Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Founders’ Week: Service Drive Day

Photos and story by James Hill

Today (Wednesday, May 16) is a day for PCC’s Service Drive. Visit tables at each campus from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to report any volunteering you have contributed throughout the year – it all helps the college exceed its goal of 50,000 hours of community service in honor of the 50th Anniversary.

In addition, while you’re there support the Children’s Book Bank by donating gently-used or new children’s books. Tables will be located at the Building 3 Mall (Rock Creek); Student Center (Cascade); Mt. Tabor Great Hall (Southeast Center); and Lower CC Mall (Sylvania).

Read all the details about Founders’ Week.

PCC Trivia Question of the Day:

During his tenure at the college, founding president Dr. Amo DeBernardis had something very few presidents get. What was it? (Yesterday’s answer: PCC won first prize for non-business floats in the 1970 Portland Rose Parade).

History Story of the Day: Have mobile classroom, will travel

In 1971, PCC had its footprint in Portland mapped out and coming into focus bit by bit. The Cascade Center was new and humming along; the Sylvania Campus was just three years old; and plans for Rock Creek were beginning. But what about those places in the PCC district where putting a center or campus would be impractical? Places like small communities that need access to higher education just as much as the city and suburbs?

In response, the Portland Community College Mobile Classroom traveled to rural communities in the district to teach sewing, household budget management, healthy diets, foods, cooking and other home economics topics. The mobile classroom targeted people who wanted to learn, but couldn’t travel to their nearest center or campus.

Reports from these areas were positive. The residents that the mobile classroom served liked the concept. For example, Jean Barnes had a baby-sitting job at that time and didn’t have the resources to get to a PCC location. But the mobile classroom came by her North Plains house and she immediately checked it out. While there, along with a baby (named Pat Peppard) she was looking after, she was able to access Adult Basic Education resources.

The mobile classroom lost gas through the years and was retired by the 1980s, but it remains one of those interesting, quirky side notes to the historical records of Oregon’s largest college.

Read the “The PCC History Series.”

Part 5: Southeast Campus: 30 years in the making

Part 4: Despite hurdles, PCC builds Sylvania Campus

Part 3: Cascade Campus an education gateway for North Portland

Part 2: The Battle for the Rock Creek Campus

Part 1: PCC’s origins started with a Failing school