Linfield faculty, students and staff recently hosted 90 children from Alder Elementary School in Portland.
Alder Elementary School, the second highest school in Oregon for poverty, was adopted by the Oregon chapter of “I Have a Dream,” and the project will give Alder Elementary students the support necessary to graduate from college. Hundreds of students, including more than 100 children without homes, will be tracked for the next 15 years.
“As principal at Alder Elementary, Paz has an audacious goal,” says Dan Preston ’83, who serves as Linfield’s vice president for Enrollment Management and attended college with Ramos, who graduated from Linfield in 1984.
“Paz wants every student who passes through his elementary school to complete high school and pursue some form of post-secondary education,” Preston says. “Linfield is honored to partner with him in this endeavor. Having Linfield host the Alder Elementary fifth graders is a great experience that can help transform these young lives.”
“I’m so grateful for my college experience,” says Ramos. “My Linfield professors and coaches trusted me and invested in me, and they gave me hope. That’s what we want to do for our kids at Alder.”
Check out a VIDEO about the “I Have a Dream” project, produced by Kaiser Permanente Community Fund of NW Health Foundation.
