It’s no mystery that Portland Public Schools continues to suffer under tight budgetary constraints. At Boise-Eliot Elementary School, physical education classes are just one of the programs sacrificed.
Yet school social worker Melora Golden is determined to spare one project that provides the kids at Boise-Eliot with an unusual fitness opportunity: yoga.
Last fall, Golden and Maria Thomas, founder of the Self-Discovery Youth Project, broached the idea of teaching yoga to Boise-Eliot administrators. Their reception, as well as the response to a yoga primer and trial session, was overwhelmingly positive. One hundred students showed up for the inaugural class last fall.
Golden sees yoga as "an activity that keeps kids active and controlled at the same time, and while having fun."As a social worker, she is intimately familiar with the harsh economic realities facing many Boise-Eliot children -- which is all the more reason, she says, to offer yoga classes. "Ultimately I’d like to have yoga be a source of individualized attention to kids with problems in school," says Golden. "Ideally after the end of yoga sessions, I’d like to give each kid a yoga book they can take with them to help them practice at home."
The yoga class got its initial funding from Multnomah County’s Touchstone program, which gives small grants to school social workers to fund programs of their own design. But after a six-week set of yoga classes over the winter for 40 students, which followed an eight-week fall program for the same number of students, the Touchstone program ran out of funds for the rest of the school year.
Once the Self Discovery Youth Project is awarded nonprofit status, as is expected, the project can fundraise through grants to cover the costs of the yoga classes. In the meantime, Golden has been pounding the neighborhood pavement for business donations. So far, Grandfather’s Deli, The Fresh Pot, Purple Parlor and The Mississippi Pizza Pub have pitched in. Golden still needs $275 needed to cover cost shortfalls from classes held last winter, and to pay for classes this spring.
Ideally, Golden hopes to have the funds for all of next school year’s three yoga class sessions (fall, winter, spring) -- a cost of $675 -- in hand by next fall. Her workload prevents her from spending much time on fundraising, but Golden remains optimistic that businesses and residents will lend a hand. "I’m very grateful for what I’ve received so far. The spirit in the neighborhood is there."
To find out more about the kids yoga program, or make a donation, contact Golden at 503-916-5728.