Portland After-School Tennis & Education at St. Johns Racquet Center receives $19,000 grant from Nike to make the sport of tennis accessible to disadvantaged children and to provide them with positive role models, tutoring and life skills through neighborhood tennis and education programs.

The Nike Employee Grant Fund was established in 2010 to benefit communities where Nike employees live, work and play. Through this fund, Nike employees work to award at least $550,000 per year to nonprofits and schools in the Metropolitan Portland region and in southwest Washington. Nike employees not only participate in the review of grant applications, but also volunteer their time and expertise to contribute to the grantees' success.

Portland After-School Tennis & Education Scholar Athletes proudly display the batiks they created to thank Nike.

Dr. Ernest Hartzog was elected as the first Lifetime, Honorary member of the Board of Directors of Portland After School Tennis and Education (PAST&E). A Scholarship Fund for PAST&E Scholar Athletes graduating from High School has been established in his name.

Dr. Hartzog founded Portland After School Tennis in 1995. A widely respected community leader, educator, scholar athlete and mentor, Dr. Hartzog serves on the PAST&E Board of Directors and was its first President.

Dr. Hartzog is a leader in the civil rights movement. He earned a master’s degree at San Diego State University and New York University. He earned his doctorate in psychology and human behavior at the United States International University. Dr. Hartzog was named San Diego’s first black high school principal serving at Lincoln High School. He was instrumental at ending years of unrest and civil rights demonstrations in the high school’s community. He served in education and community leadership positions throughout the nation retiring in 1992 as Assistant Superintendent of Portland Public Schools.

He was a charter member of the 5,000 member National Alliance of Black School Educators and served as president from 1979 to 1981. He was founder and first president of the Oregon Alliance of Black School Educators. He continues membership in these organizations. Dr. Hartzog has taught at every level of education and served on the advisory boards of the “I Have a Dream” Foundation and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. He was founder and now serves as a board member of Building Blocks To Success a youth LEGO Robotics program in Portland. He is a member of Sigma Pi Phi Boulé and serves on the board of directors of the African American Male Achievers Network based in Los Angeles, California and Cape Town, South Africa.

Dr. Hartzog continues to play and serve the sport of tennis. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Northwest Section of the United States Tennis Association and was the first Chair of the Multicultural Participation Committee of the Pacific Northwest Section of the USTA. He is a member of Sunset Athletic Club where he plays tennis at least twice weekly.

Dr. Hartzog served his country on two tours of duty in the United States Army in both World War II and the Korean War. He and his wife Marilyn live in Portland.

Thursday, February 13th the men's tennis teams from Portland State University and Pacific University visited PAST&E to help celebrate Black History Month. Players spent the afternoon teamed with our Scholar Athletes learning about notable African American tennis players, making friendship bracelets, and playing tennis. Check out this video provided by the Portland State Vikings!

2014-2015 PAST&E Board of Directors
Pictured left to right: Mike Nakajima, past chair; Bob Howard, chair; David Aoyagi; Nathan Roach, Vice Chair; Harry Aldrich; Matt Semler; Danice Brown, Executive Director; Elise Orban; Jonathan Stark. Not pictured: Brian Joelson, Dr. Ernie Hartzog and Anna Arodzero, Secretary

2014 promises to be an exciting year for Portland After School Tennis and Education (PAST&E). PAST&E will soon kick-off its first ever capital campaign to expand the classrooms and amenities at the St Johns Racquet Center. PAST&E now operates the Racquet Center for the benefit of the education and athletic programs provided to over 600 low-income children a year in north Portland.

Our Executive Director, Danice Brown begins her 8th year as the heart and soul of the program. She brought education to the program and has built a program that fosters self-sufficiency in our young scholar athletes, helping children develop the skills and confidence necessary to succeed in school and beyond.

The new Board members beginning their terms in 2014 are Anna Arodzero, Coca Cola Company; Harry Aldrich, entrepreneur; David Aoyagi, DART Equity LLC; Matt Semler, Advanced Vascular Dynamics; and Jonathan Stark, Gameday Media.

The returning Board members are: Bob Howard, incoming Chair, retired Pacific Gas & Electric Company; Nathan Roach, incoming Vice Chair, Adidas; Mike Nakajima, immediate past Chair, Nike; and Brian Joelson, Umpqua Investments; and Elise Orban, volunteer.

Dr. Ernie Hartzog, Ph.D., our founder, retired educator and senior administrator with Portland Public Schools and honoree with numerous national leadership positions is elected as our first lifetime honorary member of the Board.

PAST&E Scholar Athletes are participating in a Pennies for Peace campaign now through February 20th. Pennies for Peace is a service-learning program designed to broaden our students' cultural horizons while teaching them about their capacities as philanthropists - one penny at a time.

Pennies for Peace is a program affiliated with the Central Asia Institute (CAI), that promotes and provides community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Central Asia. Founded in 1996, CIA has built, to date, nearly 100 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which serve more than 28,000 students - over 14,000 of whom are girls. How can a penny bring peace? It doesn't buy much in our community. However, in the villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, a penny can buy a pencil, start an education, and transform a life. In a region where terrorist organizations recruit uneducated, illiterate children, that pencil can empower a child to read, write, and learn. The goal of PAST&E's involvement in the Pennies for Peace program is to encourage our scholar athletes, who are ultimately our future leaders, to learn the value of philanthropy by collecting pennies for global peace.

Our scholar athletes will join tens of thousands of students around the world who are participating in the Pennies for Peace program and who are working together to become members of a global family dedicated to peace. Pennies will be collected and deposited by scholar athletes in each classroom. Who will collect more "pennies for peace"...the Chimps? Elephants? or Cheetahs?

To learn more about Pennies for Peace visit: www.penniesforpeace.org.