Author: BEF Author

The Middle School Trades Exploration program has delivered more than we ever hoped for. Program leaders designed curriculum with goals of fostering career interest and equipping our future workforce with useful and hirable skills. Their work exceeded expectations, also giving students an incredible outlet for creativity while building strong connections to learning during the pandemic.

Early this winter, a group of 20 highly-impacted middle schoolers received Career Connection Kits. A much-anticipated way to continue their trades studies, kits included the tools and supplies needed to complete three woodworking projects. Once Hybrid Learning began, similar kits were utilized in the classroom, strengthening the connection between online and in-person studies with a familiar activity and creating an unexpected opportunity for students to re-engage in the classroom.

As students continued to grow their technical skills, they also began to consider the future, imagining the potential career options in the construction industry. With fundamental skills in place, middle schoolers find themselves especially prepared for high school trades classes and further ready to enter the pipeline to skilled employment.

The Trades Exploration program was available this year to students from Mountain View, Five Oaks, and Whitford Middle Schools. As educators roll out Trades Exploration 2.0, the program will transition to an after-school offering, available on-site at the Merlo Construction Tech Campus.

This critical work was made possible thanks to: Beaverton teachers Janine Weir, Hannah Hardt, Ghislaine Castle, Jon Hauben, and Stephen Sieg; funding from BEF’s partners, PGE Foundation, Spirit Mountain Community Fund, and U.S. Bank Foundation; and our powerful community of donors – proving that we are stronger together.

BEF counts on our talented educators to imagine, create, and grow programs that engage and prepare Beaverton students for life beyond school. That’s why it comes as no surprise that many of our District’s committed staff, and BEF collaborators, were recognized this year for their excellence in teaching.

“It’s wonderful to see our community recognizing the amazing work that educators have done this year,” said Sara Schmitt, BEA President. “The pandemic required us to completely re-imagine how we meet the needs of students. This year, educator’s dedication to Beaverton students has been more inspiring than ever.” 

We are inspired by the work our staff at all levels accomplish to ensure high-quality educational opportunities for their students every day. Congratulations to this year’s award winners:

• Maryanna Baldridge – McKinley Elementary
  Master Teacher Ambassador, Epic
• Sarah Breton – FLEX Online School
  Master Teacher Ambassadors, Epic
• Jeff Crapper – BASE 
  CTE Teacher of the Year for Oregon
• Jason Galbraith – Sunset High School 
  Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching
• Aarti Kamalahasan – Sato Elementary School
  OnPoint Community Credit Union Educator of the Year Finalist
• Mike Lebsock – Meadow Park Middle School 
  National Outstanding Teacher of American History, Daughters of the American Revolution
• Judy Lowe – Raleigh Park 
  Celebrate Literacy Award, International Literacy Association and the Portland Reading Council
• Addie Lyden – Southridge High School
  OnPoint Community Credit Union Educator of the Year
• Travis Rook-Ley – Whitford Middle School
  OnPoint Community Credit Union Educator of the Year
• Lori Therrien – Oak Hills Elementary 
  Regional Teacher of the Year, Oregon Department of Education

As we finish this year strong with renewed hope, BEF is grateful to all our school staff for their incredible work during this unprecedented year. We encourage you to give a shout out to your own personal Educator of the Year today.

BEF recently received grants from the Harvest Foundation and the Hoover Family Foundation to support music and special education students at all Beaverton’s 54 public schools. The awards, totaling $15,000, mark the second year both organizations have generously provided funds to support BEF programs and projects.

“Creating long-standing relationships with our supporters is critical to providing consistent programing in our schools,” said Kristine Baggett, Executive Director of BEF. “Our renewed partnerships with the Harvest Foundation and the Hoover Family Foundation make it possible for BEF to seamlessly fund educators’ innovative solutions that fall beyond the scope of traditional school funding.”

Thanks to our committed community, BEF will be able to leverage these awards to dramatically expand the opportunities we can offer, providing two to three-times the impact. Thank you to the Hoover Family Foundation and Harvest Foundation for your investment in Beaverton students.

We would like to share the Harvest Foundation’s recent award of $10,000 to BEF for music programs and projects. In our second year partnering with the Foundation, this year’s grant will support the Beaverton Band Together program and music-related classroom projects.

Last year, funds were used to refurbish and repair more than 300 instruments for High School band students and distribute instruments to students at 10 elementary schools across the District. 

“We’re incredibly humbled and excited to see this amazing support,” shared Aloha High School Band Director, Aliyah Jackson. 

With the Harvest Foundation’s renewed support, BEF will help ensure students have the opportunity to experience the joy of music. 

Special education students and the staff that work with them recognize BEF’s long-standing commitment to them and the incredible work that they do. Our support is only possible due to organizations like the Hoover Family Foundation combined with generous key community contributors over the years. 

The Hoover Family award will fund classroom needs throughout Beaverton’s schools, including purchasing critical adaptive technologies to help educators in their transformational work with non-verbal students. The Foundation’s first ever grant to BEF last year bought social emotional learning tools and made an incredible difference for elementary students at Beaver Acres, Kinnaman, Sato, and William Walker.  

Thanks to BEF’s partnership with the Hoover Family Foundation, we can continue working in tandem with our dedicated educators to implement special education strategies in targeted ways.