Elizabeth Katona is the new development officer at the Saturday Academy, a program for elementary, middle and high school students that offers applied learning classes, workshops and internships. These opportunities place an emphasis on the sciences, math and technology.
Katona’s position at the Saturday Academy will include working directly for Executive Director Joyce Cresswell, as well as assisting with personnel at Portland State.
“The main thing we hope to do is to find friends and partners and to sell our program,” Cresswell said.
Saturday Academy is a self-funded program jointly allied with Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University.
“We do a fair amount of fundraising and we need a specialist,” Creswell said. Katona is that specialist.
The 18-year-old Saturday Academy’s sources of operating revenue include tuition, fees, grants and contracts, and gifts from individuals, businesses and foundations.
Katona has an extensive work history that complements her current position.
She was the executive director of Committed Partners for Youth of Oregon, a local nonprofit that provides mentoring services to young people.
Katona worked nationally as a technical and donor relations consultant to chapters of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She worked as a special events coordinator for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio.
Katona also has extensive background in education, having worked as a teacher and counselor for adjudicated juvenile delinquent girls Iowa.
She taught public school in New Jersey, in addition to directing a summer education camp and developing programs for youth in New Jersey. Katona is a graduate of Princeton and Case Western’s Weatherhead School of Management.
The Saturday Academy was founded in 1983 and serves 7,000-10,000 children in grades four through 12 through its programs each year. Saturday Academy operates in the four-county Portland/Vancouver area and through four other centers in Oregon. It is one of the largest pre-college programs in the country.
In the past, the Academy has offered such programs as: Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering (ASE); Advocates for Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics (AWSEM); Saturday Academy Applied Mathematics (SAAM); and the Student Watershed Research Project (SWRP).
Cresswell encourages Portland Sate students to get involved.
“We will find something for anyone who has a passion,” Cresswell said.
Right now the Saturday Academy is specifically looking for women students interested in helping young women get involved in science.
There is also opportunity for any graduate students willing to let high school students help them with their research during the summer. However, any willingness to help will be appreciated and utilized.
For more information, please contact Saturday Academy’s Joyce Cresswell at 503-748-1260 or visit www.saturdayacademy.org.