The Essential

Happy Spring DDSD! We are in the last third of the year. We would like to express our gratitude to you for all of the hard work you have done thus far with students and staff.

This month we are highlighting Arabic Heritage Month, Autism Acceptance Month, and Eid al-Fitr! Read below to find various resources on these cultural/identity celebrations.

We do our very best to uplift our communities starting with the identities and cultures that are more represented in numbers in our district but we want to make sure that we are uplifting everyone to the best of our abilities. From now on, we will have a Cultural and Identity Celebration list at the end of our Essential so that there is acknowledgement of all of the events that are happening in the month! If you notice something that we are missing, please let us know!

The Oregon Association of Latinx Administrator and the Oregon Association for Bilingual Education are working together to hold the first Spanish Spelling Bee!

• Each school may send ONE top speller for EACH grade level 4th -8th. Schools should hold their own school-based Spanish Spelling Bee to determine school winners. A list of practice words will be provided to schools once they complete registration.

• Fee for participation: $100.00 per school (school will be invoiced after registration and can pay online with a credit card or with check).

• Transportation must be provided by school/district/parents. Students should bring a water bottle and sack lunch. Small snacks will be provided.

Here is the registration link if your school is interested.

Every month, we will highlight the cultural and identity based celebrations that are celebrated nationally within each month. However, it is important to state that people who hold the identities that we are celebrating should not only be celebrated one month out of the year. We choose to celebrate the diversity of often marginalized groups because their histories and stories historically have been left out. There are many people who hold these identities within our community, students and staff, who deserve to see themselves in the work we do. We move forward with these celebrations encouraging a continuing visibility, representation, and celebration of the groups we highlight.

"The United Nations designated April 2, 2008, as World Autism Day to raise awareness of the need to improve education, career opportunities, and community services and supports for Autistic individuals. Public attention had been drawn to the issue in 2006 when The Autism Acceptance Project presented a series of lectures, exhibitions and events titled The Joy of Autism: Redefining Ability And Quality of Life.

In April 2009, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proclaimed, “I welcome this growing international chorus of voices calling for action to enable children and persons with autism to lead full and meaningful lives. This is not a far-off dream; it is a reality that can be attained by promoting positive perceptions about autism as well as a greater social understanding.”

Paula C. Durbin-Westby, who wanted a corrective to the negative images of autism that have been prevalent in many autism “awareness” media pieces and events during April, organized the first Autism Acceptance Day celebration on April 1, 2011. She wrote that it was pro-neurodiversity, pro-supports and services, against “cures” and not about fundraising or other agendas. Autism Acceptance Day and Autism Acceptance Month quickly became popular in the Autistic community as participants spread the word through Facebook and other media."

-Autism Self Advocacy Network

National Arab American Heritage Month takes place in April. It celebrates the Arab American heritage and culture and pays tribute to the contributions of Arab Americans and Arabic-speaking Americans.

Eid al-Fitr, first of two canonical festivals of Islam. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, and is celebrated during the first three days of Shawwāl, the 10th month of the Islamic calendar.

“Congratulations! It is our pleasure to offer you admission to the Pacific University School of Learning and Teaching,” reads the first acceptance letter received by a Grow Your Own participant for the 2024-25 academic year. Jay Courtney-Leocadio, one of our district’s bilingual liaisons, could not be more excited about starting his Bachelor’s in Secondary Education program in September, an achievement that he describes as “a dream come true and a 26 year-plan in the making.”

Jay graduated from David Douglas High School in 2000. He grew up speaking Spanish and proud of the Mexican-American culture he inherited from his father. As a freshman at Douglas, he decided to enroll in Spanish classes “to strengthen my ties with my Chicano culture.” That is where he fell in love with the Spanish language and the teaching profession. “My dream since then has always been to become a Spanish language teacher at David Douglas High School.”

Fast forward 25 years and a whole lot of life later. After working for many years as a translation manager at a local entertainment company, Jay found his way to a position as a bilingual liaison in our district. To make ends meet, he also started driving Uber before and after work, making for a grueling 60 hour work week with no potential end in sight. “I had given up on my dream of being a teacher. There was just no way I could afford paying for school and all of my bills.”

Enter Amoxtli Reyes, former GYO Pathway Navigator and current Fir Ridge Counselor, who along with other colleagues, encouraged Jay to look into the Grow Your Own program as a pathway to achieving his lifelong dream. Jay carefully considered the tuition assistance and support he could receive as a GYO participant, as well as the sacrifices he would have to make by going back to school, such as spending much less time with his children. He reflected on his life decisions and concluded, “I am 40 years old, other than my kids, my travels, and my language skills, what else have I done that I can say I’m proud of?” He decided to take the leap and become a GYO participant.

And the decision paid off. After a year and a half of working two jobs while taking classes at PCC and maintaining a 4.0 GPA, Jay is now ready to transfer to Pacific University in the Fall to earn his Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education and his ESOL endorsement. “I am SUPER excited. It’s so validating of the work that I’ve put in to be able to show my kids that, even if you take the 26 year plan, you can still make your dreams come true.”

Congratulations to Mari Franco Morgado for being David Douglas' 2024 Rose Festival Princess. Click here to watch the Rose Festival Assembly from the high school.

Fifth grader Desmond came down to the office very nervous on Monday, March 18th. "That's a very long paragraph," he stated, calming his breathing.

It was Desmond's turn to read the morning announcements at Gilbert Heights Elementary. The leadership team at GH wanted to find a way to give their fourth and fifth grade students opportunities for leadership and to elevate student voice.. The group came up with the idea of having their 4th and 5th grade students read their morning announcements. Title 1 teacher, Jeannine McIntyre, and 4th grade teacher, Noelle Bell, undertook this project.

"Every time they come on, the kids are so excited to hear them!" Noelle shared.

Student volunteers participate on a rotating basis scheduled through all 4th and 5th grade classes.. The script is written beforehand for the students and includes the lunch options for the day (very important!), any school wide calendar updates/events, the character trait of the month, and a feature that aligns with the cultural/identity celebrations for the month. On March 18th, Desmond was sharing about Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color and Asian American woman to be elected to the house of representatives, for Women's History Month.

After Desmond had successfully finished the announcements and gotten over the nerves, he exclaimed " I'm a celebrity!"

I got the opportunity to talk to a few other students who had done the announcements before about how the announcements made them feel.

"I like doing the announcements," 5th Grader, Doru, shared. "It allows people to hear my voice, which makes me feel good."

"When I do it, I feel brave," exclaimed 5th graders, Leanna. "I feel like I'm achieving something."

"We get to see that our kid voices are important, not only teachers," a group of 4th graders told me.

The students who did the announcements are in different places in their reading ability and English language proficiency, but this opportunity allowed for them to practice in a big way.

Great job, Gilbert Heights, in uplifting your students voices!

As a student-led group focused on promoting the Asian student culture at David Douglas, we’ve fundraised with Asian-themed goodie bags, organized the district-wide Lunar New Year event hosted here on campus, and toured the district with our very own student K-pop dance group. We aim to unite the school's Asian community while educating about our many unique traditions and shared experiences.

ASU is important to us because it brings a sense of belonging in a community and provides diversity, equity, and inclusion at David Douglas. We want to represent the Asian population and the many unique cultures within the spectrum at David Douglas High School through this club, overall, making the Asian community more known.

ASU is like a family, a place where students can learn about and appreciate Asian cultures, while enjoying fun events like our Lunar New Year Celebration, games, and many more after-school activities. This brings not only a stronger sense of community between our students but also provides a sense of leadership for those who want to step up and lead their peers in these meetings. ASU is not just a club, it is also where students connect with each other over their shared experiences and culture.

We plan on continuing to promote Asian culture by helping with the Lunar New Year District Event Celebration, planning intriguing fundraisers to raise money for our club, doing dance tours to spread awareness for the club, providing food at the International Bite to promote cultural foods that we all grew up eating, along with many more. At the end of the school year, we not only plan an End of the Year celebration to celebrate our members but also provide stoles for our seniors.

We as officers dedicate a lot towards this club. It really holds a special place in our hearts. The students that come to every meeting are held dear, not only because they are the foundation of our club but our family as well. Our members commit themselves to our community whether it be through time or support; it all makes a difference and ensures that in the coming years, ASU will continue to prosper, be a place where everyone feels belonging, and open doors for many opportunities for its members in the following years!

The students in Lisa Oglesby's fifth grade classroom participated in a Black Living Wax Museum the last week before spring break. Each of the students chose a Black individual, from history or current times, to research in the month of February. After researching each of their people, the students wrote a speech from their individual's perspective. At this living wax museum, the students dressed up like their person and gave their speeches in the style of a wax museum. As we walked in, all of the students were frozen in a pose. To hear their speech you had to press a little red button in from of the student and they would come to life. "This is my 3rd year running the Living Wax Museum during Black History Month," Oglesby shared. When I asked a 5th grader how it made her feel to do this project, she said, "It makes me nervous, but I'm really proud of myself when I finish [my speech] each time." The room was filled with students from other classrooms, and adults from around the building, supporting these fifth graders, and learning about Black people from different times in history. Great job 5th graders!

April 2 - World Autism Acceptance Day (United States)

April 2 - National Tartan Day (Scottish)

April 5th - Laylat al-Qadr (Islamic)

April 9-10 - Eid al-Fitr (Islamic)

April 12th - Day of (No) Silence (LGBTQ+ and Allies)

April 13th - Vaisakhi (Sikh)

April 13th-16th - Bun Pi Mai (New Year) (Laotian)

April 13th-16th - Cambodian New Year

April 19th - The First Day of Ridvan (Bahá'i)

April 22-30 - Passover (Pesach) (Jewish)

Are you doing something wonderful in your classroom, building, or in the wider community that has to do with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion? Are you super proud of an engagement strategy, a lesson, or a community bulletin board that you’ve created? Do you see someone else doing something wonderful and want to shout them out? The equity departments want to hear from you! Every month, we’ll be highlighting a few educators and staff members who are doing wonderful work. We know that there is wonderful work being done out there, and we would love to hear from you and share! To submit something, or invite one of us to your classroom or space, please email gabie_mbenza-ngoma@ddsd40.org.