Saquana Peterson, a 7th grader at Vernon Elementary in northeast Portland, earns a $1,000 scholarship from the Oregon College Savings Plan.
The Oregon College Savings Plan recently awarded $1,000 college savings accounts to 15 families in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest program. The awards were designed to help families realize their children’s full potential and start thinking about college.
Among the winners from Portland were Tasha Bilbrew, an 11th grader at Benson; Daniella Cabello-Martinez, a 6th grader at Harriet Tubman Leadership Academy; Isaiah Mortensen, an 8th grader at Trillium Charter School; and Saquana Peterson, a 7th grader at Vernon Elementary.
Working with their mentors to describe what they hope to achieve after college, the students used a number of creative formats to tell their stories, including web links, video raps, essays, poems and books.
The Oregon College Savings Plan works to educate the public that with good planning, funding a college education can be easier to achieve by starting with small investments that can grow substantially when it comes time for children to consider college.
The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.
