Sometimes I feel guilty about getting to go to such a nice school. I mean we get to walk around on a beautiful sixty acre campus, and work in aesthetically pleasing buildings. Yes we are fortunate to have the money to go Catlin Gabel, and I think most of the students realize that. There are snobs to be sure but they are not representative of the larger portion of the student body.

This is why I get really pissed off by the commentsh on the article, "Students watch history unfold" on the Portland Tribune. The article discussed our schools upcoming trip to Cuba, and discusses our reasons for going there. Immediately after the Tribune published their article several people lept on the comments section to rant about one of two things: either how naïve we were to visit a communist country or how spoiled we were to go to $21,000-a-year school.

Let's talk about the first comment:

Why in the world is Catlin Gable sending students to a totalitarian dictatorship like Cuba? What's next North Korea? Iran?

This is utterly inappropriate.

"Topper"

North Korea doesn't let people in, and parents would never send their kids to Iran for fear they would get blown up.
One person, who became one of the main contributers to the blog latter on, had this question to ask:

It is wonderful that you think that a dialogue with Cuba will improve the situation. A dialogue with whom, Anna? Elian Gonzales, perhaps? He would likely tell you that the specially picked and funded school he has attended these last few years is really nice. People who have been turned into tools for propoganda often give glowing reports of the things they are supposed to give glowing reports about.

Will you be able to open lines of communication with political opposition leaders? Given that the Cuban government has prohibited home stays, I don't think the likelyhood of that is very high, do you? So your dialague will be limited, controlled, screened, and very likely scripted. Other than that, a free and open exchange of ideas. Somehow, I doubt your teacher has mentioned that much.

"Chris"

Seriously, Chris? You really think we don't know this? How could anyone go to a top-notch school, spend months preparing for the trip and not be acutely aware of the political situation in Cuba? How could anyone with access to internet, TV, and reality in general not be aware of this? Of course the kids going there are aware that they are visiting a heavily regulated society and will not be given accurate facts. They'll make up a ton of crap about how the United States is evil, and expect us to buy it.

Our kids are going their knowing full well that they will get inaccurate information. That's why they're traveling around the country instead of just going to Cuba's state run Granma. They control the press, but not direct communication.

Cozying up to communist dictatorships...swell. maybe Catlin Gable Admin can take their kids to Gaza next so they can be dupes of Hamas, and lay down in front of an IDF bulldozer. That worked out real well the last time.

Leftist stupiidity and a skewed world view, is what passes for a high school education these days?

Don't be suprised why the military arrests up your kid in some third world dung heap chanting Koranic verses.

This is flirting with treason.

"Veteran"

I don't consider this particular poster to be particularly representative of the average Joe, but his "cozying up to communist dictatorships" comment sounds a lot like the shit you hear from our administration, namely that it somehow makes us look tough to turn our nose up at dictators, and that any attempt to improve relations with their people is a sign of weakness.

Look, this is a humanitarian mission, not a diplomatic one. They aren't trying to forge bonds with the government, they are trying to understand the people.

Despite my disappointment with the views of commenters on the website, I mostly got pissed off at the negative attitude toward Catlin Gabel:

I just hope the Cuban people don't think all Americans are like this group of self absorbed rich kids. I bet while they're there they'll all have a private room and bath, be chauffeured around in an air conditioned motor coach and talk about how their government gives people the shaft while mommy and daddy counts the hundreds of thousands of dollars filched from unsophisticated investors and home owners who have gotten screwed by the Enron, WorldCom, S&L, subprime, etc., etc. etc. debacles.

Question authority! And the first question should be "where did Mom and Dad get all that money and at whose expense?"

Strange, when I visited Costa Rica in eighth grade, I stayed in a house the size of my living room, walked down unmaintained roads with grey water flowing along the sides, and we did work for the school. We had a couple of days of relaxation at La Playa de Manuel Antonio, and we took a zip line ride through the Monteverde Canopy, but other than that, it was work.

I find it ironic that students from a school whose annual tuition is more than many families in Oregon earn in a year are going to Cuba on a "humanitarian mission." You want to be a humanitarian? Take that $21,000 annual tuition and give it to a poor family in Oregon and attend a public school.

Put another way, Catlin Gable's 700 students' tuition totals about $15 million a year - the total income of about 1,100 families trying to get by on minimum wage.

When the kids come back to their McMansions in the 'burbs they can pat themselves on the back while ordering their favorite beverage at the club and laugh at the pool boy trying to work his way through community college.

Freakin' hypocrites.

Yes, it costs $21,000 to attend Catlin; that's why roughly a third of the student body requires financial aid from the annual Rummage Sale we put on in the Expo Center every year. Catlin gives its students a superb education, and the students who don't agree generally do end up going to schools like Lincoln or Riverdale. Education is a worthy thing to spend money on, and most parents have to work pretty hard to afford it. As one student said:

This is a stereotype I've run across too often in the community, and it really disappoints me. Yes, I go to a private school with a $20,000 tuition fee. But that doesn't mean I go home to a "McMansion." Actually, I go home to a three-acre farm in rural Oregon where my family raises herds of sheep. I don't pay for my schooling. Catlin does. I'm on a scholarship and financial aid, and while my parents do pay a few thousand a year, that doesn't make us rich or wasteful. Both of my parents are retired military veterans who donate a lot of their funds to the VFW to support other veterans who weren't so lucky as to return home with all their limbs. My mom's a teacher and my dad's a 12-hour shift maintenance worker in an electronics facility. Those aren't exactly high-paying jobs. But my parents believe that education is an important asset, especially an education like Catlin's where community service and philanthropy is THE foundation to the school, and so they've sacrificed a lot to put me here. Perhaps you're familiar with I Corinthians 13, a passage in St. Paul's letters that emphasizes charity. Corinthians is Catlin's school chapter, and every student learns and recites it-- every year.

None of the students at Catlin is a stuck-up rich person. There are a few, I'm sure, who go home to huge houses with maids and things like that. But the majority of the students are here on financial aid that they earn through their academic achievements and dedication to school projects like the Rummage Sale, which raises money for financial aid every year. All of my friends have average-sized houses in the suburbs, like many of their friends, who go to Lincoln, Westview, Southridge, and other public schools. Just because we don't go hungry at night doesn't mean we don't care about those who do. There are tons of clubs and groups at school dedicated to community and charities like the Blanchett House, Portland Rescue Mission, Habitat for Humanity, and A Child's Place. Catlin has endowments from rich families in the area, not necessarily rich families who send kids to school there.

"Dakota"

Catlin Gabel doesn't shy away from the fact that we are fortunate to go to this school, and yes, I believe that the last verse of I Corinthians 13 does epitomize the Catlin spirit: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." Our school and its students are not predominately religious, yet we hold this as fundamental guideline to how we treat others in the community.