The MAPS program works to engage Portland State University students with the high need community at Alder Elementary. The primary goal is to provide mentorship for students at Alder Elementary as well as promote the possibility of college.
Our Mentors come from diverse educational backgrounds. One thing brings them all together, the passion for working with the Alder Students.
history of the program
In the 2011-12 academic year, Portland State University adopted a grade level (Dreamer class) at Alder Elementary School through the I Have A Dream Foundation (IHADF) Oregon. PSU made a pledge to support IHADF's goal to help low-income students in a particular grade level achieve success in school, college, and career. Alder Elementary is a school in the Reynolds School District rich with diversity and resilience, in which 27 different languages are spoken by students and their families.
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Due to potential barriers to education, Alder Elementary was chosen to be the first Dreamer School in the nation through IHADF Oregon Affiliate. The program at Alder is a pilot project location for their new program model. Instead of simply adopting one Dreamer Class at Alder, a commitment has been made to adopt every class. The Dreamer School’s long term goal is also to help low-income children achieve academic success in school, college and career on a larger scale than Dreamer Classes.
A Spring Break poster we made with the third graders of Ms Putnam's class!
team leads
My name is Darius Lovatt. I am currently a junior level history major at Portland State. My goal is to become a teacher as my day job, but by night I want to pursue my passion of novel writing. I work with my fellow Team Lead, Mary Murphy, in the MAPS mentoring program.
My leadership goals are to always reflect and to always change. I hope that I have gravity amongst our members. That they can come to me in confidence and look to me in times of need. I can be this person for them, but that does not mean they will use me as this resource. I am proud of the person I have become and my only goal as a leader otherwise is to continue down this path. I want to keep succeeding. |
I'm Mary Murphy, and I am so excited to be a MAPS team lead this year, after participating in the program last Spring as a mentor! I am currently a sophomore at Portland State University. I moved from Sacramento, California to Portland to attend my dream college and get the credentials necessary for me to enter a career in Social Work. My major is Child and Family Studies, with a minor in Sociology. I'm also interested in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, with a focus on sex education. I have a passion for social justice and feminist work. I would love to work with LGTBQ houseless youth and underprivileged children and families after I get my Master's Degree.
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College Day
College Day was a success. Team Monday (Darius) showed up in full attendance (but not all at the same time). Here's our picture with out initial volunteers. This was my first time meeting Amethyst in person as she is on Team Friday. This is the lone picture of our evasive coordinator Zac.
For an assignment with Heather Petzold's Spring 2016 Capstone class, I put forth the activity of College Day as our class' day of volunteering. Based on a vote, College Day was picked. Our group split into two smaller groups and led Kid's Animal Yoga. The kids got to mimic the animals we did based on their poses and got them to burn some of that energy!
Reflection
After my year of working with MAPS, I reflected on the impacts of the program. I saw that I had made a change for Ms. Putnam, who was overwhelmed by a class of too many children and many kids who were high need.
On our last day at Alder, I saw the changes we made within the kids. It was in the form of Addam drawing our mentors a picture telling us that "Chris had taught him if someone needed help they can ask for help."
Sulieman, despite all his emotional traumas that manifested in acting out, he finally became excited to learn during the class' dinosaur unit. We practiced reading and pronouncing the word Tyrannosaurus.
Working with MAPS meant the world to me and it gave me professional experience working with children in an educational setting. I will treasure the bonds I made with the kids for many years. MAPS allowed me to practice educational methods in the classroom. I learned from Coco how to make the class quiet so that we could present. I learned from Chris that unrelenting patience with Abe was the key to getting him to write about his fascination with insects.
Professionally, the MAPS program moved on. MAPS has had circulating graduate students at the coordinator position and when the time for interviews for the position came up, neither Mary or I were considered. After this and my year working with the program, I made the hard decision of moving on. The Alder kids need consistency in their lives and I wanted to be that consistency. With each new coordinator, the program in the past has become something totally different. Being a Team Lead for another year weighed on my mind heavily and I made the hard decision to move on. The current coordinator, my fellow team lead, and the supervisor of our program all said that I had gone above and beyond in my position with MAPS. I was honored by these words but it also made me remember that I am capable and can do great things. The MAPS program is confident that they can move on without my leadership and thus I will look ahead to new horizons.
On our last day at Alder, I saw the changes we made within the kids. It was in the form of Addam drawing our mentors a picture telling us that "Chris had taught him if someone needed help they can ask for help."
Sulieman, despite all his emotional traumas that manifested in acting out, he finally became excited to learn during the class' dinosaur unit. We practiced reading and pronouncing the word Tyrannosaurus.
Working with MAPS meant the world to me and it gave me professional experience working with children in an educational setting. I will treasure the bonds I made with the kids for many years. MAPS allowed me to practice educational methods in the classroom. I learned from Coco how to make the class quiet so that we could present. I learned from Chris that unrelenting patience with Abe was the key to getting him to write about his fascination with insects.
Professionally, the MAPS program moved on. MAPS has had circulating graduate students at the coordinator position and when the time for interviews for the position came up, neither Mary or I were considered. After this and my year working with the program, I made the hard decision of moving on. The Alder kids need consistency in their lives and I wanted to be that consistency. With each new coordinator, the program in the past has become something totally different. Being a Team Lead for another year weighed on my mind heavily and I made the hard decision to move on. The current coordinator, my fellow team lead, and the supervisor of our program all said that I had gone above and beyond in my position with MAPS. I was honored by these words but it also made me remember that I am capable and can do great things. The MAPS program is confident that they can move on without my leadership and thus I will look ahead to new horizons.
Mentor of the year
I was awarded MAPS Mentor of the Year Award at the SALPIES on June 1st, 2016.