It’s awards season! Everywhere you look, folks are being celebrated for their achievements in music, film and television. Oscars, Emmys and Grammys are well-known trophies of excellence. Rotary, too, has a grand award. The Tualatin Rotary Club selects members of our community and honors them with a Paul Harris Fellow Award. The recipients are men and women who have assisted others and benefitted our community and people all over the world.
Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary International. He established the humanitarian organization in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois. The Paul Harris Recognition was initiated in 1957. It represents a $1,000 donation given to the Rotary Foundation in the name of a club member or in honor of a community advocate for justice and service. Many notable figures have been awarded a Paul Harris Fellow Award, including Mother Teresa, President Jimmy Carter, astronaut James Lovell and Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine.
The mission of the Rotary Foundation is to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty around the globe. To date, the foundation has contributed over $4 billion in life-changing and sustainable projects.
This year, The Tualatin Rotary Club selected Chris Lieuallen as the newest Paul Harris Fellow. Chris has been an exceptional teacher for English Language Learners in the Tigard-Tualatin School District. He consistently goes above and beyond expectations to ensure the success of his students.
In the Intercambio program, he trains high school students to mentor eighth-graders at Hazelbrook and Twality middle schools. The high school mentors take struggling students and give them the encouragement and skills to succeed in high school. Chris is now seeing former mentees becoming mentors at the high school level.
Lieuallen also reached out to Rotary and formed a collaboration with membership to enhance career choices for his students. Tualatin Rotary members visit Intercambio classes and offer advice and hands-on experiences to the students. Job shadow opportunities and interviewing techniques have also been provided. The partnership with Rotary has been beneficial to both the students and Rotarians.
Jeff Smith, former principal at Tualatin High School, asked Lieuallen to attend a Rotary Luncheon. Chris accepted, but stated that he needed to make sure that it would not interfere with tutoring math students during lunch. Lieuallen is often available for drop-in student help, guidance as a soccer coach, his expertise as a student tutor, and as an attendee at many school events.
“Chris is known for giving students a voice, encouraging their leadership, understanding different cultures, setting students up for success, breaking down barriers and teaching to the needs of each individual,” Smith said.
When COVID-19 arrived, everything about schooling changed. The Intercambio class that relied on a family mentoring model was moved to an onscreen activity. Personal encounters and class bonding were at risk. Lieuallen reinvented how mentoring could take place, and eighth-grade help has been ongoing. High school students realized that power lies in the attempts to make things happen. With Lieuallen as their guide, the program has thrived.
The Tualatin Rotary Club presented Lieuallen with the Paul Harris Fellow Award. He joins the ranks of other community members who have been relentless in helping others. He may not ever win a Grammy, but his contribution to our world is just as grandiose in the eyes of the Tualatin Rotary.
For more information about the Paul Harris Fellow Award visit: www.rotary.org/en/history-paul-harris-fellow-recognition.
If you would like to learn more about the Tualatin Rotary Club visit the website at www.tualatinrotary.org. New members are always welcome.
