RPA student group gives $5,000 to nonprofits

The Redmond Proficiency Academy is pleased to announce that its Community 101 class awarded four grants to local nonprofits at RPA’s annual academic awards ceremony, A Night of 100 Stars, on May 12th.

The grants are a part of the Oregon Community Foundation and the PGE Foundation’s Community 101 program.

Students in the Community 101 course were tasked to identify an issue in their community to support, identify nonprofits that work with that issue, and review grant applications received from nonprofits. This year students focused on the issues of sexual violence and relationship violence.

The grant recipients this year are Healing Reins, KIDS Center, Saving Grace, and an in school grant to RPA’s counseling department. Each of these organizations will use grant funds to fund programs in line with the Community 101 class’ mission to support efforts in the local community to address the causes and effects of sexual violence and relationship violence.

The grants this year range in values between $500 and $2,000 and are based on the amount requested and the alignment of the organization’s plans for the funds with the student’s stated mission. The PGE Foundation provides the funds that students will distribute as grants.

The year-long course allows students to investigate the needs of their community and then make a major contribution to that need. Making these decisions can sometimes be tough.

“There are so many incredible organizations in our community that our school would love to support,” said senior Una Wagner. “Really, it comes down to what we as a group feel best addresses the specific focus of our class.”

This is the second year that RPA’s Community 101 program has awarded grants. The year long course focuses on developing students understanding of the issues facing their community, the nonprofits that service them, and creating awareness of the issue they select within the school community.

This year, in an effort to support their mission statement students organized a Sexual Assault Awareness Week during the last month of April that included speakers from Saving Grace, and an awareness campaign. Last year’s topic was suicide prevention.

Community 101 instructor Ryan McLaughlin said, “I was extremely impressed with the commitment the class showed towards their topic this year. Community 101 empowers students with the tools to make significant change in their community and to see the students take that responsibility seriously is extremely fulfilling as an educator.”

Administered by the Oregon Community Foundation and the PGE Foundation, Community 101 is a classroom based program that provides student leadership and civil engagement through charitable giving. Community 101 students have granted over $2.2 million to Oregon nonprofits since 1997. For information about how to become involved or to sponsor a class at your local high school, please contact Jennesa Datema, The Oregon Community Foundation, 503-227-6846.