This content was published: June 3, 2011. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
2011 Faculty Speaker: JD Dawson shows ability above disability
Photos and story by Abe Proctor
James Dawson is many things to many people at Portland Community College’s Cascade Campus in North Portland. On June 10, to everyone he’ll be the 2011 faculty speaker at PCC’s 49th graduation ceremony.
In his more than 17 years with Portland Community College, James Dawson has been a teacher, tutor, mentor, and friend. Technically, you’d call him an instructor, but what “JD” has come to mean for Cascade Campus goes much farther than that. His real love – and the thing that has earned him such a following among his students – is tutoring.
The New Jersey native got his start in teaching as part of Teach for America, a Bill Clinton-era program aimed at eliminating educational disparities among non-mainstream populations.
“I asked them for the toughest assignment they had,” he said, a request that landed him at alternative high schools in Florida, New York, California and, eventually, the Saturday Academy at Portland’s Jefferson High School.
Initial roadblock no match for “The Little Engine”
When he expressed interest in becoming a mainstream high school teacher, he was informed that he would need to first go back to school for additional training. Frustrated, he walked out of Jefferson, crossed the street, and found himself in front of Cascade Campus’ Skill Center. On a whim, he walked in – and was hired. He’s been with PCC ever since.
And fortunately for his students, he never stopped. Dawson can be found nearly every day of the work week in the Cascade Campus Learning Center, giving students the extra help they need. This year, Dawson and Learning Center Director Penny Thompson have developed an enhanced tutoring approach for students in Math 20, a course that has proven troublesome for students across the PCC district. He teaches the Math 61, 62, and 63 courses, a Trades Math course in the Margaret Carter Skill Center, and tutors math students.
Even a disability can’t slow “JD” down
Dawson’s success as an instructor, tutor, and motivator is all the more remarkable considering that he has lived with disability his whole life – he has cerebral palsy, and gets around Cascade Campus on a motorized wheelchair.
“I’m a human cliché!” he said, laughing. “My favorite book as a kid was, “The Little Engine That Could.” There was a sign on the wall in my elementary school that said, ‘Ability Above Disability.’ I’ve kept those words with me my whole life. I’ve had disabled friends who have ended their lives.