| I have found myself reflecting recently on just how momentous this year is for our community. As both the college counselor and a proud member of our first graduating class, celebrating the accomplishments of the Class of 2026 alongside the school’s 25th anniversary feels deeply personal and profoundly meaningful.
Twenty-five years ago, my class was the first group of students to walk the halls, helping to shape a vision that was still taking form. We believed in the promise of a school grounded in faith, community, and opportunity. Today, that vision is not only alive, it is thriving! De La Salle North Catholic has created opportunities, transformed lives, and built an environment where students are known, supported, and challenged to grow.
The Class of 2026 represents the very best of what Knight Nation stands for. They have navigated their high school journey with resilience, purpose, and heart. They have balanced rigorous academics, meaningful work-study experiences, service to others, and a commitment to community. Their academic accomplishments are a reflection of their drive and determination. Our seniors have earned acceptances to a wide range of colleges and universities throughout the country (including our first acceptance to Yale University!). The seniors have been awarded scholarships that will open doors and have pursued pathways that align with their passions and goals. The most inspiring part of these accomplishments is that they have supported one another along the way, strengthening the sense of community that defines our school.
To the Class of 2026: You are part of this 25-year legacy, and you now carry it forward. I am so very proud of you. I believe in you, and I cannot wait to see the impact you will make!
Amanda Rodela Weingarten '05
College Counselor
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Ms. Weingarten, Sept. 2001
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CWS work day (2005?) at MKG Financial Group
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Doing service Dec. 2003, tidying the original campus with fellow '05s
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Mr. Broadous Receives Annual Award
As part of Founder’s Week, in which we honor our patron saint, Saint John Baptist de La Salle, thunderous applause erupted when James Broadous II, Vice Principal for Student Life & Head Men’s Basketball Coach, was awarded the Outrageously Bold Distinguished Lasallian Educator of the Year Award. Chosen by an anonymous vote of all his peers, Mr. Broadous has impacted many, many Knights—approximately two-thirds of Knight Nation graduates over the course of his 14 years here.
As retired Principal Tim Joy shared, “There are few as astute and committed to St. La Salle’s principle: ‘Know your students individually, and be able to understand them’ as Mr. Broadous. At the presentation, President Ashleigh de Villiers reflected, “When I started at DLSNC 12 years ago, I soon learned why Principal Joy calls him 'the teen whisperer,' helping to mentor and guide so many of our students through their high school journeys and beyond. I’ve come to believe that his special talent is his ability to make every person in his orbit, whether young or old, student or donor, fellow coach or alum, feel seen.” His positive influence was beautifully summarized by Josh Hickcox '26, “Though he may not be perfect, I one day aspire to be half the man that he is, and eventually raise my kids to the standards he held me to. Thank you, Coach.” Congrats to the very deserving Mr. Broadous!
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Science Field Trips (Many!)
At De La Salle North Catholic, the Science Department values experiential and hands-on learning and reinforces what happens in the classroom with lots of field trips. Here’s a selection of where our STEAM Knights have visited this winter and spring:
♦ Our Anatomy seniors watched a live atrial valve replacement open-heart surgery as part of Providence's Heart Watch program. Students got up super early to watch the entire surgery, which included sawing through the sternum, putting all of the patient's blood through a "heart-lung machine," stopping the heartbeat, removing the old valve, and replacing it with an artificial valve. The students saw all aspects of the operation due to the many cameras in the operating room, while a heart surgeon in the viewing room narrated the procedure, took questions from the students, and communicated with the operating surgeon. Click here for more on our 2026 field trips.
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Asian & Pacific Islander Month at DLSNC
We celebrated Asian and Pacific Islander culture this month at our excellent final heritage assembly of the year. The fun and informative event focused on the contributions to dance that Asians and Pacific Islanders have made. The event highlight was an impressive demonstration of tinikling, a traditional Philippine folk dance requiring intense coordination to jump over rhythmically moving bamboo poles. There were also lots of opportunities to participate in contests for prizes (like "Hip Hip Hooray"), as well as delicious student-made lumpia for lunch. In addition, throughout the month, there were beautiful lanterns and informative posters around the school. Many thanks to the Asian and Pacific Islander Student Union and Ms. Brunning for organizing and executing such a memorable event!
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The Knight’s Blog by Arturo Isais Perez ‘27
De La Salle North Catholic’s Lasallian Youth Ministry department holds four grade-level retreats, which correspond to the high school journey. Akwantu is one of these retreats, specifically for juniors. This year, DLSNC hosted Akwantu at Eagle Fern Camp near Estacada. At Akwantu, juniors, senior leaders, teachers, and staff participated in small and large group discussions, morning and evening prayers, and used the camp's amenities (a field, river, playground, volleyball net, trails, and outdoor basketball court) during their free time.
Our discussions in small groups at Akwantu were a great way to strengthen our community. We discussed our understanding of the five Lasallian core principles: Faith in the Presence of God, Respect for All Persons, Inclusive Community, Concern for the Poor and Social Justice, and Quality Education. Additionally, we discussed how we personally embody them and in what ways we see community members both within and outside DLSNC exemplify them.
The DLSNC staff and the senior leader committee curated a safe space for our community to be vulnerable and learn from each other. This allowed juniors to reflect, focus on strengthening and deepening spiritual connections, and contemplate personal growth during a pivotal time in our high school journey.
One of the things I most enjoyed at Akwantu was our campfire. Mrs. Maher led us in a meditation, which focused on spiritual opening and growth, self-discovery, and connection with Christ. This was followed by a cleansing ritual where we were asked to write something that was troubling us on a piece of paper. We then burned the papers to help us move on from it, a symbolic act of letting go and moving forward.
I asked a few participants, “What was your favorite part of Akwantu ?”
Jahzara Wheatt ‘27 shared, “Akwantu was a very eye-opening experience for not only myself but my junior class peers. We had time to reflect on the connections we choose to make and the conscious actions that we make everyday. I am so beyond grateful for the love that followed me through Akwantu from teachers and my peers.”
Brandon Troncoso ‘26, a senior leader, shared, “I enjoyed that everyone was outside in the volleyball courts, bonding and spending time together both in free time and small group discussions. Akwantu was a great experience for my class. I know it was a great experience for this class, and I hope every junior class that follows can express the same thing.”
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The author (in CAT sweatshirt) with his Akwantu small group, "The Prophets"
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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 this month’s offerings, compiled with the help of Barbara Ward, Gwendolyn Rector (Herrin) MacLeod, Tim Joy, and Polly Waibel, among others.
Who Knew?
1) The late Archbishop John Vlazny officiated at the baccalaureate service for the Class of 2005, our first graduating class, which was held at St. Mary’s Cathedral. A special honor for sure!
2) Seven DLSNC alums have been awarded the highly coveted and competitive Gates Millennium Scholarship, including an astonishing three people in one year. These exceptional Knights are: Taylor Hodges ‘08; Lorena Santiago-Hernandez ‘12; Melaku Arega ‘13; Enat Arega ‘14; Yared Habtemariam ‘14; Monica Medrano ‘14; and Gabriel Gutierrez-Aragon ‘15.
3) The Class of 2005 established St. La Salle Day (Founder’s Day) at the beginning of May to be a day of service rather than a carnival day, as many other Lasallian schools do. It is one of the only days of the year that the entire school community is together, and all students, staff, and faculty spread out to various nonprofits around the city to be of service—planting, organizing, and generally lending a helping hand.
4) De La Salle North Catholic’s first drama production, presented in 2004, was Our Town, which had been the last play performed at North Catholic High School before it was destroyed by fire in the 1970s. The subsequent year, DLSNC put on two plays, Once On This Island and The Cave Dwellers, the latter of which was staged in the dome at the St. Johns Theatre & Pub.
5) September 11, 2001, happened during the first week of classes at DLSNC. As the trauma and fear of the tragedy unfolded in the next weeks, our first freshman class wanted to show support for first responders and those affected beyond prayers and cards. After much discussion in Civics class, students decided to have a car wash to raise money. The community of North Portland was generous, and the students' enthusiasm raised hundreds of dollars. After more discussion, the students decided to honor local first responders, so they donated the money to the Toy N Joy Makers and shopped with fire and rescue personnel to buy toys for children.
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Snippets from the CWS World
Our Lunch & Learn program, which brings→ professionals on campus to share industry insights, was extremely robust this year with eight, well-attended lunch time presentations. Students ate a LOT of pizza while learning about topics they had selected through a poll at the beginning of the year. Topics included financial literacy, professionalism, interviewing, portfolio creation, and leadership.
CWS partner presenters this year were Edy Schaller from International Wood Products; Somaya Singh from Bora Architecture & Interiors; Rachel Crockett from JE Dunn Construction; Jon Makler from Northeast Emergency Food Pantry; Jordan Bowen from Columbia Bank; Chautauqua Cabine from HIV Day Center; Karina Handeland from University of Portland, and Omar Amezquita from Cambia Health Solutions. Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to share their expertise with our students!
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| ←Two freshmen, Isaiah Bizzell '29 and Nicolas Cotoc Chay '29, recently got to represent their CWS partner Habitat for Humanity, Portland Division at the Oregon Tradeswomen Career Fair held at the Convention Center. Alongside their supervisors, they staffed Habitat’s info booth, engaging with event attendees. During this special experience, Isaiah observed, “I was amazed at all the teens excited to learn about my job at Habitat for Humanity. I was able to give information about what I personally do there, and I was able to gain the understanding of how hard women work in all communities.”
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| ←As the CWS year comes to a close, many students have had the opportunity to make summative presentations to their colleagues, some accompanied by celebratory lunches (especially for graduating seniors). These presentations are not only a great opportunity for students to hone public-speaking skills, but also give valuable feedback to supervisors for refinement of their CWS hosting roles. Achaia Garland ‘26 at Mortenson, Domingo Zacarias Martin ‘26 at Nike Global Finance, Isayah Landeros ‘28 and Julian Martinez ‘27 at International Wood Products, and the whole junior team at the Bodecker Foundation: Efrain Gomez Troncoso '27, Britney Hernandez '27, Amari Hillman '27, and Fallon Presley '27 have all given (or are scheduled to give) wrap-up presentations at their CWS workplaces.
In addition to these off-campus presentations, a new effort started this year for students to share about their CWS experiences with the faculty and staff on-campus in formal presentations, an opportunity available to all grade levels.
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Selfie with a Supervisor!
Get a peek into the 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 Farleigh Wada Witt (FWW), a Portland-based business law firm that is in its fourth year of partnering with us. On Wednesdays (plus one Monday per month), Human Resource Manager Cynthia Silver-Biggi supervises Senior Brandon Troncoso '26, who is in his third year there.
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What have you learned in supervising a DLSNC Student Associate like Brandon?
Well, I can’t take full credit because supervising Brandon has been shared by our administrative team. With any employee, regardless of age, it’s a matter of assessing what their learning style is, what their expectations are of the experience. I think we did a good job of that with Brandon this year—we created an agenda so each month he had different focus areas. Things like how to do legal research, what drafting documents looks like, project management, setting up meetings, how to prepare a file of documents for the court. We tried to do a combination of him just being present to understand the legal process (like at a deposition) and then hands-on physical work with the paperwork that supports this process. (Cynthia Silver-Biggi)
How have you grown, working as a Student Associate at Farleigh Wada Witt?
I never really had a job before sophomore year, so it was a big adjustment. I definitely picked up a lot of communication and adaptability skills. I enjoyed having a calendar laid out for the whole year that included a reflection at the end of each segment. I always added feedback, asking to do some specific project or research ideas that involve the law. I think that feedback will be helpful for them for working with their next student.
When I first started, I wanted to be a judge, but now I’ve shifted to being more in community-focused law, like maybe immigration or politics. For college, I want to go into political science, and then I’m planning on attending law school. There’s someone at FWW who has a friend who works in immigration law, and she’s organizing a lunch for us all to meet together. Everyone is really welcoming. I like an environment like that, it’s so close-knit, like De La Salle. (Brandon Troncoso)
What’s been the coolest thing about working with a Student Associate?
It’s a cool thing, seeing somebody so young be so motivated. One of the things I see in Brandon is he is very cognizant of his opportunities. That was encouraging, someone of his age being as forward-thinking as he is. He has demonstrated a real level of maturity, a genuine interest in a legal career path, and in the work he is doing here. And he’s very friendly and outgoing. Also pretty creative in space solutions and in how we’re approaching our document file conversion. All of that brings hope for our future. Brandon demonstrates a level of confidence and maturity that, whatever he decides to do, I trust he’ll have success in. (Cynthia Silver-Biggi)
What’s the coolest part of your job at Farleigh Wada Witt?
Without CWS, without being in a professional setting, I don’t think I would be prepared for what’s next. Coming into it, I was really intimidated; I’d get really embarrassed. But looking at those times through a different lens, I think CWS has exposed me to a lot of possibilities and things I could hopefully prepare myself for.
So, sometimes I purposely try to get myself exposed to embarrassment or fear at work. Like what happens if my supervisor says no to a request I ask. This is something I value because I know in college that is something I’ll experience a lot more. The more comfortable you are with being out of your comfort zone, starting from a young age, I think is key. It’s been good to start that now. (Brandon Troncoso)
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