OPRF Local Scholarship 2023

We are thrilled to present our 2023 OPRF Community Scholarship to Mateo Nery! We had the pleasure of meeting Mateo at the awards ceremony this week and are blown away by all the tech-centered opportunities he has taken advantage of while at OPRF  Mateo is planning to study Engineering at Colombia University in New York. Like Terri, he also speaks Spanish! Mateo writes about some of his accomplishments in the STEM field while at OPRF: "Whether through designing wifi antennas and wooden crossbows in my four years of OPRF Science Olympiad, or learning the basics of circuitry and machinery through OPRF's engineering courses, I have had a myriad of amazing opportunities to explore the possibilities of engineering at OPRF. I even have explored the impact engineering can have on others through my research in OPRF's IRDI class, which allowed me to explore sustainable engineering by improving novel renewable energy sources. All of these incredible STEM experiences have been a product of OPRF's educational resources."

Congratulations, Mateo!

Golder Laptop Scholarship 2022

These four inspiring young people wrote essays that earned them a MacBook Pro Laptop! Congratulations to Golder alumni, Yesenia Ramirez and Alexis Delgado and graduating seniors, Michelle Perez and Diana Salazar.

Yesenia will begin her senior year at Lafayette College this fall pursuing a Computer Science degree. She is the Vice President of the Women in Computing Club on campus, which "focuses on providing a safe space for women and non-binary folks to express their experiences being in a male dominated field."

Alexis attends Wabash College where he is majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Business. He is a first generation student-athlete as a soccer player and the first person in his family to pursue a career in STEM.

Michelle will attend Gettysburg College in the fall and plans to major in Business Management. Throughout high school, she balanced her studies with teaching at both her church and dance studio. She enjoys giving back to her community and being a problem solver.

Diana moved to the US from Mexico in 2017 and learned English while studying at Golder. Diana gives back to her community by volunteering with senior citizens and hopes to pursue a career in service. She will attend National Louis in Chicago in the Fall.

Global Schoolhouse Initiative

Global Schoolhouse Initiative is a non-profit based out of Canada with a reach to just about every corner of the world (see maps 🌎). Their mission? To provide an education that promotes peace and resiliency. GSI states that "our system requires no teachers, no classrooms, and only one laptop per class. Our classes can be led by any literate adult or older child in the community. Most importantly, because our program requires no permanent presence, we can do the most good with our resources. One laptop can give thousands of children a fighting chance at a better future." GSI sends a curriculum that is developed by inspired educators, like Haley, and translated into the local language. This type of education helps children cope, "and act as a fortress against violence". In talking to its inspiring and driven founder, Yasmeen, we knew where the Terri Race Tech Fund's mission overlapped: you guessed it, the TECHNOLOGY!

Our donation will provide the technology equipment to the two newest schools in Quibdo, Colombia and Sumba, Indonesia.

OPRF Local Scholarship 2022

We are pleased to announce this years recipient of the OPRF Local Scholarship Award, Christopher Hedrich! Christopher will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the fall. Chrisotpher made an impact on the ORPF community as the president of Students in Service, a club that focused on women's social justice issues. This annual scholarship is always important to us to help fellow Huskie’s from Terri’s alma mater. Her 50th high school reunion is the same weekend as Terri’s Race (Oct. 2nd!) this year and we can’t wait to have her former classmates join us at the Race!

Opportunity Knocks

In 2019, we initiated a partnership with Opportunity Knocks and donated four desktop computers to support their programming for adults with disabilities. In 2021, we continued supporting this deserving organization with the donation of 2 SmartBoards!

Visit https://www.opportunityknocksnow.org/ to learn more about supporting this unique and worthy org. Their mission:

Opportunity Knocks is dedicated to enriching life and community. We exist to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as they live, work, learn, grow and connect within their community.