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  • About the Course

    Making Connections is an innovative, online learning tool designed to give mentors, teachers, counselors and volunteers the strategies and tools they need to build strong relationships with kids. For more information, click here.

  • About the Blog

    The Making Connections Blog is a place where mentors, teachers, counselors and volunteers who work with kids can come together to find support, resources and information that they can use to help them be even better at their jobs. It is a place to find answers, explore solutions, make connections, and share ideas, experiences, challenges and knowledge, all with the intent of finding more and better ways to build the kinds of relationships that help keep kids in school.

  • Testimonials

    "I signed up for this course because it sounded informative, helpful, and useful in my job. I never thought that I would be down-loading so many materials to use with students and to share with staff. Just last week our Hispanic Outreach Worker emailed to request resources to better serve our Latino families. I invited her to come on down and visit with me! I have also shared resources from this course with other district counselors. They have been most appreciative. I have even gained a few new lesson plans and some new strategies on how we can work towards having an even better impact on our students. Overall, this course helped me see just how much our community, our school, really does offer our students and their families. I can't wait for the summer break, but I also can't wait for the fall!" L. Pfister, Hillsboro School District


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    • About

    Project Background

    In 2003, Innovation Partnership (a non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon) brought together a 30-person Consensus Panel of community leaders and professionals from the fields of education, business and government to review research on student retention and achievement. This examination and synthesis of existing research was done at the request of several local foundation—led by the Jubitz Family Foundation—and was the basis for the creation of a report called “Student Retention Essential Building Blocks.” The purpose of the study was to determine which education programs would be the most effective in retaining students, and thus should receive priority funding.

    The research demonstrated that a significant part of students’ success is directly linked to having a one-on-one relationship with an adult who truly cares about what happens to them. The project’s Steering Committee found that most “Cultural Competency” trainings for teachers and non-profit organizations were one-time experiences that didn’t focus on relationship building or encourage people to revisit them.

    As a result, the Steering Committee decided to address Oregon’s dropout issue by working with Oregon’s community, education, government and business sectors to create a non-traditional, relationship-building tool that would meet the training needs of both professional and volunteer mentors and educators. That tool is an online course called Making Connections.

    For more background information on the project, click here.

    Project Funding

    Consensus Panel and Advisory Board for
    “Essential Building Blocks” Development

    Education

    • Dr. Barclay Burns, Learning.com
    • Phyllis Edmundson, Portland State University
    • Jane Packard, Hayhurst ESL teacher
    • Patricia Pickles, Portland Public Schools
    • Juan Baez, Portland Public Schools
    • Carole Smith, Portland Public Schools
    • Karla Wenzel, Portland Public School Board of Education
    • Greg Wolleck, Metropolitan Learning Center

    Community

    • Dr. Donna Beegle, Communication Across Barriers
    • Cynthia Guyer, Portland Schools Foundation
    • Rose Hill, Portland State University
    • Dr. Phyllis Lee, Oregon State University
    • Charles McGee, Franklin High School
    • Steffeni Mendoza Gray, Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement
    • Leslie Rennie-Hill, Portland Schools Foundation
    • Maxine Thompson, The Leaders Roundtable
    • Mark Young, YMCA

    Project Development

    • Juan Baez, Portland Public Schools
    • Lee Cha, Immigrant Refugee Community Organization
    • Phyllis Edmundson, Graduate School of Education, Portland State University
    • Bill Farver, Portland Public Schools
    • Steffeni Mendoza Gray, Community Leader
    • Cynthia Guyer, Portland Schools Foundation
    • Leslie Rennie Hill, Portland Schools Foundation
    • Ray Jubitz, Jubitz Family Foundation
    • Joy Leary, Community Uniting-Education Committee
    • Elise Pellegrino, Take the Time: Commission on Children, Families and Community
    • Maxine Thompson, The Leaders Roundtable
    • Duncan Wyse, Oregon Business Council

    “Making Connections”
    (online relationship-building tool)

    Steering Committee

    • Ken Thrasher, Project Chair; CEO, Compli’; Past Chair, Oregon Quality Education Commission
    • Carolyn Becic, Executive Director, Oregon Mentors
    • Julie Esparza Brown, Director, Bilingual Teacher, Pathway Program; PSU Graduate School of Education
    • Cheryl L. Livneh, Director, Continuing Education, PSU Graduate School of Education
    • Merced Flores, Dean, Adult and High School Community Learning Programs, Mt. Hood Community College
    • Steffeni Mendoza Gray, City of Portland
    • Velma Johnson, Doctoral Candidate, Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education; former PPS teacher and principal
    • Jill Kirk, Education Policy Director, Oregon Business Council
    • Carole Smith, Superintendent, Portland Public Schools
    • Jeanine Wright, Vice President and Portland Area Manager, CH2M Hill

    Marketing Team

    • Rich Brown, Senior Vice President / Corporate Affairs Manager, Bank of America
    • Theressa Davis, Spokeswoman, Comcast
    • Carol Dillin, Vice President, Public Affairs, Portland General Electric
    • Jill Eiland, Oregon Public Affairs Manager, Intel
    • Carole Morse, Manager, Portland General Electric Community Investment Initiatives
    • Von Summers, Manager, Community Affairs, NW Natural

    Development Team

    • Carolyn Becic, Executive Director, Oregon Mentors
    • Donna Beegle, Ph.D., President, Communication Across Barriers
    • Julie Esparza Brown, Director, Bilingual Teacher, Pathway Program; PSU Graduate School of Education
    • Lynda Coates, Researcher, Poverty Bridge
    • Gerald Deloney, Special Projects Manager, Self Enhancement Inc.
    • Debbie Ellis, Education Specialist, NW Regional Education Laboratory
    • Chuck Forbes, Technology, Poverty Bridge
    • Debbie Hornibrook, Ph.D., Curriculum Specialist, Poverty Bridge
    • Ruth Scott, President, Innovation Partnership
    • Lydia Brooks, Project Manager, Innovation Partnership
    • Mark Jenkins, Director of Distance Learning and Extended Studies, Portland State University
    • Toni Plato, Program Specialist, Continuing Education, PSU Graduate School of Education
    • George Kawamoto, Instructional and Technical Support, PSU School of Extended Studies
    • Tobi Kibel Piatek, Developer of Educational Content and Materials, SynerGenii Creative Communications
    • Joshua Jacobs, President, Mandala Designs LLC
    • Kermit Cantwell, Writer and Media Producer, Cantwell Communications
    • Toai Nguyen, Student Web Designer, PSU School of Extended Studies