Portland State Magazine Winter 2016

winter 2016 pORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 13 For six months Tymon Emch MEd ’13 taught in Peru, where he observed a disconnect between his school’s curriculum and the lives of the children it served. That is, until he helped create hands-on classes based on a love for art, music, archeology and writing, which inspired the children, particularly the teenagers. “I thought sincere, passionate learning opportunities could help combat teenage apathy,” says Emch, who had studied biology, chemistry and Spanish as an undergrad. “At the time I felt that providing an alternative to public education was the answer.” When he returned to Bend, Oregon, Emch organized after-school classes not taught by educators, but by artists and other members of the Bend community. The classes included screen printing, stencil graffiti, hip-hop, slam poetry and stand-up comedy, and some were taught in Spanish. Today, the program he founded in 2009, Cada Casa, has served about 450 students in after-school high school programs in Central Oregon and the Portland metro area, and more than 1,500 students through classroom programs. “We started with after-school programs, but found that pushing into the classroom was more effective. So we focused on pairing with teachers, writing grants, and entering the schools that way.” When Emch decided to attend PSU’s Graduate School of Education, the Michael and Marjorie Fiasca Scholarship helped offset his tuition. The scholarship is awarded to graduate students who plan to teach physical or natural sciences in Oregon schools. A native English speaker with a passion for Spanish, Emch was also part of the Bilingual Teacher Pathway, a scholar- ship program that supports bilingual teachers. Emch, 31, now teaches dual-language physics and chemistry at Beaverton High School and is educational director for Cada Casa. He plans to continue teaching while expanding Cada Casa’s reach in the Portland area. “It’s an opportunity for me to combine a lot of my passions.” Now a Tektronix product marketing manager and the mother of two young children, Sell, age 33, remains active at PSU. She men- tored two students last year from the MIM and MBA programs, and will mentor two more in 2016. In addition, she sponsored a PSU student capstone project with Tektronix focused on a new product manufacturing decision that grew into two projects. “The VP was impressed with the work and sponsored a follow-up project,” says Sell. “Although I changed jobs from operations to product line marketing, I stayed on as the primary contact for the PSU team. The final presentation was in December and the students rocked it.” In addition to her one-on-one work with students, Sell is a member of the School of Business Administration’s Graduate Alumni Ambassador Council and is involved with TiE Oregon, the local chapter of a global nonporfit that fosters the next generation of entrepreneurs through mentoring, education and angel funding. “I really do believe in giving back. You can never repay the people who helped you, so it’s all about paying it forward.”  Tymon Emch educator “You can never repay the people who helped you, so it’s all about paying it forward.” “I thought sincere, passionate learning opportunites could help combat teenage apathy.”