| Benson Polytechnic High School | |
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United by Spirit, Bonded by Name.[1]
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| Address | |
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| 546 NE 12th Avenue Portland, Oregon, Multnomah County, 97232  United States |
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| Coordinates | 45°31′38″N 122°39′11″W / 45.52726°N 122.65301°WCoordinates: 45°31′38″N 122°39′11″W / 45.52726°N 122.65301°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Technical, Public |
| Opened | 1919 |
| School district | Portland Public Schools |
| Principal | Steve Olczak[2] |
| Grades | 9-12[3] |
| Number of students | 1218[3] |
| Color(s) | Orange and royal blue [4] |
| Athletics conference | OSAA Portland Interscholastic League 6A-1[4] |
| Mascot | Techmen[4] |
| Accreditation(s) | NAAS[5] |
| Newspaper | Tech Pep |
| Website | http://www.bensonhs.pps.k12.or.us/ |
Benson Polytechnic High School is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. Its 9-acre (36,000 m2) campus is located in the center of Portland's Eastside commercial area. Students are given a special emphasis in a technical area. It is a member of SkillsUSA and Health Occupations Students of America.
Contents |
History of Benson
Benson's predecessor
Benson Polytechnic High School began in 1908 as the Portland School of Trades in the Atkinson Building at 11th and Davis in Northwest Portland. It was established to give "boys who wished to enter a trade a better opportunity than do shops and factories of the present time." Any boy from Portland who was at least fourteen years old, or who was a grammar school graduate, could attend. The course of study was three years. Students could also attend night school and/or summer sessions at the trade school.
In 1909, a course of study for girls was added. The Portland School of Trades was coeducational until 1913 when the girls' departments were moved to the Lownsdale School (which later became Lincoln High School).
Beginnings and the First World War
The Portland School Board voted to change the school's name to Benson Polytechnic High School after civic leader and philanthropist Simon Benson gave $100,000 in 1917 to the Portland School District for the construction of a building to house a technical school. The School Board appropriated an equal amount of money. Six blocks of land at Northeast 12th and Hoyt were purchased and a building was built, and the new Benson Polytechnic School opened its doors in September 1918 to 46 boys.
Benson Polytechnic School served not only the educational needs of the city's youth, but also the defense needs of a nation at war. During World War I the federal government took control of the school. Twenty-four hours a day, recruits were stationed and trained on the campus. North and south wings were added to the back of the school building to serve as a barracks for the troops.
Expansion and the Second World War
After World War I, the barracks became shop classrooms, and surplus government property was purchased and used as shop equipment. Mr. Benson gave the student body $10,000, and the first Tech Show was presented to the Portland community. Benson Polytechnic School grew rapidly in course offerings and in student population. In 1920, the printing department was set up and the school paper, the Tech Pep. was published. In May 1921 the Benson Tech Radio Club received a government license to operate telegraph station 7YK, later changing the call sign to 7XAD in October 1923. This would lead to Benson's first broadcasting station on May 4, 1923 at 6:00 PM when station KFIF signed on the air. KFIF would become KBPS on March 17, 1930 when KFIF became too expensive for the student body to operate, the District accepted ownership of the station. The station was renamed KBPS (for Benson Polytechnic School) and has continued to this day to operate on the Benson campus and to be staffed by Benson students. In 1926, an aviation department was added to the school. By 1940, Benson had 2,800 students and was the largest school in Portland.
During World War II, the federal government once again utilized Benson Polytechnic School. Training men during swing and graveyard shifts, the War Production Board kept the Benson building in use twenty-four hours a day for every day of the war. The building was a high school for Portland's young men from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and a training facility for federal industry from 2:30 p.m. until 8 a.m.
Deterioration of both the facility and the student body was a concern following World War II. Because the building had been in continuous use during the war, it was left in extremely poor condition. Benson became a "dumping ground" for troubled students from 1945 to 1952.
Modern times
In 1953, the Portland School Board launched a five-year building program to upgrade Benson. A library and automotive wing were completed in 1954. The north shop wing was remodeled in 1955 and the south shop wing in 1960. Benson became co-educational once again in September 1973. Six females attended that year. When the health occupations program was moved from Washington High School to Benson in 1980, Benson's female population grew substantially.
An arsonist's fire damaged offices and classrooms in the main section of Benson on January 2, 1991.[6] Coincidentally, the School Board had already scheduled the Benson facility for major improvements. In 1991, a new health occupation wing, a new library, a new student services center, and a new band room were added; and halls and offices were modernized.
Academics
In 2008, 88% of the school's seniors received their high school diploma. Of 271 students, 239 graduated, 27 dropped out, and 5 are still in high school.[7][8]
Student profile
As a magnet school, Benson is highly selective among the Portland area. Until recently, students were required to complete an application for admissions. This is no longer the case due to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act; instead a lottery is used to determine which students are admitted. As of Fall 2003, there were 1508 students enrolled in Benson. 84% are seeking a higher degree after graduation.
By ethnicity:
- 28.7% Caucasian
- 27.3% Asian-American
- 25.4% African-American
- 14.5% Hispanic
- 2.0% Native American
By grade:
- 486 freshmen
- 420 sophomores
- 314 juniors
- 288 seniors
By gender:
- 44% female
- 56% male
Curriculum
In addition to a standard high school curriculum, students specialize in a self-selected major during the final two years of enrollment. Students may specialize in the following areas, provided by a partnership with SkillsUSA and Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA):
- Communications Technology
- Construction Technology
- Computer Hardware Technology
- Computer Software Technology
- Drafting Technology
- Engineering Technology
- Electric Technology (House Wiring)
- Electrical Engineering Technology
- Health Occupations
- KBPS Radio Technology
- Manufacturing Engineering Technology
- Transportation Technology
Homebuilding program
Benson is one of three Portland-area high schools (as well as Canby High School and Forest Grove High School) that builds a single-family home in the community.[9]
Notable alumni
- Tom Dodd- MLB
- Jim Elliot- Evangelical Christian killed in Ecuador on mission work.
- A. C. Green- NBA
- Mfon Udoka- Nigerian Olympian
- Richard Washington- NBA, Milwaukee Bucks
- Kim Rhodes- actor
- Joel Moore- actor
References
- ^ School Facts: Benson Polytechnic High School, About Section pps.k12.us.or
- ^ Hammond, Betsy. "New principals for Portland-area high schools". OregonLive.com (The Oregonian). http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/09/new_principals_for_portlandare.html. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ^ a b "Oregon School Directory 2008-09". Oregon Department of Education. pp. 139. http://www.ode.state.or.us/pubs/directory/school-directory-september-2008.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ a b c http://www.osaa.org/schools.aspx/Benson/
- ^ http://www.northwestaccreditation.org/schools/Oregon.pdf
- ^ "Previous Portland-area school fires". The Oregonian. 2009-11-10. http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/11/past_portland_school_fires.html. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- ^ "State releases high school graduation rates". The Oregonian. 2009-06-30. http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/06/high_school_dropout_rates.html. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ^ "Oregon dropout rates for 2008". The Oregonian. 2009-06-30. http://blog.oregonlive.com/education_impact/2009/06/Dropout-Rates.xls. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ^ Owen, Betsy (2009-10-08). "High schoolers building houses in self-funded program". The Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/10/high_schoolers_building_houses.html. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
External links
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