Looking up to experienced upperclassmen and helpful family members, freshman Paul Skoro has quickly adapted to the La Salle environment just three months into his high school experience. 

Like many others in this year’s freshmen class, Skoro faced many obstacles in his eighth-grade year.

“I didn’t like doing Zoom or any of that, so my grades weren’t very good for most of COVID,” he said.

However, Skoro also took away many positives from online school such as, “It taught me to work hard for my grades, and make sure I had everything done on time,” he said.

Since he attended Happy Valley for elementary and middle school, Skoro barely knew anyone at La Salle before beginning his high school career — other than his siblings. “I didn’t have any friends here… all my friends went to Clackamas and Nelson,” he said.

Even though he had few friends going into this year, Skoro was able to persevere and make friends quickly at La Salle thanks to the football season in the fall.

“I loved playing football,” Skoro said. “It was so fun… it helped me make friends and it was just a good environment.”

Over the summer, Skoro was lucky enough to have found mentors in a few upperclassmen on the football team during workouts and practices.

“Jack Koppy, Zach Frazier, Dayne Lavoie, and Cam Zielsdorf have been really good to me, they helped me during football a lot… teaching me techniques and helping me with plays,” Skoro said.

While he appreciates those mentors, Skoro also looks up to his older sister, state champion, and captain of the girls basketball team, senior Mia Skoro.

“She has accomplished a lot, especially in sports, so I want to be like that. I want to win a state championship” he said.

Skoro also attributes his work ethic to his sister. “She helps me with homework a lot and she always keeps me on track and on schedule,” he said. 

Although Skoro has only been in high school for a short time, he is proud of what he has been able to accomplish. “My proudest moment would probably be when I scored my first touchdown, it felt great and the adrenaline was insane,” he said.

With many aspirations for sports, Skoro also makes sure he is setting goals that will help him in the future. Skoro says he “would like to have a GPA over 3.5” on top of the many athletic-based goals he is striving for.