| In De La Salle North Catholic’s Academic Resource Center (ARC) it has been a year of sharing old, new, and ongoing stories.
Our lovely team of ARC Tutors: Mark Burton (Mathematics, Economics); Alan Guffey and Leslie Chester (Humanities); Mary Moreira (Mathematics, Spanish, Natural Sciences); and AmeriCorps /Jesuit Volunteer Joseph Barry (Humanities, Social Sciences); as well as the meaningful contributions of faculty member Alex Ontogtokh (Mathematics) and Corporate Work Study team member Pablo Rios-Cruz (Natural Sciences), have generously provided their stories and knowledge to guide students through their respective class curricula and assignments.
The ARC team recently outlined a new chapter to its own story—clarifying our mission, vision, and purpose statement to align with the core objectives of DLSNC. ARC’s mission is to create an educational space that responds to the changing learning needs of youth by providing students with academic opportunities to develop proactive self-advocacy, practice effective classroom and study habits, and improve their executive functioning and social-emotional awareness skills.
Here’s the ARC story for today, just one of many todays that we serve the students of Knight Nation. We facilitated Economics, English, Honors Algebra, and Biology tests. We had students receiving help in most subjects all seven periods of the school day. Every grade level accessed help today on some level, even if it meant showing up for after-school tutoring on their CWS workday or on a Friday. ARC’s story is always one of valuing every student. Our goal is to provide a space to meet individual and small-group learning needs in an attempt to best serve our school community.
Our story continues as we strive to support staff and students in addressing students' individual learning needs. Nearly 100 DLSNC students, especially our students with Learning Support Agreements, have used ARC this year to complete their exams or receive tutoring services, as we ensure their academic growth aligns with their accommodations. I am honored to engage with my team and our wonderful students in ARC’s environment of hopeful stories of dedicated learning and mastery!
Sarah Tackett-Nelson
Academic Resource Center Coordinator
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Akwantu—22 Years and Counting!
Akwantu, which means journey, has been a beloved Knight Nation tradition since the school’s founding. The Akwantu junior retreat took place April 11-13 at Camp Howard with the entire junior class participating at the same time rather than being split into gender groups over the course of a week as had been done in recent years. At Camp Howard, students had the opportunity to strengthen their relationships with peers and themselves, reflect on how they are shaped by community, and explore their faith. Eight senior leaders presented personal reflections relating to one of the Five Core Lasallian Principles and also served as cabin leaders, while seven adult chaperones led the coed small groups. During free time there were games, arts and crafts, and fishing. Plus hang out time in glorious weather!
Junior Violet Whaley reflected on her Akwantu experience, “I had pretty high expectations, and it was even more fun than I thought it was going to be. My small group had a lot of people I didn’t really know in it. But it was good—we were all deep thinkers.”
J.P. Henry ‘11, Theology Teacher, has attended five Akwantus now, first as a junior, then as a senior leader, and three times as an adult chaperone. About Akwantu 2024, he observed, “What a positive experience! I’m so proud of the Class of 2025 for their maturity and composure.”
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Conferring with Cristo Rey Network Counterparts in Dallas
Four DLSNC staff ( Ashleigh de Villiers, President; Maria Cabrera, Interim Principal; Aiyana Ashley, Director of Corporate Work Study Operations; and Noah Wagemann, Business Development Manager) and one DLSNC Board Member ( Jonna Frater ‘06) traveled to Texas this month to participate in the annual meeting for the Cristo Rey Network (CRN). CRN is a national network that supports 39 Catholic schools around the country, all of which offer four years of rigorous college preparatory education combined with four years of professional work experience through Corporate Work Study.
Our Knight leaders were very busy in Dallas participating in panels, learning best practices, and connecting with colleagues from around the country. The 325 attendees found great value in conferring with other professionals who operate within the unique educational model that we all share. Jonna, who was at her first CRN annual meeting, had many enthusiastic observations to share about the experience:
“As a board member, I could not be more proud of our DLSNC staff. The leadership they showed throughout the conference, the collaboration with their counterparts, and the mentorship they provide to staff at other schools are nothing short of amazing! As one of the first schools in the network, DLSNC has been showing up over the decades (!), helping set the tone and expectations for all the schools founded since 2001.
As an alumni of a Cristo Rey school, I am blown away to see how far the Cristo Rey Network has come, and how much it has grown. In my DLSNC freshman year, there were two Cristo Rey schools; by the start of the '24-25 school year, there will be 40! Every year there are also more Cristo Rey alumni coming back to work in our schools, a testament to the values of service and excellence that CRN imbues. For instance, DLSNC currently employs four alums, and we even have an alum, Mary Lea Bordelon ‘05, now serving on the CRN Board of Directors. Knight Nation will always represent!”
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Congrats to Expeditors and Deloitte!
The Cristo Rey Network announced the recipients of the prestigious Corporate Work Study (CWS) National Impact Award at its Annual Meeting this month.
Among nearly 80 multi-city corporate partners engaged with CRN schools in three or more markets, seven employers were selected for demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to the CWS experience for students nationwide. We are thrilled that two of the awards were given to companies with whom DLSNC has partnered in Portland for many years—Expeditors and Deloitte.
DLSNC was the very first CRN school to partner with Expeditors, a global logistics company based in Seattle. Expeditors has been a robust participant in our CWS program for half of our existence —12 years —always employing eight or more students each year. The company’s genuine enthusiasm for the school and CWS is more than apparent, as reflected by Expeditors District Manager, Jonathan Berndt. Upon learning of the CRN recognition, Berndt shared, “We love our partnership with De La Salle North Catholic and the kids we’ve had the opportunity to work with over the last 12 years. It’s been an honor for us to engage with our community in this way. Finding true win/win scenarios is rare in both life and business. When you find one, you jump on it and never look back. That’s how we see our partnership with DLSNC. It’s all win and no lose. So good!”
Deloitte has eight years of experience as a CWS partner with DLSNC, hosting several student associates each year. Deloitte also has impacted the lives of scores of Knight grads through generous scholarships to top students heading to college to pursue degrees in areas such as finance, economics, accounting, and information technology. Charles Mello, Deloitte’s Portland Managing Partner, was delighted to hear about the CRN award, and commented, “This year marks the eighth year of Deloitte’s support of De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland. We are pleased to foster this relationship and are very proud to have the opportunity to participate in the school’s Corporate Work Study program, provide financial support for scholarships, and sponsor other school events.”
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Science Field Trips x 3Our science students seem to be constantly on the go! Here’s a sampling of a few of the many field trips that have happened of late in our robust STEAM program:
The senior Anatomy & Physiology class visited → the University of Portland’s School of Nursing to tour its Simulated Health Center where medical manikins are used to simulate patients in various healthcare settings, including primary care and acute care. The manikins have a heartbeat and can move, make sounds, and breathe! Students were able to monitor the manikins’ heart and respiratory rates, using both adult and infant models, and practice using “gait belts” on each other. A special add-on happened at the end of the visit with a presentation about college expectations from Andy Poundstone, Associate Director for Academic Support at UP and former head of DLSNC’s Academic Resource Center. Perfect timing for our soon-to-be graduates! (Amy Lacks, Science Department Chair) The Environmental Science class had a sunny day Columbia Slough canoe trip guided by Columbia Slough Watershed Council and Portland Parks and Recreation naturalists. The students carried out water quality tests, measuring pH and dissolved oxygen levels, turbidity, and temperature. Although located right in the middle of an industrial area of NE Portland, the Slough is a remarkably healthy aquatic environment, and we saw a grey heron, a raccoon, multiple ducks, and a great egret. (Anna Myrthue, Science Teacher) ↓
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←The Engineering 1 class went to the Oregon Engineers Week conference where the sophomores got a chance to learn about a variety of engineering-related careers and college programs, talk to a bunch of professional engineers, and listen to the president of the Maseeh College of Engineering at Portland State University. Later that day, the students split up to go on several excursions including one to the Living Building at PAE Engineering. A highlight was visiting its composting room where 100% of the human waste produced in the building is turned into commercial-grade plant fertilizer. Other students visited the Boeing manufacturing facility in Gresham and Oregon Tool's chainsaw factory. (Amit Gordon, Engineering & Physics Teacher)
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| Check Out Our Latest Video
Post-pandemic, there has been a radical change in how the United States goes to work, affecting many professionals, including the students of DLSNC. Last year, with funding from the Cristo Rey Network (CRN), DLSNC created an onsite corporate work suite to accommodate CWS partners who are unable to host student associates in person. The continuation of that CRN grant this year enabled us to create a promotional video related to that space which has helped us keep our program adaptive and current. We are grateful not only to CRN but also to our CWS Partners, Cascade Energy and Umpqua Bank, for their help in making the video a reality. Check it out!
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Selfie with a Supervisor!
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 this exciting development in 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.
KPFF, a national engineering firm, is in its second year of partnering with us. Sophomore Anai Beng is at KPFF on Tuesdays (plus one rotating Monday per month) working with Zachery Wolf, Project Coordinator.
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How are you growing this year as a supervisor to a DLSNC Student Associate?
It’s been a great experience. I’ve enjoyed my growth in being her supervisor. It’s helpful to think about my work from an outside perspective. I find it a good lens to see my own work through.
Anai’s main project is working with Cosential, a marketing database to keep track of all our projects and for pursuing new clients. It’s a huge task that requires a lot of communicating with engineers about all of the specific elements that go into a project. So I have to reflect on my own work and then communicate efficiently to Anai to teach her exactly what I do. She’s been really good at picking things up and running with them. I’ve been impressed. (Zachery Wolf)
What’s been the coolest thing about working with Anai?
Taking her on a site visit to the airport was awesome. T-Core (KPFF’s term for the airport expansion) is a project that everyone in the office is working on. The slanted wood roof was in, there’s lots of sunlight in the space, and the huge holes for the planter boxes were ready. I think Anai found it exciting. (Zachery Wolf)
How are you growing this year working as a Student Associate at KPFF?
At KPFF I’ve learned how to communicate in a professional setting instead of just with my friends. I’ve also learned how to use Excel, Microsoft, and other software that’s useful. I think the impact KPFF has on Portland is interesting. Sometimes when I’m putting in addresses into the database, it’s like, “Wow, you guys built all of these?" (Anai Beng ‘26)
What’s the coolest part of your job at KPFF?
I like the flexible schedule. Compared to my (DLSNC) peers, I think I have a longer lunch break. And I’m able to go out more—to the food carts or on site visits. Even if I don’t understand all the background about structural engineering and how certain tools operate, site visits are still a fun learning experience. I think I’ve tried all of the food carts downtown near the pink building. I like Smash Burgers and the Indian place best. (Anai Beng ‘26)
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