"Ms. Cortinas is in her first year as a teacher, but she’s been serving students in education for years! She’s also worked in PPS as a secretary and Bilingual Educational Assistant. Prior to being at Astor this year, she was at George MS and Vernon K-8. She is a graduate of the Portland Teacher Program at PSU. Her care for students is evident. Her classroom isn’t just rigorous and student centered, it’s also fun! As a science and math teacher, she weaves curriculum into a relevant way and brings learning to life for students. In her virtual and in-person classroom, you’ll notice students collaborating, creating art, and sharing their thinking. Regardless of the twists and turns this school year, Ms. Cortinas has been there to support her students, families, and colleagues."

— Blake Robertson, Astor principal

"The 1st grade teacher's name is Anne Miles. She is Exceptional. Her classroom is inclusive, welcoming, rigorous and most importantly, FUN. She teaches with her whole heart, is always looking to improve her practice and even after 30+ years of teaching is willing to try new things. During distance learning, she created Bitmojis and led the literacy work for her team. In person, she ripped the carpet out of her room to create one way learning highways for her students. At school, we call her Anne SMILES because she lifts everyone up with her bright smile and spirit."

— Teresa Seidel, Buckman principal

"Diane has been a leader among her administrator peers in the age of online learning. She has offered trainings and coaching on several occasions, even meeting colleagues on weekends to walk them through teaching and learning platforms that are new to them. Last year, she developed a data studio that supported every PPS high school and MPG program in storing their incomplete course data to support efforts made available last year by ODE to help students finish these courses later.

"She is an active participant on several committees, while leading her staff to support students in every MPG and comprehensive high school, including evening and summer scholars.

"Diane's work is often overlooked, but this year she has been an essential leader among all principals as they have strived to move their work online."

— Lorna Fast Buffalo Horse, Director, Multiple Pathways to Graduation

"Ms. Muñana is a truly outstanding teacher in the DLI Spanish Immersion program. Beloved by students and families for her high expectations, support, and care for each student. In addition, Ms. Muñana is beloved and respected by her peers in the school for her enthusiasm and leadership. She has set the bar in the immersion program and continues to outdo herself time and time again."

— Emmanuel Aquino, Beaumont teacher

"Elizabeth is an exceptionally dedicated educator that supports PPS educators and students well beyond her day to day role. When schools closed last year, Elizabeth in her role as reading specialist at Grout not only developed high-quality, personalized reading support virtual lessons for her students, but developed a literacy experience around the school neighborhood for all students at her school to participate in so they could continue to grow their literacy skills. Last August, she started in a new role as the PPS Dyslexia TOSA and hit the ground running immediately providing direct support to students, educators, and schools. Elizabeth does one-on-one tutoring for students, supports reading interventionists as they design their programs, helped write foundational skills lessons in Atlas, serves on multiple committees including the PAT Instructional and Professional Development committee and the Dyslexia and Literacy Advocacy Group and has recently become a LETRS facilitator for PPS. Elizabeth goes above and beyond for our entire district and I cannot be more appreciative to have her on this journey to improving outcomes for our PPS students."

— Elizabeth Martin, Program Administrator for Dyslexia

"Sara is an incredible co-worker, team member, and classroom therapist in our SES classroom at Cleveland HS. She works tirelessly, often behind the scenes, meeting with students and families to help them get their needs met. She is a thoughtful and tireless collaborator, always ready to problem solve as a team and find ways to support our students. She is also a stellar advocate, navigating systems and understanding the nuances each student and family brings. She seems to always know just the right thing to say, especially in the toughest of situations. Sara's mix of kindness, compassion, humor, firmness, and quick thinking makes her presence truly invaluable to our SES team and classroom. We so appreciate you Sara!"

— Daniel Maher, Cleveland teacher

"Jessica is a new mom and an innovative teacher. She is a leader in the school and a team player."

— Andrew Jaquiss, Capitol Hill teacher

"Maestra Mila is a dedicated teacher. She works hard to create strong bonds with her students and families. There is not a day that goes by where she is not playing music, dancing or singing with her students. She loves to incorporate elements of many cultures in her classroom. She uses her strong relationships with families and invites members of the family and students to share a piece of their culture or home with the class. Students throughout the year have shared special talents and parts of their lives with each other. She truly makes learning fun and students feel special for who they are. In addition, her kindness, love and passion translate into student motivation and dedication to making great strides in their learning."

— Angela Bustamante, Ainsworth assistant principal

"Sam is always organized and thinking ahead about standards for students. She incorporates SEL into her daily interactions with students, and she seeks to help others. She shares resources, ideas, and asks questions to keep pushing our team, school, and district to be better than it is. She is a phenomenal person and educator."

— Arica Stares, Ainsworth teacher

"Sarabeth Leitch is a co-teacher in advisory and I have learned so much about her infectious energy, compassion, and honesty in her advisory role. She is not afraid to tackle difficult issues and she faces challenges with grace, empathy, and insight. She relates well to the students and is able to connect with them on an authentic level. She is an inspiration and would be totally humbled by this recognition."

— Jennifer Edelson, McDaniel teacher

"Thank you to Jaina Kapranos, teacher in grades 4-5 at Richmond elementary, for doing what it takes to keep her students safe, comfortable, and feeling supported in all situations. We appreciate you Jaina!"

— Ronald Young, Richmond principal

"Darcy has worked tirelessly this year to get books into the hands of children. Every week, she stuffs book bags full of culturally responsive texts that she has chosen specifically for our library. She moves thousands of books in and out of the library every month and now that we're in hybrid, puts together library book crates for every single teacher. Any child or family member can ask Darcy for a book and she will immediately pull down 4-5 books specific to that child's interests and reading level. She even does this for the staff - selecting books that reflect our cultures and inviting us to do read alouds during her daily lunchtime Buckman Reads club."

— Teresa Seidel, Buckman principal

"This Dual Language Immersion teacher goes above and beyond to spark the joy of learning in her class. She works relentlessly to ensure equitable outcomes for students and to instill a love and respect of bi-literacy."

— Rebecca Berry, Sitton principal

"Michael's courses are interactive, relevant and rigorous. His lessons inspire,  incorporate humor and emphasize "real world" application. His assessments emphasize mastery of critical thinking skills, reading comprehension, and underscore the learning targets of his subject area. He is collegial with faculty, supportive of students, and has a dry sense of humor that is as witty and clever as it is wry."

— Russell Peterson, Grant teacher

"Anna is a passionate teacher who constantly goes above and beyond for students and community needs. She is welcoming and works for equitable practices in her own classroom and throughout our building. As a colleague, she has been a mentor and go-to person whenever I need help."

— Alex Diaz Rios, Roosevelt teacher

"Chris is a very special and unique teacher. Her 'job' is to provide reading support and AVID classes, but her reach goes so much farther! The love and energy she puts into every day with every student is remarkable and it shows in her relationships. She connects with some of our most at-risk students and they trust and respect her. She is tough, don't get me wrong, Ms. Timmerman is no push-over! But she balances her strong structure with fun and laughter - printing out new memes every day to greet the kids as they enter her room, playing games to reward progress and telling a joke each day to close the class. If you are looking for some of our most shy and quiet kiddos at lunch, you will probably find them in Ms. Timmerman's room where she has created a safe and nurturing space away from the bustle of the cafeteria, gym and playground. She does all of this quietly and for the kids, not for any attention, giving of herself and her time, and that is why I want to nominate her. I want her to know how much she is valued and appreciated and what an impact she is having on our middle school students."

— Marnie Davis, Lane principal's secretary

"Erika Alabarca has help organize an after school ECO club, and also incorporates soil regeneration into her LA/SS students. She has also brought in guest speakers during Comprehensive Distant Learning"

— Andrew McLaren, Roseway Heights teacher

"Kelly, a teacher of color, is an amazing 1x2 grade teacher who starts all her morning meetings virtually and Hybrid with her playing guitar and singing with students. Fridays, her students do a "Spot Light" on different guests where they have prepared high level thoughtful questions. She has a weekly online Newsletter and Updates that are detailed. Parents and students are fully engaged in CDL and Hybrid. Remarkable instructor."

— Margarita Wilson, MLC assistant principal

"Nahir Perez, a DLI teacher at Rigler, is an educator who inspires me. Her dedication to her students, the Cully community, her colleagues and continuing important work at Rigler through multiple admin changes are all examples of the enormous impact her dedication and work have been. The Rigler community has endured many, many changes and Maestra Perez has been a rock for the community. She goes above and beyond to make sure that all her students feel safe and supported at school and in her classroom. Her instruction is thoughtful, relevant, rigorous and responsive to the diverse needs of her classroom. She collaborates and supports her colleagues and ever changing administration to bring consistency to Rigler. Nahir's dedication is a shining example of the impact a single teacher can have on an entire community."

— Tiana Ahmann, Scott teacher

"Val is a thoughtful teacher who does her best to make sure that her students and her colleagues have everything they need to do their best at school. She goes above and beyond to share information about meetings with colleagues, deliver food boxes to students, and organize productive curriculum planning time. She's great at welcoming newcomers, too!"

— Kate Good, Beaumount teacher

"Vincent holds a strong equity lens, a love of learning, supports many staff and is an incredible asset to our community. We are better with him on our team!"

— Karmin Williams, Faubion principal

"It would be great to feature Principal Louis Mair, who has been working on building a culture of student leadership, scholarship, community communication and collaboration at Harriet Tubman Middle School."

— Kristyn Westphal, Area Senior Director

"Ms. McGhee is an outstanding educator who always creates the warmest and most welcoming community of learners, even under distance learning. She communicates with students in a way that students know they are valued and loved. Her affirming language with them is constantly uplifting and helps to establish one of the most positive learning environments for students that I have witnessed. In addition to being an outstanding educator, Ms. McGhee is a teacher leader in our building -- she co-founded our Black Student Union, she serves on the Instructional Leadership Team, and she is one of our building reps. In addition, she helped lead the pilot of our Caring School Communities curriculum. Our school is incredibly lucky to have her and I, along with many others, am thankful for her every day!"

— Pamela Van Der Wolf, Chapman principal

"Rose has dedicated her career to assist elementary educators become champions of math instruction! She has gone above and beyond to make sure that the NSF Grant for Elementary Educators has run smoothly during a pandemic. She and her other fellow elementary math TOSAs have developed engaging professional learning for PPS elementary educators to strengthen their mathematical pedagogy. She has also mentored new members to the PPS District level math team. She always advocates for what is right for educators and students in PPS. She is a joy to work with!"

— Rachel Aazzerah, Math TOSA

"Andrea poses the unique leadership balance that holds space for seeing the big picture and the focus to maintain an eye for details. She leads by modeling and is one who does not shy away from voicing her opinion or giving feedback. Her feedback is followed by her willingness to roll up her sleeve and be a part of the solution. Her drive to bring about a more just school community at Woodlawn is evident by the diversity in her staff and the leadership roles many of them partner in. I also appreciate her dry sense of humor. It has a level of wit that's wrapped in a funky delivery."

— Karl Logan, Area Senior Director

"Ms. Iwersen consistently goes above and beyond for her students. She is a staunch advocate for her academic, physical, social and emotional needs. Her focus on student learning is awe inspiring."

— Kevin Walker, Rosa Park principal

"Gillian has worked so hard this year to keep kids engaged, and to make books and makerspace materials available to them and their families. Each week, she puts together curated bags for each child, and every day hosts a (distanced!) distribution/return system.

"In addition, she has continued to teach her library science/STEM classes online, and connects with the children who need more help. She is simply a marvel."

— Kieran Cannistra, Sunnyside field study coordinator

"Laura has embraced open classroom during distance learning. She has established a system of self paced (with high support) learning for students in Math 7. She tracks race and other educational indicators to ensure her students are all being held to high standards while getting the support that she needs. Students are highly engaged and motivated during a time when both of those things are EXTREMELY challenging for adolescents."

— Amy Slaughter, Hosford assistant principal

"Nancy is an amazing educator who is loved by her students! She has a focus on equity, and consistently advocates for historically underserved students, including making sure their lives and identities are reflected in her curriculum."

— Sarah Waltrip, Lane assistant principal

"This is Suzie's first year teaching. I cannot imagine a first year teaching during a pandemic, but Suzie not only took on that challenge, she made her zoom room a place for connection, community, justice and love. Here is what one of her students has to say:

"Q: Who or what do you most appreciate about this class and why? Or maybe think about it this way: what will you miss the most and why?

"A: Honestly, probably you, and the fun environment that we have in class. Obviously it's not the same as being in a real building, but I think that you've done a very good job of making it feel homey and welcoming. You're always very chipper and nice, but you don't seem like you're placating or disbelieving in our abilities. You treat us as equals, and it makes our discussions in class seem like a genuine conversation and not just like a graded class assignment. It's fun to be in class, and even though there's a lot of assignments, they teach us important things about how the world works, and it doesn't feel like just a giant waste of time. It's been a great social studies class."

— Michelle Nicola, Grant teacher

"Liz is an incredible educator. She is consistently student centered, instinctively knows how to differentiate for her students and is so positive and supportive of her peers!!"

— Teri Joseph, Woodstock teacher