Staff Kudos February 2018
Recognitions & Accomplishments of staff doing great things
Highland Park MS awarded Oregon International Air Show Grant
The grant will fund a large 3D printer, a mini laser cutter, a mini CNC (Computer Numerical Control) mill and materials for all three.
Thank you, Oregon International Air Show and Standard TV and Appliance!
Staff Spotlight: Women in Construction Megan Finch, Project Manager
Twenty-eight-year-old Megan Finch is walking a construction site on a crisp December morning. She's giving Hazeldale Elementary School Principal Angela Tran a tour, helping her imagine what the new school will look like.
Megan is the Beaverton School District Project Manager for the rebuild of Hazeldale Elementary School. It's her job to ensure the school is finished in time for the 2018-2019 school year. That's a lot of responsibility. What's even more remarkable? This isn't the first school she's built.
Being young and female in the construction industry posed its challenges, especially early in Megan's career. Megan recalls her first major project building a supermarket in the Seattle area. "All of the subcontractors knew my role, but they could never remember my name. So they would just call me any random girl's name." She took it in stride. "People may look at you and make snap judgements because that's how people are. But once you work with them, they realize that you work hard and do a good job."
Megan grew up in a small, rural town in California. Always strong in math and science, she really enjoyed taking drafting in high school. When it came time to choose where to go to college, she picked Washington State University in Pullman for its Architectural Studies program. After college, Megan moved to Portland and was hired as a project engineer. After working on tenant improvements for 6-8 months, she worked on the supermarket project in Seattle. "That was my real trial by fire," says Megan. "I was pretty green."
Megan was hired as a project coordinator for the Beaverton School District in the Fall of 2014. She worked on several smaller projects and was scheduled to be the project coordinator for the rebuild of Vose Elementary School when two project manager positions came open. Megan was promoted to project manager for Vose.
When asked what it was like to build an entire school, Megan replies, "You have nothing. You have an idea and then it literally comes out of the ground. There is a lot of technical stuff that makes that happen, but it's a really cool experience to see something go from paper to real life."
Megan has two pieces of advice for young people. "You are not the smartest person in the room," she says. "With construction management, you are the person who ties all the people together. I know a little bit about a lot of things, rather than a lot about one thing. I know just enough to get a conversation going, facilitate communication and solve problems."
Her other words of wisdom, pick something you like and that might lead to something you love. Says Megan, "I thought I was going to be an architect. I am not an architect. I found out that I am probably not suited to be an architect. But it led me to something that I love doing."
Dr. Danielle Hudson Awarded OACOA Achievement of Excellence Award
Danielle has been with the Beaverton School District since 2001. She oversees Special Education, English Language Learners, Counseling, Nursing, and Social Workers. She shares her work at regional and state conferences and has actively led statewide legislative efforts to address issues, concerns and opportunities to improve special education.
Danielle always has student achievement at the forefront of everything she does and advocates for it on a daily basis. She is often sought out for advice on budget and programmatic issues and is on point when it comes to figuring out ways to align resources. She is a leader that walks and talks equity and will always make students a priority.
"Danielle consistently fosters a culture of learning, cultural responsiveness and high expectations for every student and adult. She is a reflective collaborator that engages stakeholders in developing, implementing, communicating, monitoring and evaluating the schools’ and district’s mission and vision," says Ginny Hansmann, Chief Academic Officer. "Her ability to work with her administrators continues to be a strength of Danielle’s but also leads our district in a direction that is consistent and respected. She consistently models leadership that should be replicated in all BSD departments. Danielle continues to amaze me with her unwavering commitment to meet the needs of all students."
Congratulations, Danielle!
Robotics Team Creates Innovative Drainage System - Help them Move their Solution Forward by Signing their Petition
The Brickwizards, a First Lego League team comprised of Beaverton School District elementary and middle school students, recently competed in the First Tech Challenge 2017-2018 Hydro Dynamics competition – how we find, transport, use, or dispose of water. The Brickwizards won the Google Data Center Research Award at the Oregon State Championships on January 13, 2018. The Google Data Center Research Award recognizes a team that utilizes diverse resources to formulate an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the problem they have identified. They were also selected as one of three teams to advance to the next round to compete for the Global Innovation Award. This nomination recognizes teams for their problem-solving, creativity, and inventiveness with an opportunity to further pursue their project solutions.
The team developed the Intelligent Drainage System (IDS) to improve existing ways to transport storm-water runoff to efficiently manage human water cycles. The IDS was developed to improve storm-water transport by combining new technology with existing solutions. It has three main parts:
- Soil moisture sensor and system of valves
- Rooftop garden
- Filtration and storage
Storm-water runoff is recognized nationally as the leading cause of fresh water pollution today. The IDS is an early warning system that is eco-friendly, sustainable and cheap. The Brickwizards have started a petition on Change.org to move their project forward.
“Our solution is meant to be implemented into commercial buildings. We have talked to lots of experts about this idea and they have supported us and would like to bring this solution to solve real life problems . We are excited to be a small part of improving our community and help manage human water cycle. Please join us in helping move this solution forward by signing our petition today!” - Brickwizards
To learn more about the Brickwizards, their robot and the IDS, please visit https://brickwizards.wordpress.com/
BSD's work on Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning featured in video by EdTech Focus on K-12
Beaverton STARS rock their new floor!
Volunteers serve Beaverton Schools
Our thanks to the many community volunteers that joined the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend of service with Hands On Greater Portland (a program of the United Way) by serving at Beaverton schools with the following activities:
At William Walker Elementary School volunteers sorted, packed and purged in preparation for the school's move to the temporary location on 118th. They sorted books, no longer used art supplies, posters and more.
At Scholls Heights Elementary School volunteers picked up garbage, swept winter greens and debris from the parking lot, cleaned up the library, winterized the garden bed, and prepared for and sorted student activity supplies for upcoming events such as BizTown.
David Nieslanik awarded OALA Tom Ruhl Ally Award
The Oregon Association of Latino Administrators (OALA) has recognized David Nieslanik, Principal at Southridge High School with the Tom Ruhl Ally Award.
David was chosen for consistently modeling cultural competency and is known as being a champion for equity. He takes active involvement in addressing critical Latino issues and has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the Dual Language Program at Southridge High School.
David is creative and innovative when it comes to programming and master schedule building for his English Learner (EL) population. His school is one of our high schools running a collaborative co-teaching model to meet the needs of his ELs. He clearly understands the specific needs of his students, particularly his school's English Learners and Dual Language students and works closely with staff to address those needs.
The OALA Ally Award goes to an “educator who has exhibited leadership in educational administration and has implemented strategies or activities aligned with OALA’s mission, purpose and goals in their district or institution.”
BSD Students to Attend Close Up in Washington, D.C.
This year, 16 students from high schools across the District were selected to participate:
Aloha High School
- Juan Castro Martinez, 10th Grade
- Jasmine Recinos Villanueva, 11th Grade
- Hector Tapia Ortiz, 9th Grade
- Villanueva Villanueva Ortiz, 11th Grade
Beaverton High School
- Xiomara Calderon Esquivel, 9th Grade
- Fernanda Guzman de la Cerda, 9th Grade
- Alex Hernandez Vidal, 11th Grade
- Stephanie Martinez Jaimes, 11th Grade
- Dulce Pedraza Saaverda, 10th Grade
- Alejandro Rodriguez Chavez, 11th Grade
- Anita Vasquez Cortes, 11th Grade
Health and Science School (HS2)
- Eduardo Ferreyra Albor, 11th Grade
Mountainside High School
- Susana Morales Garcia, 9th Grade
Southridge High School
- Daniela Rodriguez Gonzalez, 9th Grade
Westview High School
- Shirley Alonzo Velasco, 11th Grade
Close Up's High School Programs are designed to give students and educators an inside look at their democracy in action. Using the nation's capital as a living classroom, participants get a "close up" view of government - interacting with the people, processes, and places that make this federal city so unique.
Sunset HS's Free to Breathe places 2nd in ICHSA Competition
Sunset High School's a cappella group "Free to Breathe" placed second at the ICHSA (International Championship of High School A Cappella) a cappella competition last month.
The ICHSA competition is the premiere high school a cappella competition throughout the world. Free to Breathe applied by sending in a video of them singing and were accepted into the Northwest division semi-finals round. There were nine schools competing. They sang "Barton Hollow" (originally by Civil Wars) "Prayin'" (originally by Ke$ha) and then a Guns n' Roses medley. The group's beatboxer, Miles Imai, was awarded the "Best Vocal Percussionist" award.
While the winning group automatically moves on to the finals round, the 2nd place winners from each division are placed into a "Wild Card" round with the winner of that going on to the finals. The finals are scheduled for April 19, 2018 in New York City.
"Free to Breathe was first formed 10 years ago after the Sunset choir visited New York City and several of the choir members saw the ICHSA finals. Immediately after the concert they turned to me and said, "WE HAVE TO FORM AN A CAPPELLA GROUP." Auditions are held in early September and the group rehearses before and after school," says Chris Rust, Choir Director.
Earlier this year, the group won the K103 caroling competition and was invited to sing live on the air.
The Story of the Oak Hills ES Oak Tree Mural
To read the story, click on the PDF document below
Early Release in Action: Force and Motion
"We coordinated with our Innovation Strategist, Ryan Hoxie, who was able to join us for a collaboration meeting to discuss the details of our unit and tying in technology and SeeSaw," says 3rd grade teacher Kristina Chou. "Ryan met with us and described what Wonder Workshop Dash robots would be capable of and how it would tie into our unit on force and motion."
Mr. Hoxie was able to schedule time to push into the classrooms and deliver the mini lesson. Students conducted the experiment in the MakerSpace. During the experiments, students rotated jobs, including photography. Photos were then posted for parents to view on SeeSaw. The students were also exposed to introductions in coding.
In upcoming Wednesday early release, the team will continue to reflect on SeeSaw."
Westview HS Science Bowl Team 1 Sweeps Regional Competition
The team is comprised of (pictured above from left to right) Ben Chiu, Grant Chen, Justin Yang, Justin Bao and Eric Tong, with teacher Fabian Mak.
The BPA Regional Science Bowl is a fast-paced academic competition that tests student knowledge in all aspects of science: math, geology, chemistry ,energy, physics, environmental science and more.
Family fun at Chehalem ES STEM Expo
The Hitachi Electron microscope visited the STEM expo allowing parents and students to visit the microscope and look at specimens. Third-fifth grade students used Adobe Spark to create QR codes for their virtual science fair boards. Every Chehalem student participated in the science fair portion (science inquiry/engineering design projects) of the Expo.
Throughout the Expo, classroom teachers were in their classrooms showcasing how STEM is being used in the classroom. Families had the opportunity to complete a bingo/tic-tac-toe board by visiting classrooms and turning in their game board for a sweet treat coupon from McDonald's.
Southridge HS selected to participate in IB Excellence and Equity Initiative
Southridge High School has been selected to participate in a new national initiative created to promote the inclusion and success of under-represented students in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) and the Career-related Programme (CP).
Southridge has been selected to participate in the IB’s Excellence and Equity Initiative (E2). Over the next two years, secondary school leaders and faculty will work to remove barriers to DP or CP participation for under-represented students, create pathways to the DP or CP, and incorporate strategies that are designed to positively impact the success of under-represented students enrolled in the programmes to empower more students to graduate with the skills and tools needed for post-secondary education and lifelong learning.
Research indicates that less than 1% of diverse schools nationwide have advanced programmes in which their students reflect the diversity of the overall school population. Research has also shown that the DP and CP can empower underrepresented groups for college entrance, persistence and success. One of the most compelling studies found that IB Diploma candidates in Chicago Public Schools — low income, minority, first generation college goers — have not internalized the negative stereotype effect of similar non-IB students. In fact, the study concluded that, “the IB program in Chicago appears to have accomplished something very rare in urban education: it took economically and socially disadvantaged students and radically changed their long-term educational prospects by making them world-class learners with an arsenal of academic skills.” To read more about this study, visit http://ibo.org/globalassets/publications/ib-research/dp/cps-summary-en.pdf.
“We look forward to expanding our DP and CP participation rates in order to prepare more students to find success as life-long learners," said Principal David Nieslanik. “Our teachers and leaders are excited to increase the impact of an international curriculum in our school community.”
To learn more about E2 and the International Baccalaureate, visit http://www.ibo.org/excellence-and-equity/.
TVF&R Trains BSD Students in Compression Only CPR
Since 2012 the Beaverton School District Health Careers Program has partnered with Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) in educating students throughout the District about Compression only CPR.
High school students in the Health Careers Program are are trained on how to work with the middle school students and aid in the instruction with TVF&R taking the lead. "It has been a great service learning opportunity for our students with benefits that reach outside of the classroom," says Paula Jacobs, Health Careers teacher. "Some senior students have even made this their senior project and extended their teaching to their own high schools!"
"We reached close to 2,000 students last school year in the Beaverton School District. Over the past five years, TVF&R has trained between 5,000 and 8,000 (depending on the year) students and community members (within Tualatin Valley Service area) – each year. Of course, we could not do this without your awesome Heath Career students. We thank you for your time and commitment to the program," says Amber Cross, Deputy Fire Marshal TVF&.
BSD Early Learning Partners with Beaverton City Library to Offer "Every Child Ready to Read" Workshop
Early Learning Family Resource Coordinator, Karol Aragon partnered with the Beaverton City Library and Early Learning Washington County to host an "Every Child Ready to Read" Workshop at Aloha-Huber Park K-8 preschool program.
The workshop, for parents and children ages 0-5, introduces the five early literacy practices of talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. Parents had the opportunity to learn and practice each of the skills with their kids.
Three HS2 students selected as Oregon's nominations for U.S. Presidential Scholar in Career & Technical Education
Health and Science School seniors (pictured from left to right) Simeon Florea, Mason Wichman, and Mazin Ashfaq, who were selected by the Oregon Chief State School Officer at the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) as three of the five of Oregon’s nominations for the U.S. Presidential Scholar in Career and Technical Education for 2018.
If selected as a national finalist, the student will receive an all expense-paid trip to Washington, D. C. in June 2018 and will be presented with the U.S. Presidential Scholars medallion at a ceremony sponsored by the White House.
Congratulations Simeon, Mason and Mazin, and good luck!
WE Collaborate: BSD Future Ready Partners With Nike to Reimagine Classroom Furniture
Innovation Strategists Ryan Hoxie and Katie White have developed a partnership with Nike to reimagine classroom spaces throughout the District. The collaboration has created a sustainable resource for teachers to choose slightly used furniture that Nike is no longer using to innovate their classroom and library spaces.
Last June, Ryan and Katie worked with the Beaverton School District Facilities Department, Teaching & Learning Department, the Future Ready team and Stephanie Tucker an Operations Specialist at Nike to develop a process for schools to tour the warehouse and select furniture based on need. Six dates were selected for Innovation Strategists to accompany up to three teachers, administrators or staff from their schools to visit the warehouse and select furniture items to be used in classrooms and common spaces in their schools. The following Friday, the BSD Facilities courier team picks up the selected items from the Nike warehouse and delivers them to the schools.
“We get a lot of furniture from all over our campuses that are still in really good condition but are not deployable. My job is to work with local nonprofits and school districts to ensure this material stays out of the landfill,” says Stephanie. “The walkthrough and pick up schedule that has been developed with the Beaverton School District has really worked out to be very beneficial to everyone.”
Communications & Community Involvement Department
Email: melissa_larson@beaverton.k12.or.us
Website: www.beaverton.k12.or.us
Location: 16550 SW Merlo Rd., Beaverton
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeavertonSchoolDistrict
Twitter: @beavertonSD