For three years, I wrote a bi-weekly column called “Roosevelt High-Lights” for Portland’s St. Johns Review newspaper. The column highlighted the best and brightest students, teachers and activities at the local high school.
Roosevelt High Celebrates Tech-Palooza
The St. Johns Review. April 21, 2017
By Mark Hubbard
Roosevelt High School students recently celebrated Tech-Palooza, an event that highlighted the technology and engineering programs at the school. Students experimented with virtual reality equipment, demoed video games that they built, used robots made by students and participated in an engineering design challenge.
The event was held in the school’s new media center and library. It was Roosevelt's way of celebrating and recognizing the American Library Association’s Teen Tech Week.
“This event is designed to highlight students’ work, promote these programs and get kids interested in these classes,” said Betsy Tighe, Roosevelt’s Educational Media Specialist and coordinator of the event.
Tighe collaborated on the event with faculty from Roosevelt’s engineering, computer science, robotics and maker’s space classrooms. The teachers were on hand to assist students and answer questions. Engineering teacher Randy Scott weighed in on the event and how the expanding technology curriculum at Roosevelt prepares students for college and careers.
“This is an exciting time to be at Roosevelt,” said Scott. “The new engineering and maker spaces now allow us to articulate a number of college credits. Students will not only be prepared to succeed after graduation, but will already have a head start.”
Robotics and virtual reality a big draw.
The event attracted dozens of curious students. The robotics area challenged students to remotely navigate student-made robots, picking up objects and placing them in bins. The computer science section allowed for students to play with virtual reality equipment while others watched on a big screen. Students also demonstrated video games that they had designed in the classroom.
An especially engaging activity was the engineering design challenge, where students made tools to handle and dispose of “hazardous waste” (baseball-size balls) from a safe distance. Sophomore Nadia Tirado won the challenge prize even though she has yet to take an engineering class. Afterwards, she said she would probably now take some of the tech classes.
“Nadia is a good example of a student who was drawn into the event and is now interested in taking some of these classes,” said Tighe.
New media center and library.
The event also highlighted the new media center and library at Roosevelt. With high ceilings, arching windows and warm lighting, the space provides an open and airy atmosphere for such events. It is part of the $90 million construction and renovation project at Roosevelt.
The media center offers 24 computer terminals with access to dozens of databases for students to use throughout the school day. Three built-in overhead projectors with large screens that double as whiteboards are found along the walls of the space. Two display areas contain display cases and video screens for streaming content. One display area focuses on library activities while the other will focus on school history and the Roosevelt Alumni Association. The media center also contains three conference rooms and a classroom, each with projectors and multimedia capabilities.
In the center of all this high-tech media equipment sits some old-fashioned library content – over 10,000 titles of fiction, nonfiction, magazines, and reference books to help students with their courses and provide reading enjoyment.
“The media center is here to support the curriculum at Roosevelt,” said Thighe. “We do that through special events like Tech-Palooza and by just being here every day for the students and faculty.”
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Mark Hubbard is co-chair of the Roosevelt HS Site Council, a group of parents, students, teachers and administrators that work on curriculum, student issues and community outreach at the school.
Roosevelt Student Achieves Top Scouting Honor
The St. Johns Review, February 7, 2020
By Mark Hubbard
You could call Roosevelt High School senior Jared Alton a real go-getter. Jared has a 4.0 GPA, has participated in five different Roosevelts sports teams, played trumpet in Roosevelt’s award-winning jazz band, and has logged over 900 volunteer hours at the Red Cross office in North Portland.
Jared is also a member of Scout Troop 71 where he earned his Eagle Scout rank in November 2018. The Eagle Scout rank is the highest and most prestigious rank in scouting. Only four percent of scouts have earned this rank.
But now Jared has done something even more extraordinary in scouting. He has earned all 138 merit badges offered by the national organization. This is a feat only accomplished by handful of scouts across the nation each year. To put this achievement in perspective, scouting’s Eagle rank requires only 21 merit badges to be earned. Of course, many scouts earn more than that, often in the 30 to 40 merit badge range. But to earn 138 badges is practically unheard of.
“In the thirty-two years I've been a scout leader, I've never seen anything like this,” said Troop 71 Advancement Chair Dave Chaney. “The most merit badges I've seen a scout get is about fifty-five to sixty.”
For his part, Jared is fairly matter-of-fact about how he accomplished this rare feat.
“I just didn't think about it,” said the Roosevelt senior. “I saw no reason not to get more merit badges so I just kept going.”
A variety of badges
Scouting offers a wide variety of merit badges across many disciplines, including performing arts, the sciences, outdoor skills and community service. Thirteen merit badges are required for the Eagle Scout rank, including the citizenship in the community, first aid, emergency preparedness, camping, and physical fitness badges, among others. The remaining 120+ merit badges are electives, allowing each scout to pursue their own individual interests.
Of course, Jared pursued them all. But he did have a few favorites, including the aviation merit badge where he got to fly an airplane out of the Troutdale airport and up the Columbia Gorge.
“My favorite merit badges were aviation, scuba diving, dentistry, shotgun, and surveying,” said the Eagle Scout, reflecting on his own wide and varied interests.
A well-rounded student with plans
As noted above, outside of scouting, Jared is very active in his school and community. Currently, he is one of the editor/designers on the Roosevelt High yearbook team and is captain of the Roosevelt swim team. He has also participated in one or more seasons on the cross-country, track & field, golf and soccer teams at the school. Additionally, he has honed his musical performance skills over three years with the school jazz band. Lastly, his 900 hours of community service at the Red Cross has spanned over five years. But at the heart of it all is what he has learned from scouting.
“Scouting has taught me to see good in everyone and always strive to do the right thing,” said the Roosevelt senior.
Jared Alton will graduate from Roosevelt High in June and plans to attend the University of Portland, where he will major in nursing and pre-med. His career goal and ambition is to one day become a pediatrician. With his accomplishments in scouting, school and the community, he is well on his way to achieving his goals.
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Mark Hubbard is co-chair of the Roosevelt HS Site Council, a group of parents, students, teachers and administrators that work on curriculum, student issues and community outreach at the school.