BY KAREN BOSSICK
I Have a Dream Foundation-Idaho wants you to “Dream Big.”
The organization is having its inaugural benefit dinner and celebration Wednesday, Aug. 24, at The Argyros.
Cocktails will start at 6 p.m. followed by a dinner, live auction and paddle raise at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available at www.ihdfidaho.org or by calling 503-896-6977.
I Have a Dream, which provides tutoring support and financial incentives to pursue college or vocational education following high school, graduated its first class of Dreamers in May. More than 40 of the students the program has been following since fourth grade graduated on time, except for one who planned to make up credits this summer.
The program began working with a new crop of first-graders this past school year and 150 of the students and their family members turned out for a potluck feast at Idaho Base Camp’s Roots Enrichment Center in Bellevue.
The program plans to welcome 22 new third-grade Dream Scholars and their families this coming fall. And it hopes to sponsor a class at Hemingway STEAM School in the Fall of 2023.
“We are eager to expand our programs so we can make room for all the families who would like to participate in our programs in the future,” said Laura Rose-Lewis, the executive director of the program.
This summer I Have a Dream is partnering with the Blaine County School District and YMCA to support more than 250 students in Summer Bridge, a five-week program that combines academic programs with camp activities. It also is partnering with Wood River High School on programming that helps WRHS students recover credits lost so they can move forward with their peers.