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!
Snow days in Portland, Oregon may slow the traffic down but not tennis at PAST&E. Check out our Tennis Director, John Block, and Program Director, Trenton Corvino, take wintertime tennis to another level!
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.
Members of the PAST&E Music club performed “If I Had a Hammer” at Artichoke Music last night at a tribute honoring the life of Pete Seeger. Artichoke Music is a non-profit organization supporting community music in Portland. The PAST&E performers played to a full-house. Over 20 performers offered their tributes through song, poetry or stories about the great champion of social justice. Our kids were among those performers offering tributes to a great life.
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.
Tuesday, January 7, local KGW new reporter, Art Edwards, spent the afternoon with PAST&E scholar athletes discovering the strong combination of tennis and academics that takes place at PAST&E every day.
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5th Grader Kassandra receiving an award for her Arthur Ashe Essay
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Last year, Portland After-School Tennis & Education (PAST&E) negotiated a 20 year lease agreement with the City of Portland to operate St. Johns Racquet Center. Now, our innovative youth development program has a permanent home. This bold move allows us step up our academic tutoring, athletic training and parent involvement with more program hours and parent tennis lessons. But there's still more to be done...
You've heard the Portland Public Schools reports: low-income children are experiencing only a 56% high school graduation rate. You are helping us change that statistic!
Our established partnership with North Portland Schools where over 84% of the children qualify for the free or reduced lunch program, and our work with teachers and after-school coordinators enables us to reach out to the most at-risk youth. Every student's family must apply for PAST&E year round scholarships for our tuition-free program, and in a well structured and safe environment children receive tutoring, learn academic strategies and life skills to foster self-sufficiency.
The impact of our program is measurable through our careful monitoring of attendance, grades, physical fitness, athletic enthusiasm and parent participation. And with a 100% high school graduation rate, our 22 graduates who have all gone on to 4 year colleges are setting the best example for our current scholar athletes. Children like Kassandra, a 5th grader who earned her scholarship 4 years ago, has seen their achievements and knows that she too can succeed in high school and college.
Because of your support...At PAST&E every child believes they can achieve in academics, athletics and life skills and with that...they will succeed.
When you give to PAST&E, you are joining the team of coach/tutors, parents, teachers, volunteers, businesses, foundations, national associations and community supporters who are dedicated to the success of every child.
Thank you for your support.
Warmly,
Danice Brown
Executive Director
P.S. We're changing the game for at-risk children in North Portland, will you make a donation today to help ensure children are prepared for academic and athletic success?
Are you a golfer, or do you know a golf enthusiast?
If so Portland After-School Tennis & Education is pleased to provide a great opportunity to our supporters. This Holiday, you can purchase a WinCo Foods Portland Open Foursome Package AND 4 rounds of golf at Ghost Creek and support PAST&E's year round programs at the same time!
Tickets for the WinCo Foods Portland Open are available only through the "Tickets Fore Charity" program, which means that every dollar of the purchase price of tickets goes directly to PAST&E. So you know that your donation will go the distance!
Follow the link to purchase the "Player's Package" and other great ticket packages today! And thanks for your support!
WinCo Foods Portland Open, Tickets Fore Charity
Thursday December 5th we stopped to remember Nelson Mandela in our Peace Circle. Our Executive Director shared some of his most moving quotes that continue to inspire. He will always be a hero for PAST&E scholar athletes, as an advocate for change, peace and understanding.
Making tennis accessible has helped PAST&E build a team environment involving parents, teachers, coaches and volunteers in the development of each scholar athlete. Join PAST&E and Player's Racquet Shop of Beaverton and you can receive great incentives from Player's and the Give!Guide.
$10 & up Yummy gifts from the Give!Guide
$50 & up Player’s Racquet Shop Gift
$100 & up Player’s Racquet Shop Re-String (a great value!)
$500 & up Player's Racquet Shop $75 Footwear Gift Card
Give to PAST&E through the Willamette Week Give!Guide (you'll find us by our full name or listed in Education!) and check out the other incentives at www.giveguide.org!