| I find myself grateful this Thanksgiving season for all of the fun-filled, memorable activities in the Lasallian Youth Ministry (LYM) department this fall, including school masses, Spirit Week, Knight Times assemblies, and more!
This year we are emphasizing our five Lasallian principles through prayer services which highlight how the principles show up in our day-to-day interactions as a school community. The first prayer service, “A Call to Leadership,” featured personal reflections from our senior class and a ceremony in which every senior was gifted a De La Salle medal and a personal note of encouragement from a staff member. With Thanksgiving nearly here, we celebrated our Gratitude prayer service last week. Two students and two teachers shared reflections on what gratitude means to them and where they see gratitude within their DLSNC community. All presenters challenged the student body and staff to show gratitude during the holiday season whether it is saying a simple thank you to helping others through service.
During the month of November as we recognize Hunger Homelessness Awareness month, we take a closer look at one of LYM’s three pillars—service, and our school motto “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve.” The Sophomore retreat was a deep dive into service with a morning serving at Portland ReStore, St. Andrew Nativity, Community of Hope, and Boys and Girls Club. Back at school the Sophomores debriefed in small groups and reflected on questions like “What is one way I want to challenge myself to participate in more service activities?”
This Thanksgiving I will be remembering a quote from Josh Hickcox ‘26’s speech at last week’s prayer service, “Gratitude gives, gratitude grows, gratitude guides.” I am so grateful to our students and staff for truly sharing from their hearts and for opening their minds to new experiences.
Alyssa Frangipani
Director of Lasallian Youth Ministry
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DLSNC’s Honor Societies Hold Induction Ceremonies
17 De La Salle seniors were inducted into the San Miguel Chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) last month, joining 300+ DLSNC alums. These students have maintained a 3.75 GPA or higher, are actively involved in service and leadership opportunities, and display a high moral character. Four students spoke to the importance of the four pillars of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. They then each lit a candle to represent that element of NHS and shared how they live out one of the four pillars in their daily lives.
DLSNC alum Rachel Henry ‘13 was the guest speaker. She encouraged students to get involved in and outside of the classroom and to take the time to discover their passions. We are so proud of these students and can't wait to see the difference they make in the world.
--Edward Zupcic and Anne Warrington, NHS Advisers
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The six current members of Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, an academic honor society focused on Spanish language excellence, welcomed an additional seven students to the Sociedad this month at an induction ceremony. Noah Wagemann, DLSNC’s Business Development Manager, talked about his experience using Spanish in his educational and career pursuits as the guest speaker.
To become a member, students must meet a high academic standard specifically in their Spanish classes in addition to a high average in their combined classes. Members of Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica are required to do service in their community each year. As an example, five students re-packed coffee beans and tea at the Oregon Food Bank this month and had a lot of fun while doing it.
--Kindra Young, Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica Advisor
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Competing With the Robotics Club
Three afternoons a week, DLSNC’s Robotics Club has been making great use of our new Maker Space. Ten students are participating in the Club, split between programmers and mechanics, and are getting amazing support from three regular community volunteers. This month, three members—Levi Lasley ‘25, Siobhan Quinn ‘25, and Brayden Saechao ‘24—represented the Club at the first Rose City League scrimmage hosted by Grant High School. It was a solid start to the season with the DLSNC team winning two of five games.
A recent conversation about the Robotics scrimmage went as follows:
“I didn’t think we’d do very well.” (Levi). “We underestimated our robotic. We were super fast at moving pixels, and it was a really good push and utility bot.” (Brayden). “Our robotic was the shortest one there. But that actually turned out to be a good thing. And we supported our teammates better than most of the teams.” (Levi). “Only a couple of people here have done any robotics before. That’s a disadvantage, but for what we’ve got, I think we’re in a good place.” (Siobhan)
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Snippets From the Corporate Work Study World
←Millie Sosa-Santiago ‘27’s work day at Touchmark at Fairway Village includes poodle wrangling so that its owner can fully engage in community game time.
Angel Bautista '24’s team at Levy Restaurants at the Convention Center is keen to support him both at work and at school. They challenged him to bring up his grade in a class he found difficult. He put in the work, met the goal, and was rewarded with a T-bone steak lunch with all the fixings.↓
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30+ students showed up for pizza, soda, and an engaging Lunch & Learn presentation on campus with Millicent Williams, Director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation. At the end of the chat, Williams offered students the opportunity to apply for reasonable-wage summer jobs at PBOT which many students jumped at.↓
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Spotlight on Student Service
The service requirement for DLSNC students to earn their diploma is 30 hours over the course of four years. The school offers weekly service trips, but many students find other service opportunities through their churches, affiliation groups, or community connections.
One such student is Diana Ku Peraza ‘24 who keeps many of her life activities hyper-local. She is a long-time parishioner at the school’s neighboring St. Charles Parish, and she volunteers every other Monday at the food pantry hosted by St. Charles and run by St. Vincent de Paul. Here’s what Diana has to say about her service work:
“At first I was doing it to get service hours but then after that I do it because I enjoy going. You’re in there for 2 ½ hours, and it’s a pretty small space, so we get to know each other—the staff and also the people coming in. It’s nice getting to know those people on a deeper level, rather than seeing them as numbers, like oh, we had ten people come through today. Instead, it’s oh, they live down the street, or, oh, they don’t have a house right now because they can’t afford rent, or, oh, they are experiencing domestic violence. I like getting to know them for them. They are part of my community.”
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Please Vote for an Incredible Opportunity!
The Cristo Rey Network, the member organization for the 39 Catholic schools with the Corporate Work Study model, is one of 33 semifinalists for the prestigious Yass Prize for transformational education. As a semifinalist, the Cristo Rey Network is also in the running for a Parents Choice Award. If the Cristo Rey Network receives the most votes and is awarded the Parents Choice Award, the $100,000 prize will fuel a new innovation grant for several Network schools to fund local innovative, high-impact projects. Grants will be awarded through a competitive application process launched in January, and DLSNC would definitely be applying. Help the Cristo Rey Network unlock the potential of being a double Yass winner by voting!
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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 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.
Auditing and advising firm, KPMG, is in its second year as a CWS Partner. Two juniors, Felix Madrid-Hommes and Kaylee Urzua Medina, work in KPMG’s HR department every Thursday plus one rotating Monday per month. Their supervisor is Tiana Raihn, Senior Representative of Office Experience.
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How are you growing this year as a supervisor to DLSNC Student Associates?
It’s a great opportunity for me to take on a management role and causes me to work with the entire firm by soliciting who needs help from the Student Associates. I’m having to think broadly about time management now, thinking about their specific schedules and helping them keep on their deadlines. (Tiana Raihn)
What’s been the coolest thing about working with Felix and Kaylee?
I’ve been so impressed with their work on KPMG’s monthly DEI events. They are part of the planning from the very beginning, starting with the calendar invites, then brainstorming, researching, working on the PowerPoint presentations. On the day of, there’s the room set up, the catering, and they help run them, standing in front of 35 people they’ve never met. They present the trivia portion which they’ve created themselves—great questions like “How many native languages are spoken in the US?” for Native American Heritage Month. (Tiana Raihn)
How are you growing this year working as a Student Associate at KPMG?
KPMG got me out of my comfort zone. It’s an adult environment that I’m not really used to. But everyone there is really super nice. So I’m in a nice safe place where I can learn some of the aspects of being an adult. (Felix Madrid-Hommes ‘25)
What’s the coolest part of your job at KPMG?
The co-workers take us out to lunch sometimes. So we get to learn more about them. And I really liked making the diversity presentation, especially doing the slide decoration. (Kaylee Urzua Medina ‘25)
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