This course was fabulous!  For students who want to take an active role in their education,  I would highly recommend it.

This year we looked at the issue of dropout rates for African American and Latino youth in Oregon.  To gather information we met with various stakeholders from very different communities; Corvallis, Independence/Monmouth, Portland, Salem-Keizer and Woodburn.  In our interviews we spoke to a legislator, a representative from the Oregon Department of Education, principals, teachers, parents, students and community activists.  Each shared with us their concerns and factors which they felt contribute to this issue.

For me the most valuable part of the course was the process.  We began our five-day course with team-building exercises in Portland.  We put in a 14 hour day and then spent the night on the PSU campus...talk about team building!

With little sleep and lots of questions we began our interviews on Monday.  Following each day of interviews we returned to our "headquarters" at OSU and debriefed.  Sometimes heated, sometimes hilarious, we went over the days highlights.  We shared our ideas and emotional reactions to the interviews.  Then we regrouped for the next day.  What questions would we ask our next stakeholders?  Who would conduct the interviews? Facilitate the meetings? Act as recorder?

Being an active and sensitive listener was our greatest challenge.  Many of the issues that affect the dropout rates for these groups affected us as well.  Would we be able to overcome personal biases, and cultural misinterpretations, huge differences in communication and leadership styles to work together as a team?

The answer was apparent at our "finals," the group presentations we gave to an audience that included OSU faculty and stakeholders.  We had approximately two and one-half hours to break into groups, decide on a method of presentation, determine who would do what and then create!

I would like to thank my classmates, as well as the directors and facilitator for an awesome spring break.  You are amazing!