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class in the spring,” Stone said. Stone was one of, if not the only student who knew she’d be learning under the head of the university on that first day, but she was just as nervous as the rest of her peers. “When I got into the class my first thought was, ‘What did I just do?’” Stone said. “The first day it was super nerve-wracking. No one would raise their hand.” But if you know him, you’d understand how Krise’s approachable demeanor quickly dissolved the apprehension in the room. “He has this

— the pandemic, virtual learning. I was learning on the job,” says the director of special services at Chief Leschi Schools, operated by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. “Kids across the board were struggling.”But a surprising thing happened. Some special needs students actually thrived in virtual classrooms, free from the many distractions that can occur in a classroom full of kids. Others, however, had a harder time staying connected to school. “We had our case managers reach out to those families

=CwMYT9Zwwq4 Not only did Ojala-Barbour turn this passion into a degree, but his passion changed the landscape of PLU. That passion was celebrated last April during Earth Week, when about 60 students, faculty, staff and community joined Ojala-Barbour, PLU President Loren J. Anderson and Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Fred Tobiason to dedicate the Fred L. Tobiason Outdoor Learning Center. The native space behind the University Center has become a symbol of what one student, with a lot of on-campus support

excited and happy to be here,” said Cindy (Chipman) Miller ’88, a learning specialist. “I think the more people we have involved in our school the better.” In many ways, current PLU students who volunteer at the school do the same. Through engagement like the Big Buddy program, college students buddy-up with elementary school students to help mentor, nurture and live an example of what is possible. They give students a glimpse into who college students are, what is possible through education and show