It’s Time for…the Christmas Video!

A beloved Christmas tradition continues this year with the fourth annual Lip-Dub Christmas Video. Spearheaded by Alyssa Frangipani, Director of Lasallian Youth Ministry, it is a fun centerpiece of Christmas Spirit Week and is an appreciated opportunity for students with a performing arts bent.

Launched in 2017 (inspired by a lib-dub scene in “The Office”), the videos involve popular Christmas tunes, silly costumes, and lots of choreography. Most significantly, they are always shot in one take. Several of them include the complexity of a live-end with the video presentation segueing into an on-location live finale. 

Ms. Frangipani, who holds a BFA in Technical Theater, explained the creative process: “It takes about a month from start to finish. I start with the songs first, identifying what parts of the songs to use and mashing them all together. With that, I start mapping out the timing and the route through the school. This year I aim to pick up live for the Christmas pep rally which means the video needs to end near the gym entrance. There’s about a week of figuring out the choreography and running through all of the moves myself. Then I start to work with the kids.”

“Obviously this is not a whole performance program,” Ms. Frangipani went on. “But the kids learn choreography and the production side—learning the songs and dance moves, rehearsals, costuming. And sometimes there are fun family connections like Josh Hickcox ‘26 playing Alvin in the chipmunks sequence this year is playing the same role that his older brother, Theo Aclan '19, did in 2018. Or a senior this year urged her freshman sister to join, and it was cool for them to share the experience.”

Seniors Quincy Aranda and Dre’cion Gates are the backup chipmunks to Josh’s Alvin this year. Quincy shared, “The videos bring up school spirit, and I want to be part of school spirit. I think our (CWS) supervisors are really going to laugh when they see it.” “People usually see our more serious sides when we’re in class focused or at work, but this shows our goofy, energetic sides,” chimed in Dre’cion.

Exactly a year ago, DLSNC launched an active effort to repair the negative impact that the Covid pandemic wreaked on our Corporate Work Study (CWS) program. With the enthusiasm and diligent work of a 30+ member Operation 100% Employment Task Force, we achieved our monumental goal of 100% employment for our students for this school year. The Task Force made countless phone calls, sent a host of emails, and had tons of one-on-one meetings with their professional contacts to share the stories of CWS’s positive impact on both students and their hosting partners. The resulting connections were tremendously fruitful for our CWS team! 

This month, building off of the Task Force’s momentum, DLSNC has instituted a permanent Jobs Committee to provide continual community support to our signature program. The 10-member Jobs Committee, modeled on those associated with many other schools within the Cristo Rey Network, is made up of Board members, Ambassador Board members, CWS partners, and donors. The Committee kicked off the 2024-25 recruitment season on December 6 with an energetic and action-oriented get-together. 

Blake St. Onge, Managing Principal at Cresa, who has been a member of our Ambassador Board for eight years, has great enthusiasm about the potential for the Jobs Committee: “I'm excited to continue sharing the incredible mission of DLSNC with other Portland-area leaders. Our focus is to increase the number of job placements for our students, in an authentic, meaningful, and purposeful way. We will work to advance the mission of DLSNC so that ALL Portland area employers know the impact and the joy that CWS brings to their organizations, the students, and the community as a whole. I'm honored to join this committee!”

Sophomore Leaders in the Making

13 sophomores are participating in an innovative leadership class this term taught by James Broadous, Vice Principal for Student Life. Weekly visits to Woodlawn Elementary School offer the students the opportunity to be mentors to first graders, working one-on-one on reading skills. On campus, the students learn from guest speakers and practice self-expression and public speaking by responding to thought-provoking daily prompts or “board work.”

Akeem McRae ‘26 shared about the Woodlawn mentoring, “I was super scared; I didn’t want to mess up because it’s kids. But it’s awesome being able to mentor kids and teach them to read. It’s cool to see my kid, that every time I come back he’s learned a little bit more.”

Ken’Niyah McDonald ‘26 loves the board work. “Every day, everybody is getting a chance to speak. We’re voicing our opinions. When you listen, you’re like dang, I didn’t think of it like that. There are so many things going through people’s minds, and hearing them, it’s like, ok, next time, I’m going to think outside of the box too. We piggyback off of each other’s confidence and out-of-the-ordinary mindsets.”

The class’s semester-end project is planning and executing individual or small-group community service projects. We look forward to watching these sophomores use their new skills and confidence as they take on the school’s student leadership roles in the next few years!

Come support our dedicated student-athletes this winter!

For more details on the schedules and results for all three of our basketball teams, please check out OSAA.

If you'd like to watch the games but can't attend in person, please consider a subscription to NFHS which broadcasts all the games, home and away. Click here for more info.

For the first time in several years, all four grade levels at De La Salle North Catholic are working five days per month in local businesses across the gamut of industries. To celebrate the exciting return of our integral Corporate Work Study (CWS) program, we’re taking a regular peek into the experience, from both a student’s perspective as well as that of his or her supervisor.

Levy Restaurants at Oregon Convention Center, part of the sports and entertainment food services giant Levy, is a first-time CWS partner this year, hosting a full team of four students at this exciting location. Their sophomore, Sariyah Kelley, is there on Tuesdays (plus one rotating Monday per month) working with Lindsay Pearson, General Manager, and Emely Almonte, Banquet Manager.  

How are you growing this year as a supervisor to a DLSNC Student Associate?

Watching Sariyah’s growth within the past four months has been tremendous—she’s acclimated to our team so well. Sariyah reminds us that EVERY DAY is a new opportunity to make beautiful things happen. She has taken on Levy’s mission of “Great People Doing Remarkable Things” and inspires us to think outside the box and see things through the lens of a bright, creative young mind which has brought innovation to what we do. (Lindsay Pearson)

What’s been the coolest thing about working with Sariyah?

Her attitude and positive outlook on life. Sariyah is such a kind, smart young woman…she shares her love of cheerleading, learning about new experiences, and her dream of being a doctor someday. We know that her positive outlook and can-do work ethic will help her achieve all the world has to offer her. (Lindsay Pearson)

How are you growing this year working as a Student Associate at Levy Restaurants at Oregon Convention Center?

I’m getting more responsibilities. It’s keeping up with all the tasks I have to do through the day and making sure I get them all done before the end of the day. It’s a lot added to my plate, but, you know, we get it done! Like yesterday I had to inventory all the food products, the drinks, and the stuff to make the food for the banqueting department. It was fun because I got to use the scanner. (Sariyah Kelley ‘26)

There’s a lot. First, it’s the people. The people who work there are very kind. You know how sometimes people can take a long time to warm up to you. Once I walked in there, it was like they knew me already, and they were so nice and open. They are just really cool and chill people, and I can talk to them about whatever!

The second thing is the legacy that Levy stands for is satisfaction for their customers. I want to be in the medical field, and I think it’s the same thing there. You want to make sure there is a level of satisfaction between you and your patient. (Sariyah Kelley ‘26)