Notes From Under the Oaks | January 2014

By Martha Calus-McLain '03 | Director of Alumni Relations

A sketch of the earliest building on the Forest Grove
campus

As I look ahead to 2014, only two weeks gone and the rest full of possibility, I have many resolutions. Among them is a hope to acknowledge people who make a difference. This week I am thinking about the great teachers I had throughout my education.

Over the past six months my husband has been reading the Little Housebooks to our daughter, who is completely enthralled with them. I recently overheard them reading a passage describing conditions in the one-room school house where Laura is teaching in negative forty degree weather.

“At half past three they were all so cold that she thought of dismissing school early. The mile that Martha and Charles must walk, worried her. On the other hand, she should not cut short the pupils' opportunity for learning, and this was not a blizzard.”

This passage brought to mind the spirit of the pioneers who founded Pacific in 1849 in the face of immense adversity.

It makes me think of the students who were so deeply committed to their education they found time for it among the competing responsibilities of frontier life.

It reminds me of the courage of teachers, both in 1882 when they commanded one room school houses throughout the west and today when they risk, and sometimes sacrifice, their lives to save the children in their care.

I shared this passage when I welcomed a dozen new students into our special ed program earlier this week. In a few years, these students will be alumni who spend their days dedicated to the success of young people. Based on the reactions of the students it was clear the passion and dedication Laura conveyed in her memoirs is still true of aspiring teachers.

Last night we hosted the Student Teacher Alumni Reception on the Forest Grove campus. During the evening we got to hear teachers speak earnestly and candidly about their experiences. Again, the passion and dedication was evident.

I hope none of our alumni are teaching kids who have to walk a mile in negative forty degrees, but I’m sure these alumni have a few stories of their own to share.

I’d love to hear from alumni who are teachers. What inspires you? Do you have a great story to share about students who walked a metaphorical cold mile for their education?

I’d also love to hear from alumni about the teachers who helped them. Who was your favorite teacher at Pacific, before or after? How did they inspire you? Did you ever walk a cold mile for your education?

Send us your stories and as always don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance.

Best wishes,

Martha Calus-McLain '03
Director of Alumni Relations

A New Lesson Plan Discovered Abroad

By Erin Shepard MAT '05

Since graduating from Pacific in 2005, with my Masters in teaching, I have been incredibly fortunate to work for the Hillsboro School District. I’ve been navigating the teaching world in 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th grades since 2006. The daily challenges and triumphs of teaching are very inspiring to me. I’ve feel as though I’ve truly found my niche in education. Adapting and growing with this ever-evolving field, brings me a lot of joy. 

Teaching has also provided me with some pretty incredible learning opportunities! I am a firm believer that the best teachers are life-long students themselves. I also think that one of the most powerful ways to learn about the world around us and to inform our teaching practices is through travel. Getting out of our comfort zones and learning about other places in the world can often lead to a greater understanding of the students we teach in our classrooms.

Just last spring, I was awarded a Fulbright-Hays educator travel grant to study in Mexico and Colombia. My trip began mid-June 2012 as I met up with my new travel comrades, 15 elementary teachers from across the United States, in Austin, Texas for a few days of orientation at the University of Texas. It was such a unique and special opportunity to connect with other educators and share experiences! 

The title of the travel seminar was “Mexico and Colombia: Beyond the Headlines.” The media coverage from both countries that we see in the states is often very negative. This experience was aimed to highlight the incredible richness of culture and diversity of people in Mexico and Colombia; to show the other side that often goes unnoticed. We visited local schools, traveled to rural villages, attended lectures and experienced ancient cultures, cuisines, arts and music. 

One of the most powerful experiences for me while in Mexico, was visiting a small village outside Puebla, called Tlaplanala. This community experienced some of the highest rates of immigration to the U.S., and its residents’ income was primarily from remittances from family members living abroad. This village, among so many others like it, was not providing enough economic opportunity to live off of. 

In response, local leaders applied for several small grants from both the public and private sector that supported families in raising chickens and pigs and growing their own vegetables. Kids from the village learn the entire process from purchasing the chickens, tending to them and even profiting from selling their very own chicken-sausage. Efforts are also being made to document language, folk stories and art from the community to preserve their rich culture. These economically tangible changes combined with feeling proud of ones’ heritage are supporting younger generations and giving them reasons to stay in Mexico. It seems to be a very powerful combination. 

In Colombia, we began our travels in Bogota. This sprawling city of just over 7 million people, sits high at 8,612 feet. I highly recommend bringing along altitude sickness medication if you plan on visiting! We toured the Universidad de Los Andes and visited a preschool there that focuses on whole child education. Bogota served as our “base camp” as we would fly out from there to the other cities on the itinerary including Medellin, Armenia, Cartagena and Santa Marta. 

Colombia’s mountainous and lush landscape is breathtaking! Our trip went up through the coffee-growing country and finished on the beautiful Caribbean coast.  The people we met along the way were so welcoming and eager to share their culture with us. Much like Mexico, the traditions, music and food vary greatly depending on what region you are in. 

Over the past ten years or so, major efforts have been made to help create access to jobs and education for all Colombians. A very emotionally moving experience for our group came in Medellin which was once ravaged by violent drug cartels. We walked in a neighborhood which most would describe as a slum, called Comuna Trece. It is traditionally the most violent area in all of Medellin. 

The people here live in a sea of tightly packed and poorly constructed houses. In Medellin, the most economically disadvantaged areas sit precariously on vast hillsides surrounding the thriving city. Knowing the hardships of the past and need to change the situation, funding for a project called the “electric stairs” helped build outdoor escalators that extend most of the way up the hillside. The escalators, also patrolled by security guards 24 hours a day, have provided better access to jobs, healthcare and schools for the residents here. 

They have also greatly reduced criminal activity and helped people feel safer in their own community. It’s an amazing success story and so inspiring to see first-hand. 

Through my travels, I learned there are many Mexicos and many Colombias. Each region, city, village and neighborhood has its own unique culture, history and traditions. My five weeks of travel left me with many things; new friendships, life-changing experiences and most of all, the desire to keep on traveling and learning. 

My teaching will forever be changed from this experience and I can’t encourage other educators enough to travel as a means of informing your practice. During the fall, I completed my curriculum project, titled, “Discovering Diverse Mexico: A Culture Box Adventure!” designed for 3^rd graders. This can downloaded soon at http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/etext/llilas/outreach/index.html.

In the meantime, you can browse through many incredible units of study all prepped and ready to be taught that were designed by former Fulbright-Hays participants. If you are interested in educator travel grants, I am would be happy to speak with you. I’d also love to come to your classroom and talk with students about my experiences. Now, on to the next adventure!

Shepard MAT '05 currently works in the Hillsboro School District. To see the trip in its entirety, please visit her travel blog at, erinshepherd.wordpress.org.

Trinkets of Walter Hall

By Martha Calus-McLain '03 | Director of Alumni Relations

When I was a student at Pacific I came across an archival photo of Walter Hall. I believe it was taken in the late 1950s or early 1960s. I remember being delighted at how the interior of the room had remained exactly the same from 1959 to 1999.

Of course the nature of college life changed quite a bit in those 40 years – for one thing my next-door neighbors were Russ and Gabe and the neighbors across the hall were Todd and Stuart. I think the women of Walter Hall 1959 might have found this a tad shocking.

Recently our friends in Facilities unearthed a treasure trove from the history of Walter. Apparently there’s some work being done involving the removal of furniture. This resulted in a whole pile of interesting items including:

• 20 assorted photographs
• 9 photographs of high school sweethearts complete with handwritten inscriptions
• 2 postcards (one Katherine sent to Spencer Rockwell ’00 while she was visiting Japan)
• A sticker for Powell’s City of Books
• A 1985 sticker for Coors Light beer wolf
• A letter to Kurt from his Gram
• A 1983 receipt from Fred Meyer – a loaf of bread cost $1.12
• 2 coupons for Ponds Beauty Cream
• A 1974 Tri-Met Route Map
• A 1987 Boxer Football schedule
• A syllabus from Marsh Lee’s spring 1981 Western Civilization class
• A ticket to the 21^st Annual Luau
• Not one, but two of Margaret Swanson’s meal cards (fall 1967and spring 1969)
• A Pacific University phone card

Also: William Hopper, Necole Landry, Max Montano, Martha Leinweber – we found your student ID cards! We also found a Hawaii state ID card for Starr Muramaru, a Forest Grove Library card for Cherie Cockram and a health plan card for Jennifer Harrington.

All of this makes me curious to hear stories of life in Walter Hall (and all the dorms).

Did you ever lose anything you wish could be found?

Did you bring photos of your hometown or your high school friend and pin them up?

Were you at the 1981 Luau or did you follow the Boxer Rebellion in 1987?

Did you live in Walter Hall when it was women only or McCormick when it was men only?

Do you think any of the items above are yours and would you like them back?

As always, please keep it touch! Send us your stories and don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance.

Martha Calus-McLain '03 is the Director of Alumni Relations at Pacific University. She can be reached at martha@pacificu.edu or 503-352-2764. 

A Meaningful Life

Benson Medina '76

     In the fall of 1972, I met Eric Witt '76.  He was actually from my hometown of Kailua, but we went to different schools.  Eric was a hippie/surfer type, who had a very peaceful look on his face and a gentle nature.  He had a great smile and was always friendly to me. We both arrived at Pacific in the fall of 1972 and were neighbors on the first floor of Clark Hall.
       Eric played the guitar and I could hear him playing occasionally.  But he got everyone’s attention when he started to sing.  But not in a good way.   His voice was a cross between an animal caught in a leg snare and a mile long locomotive slamming it’s brakes on.  Condensing it down into one word: painful.
       But it didn’t seem to bother Eric, who kept right on singing despite the expletives being spewed in his direction from every corner of the dorm.  I ran into him in the hall one day and asked him the present day equivalent of,  “Dude, what’s up with the singing?
       He broke into a wide smile and said, “I love music and I love to sing.  It doesn’t matter if you can sing or not, what matters is that you do it for the love of it.”
       That encounter changed my life because it gave me the confidence (“If Eric can do it, I can do it”) to start playing the guitar and singing myself.  Almost 40 years later, I occasionally think of him whenever I pick up the guitar.   But beyond music, Eric knew the meaning of “living your passion” way back in the ‘70s, long before it became the buzzword for a meaningful life.
       In my four years in Forest Grove, I had many similar experiences that were life altering, though I didn’t know it at the time.
       At Pacific, I got around black people for the first time and saw how closely they stuck together and how they had such a strong sense of culture.  Though many people were put off by the arrogance of the “Black Power” movement, it made me understand the attitude it took to make social change a reality.  Several years later, when we were going through the “Hawaiian Renaissance” I was thankful for the important lessons I learned from my BSU (Black Student Union) buddies.
       I learned that I loved to write while I was at Pacific but I needed Mike Steele to help me hone my passion into a skill.  He taught me to get to the point quicker and to pay closer attention to the mechanics of writing.  He recognized my raw talent but wasn’t going to allow me to coast my way through his Advanced Writing course.  In my professional life, I’ve always gravitated toward a person like Mike Steele, an expert with high expectations, but a willingness to be helpful.
       Working in the cafeteria during the breakfast shift, I learned how to frost maple bars, a pastry I never saw until I got to Pacific. Since there were only a handful of us that could get up at 6 a.m. to work, I met a simple, yet beautiful co-worker from a small farming community in Nebraska.   She taught me to love and appreciate Oregon, a place I initially hated, but ended up spending 36 years of my life there.  Rhea became my wife and the mother of our son and stands today as one of my greatest teachers, even though our marriage ended years ago.
       As an academic institution, Pacific was a wonderful small environment that launched me into the working world with a coveted bachelor’s degree.  But more importantly, it was the “social petri dish” I needed to expose myself to new ideas and experiences, meet people who would have a lasting impact my life and provide a reference point where I can see how much I’ve changed and grown over the years.
       And what about Eric Witt?  He lives happily with his family on the Big Island, plays a mean guitar and still sings at the top of his lungs.

Medina '76  lives in Honolulu and writes a blog called Any Moment, where he chronicles thoughts on the enormous changes and challenges of human life. People die, lose jobs, get their property destroyed, get cancer, lose limbs, go to war and come back to a completely different scenario than what they left.  This blog looks at people who have had massive changes and examines how they have adjusted.