Burton Weast, execu- projects as roads, parks, water tive director of the Clackamas systems and sewer facilities. County Business Alliance; Randy Shortly after it first began meetMiller, president of Produce Row ing, however, the group agreed Management Co.; Joe Rodriguez, that a properly educated workretired Hillsboro school superin- force also was part of the public tendent; and Carl Talton, presi- infrastructure. dent, chief executive officer and executive chairman of the Port- Funds drying up The Community Investment land Family of Funds. Initiative was created after MetSchools in the mix ro released its Regional InfraThe strategic plan is as notable structure Report in July 2008. At for what it does not recommend the time, Metro was predicting as for what it does. The plan does that an one million people would not call for a new regional tax or move to the greater Portlandfee to close the projected infra- Vancouver region by 2035, with structure funding gap. Nor does it the majority settling in the Orecall for changes in Oregon’s prop- gon counties south of the Columerty tax limitation system. In- bia River. The report predicted it stead, it essentially calls for a would cost between $27 million more thorough assessment of the and $41 million for the infraregion’s needs and collaborative structure needed to accommoefforts between the public and date the expected population. private sectors to meet them. The report also looked at the Another idea supported by the money expected to be available
“It’s a big issue all of us face, and it can’t be solved by cities and counties, Metro or the state acting alone. We can only find ways to solve it by working together.�
TRIBUNE PHOTO: JONATHAN HOUSE
Angela Nusom (left), the college and career transition manager at Roosevelt High, chats with Laura Goble, director of the Moreau Center at the University of Portland, as they go over finalists for an AmeriCorps position at the high school.
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Carter, who will attend WOU in the fall, says the mentoring was instrumental in helping her prepare for the next step. “Other people keep me engaged and motivated to actually do it,� she says. “They’re in the same position, and I’m not alone. It helps me a lot.� Karen Marrongelle, assistant vice chancellor for academic standards and collaborations at the Oregon University System, says the WOU/ Roosevelt mentoring program is unique in Oregon, as well as critical. “When a peer group goes off to college and comes back and talks about the positive experiences they are having in college, that all feeds into a college-going culture,� she says. “It’s a great model that could be replicated in
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Initiative volunteers realize that the problems with the region’s infrastructure affect everyone one way or another,� says council Co-Chairwoman Karen Williams, a Portland attorney with years of public-private partnership experience who works for Carroll Community Investments. “It’s a big issue all of us face, and it can’t be solved by cities and counties, Metro or the state acting alone. We can only find ways to solve it by working together.� Williams is scheduled to appear before the Metro Council on Thursday with four other members of the group to present its Strategic Plan. Among other things, the plan calls for the establishment of a yet-to-be-fully defined regional entity to help identify, prioritize and fund regional infrastructure projects during the next 20 or so years. One example is Partnership British Columbia, a private company owned by the Province of British Columbia that plans and oversees the construction of large infrastructure projects there. Partnership BC, as it is more commonly called, works with both the private and public sectors on the projects. Perhaps the best example of such a project is TriMet’s MAX Red Line to the Portland International Airport. The $125 million extension was financed largely by the Bechtel Corp. in exchange for development rights to Cascade Station, a 120-acre parcel
many other places.� Nusom hopes the mentoring program also will help keep students from dropping out of college. So far, all 12 members of the Roosevelt class of 2011 who chose WOU have stayed. Rob Findtner, WOU’s director of admissions, says the program is a good fit, though it is hard in the first year to tell how it will affect retention in the long run. Nusom also has helped the high school reach out to Portland Community College through a
Williams says the programs encourage students to go to college, but also help kids who don’t choose college. Roosevelt graduate Darian Lucas considered WOU, but decided to join the U.S. Marine Corps. He says meeting with counselors helped him make his choice. “I just told them what my aspirations were,� Lucas says. “They showed me all the things I needed to know about.� With the federal grant set to expire at the end of the 2013 school year, Williams says the school is applying for other grants to keep Nusom’s position. Williams hopes Roosevelt’s program will encourage students to return to North Portland after graduating college. Nusom says she hopes that the North Portland neighborhood will rally to save the program. She says the program is about more than Roosevelt. “We are trying to shift a community,� Nusom says.
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Invest: Metro lends a hand
Nusom says she has connected with the University of Portland, Concordia, Lewis and Clark and Marylhurst and is working on building relationships with Portland State and Morehouse College in Atlanta.
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Two years ago, Roosevelt High School senior Alexandria Carter had no plans to attend college. “I didn’t think school was for me,� she says. “I didn’t feel like I could do it ‘cause no one told me I could.� As graduation approaches and seven of 10 Roosevelt graduates head to colleges, Carter is happy to be among them. Carter isn’t alone. The number of Roosevelt students enrolling in college has increased 26 percent in the past two years, thanks to a federal grant that allowed the school to hire a full-time liaison between the high school and colleges. Angela Nusom was hired as the college and career transitions manager after Roosevelt was deemed one of Oregon’s worst-performing schools in a federal government report card. The grant pays half Nusom’s salary, with Portland Public Schools picking up the rest.
school once a week to mentor the 2012 Roosevelt grads headed to the college. That type of personalized attention matters, he says, at a diverse school like Roosevelt. “It’s a big challenge to overcome being first-generation or low-income,� he says. “A lot of these kids don’t have friends or family support. Trying to support them and help them find resources to afford college is really important.�
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By LAURA FRAZIER The Tribune
Though Roosevelt had counselors who helped students prepare for college, Nusom’s role is more focused on making connections between the high school and higher education. “I really think of myself as more of a bridge builder,� Nusom says. “What didn’t exist was the linkage between all the different things.� Principal Charlene Williams says the grant gave the school resources to hire Nusom, who could help build a college-ready culture at Roosevelt. “This campus has embraced the fact that if we’re really going to do justice by our kids we need to give them real preparation so they are ready,� Williams says. Once hired, Nusom started looking for universities willing to partner with the high school. Western Oregon University in Monmouth has been the most responsive to Nusom’s outreach efforts. Last year, students from Roosevelt who were going to WOU met frequently to discuss the transition to college. This year, the students returned from WOU once a month to meet with the Roosevelt seniors who will follow them next year. Also, Will Saguil, a volunteer AmeriCorps member from WOU, has been coming to the
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