Thinley Lama may still be trying to master fractions, but he’s already got his eye on a college degree.
And thanks to a generous Portland couple, the 10-year-old’s dreams of going to college appear more attainable.
Thinley, a fifth-grader at Grass Valley Elementary School in Camas, was recently accepted into the Marathon Education Partners program. The Portland nonprofit selects three or four fourth-graders in Portland and Clark County each year to join the scholarship program.
Even though Thinley still has to tackle middle and high school, he said it feels good to be selected in the college scholarship program.
“It feels surprising to know a stranger is saving for me,” he said.
The program identifies bright, low-income children and pairs them with sponsors who set aside $100 per month for 10 years to help cover the costs of college tuition.
The children are identified by elementary school principals and teachers. The children and their parents then go through an extensive application process, which includes interviews and essays, before being selected for the program.
The program currently has 70 scholars and 83 partners, said Teresa Baldwin, Washougal School District Superintendent and program trustee. Today, more than $800,000 is pledged for student scholarships, with about one-third of that money secured in investments, she said. Once in college, the students can access the money.
The program began in September 2002, and a year later began accepting Clark County children. Today, 13 fourth- to 11th-graders from Clark County are in the program, Baldwin said. Thinley is the most recent local student to be accepted.
Thinley and his father, Tsultrim Chama, moved to Camas from Nepal three years ago. When they arrived, Thinley spoke no English. After a year of working with two tutors, Thinley became fluent.
Thinley said he enjoys all of the core school subjects — math, reading, writing and science — and outside of the classroom, he spends his time playing basketball and skateboarding.
His desire to play basketball is what encouraged Thinley to learn English, he said. Before learning the language, he couldn’t communicate with the other children on the court. Basketball also played a role in him being accepted into the scholarship program.
During the interview process, children are asked about a time when they had a problem with another student and how they solved it, Baldwin said. Thinley explained that he had a hard time making friends, but he liked shooting hoops. So one day, Thinley stood beneath the basketball hoop and retrieved the ball after another boy took a shot. He continued to retrieve the basketballs as more and more children joined in the game. After that, Thinley said, all of the children became his friends.
“That story showed deep intellectual problem-solving at such a young age,” Baldwin said.
Thinley’s problem-solving capabilities, coupled with his and his father’s dedication to education, made Thinley a perfect candidate for the program, Baldwin said.
Last month, Thinley met Charlie and Karen Waibel, his sponsors, for the first time.
The Waibels both obtained multiple college degrees — Charlie his doctorate, Karen her master’s — and value education, Charlie Waibel said. Karen works as a second-grade teacher and Charlie as an investment consultant to foundations and endowments. They’ve also put their two adult sons through college, one of whom is now in law school.
“Between all of our education and our kids’ education, we’ve been financing education for most of our adult lives,” Waibel said. “And now that we’ve taken care of ourselves, we have the ability to take care of someone else.”
When Charlie Waibel completed high school, he relied on scholarships to pay for his education, he said.
“I couldn’t have done that if somebody hadn’t opened that door for me,” Waibel said. “This is an opportunity to pass along something to somebody else as it was passed on to me.”
Thinley’s family has built a strong foundation based on education and learning. That, Waibel said, will help Thinley to succeed in Camas and beyond.
“Everything is a possibility for him,” Waibel said. “What you would hate to see is a bright, capable, intelligent person fall short of realizing his potential because of some restraint that keeps him from doing everything he can.”
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.
