| AYANA HORN |
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Ayana Horn has been a Hero to the McDaniel High School Modernization project by connecting the design and construction to the reality of teaching and learning. Ayana uses extensive interior design experience to speak directly with staff and students, never forgetting the school is for them. As a PPS Project Manager, she was the first design person in the old school and the last out of the new school. Ayana was a constant advocate for incorporating input from the community engagement and design advisory group. One of the community goals was that the building look just as nice in 20-years as on opening day. Ayana reviewed materials and cleaning protocols with school custodians and maintenance staff to assure the new building could be maintained within their allotted time and skill-set. Working with our interior designers, Ayana met with teachers and administrators to assure their spaces had the proper instructional and functional equipment to deliver their specific program. A tireless advocate for students, she assured a variety of flexible and stimulating furniture would allow the diverse student body to find comfortable, social and safe places to study and socialize. Like most projects, the final weeks of construction are hectic with many trades finishing up throughout the building. Ayana was able to chart when every person needed to be in the building, then schedule furniture and equipment to be installed prior to their arrival. School staff were quite surprised by the stress-free move-in process and this helped McDaniel High School start the new year, and new era, in high spirits.
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| CURTIS WILSON JR., PRINCIPAL, BENSON POLYTECHNIC HIGH SCHOOL |
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Curtis Wilson Jr. has been the Principal at Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, Oregon for the past eight years, one of the most diverse schools in the Northwest. Wilson proudly oversees Benson’s success in preparing students for college and the highly skilled 21st-century workforce. Students at Benson learn to excel in one of many technical career areas, including automotive technology, building construction, computer science, electrical, manufacturing, engineering, visual arts, health occupations, digital media, and radio broadcasting. Under Wilson’s guidance, this CTE-focused school has achieved high graduation rates and low dropout rates. Benson’s graduate rate rose to 88.8 percent for 2016-17, well ahead of the Oregon average of 74.8 percent. Benson’s dropout rate for that year was 0.2 percent; the state average was 3.9 percent. In 2018, Wilson was named High School Principal of the Year for the state of Oregon, administered by the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators and the Oregon Association of Secondary School Administrators. In January 2019, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Portland Public Schools. Wilson said he is proudest of being able to build a community with Benson’s diverse student body that is about 70 percent students of color and with about 70 percent who qualify for the free-and-reduced lunch program. “It’s just being able to work with students, staff, and family and help bring them together,” Wilson said. Wilson has shown just how dedicated he is to Benson when the school’s girls’ basketball team made the state championship game. He offered to pay the admission of any Benson student who wanted to watch the Techsters play Southridge at the Chiles Center. "As long as you keep focus on students and work hard to collaborate with staff, I think you'll be fine," Wilson said, acknowledging that sometimes that's not an easy thing to do. "I just keep telling myself: 'Is this good for kids?'" Wilson’s selfless dedication to students makes him the perfect Hero to be honored at the A4LE Pacific Northwest Conference.
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| LEASE CRUTCHER LEWIS – SAM BARLOW HIGH SCHOOL PROJECT TEAM |
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Lease Crutcher Lewis (Lewis) is a leading builder of educational facilities throughout the Pacific Northwest. We are passionate about building these types of projects and the opportunities they offer students, faculty and the community. For the A4LE – Heroes Within Us Award, we would like to nominate our project team at Sam Barlow High School (SBHS) in Gresham, Oregon for their continued dedication to supporting student learning and career development opportunities. In partnership with the Gresham-Barlow School District (District) and the Associated General Contractors (AGC), Lewis helped pilot the Construction Career Pathway Program, which included the development of a project-based curriculum for students throughout the District. From early on in construction, our team engaged with students by hosting Construction Luncheons, giving classroom presentations and answering student questions about the project at their high school and the construction industry at large. Then, in the spring of 2019, our team was approached by the District and the AGC to participate in the Career Pathway Pilot Program. The program was designed to provide teachers with opportunities to develop hands-on learning experiences and support increased career exposure for students from kindergarten through high school.
Our project team worked closely with Sam Barlow High School to develop a project-based curriculum and partnered with a construction class to provide students with CTE programs and opportunities to learn skills that will support them in careers in the trades. Lewis partnered with two additional classes from SBHS—a Business Management class and a CTE construction class. The Business Management class visited Lewis’ main office in downtown Portland and designed storefronts for future businesses. The CTE construction class was able to assist with several concrete pours and multiple jobsite tours to learn about construction progress.
Senior Project Manager Mike Levesque became especially involved in these efforts. Mike partnered with Lewis Marketing Manager Brittany Woltering to work with the Business Management class through presentations and mentoring sessions. Mike and Brittany shared how the marketing department functions at Lewis and how the department works together with operations teams to support a variety of aspects of the business—ranging from project pursuits to individualized jobsite support. Mike and Brittany worked directly with the students for several months and met regularly. Beyond the initial presentation, they worked closely with students to provide feedback on their “design a business” projects. Engagement involved input on the real-world application and development of their businesses. They were also able to sit in on student’s final presentations toward the end of the semester and provide feedback. Additional involvement from Lewis’ field team engaged a broader group. Superintendent Matt Hockett and Project Engineers Jared Thompson, Matt Shroyer, Nick Chaney and Alex Harrison worked with the construction class, focused on CTE programs, and provided students with several first-hand learning opportunities. Senior VDC Coordinator Bart Holder presented to a design class about Building Information Modeling (BIM) and how this type of modeling is beneficial to project planning. Aside from the lessons given by the project team, students were able to observe Lewis’ approach to different construction tasks and witness the team’s lessons in real time on the construction happening on their own school. The team demonstrated how the skills students were learning in class could transfer to real-life career opportunities in the field through regular jobsite walks, averaging two or three tours monthly. The tours covered topics such as how to review project drawings, pre-task planning steps, site excavation and how to solve real-life problems through lessons learned. Matt Hockett gave several lunch-time group tours in addition to a few individual tours for students who were interested in seeing additional construction topics in action. Additionally, Matt taught students about the importance of safety and lead student participation in a stretch and flex warm-up before touring the jobsite. As construction continues to progress at SBHS, Lewis is now entering our second year partnering with the District as part of the Construction Career Pathway Program. Expanding upon on current partnership, as CM/GC for two new projects underway—Dexter McCarthy and Gordon Russell Middle Schools—Lewis is excited to extend our engagement with the District to include a new group of students and faculty while also engaging a broader group of employees to support career development and exploration, and project-based learning.
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| BRIAN JEHUE, ARROYO VISTA ELEMENTARY |
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I am submitting because Mr. Brian Jehue of Arroyo Vista Elementary School in South Pasadena, California epitomizes the word "hero." He is my daughter's second grade teacher and a cut above the rest. Almost every day, he wears a different, very vibrant OppoSuit or something similar. They are zany and funny and set the mood. Every morning, he writes a joke on a white board sitting on an easel outside of his classroom, an effort to get his second graders reading and laughing. One more recently, it read:
Q: Why can’t a leopard hide?
A: Because he’s always spotted.
He is always looking for these moments to reduce anxiety for kids, break the ice, and encourage collaboration and learning. During tests, he allows the kids to chew sugar-free gum. He also encourage the students to bring and wear slippers during tests, as he has found it makes them more at ease.
When a child does something well, he lets them pick out one of his many "scented room sprays" that have unique smells and funny names such as "Grandma's Apple Pie, Baby's Diapers, Christmas Miracle, etc."
He writes letters and postcards to all of the students over holidays and breaks. And not just for current students. There are kids who are at the South Pasadena High School who he is still writing to frequently. And they often return to check in with Mr. Jehue.
I am so impressed with his little tactics to improve learning. He is truly a hero and I highly recommend him for this 2020 PNW Call for Heroes. He has had a dramatic effect on my daughter, Sadie Severson, but also the community of South Pasadena at large. It is so rare for someone to go so far and above the call of duty and I appreciate that he is always reaching to do better, be better and make others better. Bravo Mr. Jehue, a true hero.
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| JAMESON HAWN, RIVERBEND WOODWORKS |
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I think you might be interested in looking at what a great young man is doing to help a low income school in Bellingham, WA. Jameson Hawn, whose wife Tiana is a science teacher at Meridian Middle school, has been contributing his time and money to create realistic creatures in full size for the science classrooms. The kids absolutely love the carvings and it gives a real-life sample for the science classes to discuss. He also carves stunning fish and animals. I thought the A4LE community might enjoy hearing about someone who gives hundreds of hours of his time to create something so special for the kids to enjoy. The images below show his latest masterpiece – an 11 foot Tiger shark that was just hung in the classroom this week. The detail and real-life appearance of the creatures he makes is incredible. Jameson has created 3 carvings that have been displayed in the school, with a 4th one already in the works. So far there is a Raptor that is coming out of the wall, a huge T-Rex that is so big it had to be mounted in the hallway, and the latest is a Tiger shark. He has many more photos of all the animals and fish that he has carved and even has a You Tube video showing how he does it.
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| REILLY LOVELAND, NEW BUILDING INSTITUTE |
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Reilly is an all-around inspiration. Not only does she rock it at her job, but she created and maintains Sustainable Building Week in Portland, and champions the Green Schools Committee of Portland. We are currently celebrating SBW with over 20 sponsor events, hikes, happy hours, and panels, all coordinated and championed by Reilly. She manages conferences, takes care of herself and her two cats, and loves the land (true to her name!). She is one of the best possible candidates for this!
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| SUSAN B. MANGIN, EVERGREEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS |
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Ms. Mangin is this week’s Hero for all the work she’s done with students who are interested in architecture but also for her work in SchoolsNEXT. Ms. Mangin is a teacher and architect at Heritage High School. She has been instrumental in teaching students about architecture and has done so at Heritage High School and previously at Benson Polytechnic High School. She has participated in the SchoolsNEXT program and last year 2 of her 15 teams ranked very high, with one of them placing first regionally where the team presented at the A4LE conference in Vancouver, WA. They went on to the Saskatoon conference to present their project. It was impressive what was learned and portrayed through their designs and it was to the teachings of Ms. Mangin. She runs her studio similar to what you would see at a college architecture studio. Because of this, many of her students have pursued careers in architecture (myself included) because of the exposure to an industry that would otherwise be foreign to them.
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| KYLE ROGERS, DIRECTOR, COMISSION |
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Kyle Rogers is the Director of Design CoMission, LSW’s bi-annual internship program for aspiring designers and design-minded students from high-schools around SW Washington’s school districts. From its inception in 2014, Design CoMission’s goal has been to give students an equitable platform to explore their interest in design, gain real-world experience from professionals. This exposes students to a range of design ideas that allows them to expand their understanding of a career in design and envision a future in any direction. Participating students can receive 0.5 credit hours toward completion of their high school diploma if the 90-hour requirement has been met and have the option to transfer that credit to 4 credits at Clark College.
In 2020, against the backdrop of COVID-19, Kyle has steered the program to a very successful remote-semester. Kyle has shown himself to be a true advocate for students, not only as a figurehead and instructor but through his coordination with partnering school districts and institutions. He works tirelessly in the background to expand access to the program, provide enrollment and technology assistance, and ensure students are set up for success.
Design CoMission website |
Design CoMission 2020 video
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| CASEY WYCKOFF, PRESIDENT, LSW ARCHITECTS |
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As president of LSW Architects, Casey Wyckoff has dedicated his professional career to understanding the role architecture can play in supporting communities, and then uniting teams behind an optimistic vision for the future. As an architect, he has designed many of the public schools across SW Washington.
Recognizing the need to build a future workforce of design thinkers within our local community, Casey was instrumental in creating two programs to provide students with meaningful design opportunities. These staff-run programs at LSW aim to broaden the range of options available to aspiring designers, while also adding to the local design culture in Vancouver. This year, both programs made monumental shifts to accommodate students through the pandemic.
The first is Design Camp: Casey spearheaded LSW’s Young Architects Design Camp, a program for children ages 7-12 that cultivates creativity and curiosity in a welcoming environment. In response to Covid-19, he and the team at Riff_ Creative reimagined Design Camp as a virtual program. DSGNCAMP2020 (Design Camp 2020) became an interactive three box summer box subscription. Through an extensive design-effort, the team was able to translate the fun and creativity of Design Camp into an at-home program.
The second is Design CoMission, LSW’s high school internship program. This was created to give students an equitable platform to explore their interest in design, gain real-world experience from professionals, and develop their own vision for the future. This year, in response to Covid-19, Design CoMission has become a fully remote program and this has allowed us to widen enrollment beyond our in-house capacity.
Design Camp website |
Design Camp Instagram
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| *CHIEF DARCY BEAR, WHITECAP DAKOTA FIRST NATION AND GEORGE RATHWELL, FORMER DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, SASKATOON PUBLIC SCHOOL DIVISION |
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Twenty-six years ago, a young First Nations man in his first term as a Councillor for his First Nation visited a very new high school vice-principal. The Councillor was eager to know how he could assist the students from his First Nation that were attending the high school. A discussion took place regarding some of the issues these students faced, and it was decided that they would meet on occasion to further discuss how to improve the graduation rates of his young band members. The high school aged students from the Whitecap Dakota First Nation (26 kilometers from Saskatoon) were struggling with their education for many reasons, both historical and a result of the state of educational services on the First Nation. In short, these students transitioned to an urban high school with all the hopes and dreams of their student peers, but without some of the basic literacy and numeracy skills of their classmates.
The Councillor and the Vice-Principal felt that this situation was wrong. They were determined to do what they could to find solutions to this matter.
The two men continued to meet. They became friends and, as fate would have it, they became leaders. The Councillor became the Chief of his First Nation and has provided stable leadership in that role for the past 25 years. The vice-principal eventually reached the ranks of senior administration in the Saskatoon Public School Division. Their mutual interest in improving educational opportunities for the children of the Whitecap Dakota First Nation and for all indigenous children continued and developed into an educational partnership that is unique in Canada.
For the past six years, the pre-kindergarten to grade 4 elementary school on the Whitecap Dakota First Nation has become an alliance school to the largest school division in Saskatchewan. This was made possible through the mutual vision of the Chief and Council and the Saskatoon Public School Board. The Canadian government supported this partnership by increasing the funding levels to the school to match provincial funding levels. This funding increase assisted with capital expenditures that have provided millions of dollars to the construction of a new Early Learning Center at Charles Redhawk school, an on-reserve school, as well as addition classrooms and a cultural room to a newly constructed school, Chief Whitecap School, in Saskatoon. Grade 5-8 students from the First Nation attend Chief Whitecap. The partnership brought stability to the on-reserve elementary school administration and staff, as the teachers are now part of the urban division.
The children of this First Nation benefit through access to the resources of the large urban division, but remain able to learn and share the history, language and culture of their First Nation and with the larger urban community. As a result, in addition to the financial resources and improved facilities, the young people of this First Nation are demonstrating improved reading and numeracy test results. Students are also making the transition to the urban school division more successfully and our urban community is learning much more regarding First Nation culture and history.
Friendship, trust and a mutual will to find solutions to a complex social issue has helped these two individuals lead educational and social progress in our community. This partnership model can assist in leading the way to improved education for our First Nations people and an important reconciliation between the indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of our communities, province and nation.
We are stronger together.
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| * JONATHAN STINE, RENTON SCHOOL DISTRICT |
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Jonathan Stine has been a persistent force in bringing energy efficiency and learning environment enhancements to schools throughout his career. Recently he was the first public school official to bring human-centric lighting (HCL) into the classroom on a large scale. He also oversaw the Direct Digital Controls (DDC) retrofit for the Renton High School. The HCL project included updating 4,500 lighting fixtures to tunable and fixed LEDs. The HCL saves the Renton SD $50,000 a year and has produced an annual maintenance savings of approximately 20%. In terms of carbon, because of this project, the District avoids releasing 322 tons of CO2 a year. The DDC retrofit for the Renton High School involved replacing the existing outdated control system with Alerton I/O controllers and Niagara AX management software. CO2 sensors were also installed to enable demand control ventilation strategies. The project has resulted in over $168,000 in avoided energy costs over three years and a 37% reduction in energy usage at the school. Jonathan’s devotion to saving energy and improving the educational experience has truly been heroic.
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| * JILL CAMPBELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HOUGH FOUNDATION |
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The non-profit Hough Foundation supports the funding of enrichment programs at Hough Elementary in downtown Vancouver, WA. Hough is a small but very diverse school. The Hough Foundation funds numerous enrichment programs so that children can learn and thrive in their school environment. Most noticeably are the after school programs such as Rhythm Lab (drum group), Glee choir and Garden Club. Each program pays for professionals to work with students on programs of their choice. Most programs have been in place for over 10 years. They also support the Green Team which is a lunch recess program so that all students can participate. The Green Team works on numerous projects to improve their school campus, including art and nature based designs, horticulture and gardening projects, as well as curricula based (science, art, etc.). Research suggests that students that participate in these types of programs are more focused, have lower stress and healthy habits which directly relate to improved social & behavioral goals as well as academic achievements. Many of Hough's students may not have access to such music or gardening in their daily lives without the Foundation's work. We have seen tremendous growth in students, pride & ownership of their work, and successful community events because of these programs. Mission Statement: The Hough Foundation opens doors to opportunity for all students of Hough School, eliminating barriers to learning and creating the conditions that allow every student to thrive and achieve at their highest level. Vision Statement: We are working toward a future when every Hough Elementary student has a clear path to educational success. Students leave Hough School life-ready and education-ready, empowered to actively engage in a world they help create.
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| * CHERI HENDRICKS, PROJECT MANAGER, BROADVIEW ASSOCIATES |
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Cheri has been committed to improving education in the NW for over 30 years. In her role as project manager, she has completed dozens of school projects in both the public (Edmonds School District) and private domains (Broadview Associates). More critically, she has been an unwavering advocate for excellence. Excellence in asking what's best for kids; excellence in researching best practices; excellence in innovative programming; excellence in developing rigorous design standards; excellence in developing strategies for an inclusive design approach; excellence in holding everyone's "feet to the fire" (architects, engineers, contractors, owners, teachers, administrators, managers) to achieve projects of the highest caliber. Cheri has served A4LE locally, regionally, and nationally as a leader, a volunteer, a juror and as a lifelong learner. Her leadership on community engagement, programming and design of Edmonds-Woodway HS garnered A4LE's highest project honor, the James McConnell Award. She brings intelligence, discipline and integrity to her work.
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