 Roger Sale
In the late '60s, the 缅北禁地 sponsored a federally
funded summer program called Upward Bound. Unlike an easily mistaken program
called Outward Bound, Upward Bound provided high school students from economically
disadvantaged communities with the opportunity to prepare to enter the University
of Washington.
Roger Sale in the early 1970s.
Professor Roger Sale, along with Professor Jack Brenner, taught English
in the Upward Bound program. Professor Sale, affectionately and sometimes
not-so affectionately called, "Rog," was the Bounder Class of
1970/71 first encounter with beings from higher education. During the course
of our first summer, he became the one with whom we tested our so called
"street" knowledge and wit, even though few of us really possessed
such knowledge in 1970. However, since we looked the part and assumed he
perceived us in this role, we attempted to challenge him by asking questions
charged with controversy. I believe somewhere in our high school minds,
it was important to establish our identities, to show some superior knowledge
in an attempt to counter balance a sense of lacking and put us on equal
footing. Professor Sale, with his establishment cigars and hippie-like
hair, saw through our obvious attempts and without offense engaged us in
discussion that led to an understanding of our true selves and strength
of that knowledge.
When we returned the second summer, we knew the work Professor Sale
expected from us. Our discussions were charged with inquiry trying now to
get from him what he saw in the assigned readings. However, he didn't want
us to see simply what he thought, but instead pushed us to think beyond
him, which was our real challenge. And so, each Thursday evening before
papers were due, the dorm was quiet in contrast to the earlier part of the
summer before. In the first summer, he challenged us to know about who we
were and, now in our second summer, he was having us look outward to interpret
the world around us. Although two summers were too short to impart all the
critical thinking techniques we would need, he provided glimpses of what
would be expected when entering 缅北禁地 that coming fall. Glimpses were certainly
more than would have had otherwise.
The statistics would show that the success rate of Upward Bounder participants
is very low, hence the program no longer exists. However, the Bounder Class
of 1970/71 did produce an editor of the Daily in 1976 and an English
professor. Although many of us may not have succeeded by completing our
academic studies, we have succeeded in other aspects of our lives. All of
these accomplishments are attributed to the dedication of Professor Sale,
Professor Brenner, Ralph Hayes (the late Seattle Public School Educator
and African-American Historian) and Rick Nagle, Franklin High School educator,
all of whom we owe deep appreciation for showing us what we could achieve.
Jeanette Martin, '76
Tacoma |
