January 2018 – Business Memos

Local businesses provide employment for area residents and products and services close to home. Mid-county Memo Business Memos celebrate news, advancements, promotions, retirements, expansions and other noteworthy events at these cornerstones of our community. To share news of your business with our readers, Business Memo submissions for the February issue are due by Monday, Jan. 15. For best results, e-mail Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. You may also mail submissions to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR 97230. To leave a phone message, dial 503-287-8904. 

Maywood Park author releases novel 
James Conroyd Martin, a new resident of Maywood Park, has penned “The Boy Who Wanted Wings,” a novel featuring the Polish Winged Hussars at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Kirkus Reviews has called it “a gripping, transporting story of self-determination set against fate.” The storyline, one of both love and war, details the attempt of the Turks to impose Islam on all of Europe on Sept. 11 and 12, 1683.

Besides writing historical fiction, Martin was a longtime high school teacher in Illinois. After retiring from teaching in 2014, he moved to Portland. “I haven’t looked back. I truly love Portland. I lived in Southeast until I found Maywood Park. What a great place!”

Martin is always happy to interact with his readers and is available to attend local book club meetings.

For more information, check out his website at jamescmartin.com.

Contact him on Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads. His e-mail is jconmartin@gmail.com.

David Douglas and Helensview preparing students for STEM careers
Oregon expands career readiness with $10.3 million investment in hands-on learning for 101 schools. Two of those schools are in Mid-county. The David Douglas School District has been awarded $44,506 for a middle school summer camp, and Helensview School will receive $336,286 in support of a program that connects students with employers.

Graduation rates for students in Oregon Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are 15.5 percent higher than the statewide average. These grants build on earlier investments by the Oregon Legislature in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015 totaling $23 million. The CTE Revitalization Advisory Committee—comprised of representatives from organized labor, trade organizations, education and Oregon’s energy and business community—reviewed 64 applications totaling $21 million in requests. The committee prioritized applications based on geographic diversity, community partnerships and programs that lead to high-wage, high-demand occupations, especially for historically underserved students.

In addition to the regular CTE Revitalization Grant, a summer supplement was also offered for schools wishing to expand opportunities for students outside of the regular school year.

In 2017, David Douglas High School piloted a CTE middle school intensive summer camp, “3-3-3.” Fifty-nine students from the district’s three middle schools experienced three days of hands-on career exploration through three CTE programs of study (hospitality and tourism management, computer information technology and manufacturing).

With this new grant, DDHS will replicate and expand the intensive camp, increasing it to four days, with five instructors serving 160 middle school students over the summers of 2018 and 2019. In this new “Design, Create, Make!” camp, students will rotate through four workstations using the high school curriculum, modified for this younger group. The MakerSpace creates career pathways from all nine of the district’s CTE programs to high-wage and high-demand careers like architecture, engineering and computer operators. Construction Technology is a new addition to the camp and is a pathway to high-wage and high-demand occupations such as carpenter, building inspector and equipment operator. Introduction to Restaurant Management and Hospitality and Culinary Arts I and II are career pathways to food service manager and lodging manager.

To learn more, contact Project Manager Linda Vancil at linda_vancil@ddsd40.org.

For the past 20 years, Helensview School has blazed a path for hundreds of Portland area sixth through 12th grade students that have been unsuccessful in traditional school settings. Each Helensview student possesses a unique story, but what all Helensview Phoenixes share is the desire to rise above the ashes of their personal and financial circumstances and blaze a better and brighter future. This can be challenging because of the challenges the typical Helensview student often faces. But if given the skills and the opportunity, they can be an ideal employee. This proposal actively supports changing employer’s misconceptions by enabling more Helensview students to pursue multiple pathways to high-wage and high-demand careers, providing dual credit courses, connecting students with industry partners/potential employers and developing entrepreneurial skills. Presently, Helensview provides quality culinary and manufacturing programs of study but is constrained by a lack of industry infrastructure. Its Blazing the Way: Phoenix Industries CTE Revitalization Grant increases the school’s capacity to offer industry-ready technical skills and experiential opportunities in those key areas.