Campus Corner

Left: Abigail Rawlinson ’21, Gold Key Portfolio Award – Printmaking, “Concentration." Right: Mirabel Streu ’23, Gold Key Award – Photography, “Mother and Daughter.”

Art Students Receive Over 130 Awards

An impressive 51 students from Jesuit High School were recently recognized for their outstanding artistic achievements in the Oregon Region for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

This year, 134 pieces of art by Jesuit students earned a Gold Key, Silver Key, or Honorable Mention in a variety of media categories, including photography, drawing and illustration, printmaking, painting, editorial cartoon, and more.

"I am very proud of the level of participation and the recognition for Jesuit in Visual Art this year," said art teacher Sascha Manning. "These young artists certainly deserve it! These wins are a way to celebrate the courage and creativity of the artists, their work, and the value of the fine arts at Jesuit."

Five Jesuit students – Abigail Rawlinson ’21, Mirabel Streu ’23, Nathan Hasbrook ’21, Stella Bonta ’24 and Sydney Averill ’21 – received Gold Key awards in the regional category and were elevated to the national competition. Additionally, six students submitted portfolios for the competition. Portfolios are a collection of work comprised of eight pieces that show consistency in superior mastery of materials, innovation and presentation. Senior Abigail Rawlinson received a Gold Key for her portfolio which was considered at the national level.

In the first semester of the 2020-21 school year, Jesuit students had to refine their art skills at home with the virtual guidance of teachers and collaboration of classmates. Despite these challenges, the student artists found creative ways to persevere.

"I bought supplies online, carved the linoleum prints at our kitchen table, and printed the pieces in a corner of our garage on an old backyard table," said Abigail Rawlinson. "Despite the make-shift studio arrangements, I was fortunate to receive accolades for my work and I am extremely grateful for the support from Ms. Manning and Jesuit."

Jesuit Chronicle Named Distinguished News Site

Jesuit High School’s student newspaper, The Jesuit Chronicle, was named a Distinguished Site for online news for high school journalism in the U.S. by School News Online (SNO). The Distinguished Site Award recognizes news staff’s excellence in six aspects of online publishing: continuous coverage, site excellence, audience engagement, story page design, writing, and multimedia.

In 2020-21, The Jesuit Chronicle earned recognition from SNO in individual areas of online publishing. Each recognition is called a digital badge and is displayed at the top of the news site. Last year, only 63 other schools across the nation earned all six digital badges and recognition as a Distinguished Site.

“Beyond The Jesuit Chronicle, jesuitnews.com focuses on bringing together student news from the whole community,” said journalism teacher Dan Falkner. “This recognition from SNO would not have been possible without the contributions from not only The Jesuit Chronicle news staff, but also students in JCTV with their work in pre-recorded and live broadcasts.”

Check out the award-winning site and coverage anytime at jesuitnews.com.

Jesuit Wins Oregon Ethics Bowl

A huge congratulations goes out to our Jesuit High School students who won the 2021 Oregon Ethics Bowl on Feb. 6 and 7.

The Ethics Bowl offers high school-aged students the opportunity to rigorously discuss ethics in a respectful and supportive environment. Teams analyze cases with complex ethical dilemmas and respond to questions and comments from other competitors and a panel of judges.

Two Jesuit teams competed in the semi-finals and both performed exceptionally well, displaying an impressive level of thoughtfulness and dedication. The teams were comprised of:

Team Jesuit 2 – Jenny Duan ’22, Lucy Keane ’21, Giselle Westerdahl ’21, and Alexandra Reynaud ’22 Team Jesuit 3 – Sophia Pi ’22, Rohan Varma ’23, Abigail Hostler ’22, and Victor Li ’23

Team Jesuit 2 team claimed victory in the semi-finals and faced Lincoln High School head-to-head in the final round. The battle was tough, but Jesuit was well-prepared and ultimately secured victory over Lincoln.

“Jenny, Lucy, Alexandra and Giselle were impressive in their performance and preparation for the 2021 Ethics Bowl,” says Angela Steiert, coach of Jesuit’s Ethics Bowl team.

“This has not been an easy time, yet they embraced the challenge and delved deeply into very timely and relevant cases presented this season.”

Campus Corner

Chess Team Wins State Tournament

Jesuit High School’s Chess Team won first place in the 2021 Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation’s K-12 Open Section at the State Championship in April. This victory marked the first time a Jesuit High School Chess Team has won a state competition.

The Chess Team is comprised of Jesuit’s top 5 highest rated and registered players: Roshen Nair ‘24, Rohan Sastry ‘24, Zane Godil ‘22, Nesara Shree ‘24, and Vladie Mamchik ‘23. Each player competed in five rounds and Jesuit’s team scored a total of 13.5 points, with each win counting for 1 point and draws counting as 0.5 points.

“I am incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication of all the team members and I am happy that our team was able to come through and win the state K-12 Chess Championship,” said team captain Roshen Nair ‘24. “We are planning to continue organizing practice tournaments so that the Jesuit High School Chess Team can keep improving for next year’s chess state championship.”

Three additional Jesuit students competed as a separate team and placed third in the Mixed Schools Division: Conner Jensen ‘24, Kavish Patel ‘24, and David Reynaud ‘23.

Roshen Nair, Rohan Sastry, Nesara Shree, and Conner Jensen also received individual first place awards for their outstanding performance based on their board placement.

“We are so proud of our new Chess Champions!” said Principal Paul Hogan. “In a challenging (and virtual) environment, they managed to stay one move ahead of the competition on all levels! Go, Sader Chess!”

Blanchet House Honors JHS with Founders Award

In March of 2021, Blanchet House recognized Jesuit High School with its Founders Award during their Lend A Helping Hand Brunch. The Founders Award honors an individual or organization that has made a substantial contribution to the ability of Blanchet House to fulfill its mission that year.

Blanchet House is a nonprofit in downtown Portland that provides food, clothing, and housing programs to people in need.

In April of 2020, the JHS community, under the leadership of Arrupe Center Director Andrea Casey ’97 and Associate Director Kim Bastable, successfully organized the first sack lunch drive to help meet the urgent need for to-go meals for people facing food insecurity during the first months of the pandemic. Jesuit students, families, and faculty and staff packed more than 10,000 portable meals over the course of several drives.

“This past year, Jesuit High School’s support for Blanchet House and the individuals we serve has to a significant degree allowed us to successfully meet the extraordinary need in our community during this pandemic,” said Blanchet House Executive Director and Jesuit parent Scott Kerman. “The sack lunch drive was a stroke of genius.”

Sack lunch drives are now one of Blanchet House’s most popular volunteer activities, with other organizations following suit to hold similar drives. Since the first drive in April 2020, sack lunch drives have resulted in over 115,000 meals that have helped communities throughout the Portland-metro area.

JHS Librarian Gregory Lum Named YALSA Volunteer of the Year

Jesuit’s Clark Library Director Gregory Lum was selected as YALSA’s Volunteer of the Year for his outstanding service to the goals, mission, and work of YALSA (Young Adults Library Services Association), a division of the American Library Association.

“Gregory Lum’s efforts made far-reaching impacts across our organization, and his hard work and dedication will benefit librarians who serve teens and teens themselves for many years to come,” wrote Jessica Hilbun Schwartz, YALSA Committee Chair.

Over the past two years, Gregory worked with YALSA and the American Library Association to create the Joann Sweetland Lum Memorial Grant to help libraries promote literacy in creative and innovative ways.

After his proposal was approved last winter, Gregory volunteered his time and energy to write over 300 personal letters to family and friends to raise the necessary funds. In the following months, he collected over $30,000 for this new grant named in honor of his late wife, Joann, who was an avid user and advocate for libraries.

“I was shocked by everyone’s generosity,” said Gregory. “ It is a true blessing to award this grant in honor of my late wife Joann. I am thankful for all of the monetary donations from family and friends to promote literacy across the country for years to come.” Gregory has been the Library Director at Jesuit High School since 2003. In addition to serving on national and state library committees, he regularly volunteers his time to lead Encounters and other community building activities for Jesuit students.

“Gregory’s award is well-deserved,” said Associate Librarian Erin Fitzpatrick-Bjorn. “He continually aims to improve the quality of the education we provide here at Jesuit and the quality of library services across the country. I learn from him every day. He is definitely a man for others personally and professionally, and I am very proud to work alongside him.”

Blanchet House also recognized the students who regularly volunteer to serve meals, pack care kits and organize donation drives, even in the midst of a pandemic. Jesuit students have dedicated over 1,000 hours of service this year to Blanchet House.

Additionally, Jesuit’s Student Government hosted a drive during Halloween to collect cold weather supplies for several hundred Care Kits which were assembled and donated to Blanchet House.

“These students brought and continue to bring such spirit and positivity to our community,” said Mr. Kerman. “We knew we could rely on them to do whatever we asked of them.”

Campus Corner

Samyak Shrimali ’23 developed a software program that alerts hospital staff when they do not follow proper hygiene. Shaping a Better Tomorrow Four Jesuit students are reaching for the stars by continuing to pursue their passion for service. Despite the myriad challenges of COVID-19, these stellar students have maintained an astounding devotion to both the local and the global community through cancer research, care kits for the homeless, and health care technology. Caitlin Thomas ’23 and Creighton Martz ’23 opened a Portland Chapter of the nonprofit Handle With Care.

Since 2017, Darsh Mandera ’23 has been working with Reed College Professor Anna Ritz. His proficiency with machine learning programs has enabled Darsh to predict the effectiveness of specific drugs in combatting cancers, leading to an invitation to present at the 28th Annual International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology in July 2020.

“Using the power of technology to solve biological problems – even taking a step further in the journey to treat cancer – can help millions of patients who are suffering all around the world, and their families who are suffering with them. That’s what I love about science – it’s a tool to help, to save, and to serve humanity,” says Darsh.

Meanwhile, Caitlin Thomas ’23 and Creighton Martz ’23 created a Portland chapter of the nonprofit Handle With Care.

The two friends presented their research to the board of the LA-based nonprofit Handle With Care. Thanks to their professional presentation, they received the board’s blessing to bring Handle With Care to Portland. According to Caitlin, HWC’s mission is straightforward: to make those experiencing homelessness “feel human again,” through personal connection and individual care kits. Caitlin and Creighton set out to raise $700, but soon raised ten times that amount.

Last up is Samyak Shrimali ’23, one of only six National Power of Children awardees in the U.S. After his mother experienced an infection in a hospital visit, Samyak began researching and found that 1.7 million people suffer from hospital-acquired infections around the globe each year.

Samyak decided to work toward a solution. It turns out that insufficient hand washing by hospital staff is a leading cause of infections. With the guidance of Dr. Mahfuza Ali, Samyak developed a software program that alerts hospital staff when they do not follow proper hygiene. Samyak’s work led to his recognition as one of America’s Top 10 Young Scientists in the 2019 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.

Says Samyak, “The main skill I learned was empathy and compassion towards the millions of people who suffer from these infections every day. I developed the motivation to do something for my society and the rest of the world.”

“We are so inspired by Darsh, Caitlin, Creighton, and Samyak, and the hundreds of other JHS students who serve our region and our world,” says Paul Hogan, principal of Jesuit High School.