“Our Happy Place”

Hello family and friends,

We hope this message finds you all in good health and high spirits. Here at SSYO, we have officially wrapped up our awesome summer school season! Our staff, students, and interns have all been basking in the positive vibes and vibrant energy of what we like to call “our happy place.” You see, RISE Summer School is an especially unique program here at SSYO. So much so, that we often refer to it as “our happy place.” What makes it so happy or special you may ask? Well, let's dive into that.

​Every year for four weeks in the middle of summer, a highly trained and experienced team of professional Corvallis educators generously choose to come make some magic happen with us here at SSYO. This team of real-life superheroes are the most critical ingredient in the recipe of RISE Summer School. They are our version of The Avengers as far as their passion, hearts, and skills for working with kids. On top of that, RISE Summer School is our strongest funded program, which provides the resources for SSYO to include tons of fun activities in the program on a regular basis. Last but not least, there are the priceless young lives that we adore. These youth absolutely love attending our program over the summer. They can feel that it's more than just another school thing. It's not just a place to be babysat. It's not just people keeping them busy because they're getting paid to do so. These young lives are loved, known, challenged, and invested in here at SSYO by amazingly authentic people who share a genuine desire to “build strong, young lives.”

A growing component of RISE Summer School is the awesome internship program. Every year, our staff identifies and recruits 15-20 middle school students to serve as interns. Most volunteer and receive appreciation gift cards (mostly from Dutch Bros Coffee), and a few are paid interns. These totally cool young adults help with everything from cleaning to administrative tasks to playground supervision. The interns learn invaluable leadership skills while the younger students feel loved and looked after by the generation in front of them. We’re convinced that this cross-generational service from older youth to younger youth is yet another layer of cultural intentionality that sets SSYO apart from every other youth service.

As always, we as a staff want to say thank you all so very much for your continued support and prayers. It is all of you, the donors, that enable the SSYO magic to happen here at “our happy place” and through every other program here. Enjoy the rest of your summer and stay cool out there.

Sincerely,
Liavaa “Jake” Moevao

​Jake Moevao

Liavaa Iakopo Moevao is known to most as “Jake.” Jake is the Executive Director here at SSYO. Prior to joining the team here, Jake served as a Youth Pastor at Calvary Corvallis & has also been involved with coaching high school varsity football at both Santiam Christian & Crescent Valley. Jake is very passionate about doing family & leadership well. Outside of work, Jake loves spending time with his wife & daughters, hanging out with family, traveling, watching sports, and having time alone to play sports video games.