Not many people who are still among the living have a school named after them; typically that honor goes to local heroes, fallen soldiers and the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Theodore Roosevelt, and the late Pope John Paul II. North Dakota native Patrick Atkinson is has something in common with these leaders. Atkinson apparently made a name for himself while working at a war orphanage in Guatemala. Patrick Atkinson spent about six years in Guatemala helping those suffering the effects of an ongoing war and eventually founded Casa Alianza of Central America, which was an outlet for people in need of health care and education. Through this effort, and many other similar selfless acts, it was decided that the Patrick Atkinson Benevolent School of Integrated Systems would come into existence in the town of Chiquimulia, Guatemala. It seems fitting that a man Patrick Atkinson’s education has a school named after him. Mr. Atkinson grew up in Bismarck, ND and chose to begin his college education at Minnesota State University Moorhead. At the university, Patrick studied social work, with an emphasis in chemical addiction counseling. Patrick J. Atkinson received his bachelor’s degree in social work in May of 1981 and graduated Summa Cum Laude. At MSU Moorhead, Mr. Atkinson was simultaneously working toward another bachelor’s degree, this time in the field of criminal justice, with an emphasis in pre-law. Atkinson earned his second bachelor’s degree in November of 1981. When he wasn’t studying, Atkinson was working at Minnesota’s Center For Parents and Children, where he was a hotline counselor and handled calls from ranging from abuse victims searching for advice to suicide attempts. Next for Patrick Atkinson was a four-year commitment to Regis University in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Atkinson focused his studies on non-profit management and received his master’s degree in the year 2000. Atkinson is currently working toward a doctorate.<br/>

International Health and Education