It is well known that many children, especially those from families with limited financial and transportation resources, lose about 2 months of schooling during each summer vacation. That loss compounds year after year ultimately leaving the children many months or years behind their more affluent peers.

That need not happen, and it is not necessary to attend often expensive focus camps or excellent programs such as those available through OMSI and other organizations.

Let’s start with reading since literacy is directly correlated with future social, personal and occupational functioning. The science is clear that children benefit when they are read to every single day beginning in the first months of life. In the school years and during summer vacation, we can provide informal reading experiences such as that of reading a recipe while helping in the kitchen or reading labels while grocery shopping

Finally, if we expect children to maintain reading skills during the summer, we adults should not be so uptight about what the children read as long as it is child appropriate. Let the kids select the books. Exercise books and the classics which teachers and middle class parents think are so great just don’t cut it with kids. A biography of a pop or sports figure that is read is a lot better than an unopened biography of Thomas Jefferson. A spring book fair at the school or park might be an idea for our neighborhood to consider.

With math, opportunities abound in the kitchen (think, doubling a recipe, calculating the number of ounces in ¼ cup, etc), workshop (measuring, calculating how many screws are needed), and garden (planning how many plants to place in a row given the spacing requirement and row length). Younger children can acquire a number sense while setting the table for meals.

These are just a few thoughts for us to consider.      Next month: Head Lice

David B. Bell, M.D., Ph.D.

Rose and Dr. David B.Bell are the owners of Second Time Around Boutique Shop.

Based on feedback from the City of Portland’s outreach, this project will move forward for the approval of the City Traffic Engineer and the Transportation Director.

The City of Portland has indicated that the future maintenance and design of the pocket park improvement at NE 13th Avenue will require further discussions with the neighborhood.

Project information for the NE Holman Street Project:

Updated: NE Holman Street – Existing Conditions and Route – Click here.

Updated: NE Holman Street – Project Proposal and Possible Intersection Improvements – Click here.

Updated: NE Holman Street – Possible Intersection Options for 13th, 15th, 33rd and 42nd – Click here.

Updated: NE Holman Street – Crossing at Martin Luther King Jr. Option – Click here.

Updated: NE Holman – Boulevard Evaluation Goals – Click here.

Read the rest of the article on the Sentinel website.

The support of the entire community is needed to make Sunday Parkways possible. Over 300 volunteers assist with project such as park set up and roving bike mechanics at each event. The greatest need is for Intersection Superheros: the essential volunteers who staff every intersection along the course for safety reasons.

There are two cool ways to get involved. If you’re thinking of just yourself or you plus friends, you may volunteer by yourself or with friends and family to throw an intersection party, decorate it, make it your own, have fun.

The other option is to bring your group (organization, cause, riding club, etc) together to host an intersection and promote your organization. You get to “own” the intersection, decorate it, promote your cause, and have fun. With 25,000 people coming right past your station, this is a great opportunity to get the word out.

Check out the schedule and plan for a summer full of fun, traffic-free Sunday Parkways events!

PortlandSundayParkways.org

Of particular note for Woodlawn is the proposal (originated by a group of neighbors who passionately wish to improve the “pocket park” at NE Holman and 13th) to use the Greenway project to slow and/or divert traffic, put in a bioswale, extend and improve the park and create a space for community and recreation.  This idea has been advocated for quite some time by the informal “Woodlawn Corner” group, and is an example of how a small group of committed citizens can bring an idea to the attention of city planners and have it incorporated into a project.  Most attendees at the meeting showed enthusiastic support for the proposal (a raise of hands was called for by the city presenters to make sure this was supported by the neighborhood) but it will still be on the table for discussion at the next meeting, so it is critical that neighbors show up and participate in the process.  Join the Woodlawn Corner google group or email Alan at strongworkarch//@//gmail.com to join, and/or come to the next potluck Wednesday April 28th at 6pm in the park.

SHOW UP!  For the next Greenways meeting on Tues May 4, 6-8pm Concordia Library Room 314.

Come join us this Monday, March 29, 7:30-9:30.
Village Ballroom, 700 NE Dekum

Square Dance to the hot tunes of the Greasy Chain String Band.
All Ages and Beginners Welcome!

Suggested Donation $5+
Pay-what-you-can; 100% of the door benefits Green Empowerment.

http://www.greenempowerment.org/

Believe Movement Studio invites you to join them, along with neighbors Buffalo Gardens, The Purple Garden and Good Neighbor Pizza to a celebration of the Vernal Equinox. You can take advantage of a spring sale on class cards, session packages and retail items. These businesses also have contests for April. There will be food, live music, and festivities for the entire family. Rae Minten will offer a free session of sun salutations to honor the return of the sun at 1:30PM and 3:30PM.

WHAT UP?
A bunch of friends (some of whom are gear reps) are getting together to sell off gear at great prices.  We dug through our basements and garages and found bins upon bins of stuff that has to go.

* Bikes * Bike parts * Wheels * Product samples * Accessories * Bags and panniers * New and used * Snowshoes * Snowboards * Climbing shoes * Boots * Life jackets + more

More info >>

The Woodlawn United Methodist Church is starting up a community garden.  All neighbors are invited to take part in the set up.  It will be a great opportunity to meet other neighbors and build community.
1pm – 2:30pm
On the SE corner of the church (15th and Dekum).

Also, Woodlawn neighbors Gregg and Nikki got a grant from the city to build an ecoroof! Gregg says the next deadline for the next round of grants is in about a month… it was really easy. He suggests people who are interested check out

Free Portland ECOROOF event THIS weekend March 12-13th
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. both days
Leftbank Annex | 101 N Weidler Street  Portland, Oregon  97227

City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services Presents Ecoroof Portland 2010

Building owners and home owners wondering how to go about building an ecoroof can learn about it at Ecoroof Portland 2010 THIS Friday, March 12 and Saturday March 13, 2010. Ecoroofs are vegetated roof systems that absorb rain to reduce stormwater runoff and last longer than conventional roofing.

Ecoroof Portland is a free event open to the public. Architects, consultants, contractors, landscape architects, manufacturers, nurseries, structural engineers and suppliers who specialize in ecoroofs will be on hand. A full speaker program both days will showcase local ecoroof case studies and success stories.

EVENT DETAILS:
Ecoroof Portland 2010
Friday, March 12 and Saturday, March 13
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. both days
Leftbank Annex | 101 N Weidler Street  Portland, Oregon  97227

http://www.portlandonline.com/bes/ecoroofpdx

How would you feel waking up every morning knowing that every day will hold unforgettable adventures, bonding with a diverse group of co-explorers, facing exciting challenges, learning life lessons from trusted mentors, and looking back at the end of each journey with a sense of the world around you grown closer and full of possibility?

Camp Bike Fun will run two to three week long summer programs between June and August 2010 for 10 to 15 year olds. Cost is 190 per week- with scholarships available. Bicycles and helmets (and more) are provided by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. Registration begins in March at the North Portland Bike Works. 3901 N Mississippi Ave. Portland. 503-287-1098.

http://www.northportlandbikeworks.org/

A generation ago, young people grew up able to explore with their friends and seek out  the wonder of the everyday…they quickly grew to appreciate the richness of the place where they live, and develop a sense of personal connection to their own community. Now the world has changed, and a child’s life experiences are restricted to classroom studies and electronic media; adventure is something they know second-hand through books or movies. Without a sense the range of possibilities that are out there and the personal resources to find them, youth become unimaginative, incapable, and disaffected.

Pursuing one’s inner passions becomes the exclusive domain of less-inspired adults.

Similarly, knowing how to work as a team, to trust in each other, to focus on a larger goal, and to share the joys of discovery with new friends, especially from across town who before were just unfamiliar strangers…these experiences make up the foundation of a deeper sense of connection. Often for young people, “community” is more of an academic term, a superficial abstraction that happens through Facebook. Without a personal introduction to what makes their community a place of beauty and richness, they lose interest in making their own unique contribution. Without opportunities to see and develop their own leadership qualities, they resist others’ leadership and lose their direction.

As young people’s range of experience and relationships diminish, so does their confidence in taking on their fears, their sense of their own potential, the richness of their personal lives, and their depth of their relationships to society and the living world.

Reversing this bleak picture of reality for your 10-15 year old is as easy as going to your local community bike shop and signing up for a summertime bicycle adventures program. Highly affordable, designed for riders of all abilities, and led by dynamic instructors with many years’ expertise mentoring diverse youth, Camp Bike Fun is an unforgettable experience that adults would love and young people deserve as part of their lives.

Every day of the program, each young person will discover new places of wonder and beauty, grow in strength and confidence, learn skills and stories from expert adventure guides, and expand the boundaries of their world in all dimensions and directions.

In reaching spectacular destinations through their own brain and muscle power, young people will become personally linked to the unique resources of our area; by going on exciting adventures with a group of diverse peers, they will develop valued bonds of trust with other members of our community; by participating in service projects such as….., they will see themselves as contributors to our larger society.

Former program participants, speaking many years later with vivid memories and nostalgia, express how summer bicycle adventures have changed their lives:

“Camp Bike Fun was the funnest, coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” – Dawan age 11

“I never knew that I had a such a leader inside of me.” – Tiffany age 15

“It’s hecka tight!” – Nina age 13

“I wish everyone could enjoy the experiences that we had every day. I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.” Jose age 12