Thurston alumni fund scholarship to give back.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - Todd Jones and his old Thurston High School buddies believe they've hit on a great idea - one they'd love to see copied.

The 10 former classmates, all of them graduates of the Class of 1982, each forked over $100 this month for the first of what they plan to be an annual scholarship for a graduating senior. Depending on how many of their classmates jump on board, they may be able to award more than one in future years, Jones said.

"It started with me and it was just an idea," said Jones, who now lives in West Linn and works as media spokesman for State Treasurer Randall Edwards. "The thing I would just want to emphasize is it's just so easy."

Alumni scholarships certainly aren't unprecedented, but they appear to be rare at Eugene and Springfield high schools. Individual graduates have established scholarships at several of the high schools, often anonymously, but South Eugene was the only other school with a graduating class - 1954 - with a similar plan. That class, the first to graduate from South Eugene 50 years ago, will give its first scholarship next spring, counselor Laurene Larson said.

Jones and his nine friends - five men and four women, most of whom still live in the area - get together at least once a year, he said. When he posed the scholarship idea last winter, everyone agreed it would be a good way to give back to the school. Their high school years were good ones, he said, and Thurston prepared them well for adulthood.

"And all of us, too, were struck by the tragedy a few years ago and thought it would be nice to stay in closer touch with our school," said Jones, referring to the 1998 school shooting that left two students dead and many injured.

The friends wanted to award the scholarship to a student who might otherwise slip through the cracks, so they asked advice from Thurston counselor Gail Lang.

"She said it's the great kids who work hard and are very committed and contribute a lot, who everyone likes and respects, but they aren't (earning) the 4.0 GPA," Jones said.

Lang and other Thurston staff helped spread the word. From 10 applicants, Jones and a couple of others from his class interviewed three finalists and selected Tiffany Gibson.

"We knew that we just wanted to find a good kid, and what came through really well when we interviewed Tiffany is this is just a good person with a good heart," he said.

Gibson wants to be an athletic trainer and plans to attend Warner Pacific College, a Christian liberal arts college in Portland that costs about $23,000 a year. The school gave her a $5,000 track and field scholarship, and she may be eligible for an additional $5,000 dean's scholarship and a $3,000 grant, she said, although the dean's scholarship is a long shot because of her 3.4 GPA.

"It really, really does help a lot," she said of the scholarship. "It's kind of nice for me because other scholarships I applied for, I didn't get them because of my GPA. It made me feel good that they're doing something for kids in the middle. We still work hard."

Jones suggested that any other Class of '82 alumni contact Lang at Thurston at 744-5000 if they're interested in contributing to next year's scholarship fund.