PSU Magazine Spring 1993

development of children as productive contributors to society. "The focu is in building a relation– ship with people," says Mack, 44, who earned an administrative certification in Educational Administration from PSU in the late 1970s. Now in her seventh year as principal at Walker, Mack has helped build partnerships with four Salem-area businesses or business groups: Salem Electric Co., the West Salem Rotary Club, Marr's Appliances and the state Building Codes Agency. The school's business partnerships have helped earn it-and Mack- a host of state educational awards. In 1989, the U.S. Department of Educa– tion recognized Walker Middle School as a National School of Excellence. The four companies contribute funds in such areas as computer technology and drug and alcohol awareness programs. Employee also volunteer their services for various school functions. Apart from the practical chool– business tradeoffs, though, i the recog– nition students receive. Students can earn awards from the companies for their schooltime accomplishments. "It all promotes student recognition and leadership," says Mack. "I feel strongly that it's important for us to fuel kids' lives. A person's values are established at age 10 and on-the middle school years." Mack believes students who do a wide variety of activities will view their education as relevant and interesting. "We try to make the curriculum relevant for both the students and for business. A lot of the things we were doing in education in the past-rote memorization of facts, for example– weren't things the business community would necessary benefit from." "As educators, we're recognizing that we're more like facilitators and coaches rather than tellers of knowledge," Mack says. "We let students have input and give them a wide variety of things to do." Kathryn Porterfield Kathryn Porterfield puts in long hours at her office in Lynch View Elementary School near Gresham, where she is a fifth- and sixth-grade general education teacher. Porterfield believe it's vital to spend as much time as possible with students to learn about their individual needs-and to help them learn to love the learning process. "I need to be able to evaluate each child and look out for the students' special interests. I'm trying to create an environment in which learning is based on students' individual needs, not based on what outside curriculum dic– tates," says the 34-year-old Porterfield. She's quick to point out that she by no means ignores the value of a well– structured curriculum, but doesn't mind opening up the classroom format. By having more than a casual familiarity with each student, Porter– field is able to gain a measure of trust. "This approach involves a lot of mutual respect between student and teacher," she says. "I must be able to lay out an invitation to learning. I have high expectations, but I can't make them learn." Porterfield figures she's lucky that he has the students for two straight years. That way she can help them re– search areas of interest. Students doing projects of intense personal interest are most likely to learn, she's discovered. "It's such a volatile age," she says of her fifth and ixth graders. "If they can get excited about learning now, this will carry through middle and high school. I want them to be fired up about learning." Porterfield comes from a long line of educators and is the fourth generation of her family to go into the field. She earned both her B.S. degree in elemen– tary education and her M.S. degree in special education from PSU. Dawn Smith Dawn Smith ees school as a place to dream and to work toward achieving those dreams. Smith, 39, is assistant principal at Warm Springs Elementary School on the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation. During her 19 years at the school-as a first- grade teacher, counselor and now administrator-Smith has een how important it is for children to come up with dreams and then go about the business of attaining them. Life for the Indian children on the Warm Springs Reservation is difficult. Substance abuse remains a problem, and many youngsters already have coped with death in their families from alcoholism or violent accidents. "There's tons of grieving among the children. Sudden deaths happen on our reservation a lot," says Smith. "They spend so much time surviving day to day. At the school, learning to cope with stress is almost on an equal basis with reading and writing." The toll on the learning process is heavy. Smith, an Indian herself, is unhappy about the numbers. "The (high school) drop-out rate for Indians is still way too high, and the grade point averages are still way too low. Too many children lack a sense of the future and have no goals," she says. Smith was instrumental in estab– lishing a Have a Dream program at Warm Springs Elementary, where 99 percent of the students are Indian. Each day, the children are expected to come to class with a dream they can share with other . To help bolster those dreams, teachers invite people who have enjoyed succe sful careers to talk with the children. "We try to bring in role models– Indian people or people of color," says Smith. "Sometimes, we'll bring in high schools kids who have stayed in school and graduated with success. We try to start the kids dreaming and help them see how what they do in school relates to their future." Smith earned a school counseling certificate at PSU in 1990 and has enrolled in the School of Education's graduate program in Administrative Studies. She hopes to complete the program in 1994 and continue at Warm Springs Elementary. "I have no greater joy than when I'm with these kids," she says. "My husband and children are tribal members, and I plan to remain on the reservation. There's so much work to do." D (Brian White , a Portland freelance writer, is a regular contributor to PSU Magazine.) PSU5