Portland Public School Department News

Commercial art students at Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) are using their imaginations to transform music stands into bold and whimsical works of art as a fundraiser for the Portland Music Festival Orchestra Program.

Raffle tickets for the brightly colored stands are being sold at Portland Public Schools secondary concerts throughout the year. The money will help fund a special concert at Merrill Auditorium on March 21 at 7:30 p.m. featuring students in the Portland Public Schools’ instrumental music program, assisted by members of the Portland Symphony Orchestra and faculty and students from the University of Southern Maine. The concert also will feature Portland High teacher Phil Thibault playing the Kotzschmar pipe organ.

Julianne Eberl, an orchestral teacher in the Portland Public Schools, came up with the idea for the Take A Stand project after seeing a student doodle with a pencil on a music stand during a cello lesson. She thought of the Chicago Art Institute’s cows project and thought, “Why not music stands?”

Individual donations covered the cost of purchasing the music stands and other materials. Raffle tickets are $2 each, or three for $5. Four stands were raffled in December, bringing in about $400.

Students in Diane Manzi’s commercial art class at PATHS have adorned the stands with designs inspired by everything from Victorian wallpaper to Aztec temples. The stands will be on display on March 21.

The orchestral concert is one of three planned in March as part of the Portland Music Festival. A choral concert will take place on March 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Portland High School. An instrumental concert featuring band and jazz ensembles will be held on March 15 at 6:30 p.m. at Deering High School.

A new partnership between the University of Southern Maine (USM) and Casco Bay High School (CBHS) ensures that every CBHS junior and senior will have the opportunity to take a USM course.

“We are eager to fulfill our pledge to graduate every student ready for college, for career and for citizenship,” says CBHS Principal Derek Pierce. “The partnership, particularly its early college opportunities, will help us to realize our ambitions.”

The USM-CBHS partnership will be effective beginning in the fall of 2007. Like other Maine high school students, CBHS juniors and seniors recommended by their guidance counselor may take USM courses through the Aspirations Program on a space-available basis, after regular USM student enrollment is complete. But the partnership makes doing so more systematic.

Students will be steered towards appropriate introductory courses that meet on the Portland and Gorham campuses after the CBHS day ends at 2 p.m. USM offers 1,450 class sections per semester, including some 250 sections on the Portland and Gorham campuses at 2 p.m. and after.

Pierce explains, “This will open amazing opportunities that will appeal to the full range of our students.”

CBHS early college students will also receive targeted support and counseling, from both USM and their high school advisors, to ensure a successful experience. Students will be responsible for paying standard USM student fees, including the cost of course books. As is the case for all Aspirations Program students at USM, the state pays for one-half of tuition costs for one course per semester through funding allocated by the Legislature, and the university waives the remaining tuition.

“The USM-CBHS partnership allows the university to become even more supportive of increasing the aspirations of Maine high school students,” says Joseph Wood, USM’s provost and vice president for academic affairs.

USM Professor of Education Lynne Miller has studied college readiness and completion rates. “Research indicates that freshmen who arrive on campus having completed one to two college courses gain momentum and increase the probability of graduating from college on time,” Miller said.

The partnership, adds Wood, “will facilitate other connections between the two institutions.” CBHS students will have the opportunity to develop research and information literacy skills at USM’s Glickman Family Library. Students, like all community members, also will have borrowing privileges. In addition, CBHS students will have periodic access to USM athletic facilities for health and physical education classes.

“The partnership,” says Wood, “builds on earlier collaborations in which university faculty have contributed to the high school’s learning expeditions in topics ranging from astronomy to economics, technology, and Greek philosophy.”

The Portland-based Casco Bay High School for Expeditionary Learning is Maine’s newest public high school and currently educates 165 freshmen and sophomores. Next year, it will grow to include a class of about 80 juniors.

“Taking a course at USM will allow students to explore particular passions in depth while also spurring further interest in both high school and college, ” said CBHS Sophomore Allie Heller, who was on the CBHS Readiness Task Force that made the initial recommendation for all students to have an early college experience.

CBHS parent Mary Gross said, “I can hardly wait for my son to take advantage of the tremendous resources on the USM campus.”

USM is planning a welcoming event for May 3 so that CBHS students can become more familiar with the programs and facilities on USM’s Portland and Gorham campuses.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation today announced a grant of up to $300,000 to the Portland Public Schools for a new program to reduce emotional and behavioral health problems among children in need, particularly those from immigrant and refugee families.

Portland is one of 15 communities selected from among 300 applicants nationwide to participate in “Caring Across Communities: Addressing Mental Health Needs of Diverse Children and Youth.”

The district’s Multilingual and Multicultural Center will use the grant to expand access to mental health programs and referrals for students and their families over the next three years. The project will focus on providing services to the large and growing populations of Acholi, Arabic, Khmer, Nuer, Serbo-Croatian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese-speaking child immigrants.

“This grant will make a big difference in the lives of Portland’s children,” said Portland Superintendent Mary Jo O’Connor. “The impact will be felt for years to come.”

“Many children in our schools are dealing with the effects of war, persecution and other trauma,” said Grace Valenzuela, program director of the Multilingual and Multicultural Center. “Now, we will be able to refer them for the specialized help that they need.”

The Portland Public Schools will partner with several other agencies and nonprofit organizations on “Caring Across Communities.” Partners include the city of Portland’s Public Health Division’s school-based health centers and Office of Minority Health, Community Counseling Center, Day One, Language Access for New Americans, Youth Alternatives, the Maine Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs and the University of Southern Maine School of Social Work.

Recognition is growing of the substantial mental health burdens borne by children. An estimated 21 percent of U.S. children show symptoms of mental illness during the course of a year. Poverty increases the likelihood of certain mental health problems.

“This project is part of a new movement to help children get the mental health services they need,” said Julia Graham Lear, Ph.D., director of the “Caring Across Communities” national office. “The aim here is to make a positive difference in these children’s lives.”

Children from immigrant and refugee families often face economic, social and personal hardships – poverty, separation from family members and challenges of cultural adaptation – that may affect their mental health and overall well-being. Yet, they are less likely than other children to get the services they need.

“These are special populations of children with mental health needs that are both unique and substantial,” said Wendy Yallowitz, a program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “‘Caring Across Communities’ will help these children make a healthy transition to life in the United States.”

More than 30 million immigrants and refugees live in the U.S. In 2002, children of immigrants totaled 13.5 million – representing more than 26 percent of low-income children under age 18 in this country.

For more information about the Portland project, please contact Grace Valenzuela at 874-8135 or email valeng@portlandschools.org.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the foundation works with diverse groups and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.

For more than 30 years, the foundation has brought experience, commitment and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime.