2020 SASEE Awards

Lake Oswego Rotary Club 2020 SASEE Awards

Brian Bice, SASEE Co-Chair

The Rotary Club of Lake Oswego presented its annual SASEE Awards before a sold out crowd at a banquet on February 26 at the Tualatin Country Club. The SASEE is the most prestigious award presented to students, educators, and others who support education in Lake Oswego. Twelve individuals received the SASEE award at the event, in addition to nine finalists.

Recipients of the SASEE Award receive what organizers refer to as a "pay it forward" prize. Students, educators, and staff recipients are each given a one-thousand dollar prize, which they must donate to a charity, school, or other nonprofit of their choice. Community citizen award recipients are honored with a three-thousand dollar Rotary scholarship presented in their name to a graduating high school senior who lives and/or attends school in Lake Oswego.

Lake Oswego School District Superintendent Lora de la Cruz delivered the keynote address, in which she discussed the importance of honoring community members who support education. She described her experiences as a classroom teacher, and her realization that there were scores of people who contribute to the process of educating a child. She went on to say that she was proud to serve on the SASEE steering committee and to participate in the program's stated goal to recognize individuals whose words and actions help to improve learning in the community.

Along with Dr. de la Cruz, other presenters included Senator Rob Wagner, who also serves as Chair of the Lake Oswego School Board, and Christine Moses, a long time advocate of diversity, inclusion, and equity in schools and in businesses.

The SASEE Awards have been presented in Lake Oswego for the past four years. SASEE is part of its ongoing commitment to supporting education in the community. The SASEE Awards help the Rotary Club to fund its annual scholarships, which this year will total more than twenty thousand dollars.