When Lincoln High School Interact leaders heard 15-year-old Austin Gutwein speak to District 5100 Rotarians at their district conference a year ago, an idea began to take root:

The club, piloted then by President Sanja Ognjenovic and advised by Tonya Mjelde, would bring Austin to an assembly for all students at Lincoln…and schedule a freethrow shooting fundraiser in the gym to support children in Southern Africa orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

Months of planning culminated March 18 when Austin, arriving the previous evening with his mother from his home in Arizona, addressed an assembly at Lincoln. He brought both his story (of creating “Hoops of Hope” benefits) and his challenge: Young people, too, can make a difference in the world. Principal Peyton Chapman later observed that Austin is  ”a powerful speaker (with a ) wonderful story.” “Fantastic and inspirational,” added new Interact President Catherine Wu.

“Students were very absorbed with Austin’s speech,” said Sanja. “There was no mindless chatter in the audience. Most were impressed that Austin was able to accomplish so much by a young age. A lot seemed interested inn participating in our Hoops of Hope event.”

On the evening before the assembly, Austin met for dinner with key leaders of the Lincoln club, along with Mjelde and Lou Radja, president-elect of Pearl Rotary (sponsoring club for Lincoln Interact). Over lunch at Lincoln with Interactors, Austin led a brainstorming session for Lincoln’s fundraiser, scheduled Friday, April 22, 5-8:45 p.m. in the LHS gym.

Lincoln Interactors are now seeking freethrow-shooting participants and business sponsors for their Hoops of Hope event. Students and adults are invited to obtain sponsors and then join the effort. Said Wu:

“It is a shoot-a-thon where you can shoot hoops to raise money for the orphans of HIV/AIDS.” Wu encouraged visiting this link, created for the event, to sign up:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/lincoln-interact/11-hoops-of-hope-1/team<http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/lincoln-interact/11-hoops-of-hope-1/team>

Registrations will also be taken at the door April 22; a sign-up table during noon hours has been organized and Interactors have volunteered to staff it.

Observing the Interact club’s commitment to AIDS orphans, and interacting himself with Austin Gutwein, impressed Radja:

“Austin is an amazing young man, wise beyond his years. His great work through Hoops of Hope is amazing. I watched our Interact students hang on every word he said. Lincoln students at the assembly, as well as the LHS staff, were treated to an unforgettable assembly as Austin challenged: ‘You don’t have to wait to change the world. You can do it now!’ It was an honor for me to represent Portland Pearl Rotary and support our Interact students.”

(Pearl Rotary made a financial contribution to support Austin Gutwein’s visit. Interactors also successfully sought a grant from the International Studies Center.)

The April 22 basketball marathon at Lincoln occurs during the sixth year of Austin’s efforts. Hoops of Hope has spread around the world, since Austin, then age nine, first went to his school gymnasium and shot 2,057 freethrows one for each child who would lose a parent that day. While raising over $1 million, the foundation has built two medical clinics and a high school in Zambia, a school in India, two Hope centers in Swaziland and a water project in Kenya. The Lincoln fundraiser will support Austin’s international effort, which this year includes providing 1,000 filled backpacks at the Zambia high school he established.

Finalizing details on Lincoln Interact’s fundraiser for Hoops of Hope were Catherine Wu, left (president) and Advisor Tonya Mjelde.

Registration table for the April 22 Hoops of Hope fundraiser at Lincoln was organized this week by seniors Celia McLean and Megan Grout.

Hoops of hope

Hoops of Hope founder Austin Gutwein came from Arizona to Portland March 17-18 to promote a fundraiser this month at Lincoln H.S. for AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. Pictured with Austin, age 15, are (from left) Lincoln Interactors Catherine Wu (new president), Anna Cramer and Elizabeth Langford. In the back are Tonya Mjelde, Lincoln staff member and advisor, and Lou Radja, president-elect, Portland Rotary.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 April 2011 )

What did we learn at Step Up summer camp?

“I learned I could trust my self.”

“I can let myself trust others.”

“I can do what I think I can’t do.”

“I can reach my goals if I work hard and stay focused.”

“I will succeed with support from others, and I will ask for that support.”

Getting into college. Designing and building the best racing car. Becoming a nurse. Having a career as a massage therapist. Being a better, more positive person. These are goals we can achieve.

All this was heard at the Step Up summer camp held at Camp Tilikum outside of Newberg, OR. from August 24-28. Attended by 30 incoming high school freshman students of Step Up programs at various Portland schools, including Open Meadow, the camp focused on helping the students set a successful path for their high school careers.

Combining hard work and hard play in a fast-paced week, the camp program moved the students from questioning and defensive attitudes on Monday to clearsighted, positive visions by Friday about what they want to get done in high school and how they’re going to do it.

I attended the camp as a volunteer coach and a representative of Pearl Rotary Club which is partnering with the Step Up program at Open Meadow School, an alternative middle and high school program in North Portland. It was my honor to assist the students, Step Up staff and student Advocates, and to witness the surprising transformations that can happen in just one week.

Here are some highlights of Step Up summer camp as I observed and supported the students:

• Hearing these 14 and 15 year olds tell the stories of challenges they have faced in their young lives at home, in school and sometimes entirely on their own.
• Watching and supporting them as they faced the fears presented by a rope course test, from climbing 100 and more feet into the air on a stripped-down Oregon evergreen tree, to navigating a catwalk 50 feet above ground between two large trees, to making a big swing from high up another tree out over a lake flying initially at speeds of 50 mph or more. Yes, there were harnesses for support but their courage and fortitude were what truly marked their achievements.
• Seeing their dreams in the colorful drawings and posters they made to depict them.
• Cheering them on as they improved on their personal bests: In their second 1500-meter race of the week, as they challenged their times recorded in the first outing, every single one equalled or improved on his or her time — even though the second effort came near the end of a busy, exhausting week.
• Supporting them as they focused on their positives, articulating their strengths and how they planned to be successful high school students.

I was also very impressed with the skill, intelligence, high energy and patience of the Step Up staff and Advocate group as they moved students through an ambitious agenda with warmth, humor and great care.

At the end of the week, each camper went home with the direction he or she developed as guidance for the upcoming freshman year and beyond to graduation. Each headlined the result as “The New Me”, and indeed 30 very different incoming high school freshmen boarded the bus at week’s end to head home.

These Step Up students have every reason to be optimistic, knowing their program Advocates

– adult advisors assigned at the camp — will work with them, their teachers and their families some 15 hours weekly and support them throughout the coming year with mentoring, tutoring and counseling opportunities.

Another reason for optimism: Among those students who have participated in the Step Up program, up to 90% have graduated from high school, compared to not much more than 50% of non-participating peers.

Oh, yes, there is a New Me also, with these positives I developed at camp to put into action:

– Self-confident

– Risk-taking

– Focused on positive things of life

– Answering directly and truthfully

– Active

– Listening carefully

– Thinking of others

– Caring

– Letting go

Listed here just in case you don’t recognize me the next time you see me.

The words came in several ways–speeches, debate, music. But the message was the same: The three-year-old service to youth by Portland Pearl Rotarians is celebrated by both the club and Lincoln High School.

At the May 19 regular meeting, the program was shared in five ways–four offerings from students at LHS, and the final by Vice Principal Macaree Traynham.

Jessy Escobedo, president of the PPRC-sponsored Interact Club, announced to applause that over $2,000 was raised at the May 16 Portland Polio Walk. Students were joined with Rotarians, spouses and families to walk three miles on the first major event by the new club. The funds collected will go the Polio Plus effort of Rotary International and its goal of eradicating polio worldwide. Jessy is a junior at LHS.

Jessy Escobedo, president of the PPRC-sponsored Interact Club, announced to applause that over $2,000 was raised at the May 16 Portland Polio Walk. Students were joined with Rotarians, spouses and families to walk three miles on the first major event by the new club. The funds collected will go the Polio Plus effort of Rotary International and its goal of eradicating polio worldwide. Jessy is a junior at LHS.

Another junior, Annie Leonard, was the ninth (of ten) Lincoln students honored in the 2008-09 school year as students of the month. Her accomplishments and volunteerism are many, including countless hours committed to her school’s music and drama programs. She had a lead role in the spring musical, “Annie.”

Annie, the student, was joined by Jennie Sector and Victor Henriques in performing a musical number the third segment brought by LHS.

Next came a ten-minute point/counterpoint by four award-winning speech/debate students Jasmine Dickinson, Nathan Mathabane, Quinn Rolf, Stephen Kenyon. The question they argued: Do extremists make a positive impact on societal change? Rotarians were asked to judge which side was most persuasive. Accompanying the students was adviser Bart Millar, a LHS teacher.

Traynham, new to the Lincoln administration after similar stints at Benson and Jefferson, had praise for Pearl Rotary, Lincoln’s students and staff, and the accomplishments she has witnessed.

“We are strategizing to be the top international school on the West Coast,” she said. Among the efforts are expanding the sister high school relationship with a Chinese school and adding Mandarin to the foreign language offerings.

“Lincoln is at the top of its game,” she said. “The curriculum is in place; the programs are in place.”

But with a student population with 86% advancement to post-secondary education, Lincoln is in dire need for new facilities, Traynham advised. “We need a building for 21st-Century education.” That’s a prime goal of administrators, including Principal Peyton Chapman, and a group of volunteer advisers.

(A week earlier, Rotarians had heard from county board Chair Ted Wheeler who, after praising the students and staff at his alma mater, moaned the physical facilities at Lincoln. He reflected on times international educators visited schools like Lincoln in the past to observe innovation. Wheeler was candid about the school’s structure: “I would be embarassed to invite an educational leader (to Lincoln) today.”)

The end-of-the-school-year program by Lincoln students has become an annual event at Pearl Rotary, this time culminating the third year of expanding the connection. Rotary youth exchange, long a link between PPRC and LHS, continues this year with inbound Jonathan Sun, Wu-Yenn, Taiwan, who has attended Lincoln this year. LHS sophomore Joe Gulley will study in Mexico on the long-term program, departing in August. Naming of a June student of the month will conclude the third year of that endeavor. Second-year officers for the Interact Club will be elected before school ends. And during graduation exercises, Pearl Rotarians will make its second award of a $1,000 college scholarship.