A Clackamas Community College student from Canby has been selected, along with another CCC coed, to be honored April 26 at the annual All-Oregon Academic Team luncheon in Salem.
The state’s 17 community colleges participate in the annual event, each one nominating two outstanding students for their academic achievements and community involvement. Members of the team receive a scholarship to an Oregon four-year college or university to continue their educations.
Natalia Rodriguez is a lifelong Oregon resident, having grown up in Canby in a bicultural home. Her mother is from the U.S. and her father is from Mexico.
“I am so grateful for two very different aspects of the world I got from each of my parents,” she said.
She is the vice president of the Clackamas Community College Associated Student Government and will be graduating from CCC with a transfer degree. She plans to attend Concordia University to earn a master’s in elementary education and a master’s in teaching. Her goal is to become an elementary school teacher.
Also chosen was Lizajane Gray, of Estacada. Before returning to college to study geology at Clackamas Community College, Gray earned a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology at the University of Oregon. She looks forward to attending Portland State University this fall to complete a bachelor of science in earth science.
Within the field, she will pursue a career in research focusing on how to lessen the negative effects of human impacts on the environment and the intricate interactions between life and nonliving matter at the microscopic level.
All of the members of the 2019 All-Oregon Academic Team winners will start the day on April 26 at the Oregon State Capitol, where they will have the opportunity to meet Gov. Kate Brown. The lunch event honoring them later will take place at the Salem Convention Center.