On stage at the Zimmerman Community Center were 12 young people who have participated in a ten-week class sponsored by Pearl Rotary and Northwest Children’s Theater.

The Wednesday, March 20, staging of “The Mouse and the Lion” completed the weekly acting classes at Isobel’s Clubhouse. It was standing room only, ZCC’s director, Kris Moore, reported.

“Thanks to everyone at Portland Pearl Rotary Club for making this possible,” Moore said. “The children loved it.”

The sessions were led by Angie Collins (playing the lion, see pictures), First Stage Director for the children’s theater who led the weekly sessions. PPRC contributed $700; Rotarians are also volunteering for one-hour stints.

Added Moore: “The second round begins March 28. It’s already full.”

“Step Up is there for you! They help you stay on task. They don’t let you leave until your homework is done.”

That’s Royce Hayson talking. He’s a freshman at Madison High School in northeast Portland, one of a group of students in his class who are taking advantage of Step Up, an after-school program aimed at helping students launch successfully on the road to graduation. Hayson said he is achieving his goal this year of a 3.5 GPA and believes a 4.0 is possible for him.

In a recent presentation to Pearl Rotary Club, Hayson and his Step Up classmate, Sam Guy, praised the program for keeping them on track during the difficult freshman year when many students who are academically at risk of dropping out are challenged.

Guy said he has moved from a 1.7 GP average of the past to a current 3.0 GPA. He credits Step Up staff and classroom advocates for “being there” for students, “They believe in you; believe you can realize your goals”, he added. Guy allowed that he now has college aspirations and a desire to become an attorney.

Pearl Rotary is a community partner to Open Meadow School in north Portland which initiated the program. Rotarians have supported Step Up for the past three years, helping to underwrite costs and providing volunteer tutors. Step Up is also available at Roosevelt, Franklin and Gresham high schools.

At the club meeting, Don Barney, past president of Pearl Rotary and a volunteer tutor, presented a $4,000 check in support of Step Up to Sierra Hill, Step Up program manager and Nia Lewis, program coordinator at Madison (as the two students watched–see photo).

Ms. Hill thanked the club for its continuous support over the past three years, including the time and energy shared by Pearl Rotarians helping students complete homework assignments and special projects for English, biology, world studies and other classes. More than a dozen Pearl Rotarians have volunteered as Step Up tutors since 2009.

Pearl Rotarians participated recently as Madison High School’s Step Up program hosted a site visit from Portland City Commissioner Dan
Saltzman.

In his oversight role for Portland’s Children’s Fund which helps underwrite the Open Meadow School’s Step Up program operating in several Portland high schools, Saltzman met on Nov. 9 with administrators, teachers and students involved at the Madison location. Step Up is an after-school program aimed at supporting ninth-grade students at risk of dropping out during their high school years.

Saltzman visited classroom sessions and heard brief presentations from Open Meadow School Director Andrew Mason, Madison program director Sierra Hill and Pearl Rotary Club’s Don Barney. A past president of Pearl Rotary, Barney told Saltzman about the club’s partnership with StepUp that includes underwriting scholarships for students to attend a summer camp to prepare them for beginning their critical ninth-grade year. The club also provides volunteer tutors who attend the after-school sessions during the school year, working with students in need of assistance with homework and other academic assignments.

Barney shared his tutoring experiences assisting individual students, saying “all in all, it’s a very satisfying volunteer activity for myself and fellow Pearl Rotarians as we help these students take advantage of the opportunity that Step Up offers them to improve their grades and eventually graduate.” Other Pearl Rotarians participating in Step Up and Open Meadow programs this fall include Stan Swan, Marc Hillman, Anne O’Neill, Roger Meyer, Dave Clingan, Doug MacGregor Larry Berman and Katja Gluhr.

Mason, the director, expressed appreciation for the wide range of participation:

“The folks who showed up…were a great reflection of what we’re doing: focusing on kids with what they need in a way that delivers academic and social results. The commissioner walked away with a much better sense of the program and with a real flavor of the lives that the Children’s Levy is impacting. This is a big deal at a time of constricting budgets and increasing need for our families. Don (Barney) brought some great history with Dan (Saltzman) that translated into exciting action today on the part of the ever-welcome Portland Pearl Rotary.”