Photo by Tristan

Tuesday morning, I was up early at 6 a.m. to take my daughter to an Advanced Placement (AP) exam at Rose City Park Elementary School, sadly closed as a neighborhood school and now being used for testing. So afterwards, I had a rare opportunity to stand outside Wilson High School waving to fellow parents - usually, I'm part of the stream of cars dropping off students. On Monday evening, I was in the campaign office, reviewing lists of volunteers and wondering who to ask to help hold the banner. Who should phone in but Ruth Adkins, fellow Wilson mom, Portland Public Schools Board member, and super-busy person. "Can you help me wave at morning commute tomorrow?", I asked. "Well, I'm helping with the PTA's Teacher Appreciation Week breakfast, but sure, I can leave for 15 minutes for that", she answered.

And so we did. The bag behind me on the grass holds groceries I picked up on the way back from Rose City Park, to donate to the events for the teachers - a week of appreciation gifts for Wilson staff, organized by a woman who just had surgery, and another whose husband is battling stomach cancer.

If you want to get things done, ask busy people to help.