MHCRC News

Read more about the article Open School East Campus Grand Opening

Open School East Campus Grand Opening

On Tuesday, November 1, 2016 MHCRC Chair Carol Studenmund and staff joined Governor Kate Brown in celebrating the grand opening of Open School East (OSE). OSE is a new school in the Rockwood neighborhood designed to serve 7th – 12th grade students, who are not being served by traditional schools, and prepare them for success in careers and college. OSE is a 2016 MHCRC Community Technology Grant recipient. Grant funds provided by the MHCRC have been used to purchase technology and digital curriculum in support of getting all students back to meeting or exceeding grade-level benchmarks in both reading and math by…

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Read more about the article MHCRC Participates in Principal for Almost a Day Event at Grout Elementary School
A teacher at Grout Elementary demonstrating differentiated learning methods

MHCRC Participates in Principal for Almost a Day Event at Grout Elementary School

Julie Omelchuck, MHCRC Community Grants Program Director, visited Grout Elementary School, in participation of the October 27th All Hands Raised annual event, Principal for Almost a Day (PFAD). Grout Elementary School is a one of five Portland Public Schools engaged in the MHCRC TechSmart Initiative grant to the district focused on K-3rd grade reading and English language learners’ progress. Highlights from the visit included participating in a professional learning planning session with third grade teachers for the literacy adoption currently underway in the district and observing classrooms where teachers are using technology tools and rotation station strategies to differentiate learning…

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Read more about the article Mary Beth Henry Retirement Celebration
Staff pay tribute to Mary Beth Henry with a homemade shrine

Mary Beth Henry Retirement Celebration

  • Post category:MHCRC News

September 2016: Elected officials, MHCRC members, staff and community members/colleagues gathered last Thursday to pay tribute to Mary Beth Henry. Henry, a fierce advocate for local control of public rights-of-way, community media, broadband deployment and digital equity, retired from her position as Director of the MHCRC and Office for Community Technology with the City of Portland after 31 years of dedicated service.

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Read more about the article Portland Adopts DEAP

Portland Adopts DEAP

The MHCRC Chair, Carol Studenmund, along with many others, urged the Portland City Council to adopt the Digital Equity Action Plan (DEAP) during Council consideration of the plan on April 6. The Portland Council unanimously adopted the plan, which establishes a series of strategic actions for public, private and nonprofit partners in Portland/Multnomah County to undertake to address digital equity. The Council also directed the City of Portland's Office for Community Technology to implement the plan with community partners. View a pdf of the plan. UPDATE: Since the adoption of the Digital Equity Action Plan in April 2016, the DEAP…

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Read more about the article Makerspace Grant Opening

Makerspace Grant Opening

  • Post category:MHCRC News

MHCRC Commissioners and staff, along with other community partners and leaders, celebrated the grand opening of the Rockwood Library's Makerspace on April 2, 2016. The Makerspace is a new, hands-on addition to the Rockwood Library for young people to learn science, technology, engineering, arts and math skills using cutting-edge technology and skilled adult mentors. The MHCRC Community Grants program invested over $300,000 to create a modern and robust place of learning for the youth of Rockwood. The NW Film Center Hero's Magnificos Program, also an MHCRC grantee, held its Spring break film camp at the new Rockwood Makerspace. Some of videos made during…

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Read more about the article City Club Friday Forum: Digital Inclusion

City Club Friday Forum: Digital Inclusion

The City Club of Portland held a Friday Forum on Digital Inclusion and Tech Diversity in Portland. The panel included Patricia A. (Pat) McDonald, Intel Vice president of Human Resources; Sam Blackman, CEO of Elemental Technologies and force behind TechTown; Dwayne Johnson, Social Alchemist from Innovate Oregon; Vailey Oehlke: Multnomah County Library District Director; and Malia Spencer (moderator), a Reporter covering tech, startups and funding for the Portland Business Journal. From the description: " How $300 million plus two coalitions are positioning Portland to disrupt the face of tech and who has access to it. With Portland's tech workforce at 67%…

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Read more about the article PPS announces Pilot Schools for TechSmart 3rd Grade Reading grant

PPS announces Pilot Schools for TechSmart 3rd Grade Reading grant

Congrats to Portland Public elementary schools - Sitton, Bridger, Lewis, Markham and Vernon - for being chosen as the first-year pilot schools for the MHCRC TechSmart 3rd Grade Reading grant! The grant covers the next 5 years and will identify and scale solutions that improve PPS students’ 3rd grade literacy outcomes.  The collaboration and resources provided through this project offer a tremendous opportunity to design and seed innovation that personalizes and deepens learning for each student. For more on the TechSmart 3rd Grade Reading grant click here.

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Read more about the article Friends of the Children New Site’s Open House

Friends of the Children New Site’s Open House

  • Post category:MHCRC News

MHCRC Commissioner Carol Studenmund and staff  attended the grand-opening of the Friends of the Children‘s new Rockwood facility in Gresham.  Friends of the Children, a recipient of several MHCRC Community Technology Grants, is a local nonprofit that mentors youth. The a new 8,000-square-foot facility was built to address the demographic shift of children in poverty to East County. The building includes a multipurpose gym, a teaching kitchen, a high-tech Arts & Science Room, a large “front room” for mentors to met with youth participants, meeting rooms and quiet rooms. MHCRC’s 2015 grant of $218,700 is a good investment the children of East Multnomah County!

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Read more about the article FCC Roundtable on Closed Captioning
Chair Studenmund at FCC Roundtable

FCC Roundtable on Closed Captioning

Carol Studenmund, President of LNS Captioning and MHCRC Chair, discussed closed captioning best practices and technical and practical challenges for community media (PEG) providers and the cable TV industry. She and Mary Beth Henry, MHCRC Staff Director, attended the FCC roundtable event on Close Captioning and Community Media in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, November 10, 2015. * PEG - Public, Educational, and Governmental access programming on Community Media channels  

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