ABOUT
Dedicated to education and innovation for Dufur School.
Our Mission
The Ranger Pride Education Foundation engages the power of community, connects generous citizens with education, and provides resources for students to excel inside and outside of the classroom for Dufur School.
We focuse on two areas critical to enhancing and supporting education for the students of the Dufur School District; Education Funds and Scholarship Funds.
In 2021, the Dufur School Board of Directors established the Ranger Pride Education Foundation to continue to support the wide range of scholarships available to Dufur High School graduates and enhance the overall education experience for the entire student body and staff. Along with our mission, the vision of the foundation is to continue to build Ranger P.R.I.D.E: creating positive relationships and innovation with dedication to education.
Currently, the foundation encompasses two areas of focus, scholarship funds and education funds.
Our Scholarship Funds support Dufur graduates in reaching their post-secondary education goals, while our Education Funds support the wide variety of programs, activities, and electives at Dufur School.
If you would like to learn more about the Ranger Pride Education Foundation please contact Cynthia Kortge, Executive Director, at cyn.kortge@dufur.k12.or.us
CREATING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS & INNOVATION WITH DEDICATION TO EDUCATION
Our History
A story of Ranger Pride
Honoring a long history of community support
Like many small towns in rural America, Dufur has made the school the heart of our community. From the annual Homecoming parades through downtown past Kramer’s Market, to filling the fields and gyms no matter the activity or event, the community of Dufur will show up and always show their Ranger Pride. Over the years that support also began to include donations for small improvements and to continue to fund activities, curriculum, and events for students that may otherwise have been cut due to woefully inefficient state and federal funding.
Enter Sister Patricia Pfenning….
Sister Pat has been a beloved fixture in the community of Dufur for decades, and it was her influence initially that encouraged residents to continue to support the Dufur School District by gifting estates and opening scholarships and endowed funds to honor the legacy of loved ones. The small donations began to grow into larger donations, and in recent years it was determined that a scholarship foundation should be established along with the Jerri Walker DePriest Memorial Endowment Scholarship to assist the school with continued growth and further the investment opportunities for these community donations.
In March of 2020, as the pandemic began to change the face of education and all our lives forever, the Dufur School District Board of Directors searched for additional resources to find stability in the face of mounting uncertainty. To this end, the scholarship foundation in its current form was retooled and reestablished as the Ranger Pride Education Foundation with a dedicated Board of Trustees made up of community members and district staff, and an Executive Director to manage the funds and daily operations.
With tremendous thanks to Sister Patricia and our humble beginnings, the Ranger Pride Education Foundation now encompasses nine different scholarships and five additional education funds totaling over $2.2 million dollars with plans to double in size in the next five years to support even more students and additional programs for Dufur School.