School Board Spotlight Awards

The FGSD School Board is honoring individuals and organizations that show commitment to excellence and positive impact in our community. Award recipients are honored once a month during the School Board Meeting.

February 11, 2025

Rogelio Martinez -- Distinguished Latino Educator Award

Each year, the Oregon Association of Latino Administrators (OALA) honors an exceptional educator with the Distinguished Latino Educator Award at its annual Winter Conference. This year, we are proud to celebrate our very own Rogelio Martinez, Principal of Fern Hill Elementary, as the recipient of this prestigious honor.

The Distinguished Latino Educator Award recognizes a Latino educator who demonstrates outstanding leadership in educational administration and actively advances strategies that align with OALA’s mission to support and elevate Latino students and communities across their district, institution, or the state.

In the short time I have known Rogelio, I have witnessed firsthand his deep commitment to his students, his staff, and our district. He asks the hard questions—of himself and of the system—not to challenge, but because he cares. He is a tireless advocate for change, pushing for systems that uplift and celebrate the diversity of our students, recognizing the inherent value of every child and adult in our schools. Most importantly, Rogelio makes us better—as educators, as a district, and as a community—because he believes in the power of public education and holds high expectations for all students.

Congratulations, Rogelio! Thank you for your dedication, leadership, and the impact you make every day at Fern Hill Elementary and beyond.

January 14, 2025

Big Future National Recognition Program: FGHS Student Recipients

Ava, Marisa, and Leia pose with the School Board, Coleen Lord, and Heather Fix

Forest Grove High School students Ava Forn, Marisa Calvillo, and Leia Ignacio-Walsh were recognized by the Board as recipients of the Big Future Program.

To qualify for this award students must:

Maintain a GPA of at least 3.5 or higher
Identify as BIPOC, first generation and/or attending a high school in a rural area
Score in the top 10% of PSAT takers in Oregon
Earn 3s or better on at least two different AP exams

Ava Forn, a senior at FGHS, has been part of the Forest Grove Chamber Orchestra for the past four years where she is the principal chellest. She is part of the Pacific University Philharmonic symphony for the past year. Her goals are to attend Columbia University to study math and physics and minor in music.

Leia Ignacio-Walsh, a senior at FGHS, is applying to a number of prestigious colleges such as Vanderbilt, Pepperdine, and USC. She has also been accepted to Lewis & Clarke In addition to her academics, she has maintained working a part time job for the past two years.

Marisa Calvillo, a junior at FGHS, has her sights set on applying to universities such as Harvard, Yale, or UC Davis. She is a hardworking and dynamic individual.

Congratulations to Ava, Marisa, and Leia!

November 12, 2024

FGHS student Eamon Boyle

Migrant Family Engagement Specialists, Elvira Jasofat and Ruby Robles

FGSD Speech Language Pathologist, Laura Ryba

October 8, 2024

FGHS Mariachi Tradicion

Starting with no mariachi instruments, uniforms, or sound equipment, Mariachi Tradicion's journey has been nothing short of remarkable. The mariachi program was founded during the 2015/2016 school year by Lesslie Nuñez, who was hired as head of the orchestra program in our district. Mariachi Tradicion quickly became a recognizable group of musical excellence and cultural celebration in our community. The mariachi program began as an after-school club at Neil Armstrong Middle School. By 2017, the program evolved into an elective course offered at the middle school level and the following year at the high school level, thanks to the unwavering support of the school administration at the time Brandon Hundley and Karen O’Neil. Throughout the years our district has prioritized the investment of buying mariachi traditional instruments, uniforms, sound equipment and supporting out-of-state performances.

It is important to acknowledge the endless support from parents and the community, which has been instrumental in providing the resources needed for this program to thrive. Their dedication has allowed this ensemble to flourish and create beautiful music together.

- The remarkable journey of Mariachi Tradicion's includes unforgettable performances such as:
- Opening for comedian George Lopez at the Keller Auditorium and the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland.
- Performing at the PDX Jazz Festival and the Soul'd Out Productions opening set for La Santa Cecilia at the Revolution Hall.
- A special collaboration with the Oregon Symphony and Edna Vazquez at the Arlene Schnitzer.
- Performing at the Pickathon Music Festival in 2022 on the Windmill and Lucky Barn stages.
- A captivating opening set for Mariachi Vargas at the Keller Auditorium.
- A performance at the Portland Art Museum for the Frida Kahlo + Diego Rivera Exhibit.
- Collaborating with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony at the Arlene Schnitzer.
- An opening set for Mariachi Garibaldi at the Patricia Reser Performing Arts Center in Beaverton.
- Sharing their story and performing at the Milagro Theater in Portland.
- Performing at the PDX Jazz Festival opening up for Mariachi Flor de Toloache.
- Appearing on OPB’s “Think Out Loud” with David Miller.
- And most recently opening up for Mariachi Los Camperos at the Newmark Theater in August followed by an exclusive master class under the direction of Chuy Guzman.
- And being the only high school group this year at the Mariachi Festival at the Hops Stadium.

In addition, Mariachi Tradicion has also participated in numerous prestigious out of state mariachi events, including the Tucson International Mariachi Festival in Arizona and the FESTIBA Mariachi Festival at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Mariachi Tradicion not only showcases incredible musical talent but also inspires students to pursue music education at the university level, sending graduates to esteemed institutions like the University of Oregon and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Mariachi education is growing quickly in the state of Oregon, and we are proud to say that Mariachi Tradicion is recognized as one of the best high school mariachi’s in our state, winning first place at the Oregon State Ensemble Competition which is led and organized by the Oregon Music Educators Association.

Please join me in celebrating Mariachi Tradicion for their dedication, talent, and the vibrant cultural impact they continue to make in our community!

Kayla Davidson

Kayla Davidson, “Ms. D” as the kids call her, is a natural teacher inside the classroom and out. She grew up volunteering in her mother’s classroom in Hawaii. When Kayla moved to Oregon to attend Pacific University she continued to go back during winter and summer breaks to support her mother’s students. Her love and pride for her own culture and her home, Hawaii, shows in her own classroom here in Oregon. Her students know that they are her ‘ohana. “Ohana is used in native Hawaiian culture for one’s social support system, including one’s nuclear family, extended family, close friends and colleagues, and other communities or groups they belong to. When you’re part of an ohana, you have an obligation to take care of those in your circles, and they have an obligation to take care of you.” (https://www.dictionary.com/e/translations/ohana/). Kayla works incredibly hard, no matter what setting, to create a family and community with the people around her.

As a multicultural, multiracial educator, Kayla actively incorporates diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging practices in her classroom with a primary focus on meeting the social-emotional needs of her students. She encourages students to embrace and celebrate their diverse backgrounds through various means such as conversations, inclusive book representations, and engaging projects. Kayla has been an active member of the Equity team in her building and at the District level. She joins the summer program each year to teach migrant summer school. She is a district and building PAX partner, ensuring that all of the educators in her building have access to these inclusive strategies. Her differentiation strategies elevate her teaching practices. Ms. D. has also been known to show up to support her students at their extra curricular events. She honors and educates the whole child.

Kayla's dedication to professional growth is evident in her successful pursuit of National Board certification 2022 and in 2023 enrolled at George Fox University to receive her Doctorate in Education and Administrative License. She was part of her district’s latest Literacy Adoption and is known for working with the district curriculum, differentiating lessons, making them engaging and relatable to her students. In her classroom, mistakes are not only accepted but encouraged as part of the learning process.

Kayla’s professional growth is not purely personal, she believes in lifting her building, district and profession. During her career she has mentored and opened up her classroom ‘ohana to 4 aspiring teachers through local University teacher training programs. Kayla is the team lead of the Washington County Early Student Success team at Fern Hill Elementary and traveled to the Ed Leader Conference in St. Louis 2023 with leaders from her Forest Grove School District. In St. Louis, she was part of the team that will be working on putting the Forest Grove School District strategic plan into action in classrooms.

Above all, Ms. D. is an educator that has created a safe and inclusive space where students feel free to make mistakes, learn, and flourish. She is respected by her fellow educators and administrators. Kayla’s classroom is a place where students can proudly and confidently be themselves, achieving identity safety that allows them to grow from where they are.

Kayla works in a diverse setting. Her school, Fern Hill Elementary, is a PK-4, Title 1 school with 100% free breakfast and lunch. The student body is 65% Hispanic, 29% White, 1% Asian, 1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and 3% of students with two or more ethnicities. 79% of the children are ELLs and in her class this year she has 3 Newcomer students from Central America. Her students come to her with diverse needs and Kayla meets all of them where they are, supports and pushes them to be the best they can be.

Kayla's natural ability to create community in her classroom shows to not only to her students and their families but the staff around her. We have seen first hand through parent-teacher conferences that she supports, assumes the best and truly connects with families. Furthermore, our district has implemented an SEL survey which provides data on how students feel about their school experience. We can see from the data that her students feel welcomed, supported, and excited to come to school and learn. This is such an important piece to their education and Kayla’s students know that they always have her support, even after leaving her classroom.