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TIM CURRAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| Transition Projects residents Robert Dewey and John Dinges were happy to see gift bearing and Christmas-decorating P.A.C.E. students Taylor Booth, left and Katelyn Davis last month. Mid-county Memo photo/Tim Curran |
During a hectic day, students dropped off clothing at the Portland Rescue Mission, headed downtown to Transition Projects, and then to Clark Center in Southeast Portland to decorate and leave behind gift bags and blankets. Staff at the shelters played Santa, leaving the gifts on or under beds for Christmas morning.
This experience was not the students' first brush with adults reclaiming their lives. As part of the P.A.C.E. curriculum, guest speakers give students cautionary tales of first-hand accounts of life on the street, homelessness, drug addiction, alcoholism and crime.
Taking the place over for an hour and seeing for themselves, however briefly, how and where adults who are experiencing mid-life pain live gives these at-risk kids - dealing with their own growing pains - a dash of adult perspective.
Interfacing with transitional housing clients is not what they are there for however. “We're very aware of the fact that we don't want to bother these people,” said teacher Evan McFadden, a 25-year P.A.C.E. teacher.
P.A.C.E. serves students at risk of not graduating on time or at all. At 80, this year's enrollment is “a lot,” but not the most ever, according to McFadden. It is, he said, “on the high end.” To get into the program, students apply and go through an interview process. McFadden said the waiting list is long. “It always happens this time of year,” he said.
McFadden sees his job is getting students interested in school again; and viewing school as a positive experience and education as the means to avoid a dysfunctional, under-achieving life.
“They come to us for a variety of reasons,” he said. “It might be credit retrieval, might be emotional support, and might be their life is falling apart at home, or might be they're having attendance issues. Or, they're feeling frustrated in the classroom. If there are 35 or 40 kids in their classroom, they're not getting their needs met; and that's no fault of teachers, that's just the system right now.”
Community service is an important aspect of P.A.C.E. McFadden said his students get a real sense of satisfaction from helping others in difficult situations and are empathetic, as they often come from difficult backgrounds themselves.
Each November McFadden and the other P.A.C.E. teachers, Carol Hansen and Karmin Williams, get the ball rolling on what they call their homeless project. For 29 years, PACE students have been gathering donated grooming supplies, clothing and blankets to give to homeless shelters. Students are tasked with making posters and fliers announcing the annual project and garnering donations from fellow students; soliciting donations directly from hotels, dentists and beauty salons; alerting media; selecting shelters, coordinating with them; and organizing transportation.
According to McFadden, when the students receive their assignments, they do all the work enthusiastically.
This year, 400 hygiene kits - the most ever - were assembled and delivered. Each contained a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, soap, shampoo, conditioner, a razor, deodorant and socks.
Student coordinators seniors Taylor Booth, Krystina Jones, and sophomore Katelyn Davis, also made the Christmas decorations they hung at both places.
“Seeing how many people are homeless in Portland is a good experience for people our age,” said Davis. “It helps for people like us to see what's out here to help us get out there and do something,” she added.
Her second year doing the project, college bound Taylor Booth said with awe, “I heard Evan talking to the director who said there was a waiting list of 400 people to get in here.”
The final phase of the project is complete when kids head back to school this month. They will write thank-you notes to the people and businesses that donated to their cause.
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