| STEAM Night is almost here! This exciting community event has been a great success since it started in 2024. STEAM Night celebrates the impressive variety of work being done in STEAM classes and programs, puts student artwork on display, and exposes people in our community to the depth of our program. It is wonderful to welcome so many folks who aren’t regularly on campus. Having younger siblings and potential future Knights around brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and I love seeing parents and guardians feeling pride over their students’ leadership at the activity stations.
The Maker Space is a hidden gem with amazing equipment that we get to show off during STEAM Night. Our Art program has grown tremendously over the years, and it is a joy to see the students’ artwork displayed for all to see. My personal event highlight is the liquid nitrogen ice cream that Mr. McGauley demonstrates and serves up in the Chemistry lab. We hope you’ll plan now to join us for this year’s STEAM Night on Thursday, April 9th, from 5-7 pm!
Following the energy of STEAM night, this spring, we will be enrolling students in our two STEAM Pathway programs. Freshmen may enroll in Engineering, and sophomores may enroll in Health Science. Being part of these programs brings extra work and challenges, but it also brings the reward of diving deeper and preparing for a specific career path. Students enrolled in a Pathway program get priority CWS job placements and special opportunities for shadowing, as well as access to elective classes in their chosen area.
As the leader of the Health Science Pathway, I feel so lucky to be able to interact with young people who are working hard to prepare for their futures, and who want to give back to their community by serving in the field of healthcare. Check out the STEAM section of our website, or reach out to me directly with any questions about our unique Pathways programs. Amy Lacks
Director of STEAM Programming, Science Department Chair
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Student Group Heads to the Border
Ten students, accompanied by chaperones, Kindra Young de Gomez, World Languages Department Chair, and Pablo Rios-Cruz, Corporate Partners and Student Relations Manager, will fly to El Paso for Spring Break. Their journey is part of El Otro Lado, a five-day immersion program sponsored by our Lasallian District for high school students to experience the realities of life for migrants and refugees along the US-Mexico border. This is the first time that DLSNC has participated in this impactful program.
In collaboration with the Encuentro Project and Cathedral High School, the group will live out the Lasallian Principles of Respect for All Persons and Concern for the Poor and Social Justice, opening themselves to new perspectives. Students went through a selective application process, and each raised $500 or more in order to participate. Next month, look for a full account of the journey, but for now, here are a few thoughts from student participants about this unusual opportunity:
“This trip really called to me. As a Hispanic student, I want to see the border in person. When I get back, I want to be of help by working more within my community with the families that are being affected.” Natalia Astorga-Cuesta ‘27
“I’m nervous and excited, but also really curious. There’s a bunch of things we’re going to see that we’re not going to forget—people trying to cross, border agents. It’s going to be impactful seeing how many people want to have the life we have here. It’s going to teach us we have everything we need here.” Oswaldo Sandoval ‘28
“As a high school student, I never thought I would get the chance to go to El Paso and Juarez. It’s an opportunity to learn a lot, seeing families trying to seek better opportunities. I appreciate my parents for coming here, and now I will understand more of what they had to live through.” Angeli Lopez Hernandez ‘27
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Closing Out Basketball Season
As the sun sets on our Winter 2026 sports season, I am filled with pride reflecting on our basketball program. It was a season defined not just by scores on a board, but by hard work, intentional growth, and the lessons that stay with our students long after they leave the court. At DLSNC, it is always about more than the game; we are committed to the journey of leadership.
The Women’s Team showed incredible heart this year, finishing fifth in the 3A league with a 5-7 record and laying a strong foundation for the future. We are proud to celebrate Azari Stidum ‘29 for First Team honors, as well as Amiyah Berry ‘27 on the Second Team and Achaia Garland ‘26, who received an Honorable Mention.
Our Men’s Team finished an impressive fourth in the 3A League with a 9-5 record, narrowly missing the OSAA State Tournament. Their tenacity was matched by individual excellence, as Gutu Abuna ‘27 earned a spot on the First Team and Ajak Ajak ‘26 was named to the Second Team. Furthermore, Dontae Stidum ‘27 received an Honorable Mention and was recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year, while Lex Pon ‘27 was honored as the OSAA Player of the Week.
I want to share a special tribute to senior Josh Hickox ‘26. Despite an injury that kept him off the court this season, Josh showed up daily for his team, providing the energy and encouragement they needed. Josh embodies the heart of a champion and represents the high-character teammate every program dreams of having.
A program of this caliber is a team effort. A sincere thank you to Coach Broadous and Coach Chance for their steadfast leadership, and to our entire coaching staff for their dedication to these young men and women. Go Knights!
–Demetrius Rhodes, Athletic Director
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Exploring Impermanence
This month, the senior World Religions classes engaged in a fun, meaningful, and meditative experience by creating sand mandalas in the Tibetan tradition. “Mandala” is a Sanskrit word for circle, referring to wholeness and completion. Each DLSNC mandala began with a design process where students reflected on the question, “What Buddhist ideas made the biggest impression on us?” Then we decided how to visually represent that teaching. Next, we laid sand. After savoring and celebrating our creation, we released (a gentle way of saying destroyed) our artwork to honor the Buddhist teaching that all life is impermanent.
Traditionally, Tibetan Buddhists deposit mandala sand in a river or stream so it can be taken wherever it’s needed in the world. We distributed our sand just outside our classroom on the ground where we planted crocus, daffodil, and hyacinth bulbs in the fall. We all found exploring the mandala tradition to be a magical experience of collaborative and experiential learning.
–Tom McLaughlin, Theology Teacher
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Help Prepare the Class of 2030 for Work!
There are many ways that local companies can be part of Knight Nation’s mission, the most substantive being hosting our students in the workplace through our Corporate Work Study (CWS) program. That being said, there are many impactful, short-term opportunities for individual professionals as well as corporations to participate with us.
A key opportunity is on the horizon—the CWS Summer Training (June 22—26), which is required for all incoming freshmen and transfer students. The purpose of the training is to guide students in understanding workplace expectations and learn vital job skills such as communication in a business setting, email and phone etiquette, and the power of first impressions. At the end of the training, there is a field trip downtown to review security and the basics of office life, like elevators and key cards.
Interested in spending a rewarding few hours with us that week to prepare our new students as they launch into this special part of their DLSNC education? Among the opportunities to participate are being a mock interviewer or teaching a class (for example, DEI, Intro to Microsoft Office, or Confidentiality & Ethics). We also welcome catering donations for the week (either food or financial contributions to cover food) and downtown field trip hosts. The CWS summer training is sponsored again this year by PwC Charitable Foundation, to whom we are most grateful. Want to help out this June? Click here.
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The author (back row, 4th from left) with his Wonderfolk cohort in Costa Rica
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The Knight's Blog by Arturo Isais Perez '27
In March of 2025, I was accepted into Wonderfolk, alongside Khadija Hussaini ‘27 and Angeli Lopez Hernandez ‘27. Over its 10 years, Wonderfolk has grown into a two-year mentoring leadership development program for BIPOC student youth in Oregon, helping them access opportunities for growth and break barriers. With Wonderfolk, I have been able to complete more than 80 hours of community service, half here in Portland for places like Black Future Farming and the Forest Park Conservancy, and half in Costa Rica.
Wonderfolk’s aim is to break down the injustice systems that are built and reframed in our society. These are the same injustice systems and structural racism that I have been analyzing in my junior U.S History and Theology classes (such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the war on drugs, and immigrant family separation policies). Wonderfolk is a full scholarship program, meaning they economically fully support their students’ participation, and the program uses their fellowship with Global Works Travel to cover travel costs. It structures its programming around three pillars that guide student learning and service: unity through arts (mural-making in Portland), naturehood, and global leadership. In the global leadership portion (two weeks in Costa Rica), students are able to explore rural community activities and conservation efforts, help through volunteer work, and grow in a new environment and culture.
Read more of The Knight's Blog here.
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25 Fun Facts About Knight Nation!
As our 25th anniversary continues, we’re sharing some nuggets of knowledge from OG Knights as well as old-time pics that we’ve unearthed in our archives. Here are the March offerings, compiled this month with the help of Polly Waibel and Leslie Porter.
Who knew?
1) In its 25 years of existence, DLSNC has called three different buildings home. We started in 2001 at the former Queen of Peace Church on N. Delaware, which was quickly outgrown. Then, in 2007, we moved a short distance away to the Kenton Grade School building on N. Fenwick. Finally, in 2021, we moved to our current permanent home on NE Killingsworth.
2) Two remarkable community efforts enabled us to keep costs low for the Delaware to Fenwick move. First, a large crew of volunteers from HSBC spent a day volunteering to paint and do maintenance on the Kenton School building, which had been unused for some time. Then, before the first day of school, students from the University of Portland provided the physical labor to move in all of the desks and other furniture.
3) Alum Nik Tucker ‘14 had a hand in the design of our current building. In his student days, Nik was the first CWS student associate at Bora Architecture & Interiors and returned there to a full-time position after he graduated from Columbia University. Bora served as the architect for our permanent home, and, in his professional role as an architectural designer, Nik directly contributed to making the building more student-friendly.
4) The Michael Kelley Gymnasium in our current building is the first standard gym that the school has ever had. For 20 years, our basketball and volleyball teams always played “home” games at other facilities like the Salvation Army Moore Street Community Center, the Charles Jordan Community Center, and Warner Pacific.
Are you an alum or former staff member with a historical fun fact to share? We’d love to hear your input. Please email a reply to this newsletter and then check back in the next few months to see if your idea was selected for this feature. Knight Nation strong for the next 25 years!
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Selfie with a Supervisor!
Get a peek into Corporate Work Study (CWS), the unique program that sets DLSNC apart from other schools in Oregon by hearing the perspectives of individual supervisors and their student associates.
This month’s supervisor/student team is from R&H Construction, which is experiencing, for the first time, the benefits of hosting students in its workplace this year. On Wednesdays (plus one Monday per month), HR Coordinator Karlie Donaca supervises Senior Ivan Quintanilla '26.
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How have you grown by supervising DLSNC Student Associates like Ivan?
I think this has been a really good introduction to supervising employees. It’s helped me think about training someone all the way through, starting with explaining what exactly is a general contractor. I started training with the very basics, not using industry lingo. All of the students have asked great questions that have helped me create new training materials and see gaps in what I started with. (Karlie Donaca)
How have you grown, working as a Student Associate at R&H Construction?
I really enjoy working at R&H, and Karlie is the best supervisor. I’m the receptionist, so when I get in, I set up my phone system, I open Microsoft Teams, I open Vista (that’s where all the current projects are), and check emails. After that, I go check the snacks and all the drinks. If supplies are low, I order more. Around 9:30, the mail comes in, and I personally open each and every one of them. Some I scan, some I have to date-stamp, some I have to deliver to people. When a visitor comes in, it’s my job to greet them. And then I answer phones. Before, all of this was Karlie’s job, but now Fridays are the only day she has to do it.
Generally, I’m kind of nervous around people, but Karlie is always in the background, making sure I’m taking care of everything correctly. Knowing that she’s always there if I have any complications is super helpful. Over time, that’s meant that I’m getting used to asking for help. It’s just part of my job. (Ivan Quintanilla)
What’s been the coolest thing about working with Student Associates?
The students have made a huge impact on my position. It’s changed what I’m able to take on in the day. When Ivan’s here, he is completely covering the phones and mail to the point that I don’t have to worry about those, since I know if something comes up, he’ll ask me questions. So that allows my time to be focused on my HR tasks.
Overall, it’s been really positive for everyone to have students in the office. When they’re dropping off mail, people really like chatting with them and sharing their knowledge. We feel very lucky to have Ivan. He comes in with such a positive attitude and gets right to work. He reliably gets every task I ask him to help with done in a timely manner. If there’s ever a time that he doesn’t know what to do, I know he’ll ask questions. So I’m comfortable that things are professionally handled at the front desk. (Karlie Donaca)
What’s the coolest part of your job at R&H?
I’m interested in a mechanical engineering career. I’ve talked with a couple of engineers at R&H, and they’ve been really welcoming. They’ve told me, ok well, this is how the job is. They’re open to answering my questions, so I feel free to ask.
At Thanksgiving, they gave me a $30 coupon to go buy a turkey, which made me really feel part of the team. And at Christmas, there was an event for everyone at a place to get a tree or a wreath, and I think that was super welcoming. (Ivan Quintanilla)
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