The All-Star Awards Ceremony

Recognizing the achievements of PPS’s students of color and students who are new to Portland/United States

At Portland Public Schools, our priority is to elevate student voice, and to focus our work on creating an inspired, equitable, and rigorous educational experience for every student. It is particularly important that we honor our students who represent racially diverse ethnic and cultural groups across the district and have excelled despite the systemic challenges they face every day.

These students deserve recognition by both Portland Public Schools and those who have been instrumental in their success. Historically, we honored these students in distinct recognition ceremonies including Si Se Puede; Young, Gifted, and Black; and Native American Honor Day. At each event, our diverse communities rallied around our students in acknowledgment of their academic success, resilience, commitment to their culture, and personal development.

We are grateful for the work of our community to create customized recognition experiences for students that affirms their identities. This year we are continuing our new tradition of building on those efforts and celebrating our collective achievements in an inclusive, single recognition ceremony that provides students with a distinguished experience while preserving the cultural elements that made each prior event unique.

The All Star Awards ceremony will feature each student group, e.g., Asian American Excellence, Pacific Pride, New Portlanders, Si Se Puede, Native Pride, and Young, Gifted, and Black, and will also be accompanied by student storytelling, performances, keynote addresses, and artifacts that represent our students’ diverse experiences. Our goal is to showcase a powerful display of support to increase visibility for our diverse students and admiration for their cultures.

2026 All-Star Awards

The All-Star Awards is Portland Public Schools’ premier recognition event for students and communities of color to relish in a night full of excellence, community, and celebration. The event features the following group recognitions:

Asian American Excellence for Asian student honorees
New Portlanders for students honorees who’ve recently made Portland home
Sí Se Puede for Latinx student honorees
Pacific Pride for Pacific Islander student honorees
Native Pride for American Indian and Alaska Native student honorees
Young, Gifted, and Black for African, Black, and African American student honorees

These recognition groups come from previous individual recognition celebrations that once were all separate celebrations put on by the communities for the students and communities of that recognition group. As an effort to support all celebrations as a district, we have brought all celebrations together into one celebration.

Award winners will be honored on Tuesday, May 12 at the Matthew Prophet Education Center. The evening will feature a reception for students and families from 5-6 p.m., after which Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong will formally recognize the award winners by name. All honorees will receive a certificate to mark their achievements.