Portland State Magazine Winter 2017

6 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE WINTER 2017 P A R K B L O C K S Teaching from a Native American perspective CHELSEA HALLAM , a member of the Klamath Tribes, found her way at Portland State when she enrolled in Native American Studies classes. “Finally support came from a perspective that was similar to mine,” says the recent master’s in Education graduate. Today Hallam is a teacher at Portland’s David Douglas High School, where her multicultural perspective is paying off with a student body that speaks over 50 languages. Hallam is answering the call for Native American teachers—there are less than 1 percent in all of Oregon. She is a graduate of the PSU American Indian Teacher Preparation program, which was recently awarded its third grant—$1.2 million—from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Indian Education to recruit and prepare Native American students to become teachers. PSU is one of only eight colleges and universities in the nation awarded this federal funding. We’re ‘cool’ and ‘innovative’ PORTLAND STATE is near the top and climbing on two lists that recognize achievements by colleges and universities. The Sierra Club has declared PSU the highest-ranking university in Oregon on its annual “Cool Schools” list for its commitment to the environment; nationwide, PSU was No. 14, moving up from No. 20. U.S. News &World Report ranked Portland State ninth among its top-ten “most innovative” universities, up from No. 16 in 2016. PSU beat out Harvard, Duke, Cornell and other prestigious universities in making the U.S. News list for “cutting- edge changes,” such as PSU’s strategic community and business alliances and academic challenges for highly motivated students.