Donations
If you would like to make a monetary, stock, or vehicle donation, please click this link, Donate Now! It is through the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations in our community that SA is able to offer programs to all interested students in the Portland Metro & SW Washington area. Thank you for your support!
Get Involved and Make a Difference!
Volunteer--Adults from our community who are willing to share their skills and passions with young people make Saturday Academy great!
Do you have a career or hobby that you would love to share with interested kids?
Done-In-A-Day Volunteer Opportunities
Are you interested in sharing your career or professional skills with kids on a short-term project? CLICK HERE for details about our single day volunteer needs.
Teach in our classes program
If there is a class you would like to teach, or one you would like to see offered, please call our Classes Program Director at 503-200-5856 Or, E-Mail Us!
Mentor a young scientist or engineer
Mentor a student during the summer at your workplace. Call our Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering Program Director at 503-200-5860. Or, e-mail the ASE Program.
You can learn more details about mentoring by clicking here.
Class Observation by Simona Patange
The lights are dimmed at the studio of Oregon Public Broadcasting. Under the glaring white lights sit five girls at a table. They talk and giggle nervously, arranging their notes in a neat stack. In the shadows, two more girls talk quietly, dwarfed by the enormous cameras next to them. In the control room are three girls who slip on headphones a little too big for them while they memorize the order in which they must press the switches once their cue comes.
Back in the studio, everyone falls silent as the director holds up her hand. At the cue from the control room, she points to the table and slips back into the shadows.
Like magic, the studio is transformed.
In the control room there is now a switcher, an audio technician, and a teleprompter. In the darkness of the studio stand two camera operators. And the five talkative girls at the table are nowhere to be seen. Sitting in their places are a zookeeper, two zoologists, and an environmental critic.
The moderator is seated at the head of the table. She smoothes her pale pink skirt and smiles sweetly at the camera. "We welcome you to today's panel," she begins, "where we will be discussing zoos…"