April 2012
32 posts
"This is it, this is it, this is it."
Dear Portland Public Schools:
I’m writing to you in the hopes that you’ll find a way to keep Outdoor School going, even in the tiniest incarnation. We will find a way to find the money but we need some time. Completely cutting it would take the wind out of its sails; I know deep in my heart that’s not what you want.
I don’t envy you at all. This has got to weigh on you...
"If you're spending more on high school sports...
Dear PPS:
At the risk of exposing myself as a nerd, I’m going to quote Albus Dumbledore:
“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
I’m quoting him not because I feel like you need a dose of Harry Potter wisdom, but because all eyes are on you right now to make the best decision for the most people. It can’t be easy. This...
"The mentors I had at Outdoor School pushed me to...
Dear Portland Public Schools and Superintendent Carole Smith:
My name is Eric A—, and I’m one of hundreds of thousands of Outdoor School faithful. I was a 6th grader in the 1970’s, a Junior Counselor four years after that, Senior Staff for around eight years. I have worked for ODFW, NFS, in the Opal Creek system and a brief stint at Bonneville Power. Now I work in Education Policy at...
"She said, "I'm so thankful that you chose this...
Dear PPS:
I never do stuff like this. I’m usually one who gets mad about stuff in the privacy of my home and it doesn’t go much further than that. But this is different, because it has to do with Outdoor School. There isn’t anything in my life that I hold so dear to my heart as Outdoor School, except my family. That’s how important it is. If Outdoor School goes, it would...
"It is so hard to put into words the difference it...
Dear PPS:
It is 11:00pm on Thursday night, and here I sit at Outdoor School. The 6th graders are long in bed and the high school students are foregoing sleep yet again to make tomorrow extra special. I’m a 6th grade teacher, a former ODS student leader, and a former ODS 6th grader. I fight for this program for my students because I believe in it. I get to watch my students who struggle...
"...the thing I am most grateful for is the deep...
Dear Portland Public,
I have never tried before to write what Outdoor School has meant to me. But I have successfully described it: every year on the annual BU geological society camping trip we all go around the campfire and say why we are Earth Sciences majors. I always open with: “I volunteered for this environmental education program in Oregon”, I continue on to describe a defining moment in...
"Before she went to Outdoor School, I don't think...
Dear PPS:
My daughter was born with severe Spina bifida. As such, she’s been in a wheel chair for as long as she remembers. She’s of typical cognition, as most people with Spina bifida without complications usually are. Because of this, however, she’s acutely aware of the things her peers say about her at school. Per our choice, she is not sheltered from any of this. We believe...
"Learning felt like a puzzle, one even the...
Dear Portland Public Schools,
I was a pretty miserable sixth-grader. I had a digestive disorder and missed a ton of school; when I did go, I spent each day trying not to hear the things other kids said about me. Perhaps predictably, I was not looking forward to Outdoor School.
But I went. I remember the dread I felt on the bus ride to the site, but after that the fear must have disappeared,...
"I felt like a bird who could finally soar."
Dear Superintendent Smith and the PPS School Board:
My name is Alan. I am a proud product of Portland Public Schools. I’ll probably never move out of this city. I also have ADHD and when I was in school I had an IEP with a one on one almost every year. I know what those things mean now as an adult, but as a kid it was very unclear to me why I was different. School was misery for me. Even...
"It is a place where age, background, and barriers...
To whom it may concern, Outdoor school was and is still one of the most valuable learning experiences I have ever had, both in middle school and later as a student leader. Alternative styles of learning should be put at the top of the priority list so that our system has a chance to influence kids that may otherwise be denied the opportunity to thrive in an environment that inspires and supports...
"Portland has a rare opportunity to be exporters...
Dear PPS:
I am a lifelong Outdoor School supporter and Portlander. I feel like the two go hand-in-hand. I’ve devoted tens of thousands of hours to Outdoor School and its mission by volunteering in high school and college, then going back as staff, and then taking 6th grade classes as their teacher. I now have two children, aged 6 and 9. The idea that they won’t be able to go to...
"I know that some decisions can be difficult to...
Dear PPS, Like so many other children raised in Portland, I had the opportunity to go to Outdoor School when I was a sixth grader, and before my week was over, I knew, I was going to be a student leader. That 4 years was agonizing for me, seeing my older sister go off and proudly display her chosen name on a wood cookie, which was decorated with many beads and trinkets. This only fueled my desire...
"But if you cut Outdoor School, it affects every...
Dear PPS and Superintendent Smith:
I’ve been thinking a lot about this problem and how we can fix it. I’m probably going to say some unpopular things in this letter but I have considered the other options and this is what makes sense. You can close the schools you’re proposing to close and you’ll affect those kids in a huge way. You can cut adapted PE teachers and...
"...I knew that in order to be a Student Leader I...
Dear Board Members,
Without MESD Outdoor School I would not be here. First and foremost because my parents met while working for the program in the 80’s. But also because this program changed my life and gave me a desire to fulfill my dreams.
This spring I have the honor of working my dream job. I am a Program Leader at Howard Outdoor School. The same ODS site I spent 5 weeks in...
"I felt loved by people I didn’t know would love...
Dear PPS:
I have had to describe what Outdoor School is time and time again in a concise manner for many a resume, application, scholarship, letter, etc. Every time I struggle to articulate how much of an impact my 6 sessions at Outdoor School made on my life, how important the program is to so many people, and what its unique and profound experience is truly like. I am often resigned to...
"...many Student Leaders credit ODS as the prime...
Dear PPS:
Hi there. My name is Jeremy Hedlund, a student at the University of Oregon and a former Student Leader at Howard Outdoor School. I recently heard that PPS was planning to eliminate all funding for the ODS program, and I felt like I needed to do something to help…anything, really. I already give what I can in donations to Friends of Outdoor School, so an email to you seemed like...
"Are you numb to it, yet?"
Dear PPS Board and Superintendent Carole Smith,
As I sit here today surrounded by my peers in education, I can’t help but think, “How did we get here?” Why are educators spending their time defending programs that work? The difference today, or rather the only thing consistent about today, is that Outdoor School is once again on the chopping block.
You’ve heard from...
"Make them work for it. Give ODS a break for...
Dear PPS,
I just read a comment about the amount of money you’ve got going towards high school sports. I’m not going to tell you what you should do here but this seems like a slap in the face to all the other programs you’re looking to cut. I can’t believe you would ask Outdoor School to fundraise in the community before you ask the handful of high school athletes to do...
"When kids go to Outdoor School, the forest is...
Dear Portland Public Schools:
I’ve heard you are cutting Outdoor School and that is a bad decision. Also I have heard that you are cutting something with Bilingual Education in the district. I don’t think you’re realizing that Outdoor School is a benefit to ESL students as much as English speakers.
When kids go to Outdoor School, the forest is their language. They might not...
Dear PPS:
Portland Public Schools has proposed cutting all funding for MESD Outdoor School in the 2012-13 budget. You can, and should send them an email with your thoughts about this at schoolboard@pps.net Dear PPS: is a space for your letters, testimonies, and messages to the school board at Portland Public Schools. We’ll do our best to make sure they read them.
DearPPS@gmail.com
"Outdoor School is a local product."
Dear PPS,
I am a teacher because of my stint at Outdoor School. I’m one of thousands who share the same progression——- 6th grader to Junior Counselor to Senior Staff to teacher. This is what we do. Outdoor School is a local product. It’s a homegrown institution. Everybody goes on and on about buying local. There isn’t anything more local than Outdoor School. If you...
"...at Outdoor School, you put on your rain gear,...
Superintendent Smith and PPS Board:
My name is Marie Schultz, and I’m a resident of the Buckman neighborhood of Portland. I’m a lifelong Portlander and a supporter of Outdoor School for about as long as that.
I came from a very typical Portland upbringing. My parents have a modest house in Irvington that I grew up in. My siblings and I played soccer, attended church, and had many...
"I feel so safe when I get on that bus, like all...
Dear Portland Schools,
I’m writing today and I’m chosing to leave my name off because what I have to say is embarassing for me.
Outdoor School is my life. Let’s just say my family is disfunctionl. My mom does drugs in our house every day as soon as she wakes up. I take care of my baby brother by myself. My dad died when i was 7. My mom doesn’t cares if I’m here or...
"Once we got to Outdoor School it was like a veil...
Dear Portland Public Schools Board of Education,
My name is Sanjay ——-, and I’m currently living in Chicago, IL where I work as a high school teacher at a school for students living with autism. I never thought I’d end up here; in fact, neither did my parents. I was always on the track to be a doctor or researcher, until I went to Outdoor School.
When I was in the 6th...
"For those three days, he wasn’t “the kid who...
Dear Superintendent Smith and PPS School Board:
My name is Alex Horsey, though I generally identify stronger with my Outdoor School name, Panache. I’m a junior at Wilson High School, and this spring marks my fourth week as a Student Leader at Namanu Outdoor School.
One night during my most recent week of Outdoor School, I was sitting with a sixth grader at dinner. For privacy purposes,...
"I'm smiling now just thinking about it."
Dear PPS Board and Superintendent,
Both of my parents went to Outdoor School so I knew I would have to pretend I liked it. They had a name picked out for me and everything. I didn’t use it. When I went in the 6th grade it was raining and it even snowed. I remember thinking on Sunday, “I can’t wait to go home. This sucks and my parents are crazy.”
But then it got to be...
"I know that Outdoor School isn't going to solve...
Dear Superintendent Smith and PPS:
My name is Jarrod Smith. I was a student at Wilson High School in Portland, OR. I was also a 6 time Student Leader. I think there is a group of people you are not considering in your decision and that is kids involved with gangs. We all know that Portland’s gangs are growing and nobody knows why. One week when I was a Student Leader, I was saying goodnight...
"The total for high school athletics in the...
Superintendent Smith and the PPS board:
I know you have an incredibly difficult decision ahead of you. These are obviously tough times, requiring drastic cuts and gut-wrenching choices.
Having said that, the proposed budget indicates that $3,137,104 of pure district dollars will go toward high school athletics. It seems high school sports are a guarantee, as that number is close to what...
"You should see the surprise and joy when some of...
Superintendent Smith and Honorable Board Members:
I am in my fifteenth season as an Outdoor School nurse. To do this I make a weekly unreimbursed commute from Bend because I believe the program is worth the time, effort and expense.
In addition to the solid science learning, the students receive a host of priceless intangibles. Some realize their personal growth at being able to be away...
"I hope measures can be taken to keep Outdoor...
Superintendent Smith and PPS School Board:
I am writing to you as a supporter of the growing children and nature movement. I blog about my experiences exploring the natural areas of Portland with my young son. He is now in kindergarten at Markham Elementary. I can only hope that when he is in the sixth grade, the Outdoor School program remains for him to experience. I reviewed the book about the...
"It is truly unfortunate that such an outstanding...
Hello Portland Public Schools Board and Superintendent Smith,
I am writing as an alumna of the MESD Outdoor School program. I volunteered as a Junior Counselor at Eagle Fern from 1988-1991, completing six sessions of what was the best career foundation I could have hoped for. I also worked as an ODS Program Leader while in college. I had the privilege of working with Jeff Dallas and Scott...
"You can't put a price on the benefits of Outdoor...
Dear Superintendent Smith and Board Members, I am writing to you in regards to the proposal to cut the Outdoor School program for next year. As a former high school student leader in the Outdoor School program, I urge you to give serious further consideration to this proposal.
In high school, I was very active in the Outdoor School program and saw numerous changes in the lives of many young...
