Eric Lofquist, Fourth Grade Teacher at Irvington School
Eric spent the early part of his life a bit disconnected. He was adopted as a small baby into a large family here in Portland. Not only was he the only adopted child, he was also the only person of color in the family. When his first child was born, a son, Eric finally understood what it was to feel connected – because someone else looked like him! Eric also had a roundabout road to his career, or as he calls it, a ten-year college road trip, ultimately finding his way back to Portland when he attended PSU for his Master’s Degree. Eric is now super-connected; he is a devoted hubby, hands-on dad to the son mentioned above and also to a young daughter (who never wants to be inside) AND he is teaching at his alma mater, the Irvington School. When Eric isn’t connecting with fourth graders in the classroom, he is keeping his toddler daughter dry as she ambles their Kenton neighborhood, planning his son’s ninja birthday party, and rocking a commute we can all envy - since his boy attends Kindergarten where dad went to school and currently teaches everyday. That’s a connection and then some.