Sam Freshner, a former full-time police officer turned technical school teacher, has awarded a $5,000 scholarship for Milwaukie High School senior Catalina Castillo to attend the college of her choice.

Castillo immigrated to the United States with her parents and older sister and has a dream of becoming a police officer in the Portland metro area.

Castillo met Freshner in his beginning law-enforcement class at the Sabin-Schellenberg Professional Technical Center, which is part of the North Clackamas School District. The center offers area high schoolers the opportunity to explore career options and a technical education.

Freshner and his class provided confirmation that Catalina wants to fulfil her dream of becoming a police officer (she looks up to two distant relatives who are officers). Her hope is to attend Western Oregon University to study criminal justice and then join a local police department. Her primary objective in pursuing a career in law enforcement is to positively impact her community.

Freshner is a highly decorated former officer who has worked in Iraq as an international police trainer. He spent time with the U.S. Marshal Service and has been named a Washington State University outstanding alum.

Freshner last year won the Portland-area UberEDUCATOR contest by completing over 200 trips and bringing home hundreds of dollars for his classroom. His reward for the win was $5,000 for his school, which he decided to put toward a one-time scholarship for a deserving Sabin-Schellenberg student on May 22.