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MINUTES <br /> <br /> Eugene City Council <br /> Work Session <br /> McNutt Room, City Hall--Eugene, Oregon <br /> <br /> November 8, 2000 <br /> 5:30 p.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, Nancy Nathanson, Pat Fart, Scott Meisner, David <br /> Kelly, Gary Pap~, Gary Rayor, Bonny Bettman. <br /> <br />CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION <br /> <br />A. Mayor's Youth Leadership Program <br /> <br />The council was joined by Ashley AIvarado and Carlos Monjaras of Churchill High School. Ms. <br />AIvarado discussed people's perceptions and expectations of the performance of students of <br />color. She said that she was half Asian and half Latino, and depending on what people knew of <br />her, their expectations were different. Ms. AIvarado circulated a document that showed the <br />average GPA of ethnic groups and a graph marking the extreme GPA high and Iow and showing <br />where the average was for all students in Churchill. She noted that no black student at Churchill <br />had a 4.0 GPA. <br /> <br />Mr. Monjaras said that having staff of color helped him in school and gave students of color <br />someone to look up to. He said that throughout the district there were few such minority models <br />for students in high school and middle school. He said that it would be great if there were more <br />such models because they would have shared the experience of students. <br /> <br />Ms. AIvarado noted that Churchill was the most diverse high school in the district. <br /> <br />Ms. AIvarado suggested a number of approaches to the problem she cited, including that staff <br />awareness continue to be increased and that the number of teachers of color continue to be <br />increased. She said that the shortage of teachers of color could be directly attributed to the fact <br />those individuals did not have teachers of color. She also suggested more visual demonstration <br />of diversity on the walls of the school, programs focused on students of color, more multicultural <br />specialists, an increase in student unions, and teaching that did not assume certain ideas are <br />natural for all people, which she believed showed cultural bias. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey indicated that the information provided to the council would be shared with the <br />school districts. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson commended Churchill High School, noting it was in her ward. She recalled <br />encountering a special staff person at the school who addressed multi-cultural issues at the <br />school and asked if the students had worked with him on the issue, or if they had spoken to the <br />leadership class. Ms. AIvarado clarified that the information she provided was part of a larger <br />report provided to staff of 4J. Ms. Nathanson suggested that she and Ms. AIvarado discuss <br />informing the leadership class. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 8, 2000 Page 1 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />