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Congrats to the Class of 2025!
The Class of 2025 was record-breaking in many ways, and their graduation ceremony on June 7 was a joyous celebration of all their achievements over the past four years. There are now 1,150 DLSNC alumni showing the world all that a Knight can do with a powerful education, and we can’t wait to see how these incredible ‘25s shine as they launch into college. Click here to watch highlights from graduation day.
At graduation, three valedictorians— Kahlial Lofquist (heading to Stanford), Jaden Trinh (heading to Harvey Mudd), and Violet Whaley (heading to Barnard)—shared meaningful addresses. They were followed by a keynote speech from distinguished alumna, Lt. Col. Mary Lea Bordelon '05 of our very first graduating class, which is celebrating its 20th reunion this month. Click here for the students' speeches and here for the keynote speech. In addition, the following awards were announced:
The Faith Award: Joyce Gyabu
The Gerald Bitz Service Award: Banessa Diego Tomas
The Community Award: Lizbeth Arriola-Ramirez
The St. Joseph the Worker Award: Jaden Trinh
The De La Salle Award: Lizbeth Arriola-Ramirez
Click here for more photos from Commencement 2025.
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Scholarship Highlights for Class of 2025
One of the records the Class of 2025 broke this year was for scholarships earned. Every student earned at least one scholarship, and the last time a class earned anywhere near the over $8 million that these students brought in was back in 2014. Way to finance your college education, Knights! Here’s more on the wealth of exciting scholarship news:
Kahlial Lofquist learned that he was a recipient of the Jordan Wings Scholarship at a packed surprise party. Thinking he and his family were stopping by the elementary school where his father works to pick up some frisbees, Kahlial was nearly speechless when he received instead a velvet shoe box containing a congratulatory certificate signed by Michael Jordan, to the cheers of his many supporters. Kahlial will be studying Economics and Sociology at Stanford in the fall. DLSNC’s most recent Jordan Wings Scholar was Char’lese Wakefield in 2023.
Seven powerhouse seniors are benefitting from a $67,000 grant from the Deloitte Foundation, administered through the Cristo Rey Network for students pursuing business, engineering, or technology careers. DLSNC Deloitte Foundation Scholars this year are: John Hardiman (University of Portland; Economics); Jaylen Hill (Oregon State University; Mechanical Engineering); Olivia Jones (Arizona State University; Sports Business & Management); Vivianna Lamy (Portland State University; Finance); Enali Lopez (University of Portland; Finance & Accounting); Carlos Rocha (University of Portland; Civil Engineering), and Jaden Trinh (Harvey Mudd College; Engineering).
In addition, Joaquin Vidales earned the prestigious University of Chicago Odyssey Scholarship, which gives him a four-year full-ride. Finally, this year, the Skanner Foundation gave scholarships to Emmanuel Dempsey, Banessa Diego Tomas, Aalayssia Hall, Jaylen Hill, and Kahlial Lofquist, while Triple Threat Mentoring scholarships went to Amya Lampkin and Kalaya Singleton. Way to go, Class of 2025!
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Academic Honor Societies at DLSNC
The San Miguel Chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) inducted 20 seniors for the graduating Class of 2025—more than a third of the class. These students met the rigorous chapter requirements and were officially inducted at our Senior Presentation Award Ceremony. To be honored as an NHS member, a candidate must meet a high academic standard (cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above) and be a person of character by demonstrating leadership and service throughout their high school experience. NHS members were distinguished at graduation with gold and blue NHS honor cords.
Also announced at the Senior Presentation was the induction of six members of the Class of 2025 into the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH), an academic honor society focused on Spanish language excellence. To become a member, a student must meet a high academic standard specifically in their Spanish classes, in addition to a high average in their combined classes, as well as service benefiting the Spanish-speaking community. At graduation, the SHH inductees wore the Sociedad's gold and red honor cords.
Click here for lists of the members of the Class of 2025 in our two honor societies.
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STEAM Pathways Programs Blossom
Last June, it was exciting to celebrate our very first STEAM Pathways graduates—five members of the Class of 2024, who earned special certificates and honors cords in Health Sciences. That number has tripled this year! We also had our first Engineering Pathways graduates (eight), as well as three powerhouse students who earned cords for both Pathways. The Pathways program aims to help students focus their studies and activities and gain more knowledge and skills in these two fields, in which many of our students aspire to pursue careers.
Another huge development for Pathways this year was the launch of the Intro to Health Science class for juniors, which consolidated many Pathways requirements for that track (a similar class for Engineering was instituted last year). Students heard from guest speakers about health careers, including sonography, occupational therapy, dentistry, pediatrics, surgical oncology, physician assistant, pharmacy, psychology, and nursing. They also got hands-on training for suturing, IV placement, tourniquet application, teeth cleaning, and cavity filling. We spent a full day at the University of Portland visiting nursing simulation, exercise physiology, and cadaver labs. Among the community health projects the students completed were the school-wide blood drive, organizing volunteer shifts to help a women’s shelter and a food bank, and forming a student club focusing on healthy eating.
The future of these programs looks very strong. It is clear that our students are taking advantage of these in-depth STEAM opportunities, as there are more students than ever signed up to start both Pathways next year.
--Amy Lacks, STEAM Director & Science Department Chair
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The Knight’s Blog by Arturo Isaias Perez ‘27
On June 4th, families of seniors, teachers, staff, and all students of De La Salle North Catholic joined together to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2025. It was the 21st Senior Presentation held here at DLSNC to congratulate the seniors for their hard work over four years. Senior Presentation also aims to inspire freshmen, sophomores, and juniors to strive for a similar excellence to their senior peers.
Academic excellence certificates were awarded at the ceremony to individual seniors in all seven subjects. In addition, recognition awards were given for the scholar athlete, service, Corporate Work Study, and many others. Finally, we learned about each one of the 49 seniors, their college and major choices, and what scholarships they earned.
Hearing about each student's accomplishments, Sofia Hernandez Pulido ‘27 shared, “When I saw everything that my fellow senior peers accomplished, I felt really proud of each one of them. I also felt motivated to work even harder.” Saul Poot Cabrera ‘26 shared, “I thought the Senior Presentation was a heartwarming moment, definitely a sincere presentation. It was joyful to see the accomplishments of the upperclassmen as they step out of high school and into college.” Theology Department Chair Lawrence Kong-Ellison said simply, “It made me very proud of where I work, and I wish that the greater community sees how terrific we are.”
When asked, “What was your favorite part of Senior Presentation?” James Broadous II, Vice Principal for Student Life, responded, “I enjoyed most seeing the families' faces and excitement, knowing that their child is being honored and presented in this fashion. Most high school students do not get to experience a ‘Moment in the Spotlight.’” Mr. Broadous’s answer to, “Why do you think it's important for students to honor their peers' accomplishments?” was, “For all the underclassmen to sit front and center and witness what is at the end of the proverbial 'Rainbow' is motivating to them.”
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Spring Sports Wrap-Up
Men's Volleyball
Our inaugural season of Men’s Volleyball surpassed all expectations, qualifying for the state championship playoffs. Overall, we ended our season with an OSAA ranking of #32 out of 68 teams while competing in one of the most competitive special districts in the state. Our success was made possible by the dedication of each player, and especially Alex Ontogtokh, Student Success Coordinator, who invested much more than just his time to help the dreams of our students be realized.
The story of our season begins with senior Jaden Trinh, who asked me to coach the team in the fall. On his own, he gathered data needed to ensure we had enough interested students and helped recruit, leading us to have a staggering 23 students at tryouts. Another kickstarter of the program was Ryan Foster, the generous manager at the Les Schwab on Columbia Boulevard, whose donation paid for the season.
As a first-time program, the overarching theme of the season was facing adversity and responding. Our co-captains, Felix Madrid-Hommes ‘25, Ivan Quintanilla ‘26, and Jaden, led us through a winding road of injuries and unexpected cancellations. They motivated the players with their confidence and knowledge, building up our whole team to a level where we were able to compete and win, with any one of our 11 members on the court.
By the time we made it to our first playoff appearance on May 20th, nobody would believe that 10 out of 11 players had had zero experience playing on a volleyball team. Every practice and every game, we showed real passion for our sport and dedication to each other. Thank you to everyone who supported us this season!
--Callie Weber, Men’s Volleyball Coach
Track & Field
For track and field, we’re proud to reflect on a year filled with growth, determination, and the values that define our team: commitment, hard work, and perseverance. This was a season marked by the promise of a young and talented team, many of whom were competing at the varsity level for the first time. Despite their youth, our athletes rose to the challenge and delivered an inspiring season.
Special congratulations go out to our three student-athletes who advanced to the OSAA 3A State Champion meet in Eugene at the historic Hayward Field. Sophomore, Jahzara Wheatt, broke the school record in shot put and showcased incredible strength and focus at State. Senior Javier Mora capped off his high school career by winning the district title and placing 4th in the 800m and 5th in the 1500m at State. Javier now holds the school record in every distance event—a reflection of years of dedication and leadership. Sophomore Lex Pon also made his mark, breaking the school record in the 110m hurdles and finishing 5th at State, highlighting the exciting potential within our younger athletes. Thank you all for a season built on heart and high hopes for what lies ahead.
--Demetrius Rhodes, Co-Athletic Director; Track & Field Coach
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Corporate Work Study Snippets
On his last official CWS day at Geffen Mesher, Joaquin Vidales '25 had his desk decorated and was generously gifted with SWAG for the University of Chicago, where he’ll be studying Economics and Linguistics in the fall. Before he heads east, Joaquin will be back at that Geffen Mesher desk as a summer employee. He is one of at least five students or recent grads to secure meaningful summer employment through CWS partners—an example of the CWS workforce pipeline in action. →
Another workforce pipeline example happened at the recent open house for Multnomah County Health Department’s Fernhill Clinic. DLSNC staff members who attended were surprised to run into Diana Ku Peraza ‘24 working at the front desk. Home for her summer break from the University of Rochester, Diana has returned to her former CWS employer to continue the working relationships she established as a student. Stay tuned for more news on ↓ partnering with MCHC’s Fernhill Clinic, which is located directly across the street from us!
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To cap off the CWS year at Levy, their four student associates were treated to a special field ↑ trip to the Oregon Zoo. Also joining in was DLSNC Board Member Karis Stoudamire-Phillips, who helped facilitate Levy’s partnership with DLSNC more than two years ago. The day wasn’t your typical zoo visit, though. In addition to enjoying the wonder of the animals, the students got a firsthand look at how Levy’s reach extends beyond the Oregon Convention Center. Their supervisors were inspired to hear them apply their learning to the Zoo’s food and beverage operations, speaking about the industry with a passion that reminded the adults why they love what they do!
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Selfie With a Supervisor
The Corporate Work Study (CWS) program is what sets DLSNC apart from other schools in Oregon. For many people, it’s hard to wrap our heads around what that looks like. For supervisors, what benefits or challenges come from overseeing 14-to18-year-olds? For students, what is it like to spend part of the school week with adults in a corporate setting? One of the supervisor/student teams at Columbia Sportswear recently shared their perspectives to give a peek into CWS.
Columbia has committed to our CWS program over and over again for almost two decades. This year, junior Achaia Garland works with the Product Merch Operations team, supervised by Kavina Kief, among others, on Thursdays (plus one Monday per month).
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How have you grown as a supervisor to a DLSNC Student Associate?
It wasn’t too much of a jump to work with a high school student because Achaia is very mature and handles herself so well. I let her take the lead in case she needed us to slow down with anything. At Columbia, we always want to make sure everyone on the team is comfortable. It was a great refresher for me to share here’s how all the puzzle pieces fit together, and here is where our piece fits in. It was good to slow down and explain the why. And Achaia has such great energy, she made our more mundane tasks more interesting to me. (Kavina Kief)
How did you grow this year working as a Student Associate at Columbia?
My supervisors have shown me what time management looks like. They need to make sure everything comes out on time because they work in seasons, and there are short deadlines. Other things are making sure everyone’s on the same page as well as keeping everything organized. And I guess learning how to talk to people, how to get what you need from people. (Achaia Garland '26)
What’s been the coolest thing about working with Achaia?
It’s really great to work with someone new to a corporate environment. It was so enlightening to hear her take on Columbia’s processes, like how she would rephrase what I explained, and I would think, wow, I never thought of it in that way. Something she worked on, our color chip lab, was a project that had been languishing. It was a big undertaking, but Achaia put things back together there and also created a couple color chip palette boards for us, which was so great. (Kavina Kief)
What’s the coolest part of your job at Columbia?
Kavina is really sweet. She makes a lot of treats for us, and then I’ll give them around to everyone in my van. She makes them, like you’d think she’s hosting a catering party. Dozens and dozens all around, like these bomb key lime pie squares and really good chocolate chip cookies. And Gia in Design helped me make these birthday pants that I wanted, putting cool fabric stickers on them. I’m really comfortable with my supervisors; they’re open to talk about anything. And they give really good advice. (Achaia Garland '26)
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| Ways to support
Fred Meyer Reward Cards + De La Salle North Catholic
By linking your Fred Meyer community rewards points to De La Salle North Catholic we will receive a quarterly donation from Fred Meyer. It only takes a moment to sign up:
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