Rachel Rippetoe |
A colorful room sits in the far right corner of Roosevelt High School. A mural colors the walls with famous faces like Martin Luther King, Jr. and inspirational quotes from artists like Johnny Cash and Eminem.
This is the Roosevelt Writing Center, where every week a handful of UP students tutor high school students, both during and after school.
Ian Clark, a UP alum and AmeriCorps member, is the center’s coordinator. He trains tutors, helps Roosevelt students with their writing and is always available as a helping hand and a friendly face throughout the school week.
Clark says tutoring at the writing center is not only important for Roosevelt students, but for UP students as well. As a UP undergrad, he was grateful to have his perspective on life challenged while tutoring at the low-income high school.
“It’s important for students to get out of the UP bubble and into North Portland to really see how it works six blocks away from UP, and how different it is,” Clark said.
Clark is not the only UP student serving at Roosevelt.
Junior Benjamin Constantino serves at Roosevelt through his position with the nonprofit Neighborhood House Portland. The organization seeks to provide educational support for Portland’s public schools. He’s worked as a tutor at Roosevelt since his freshman year.
“I love it when I am walking to my office or to a meeting with another staff member, and students will come up to me and talk about homework, how their day is going, and what they’re up to,” Constantino said.
According to the Portland Public Schools’ 2014 enrollment summary, Roosevelt is the most ethnically diverse high school in Portland. The student population is 21.8 percent African-American, 36.4 percent Hispanic, 27.2 percent Caucasian, 4.4 percent Asian-American, 1.3 percent Native American, 2.4 percent Pacific Islander, and 6.4 percent multiracial.
Roosevelt is also tied with two other schools as Portland’s poorest high school, with 100 percent student eligibility for free or reduced lunches.
Clark says that often times, this diversity can be inspiring.
“There are students here who have experienced things I can’t even imagine experiencing,” Clark said. “I’ve read personal statements describing situations that I can’t imagine ever being able to survive, let alone go on, and get an education, and contemplate going on to college.”
Freshman Marissa Quinones started tutoring at Roosevelt in October, and now works with Roosevelt students eight hours per week. Just like Clark and Constantino, she enjoys talking with students and listening to their stories.
“All the kids are so sweet. And they love seeing us and talking with us and sharing their lives,” Quinones said. “It’s such a treat to work here.”
According to Clark, Quinones’s presence, along with the presence of many other college tutors, is important and much needed in Roosevelt.
He says that it is important for Roosevelt’s students to learn about college life and the application process, because many of them want to go to college, despite some of them being the first in their families to apply.
“I don’t know what I was doing when I was their age,” Clark said. “I was probably just drooling or something, but I was not that curious about college. Students here are so eager to talk to a college student and to ask questions.”
Quinones enjoys answering these questions and helping students with the college application process. She feels a sense of pride when students tell her they’ve received acceptance letters, knowing she helped them.
“I help a lot of seniors out,” Quinones said. “Last semester, I was helping them a lot with college applications and this semester, scholarships. Helping them make that next step and inspiring them to keep moving forward is really nice.”
Clark finds his work rewarding despite its lack of rewards financially. As an AmeriCorps member, Clark makes $12,000 annually, well below Oregon’s hourly minimum wage. He finds this difficult, especially since he has already received his masters degree in Ireland.
Clark says he often has only $10 in his bank account to last him an entire week. Despite this, his experiences in this job have made it all worth it.
“I am continuously amazed and humbled and forced to change the perspective I have when I’m thinking about the world around me and thinking about my own problems.” Clark said. “Based on the experience I have with students here, I’m forced to think about what it means to be strong and resilient and to never give up.”
Rachel Rippetoe is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at rippetoe18@up.edu
