This content was published: July 14, 2000. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Media Advisory:Local Teen-agers Learn about Self-Enhancement
Photos and story by James Hill
Throughout the month of July and the early part of August will be a time of learning and awareness for about 30 Portland teen-agers. Portland Community College and Self-Enhancement, Inc., a non-profit group for disadvantaged kids, are sponsoring the second annual youth camp. It will run for three weeks during the summer at the college, educating inner-city ninth-graders on career and educational opportunities in the world of engineering, automotive technology and fire science. This unique program was developed through PCC’s Engineering, Mathematics and Technology division.
Orientation started on Tuesday, July 11 and the camp sessions will run every Tuesday and Thursday until Thursday, Aug. 3. Today at 1:30 p.m., the kids will learn about straw bale and bridge building through demonstrations (room 103 of the AM Building) and will get a lesson about the history of computers (room 309 of the ST Building). The automotive program will be featured on Tuesday, July 18 and Thursday, July 20 while the following week the sessions will focus on electric motors and software design on Tuesday, July 25, and a half-day field trip on engineering on Thursday, July 27. The final week of the camp will have the Fire Science program conducting sessions on Tuesday, Aug. 1 and Thursday, Aug. 3 at the Cascade Campus. All of the daily sessions go from 1:30 p.m. to 2:35 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. to 3:55 p.m.
In everything from the solar heating of water to the strength of metal, the students are told how and why things happen in casual lectures and are asked to recall information during the demonstrations. The camp helps open the eyes of those youths who may not have been exposed to the worlds of engineering, fire science or automotive. For more information on this ongoing camp, contact Scott Huff, division dean of Engineering, Mathematics and Technology division, at 503-977-4158.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »