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Colleagues -
Education service districts exist to serve students on the margins. We pull people together — students, educators, families, and elected leaders — to strengthen schools, connect systems, and expand access. I am deeply proud of the work we do at Northwest Regional ESD to safeguard our children while ensuring our educators are supported and our communities are connected.
Recent violence across the country — and closer to home in Northwest Oregon — have underscored the importance of fostering learning environments rooted in safety, dignity, care and belonging for all students and families.
People experience these events in different ways, shaped by their backgrounds and experiences. Our children are closely watching these events and how the adults around them respond. Public educators have a moral responsibility to model integrity, humanity, and clarity about our values. Our words and actions help shape how young people come to understand justice, belonging and what it means to participate in a democratic society.
Equity, meaning every child gets what they need to succeed, is a core value for our agency. The programming highlighted in this newsletter captures only a fraction of what my colleagues at Northwest Regional ESD — and across our twenty component school districts — are doing to expand opportunity and remove barriers for all students.
A free, accessible and meaningful public education system remains one of the most powerful structures for shaping a more just and compassionate future for our young people. So I start this month’s newsletter with a massive thank you to our region’s educators who continue to show up with care in their hearts and in their actions for every child — even through our darkest days.
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With appreciation —
 Dan Goldman
Superintendent
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If we are serious about improving student outcomes — especially for students furthest from opportunity — then teacher excellence must be at the center of our work.
Regional Educator Networks are the State’s best positioned tool for strengthening teaching and learning conditions at scale. They translate research into practice and create communities of like-role educators pushing each other to grow. Work happening through Oregon’s RENs increases the likelihood that effective teaching strategies and student supports reach our classrooms.
Despite this, RENS are prioritized as a potential cut in the legislature.
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 Families enjoy cookie and ornament decorating, a hot chocolate station and time with other children and families during the parent-led holiday party. Photos by Tracey Goldner.
For the second year in a row, our Parent Advisory Committee planned and hosted a holiday party for families who are receiving special education services from our agency.
The event was a hit — especially the ornament decorating and hot chocolate stations.
Thank you to Negar Avaregan, Ashley Bennett, Lisa Bosotina and Katie Porter for planning such a lovely event for families.
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 Madison Strutz, an early childhood education specialist, works with a preschooler during snack time. Our strategic plan aims to ensure babies, toddlers and preschoolers experiencing disabilities are receiving the services they need to prepare them for kindergarten and beyond. Photos by Tracey Goldner.
When our 20-member strategic plan codesign team met for the first time on Aug. 28, the group set out to create a plan that would not sit on a shelf gathering dust but rather tangibly change the way school looks and feels for students.
- What do students really need to become better readers?
- What will it take to stop bullying?
- What is needed to help students with disabilities succeed academically and socially in ways that are meaningful to them?
- How can educators get more students across that graduation stage?
These were among the questions the team asked themselves as they pored through reams of student assessment data, student-reported health data, student outcome data such as graduation rates and career and technical education credits, and service level data for students with disabilities.
 Carlos Tenorio Hughes, Tina Meier Nowell and Jennifer South, all educators at NWRESD and members of the strategic plan codesign team, review performance targets for each strategy.
“The data was instrumental in spotting the focus areas that need improvement,” says Carlos Tenorio Hughes, a Spanish language interpreter and translator at NWRESD who was part of the codesign team.
The group proposed focus areas that include students at every age and stage of their educational experiences. We call these our collective commitments, and they will drive us toward our vision that every student will be educated, equipped and inspired to achieve their full potential and enrich their communities.
In our Strategic Plan for 2026 & Beyond, our collective commitments are that we will:
- Strengthen systems where every learner belongs and thrives
- Nurture our youngest learners
- Advance academic excellence
- Prepare students for fulfilling careers
- Mobilize strategic resources
Every commitment has four or five descriptors that are each tied to performance targets. Every target has a baseline so we can see progress from year-to-year.
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 Help your students land a high-wage, high-demand job just a few months after graduating from high school.
Our new Commercial Driver’s License Program trains high school seniors to drive commercial trucks and equips them with the skills they need to work for local construction, public transit, utility, transportation, energy and waste management companies.
Thanks to our generous sponsors, the program (typically $8,000) is completely free to students.
Program details:
- Open to high school seniors who attend public schools in Banks, Beaverton, Forest Grove, Gaston, Hillsboro, Sherwood or Tigard-Tualatin school districts
- Training begins in March at our regional office in Hillsboro and continues in July at Elite Truck School in Hillsboro
- No cost to participate
- Application available in English and Spanish
🗓️ Application deadline: Friday, Jan. 30
Applicants will need to:
- Provide contact information (including school and parent/guardian details)
- Select an educator at their school to sponsor them
- Sponsors provide guidance during the application process and mentoring support during the program
- Write a short essay
- Submit one letter of recommendation (from a supervisor, teacher, counselor, coach, etc.)
- Submit a resume
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Jenna Jones is a seasoned government relations professional with deep expertise in local government, tax policy, and coalition-building. She most recently served as a lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities (LOC), where she led on tax, finance, and economic development issues impacting communities across the state.
“Adding a dedicated Government Relations Director gives school leaders in our region more voice in policy decisions affecting children,” says Becky Tymchuk, NWRESD board chair. “This new capacity will strengthen intergovernmental partnerships and expand what’s possible for students. Jenna is one of the foremost experts on Oregon’s complex property tax system. She has navigated the Capitol hallways and has represented a long list of local and regional governmental priorities. We are excited to have such a strong advocate to advance the student needs of our region.”
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 Jenna Jones
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Previously, Jenna served as a State and Regional Affairs Advisor at Metro, where she built strong coalitions across local government, community, and business partners. Prior to Metro, she spent more than five years at the League of Oregon cities coordinating legislative engagement and lobbying at both the state and federal levels.
Jenna is a Willamette University grad and in her free time she can be found reading books or hanging out with her small zoo of two cats and two dogs. Welcome, Jenna!
 Washington County school boards and policymakers at the Jan. 7 legislative summit. This event is sponsored by the Oregon School Boards Association and for 12 years has been organized by NWRESD Board Chair Becky Tymchuk (previously on the Beaverton School District board). Lawmakers received a presentation from Forest Grove Superintendent Dr. Suzanne West and Beaverton School District Associate Superintendent for Business Services Michael Schofield on State School Fund history and the local impacts of federal legislation.
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School districts in Northwest Oregon have a long history of aligning priorities and working together to influence education policy. Last year, scores of parents from Astoria to Sherwood traveled to the Oregon Capitol to advocate for special education funding.
Washington County school boards convene annually with lawmakers to cultivate relationships and address pressing education issues. This new position reflects the growing need for consistent, strategic representation to ensure regional priorities are heard early and effectively.
 Elwin, then a senior at Tualatin High School, shares about his experience receiving vision services from Northwest Regional Education Service District. "I don't just naturally know how to use a screen reader," he says. "It's something you need to be taught." He learned that skill along with many others from his vision teacher and as a result, he was able to take advanced classes in high school.
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 At Northwest Regional Education Service District, we are grateful every day to our phenomenal board of directors.
Our all-volunteer board is continuously working to elevate the voices of educators, students and families. They champion us in front of legislators, push for crisper policies and ask tough questions about how our initiatives benefit students.
Every month, they gather, sift through hundreds of pages of documents, recognize partners, hear from members of the community and receive updates about our progress.
Thank you to our nine-member board for signing up for a job that isn’t always the most visible or glamorous but one that matters immensely to kids and families.
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Becky Tymchuk - Chair (Zone 5)
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Maureen Wolf - Vice Chair (At-Large)
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Christine Riley - Zone 1
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Doug Dougherty - Zone 2
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Dorian Russell - Zone 3
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Michelle Graham - Zone 4
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Paul Jarrell - Higher Education
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Mjere Simantel - Social Services
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Ernest Stephens - Business
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 Jason Galbraith, a computer science teacher at Sunset High School in Beaverton, holds his recognition check after being named Regional Teacher of the Year in September. Photo by Megan Mahoney.
Are you working with Oregon’s next Teacher of the Year? Phenomenal teachers are all around us, and they are likely working with you.
Take a few minutes to nominate the incredible teachers in your life. The people you nominate can then decide whether they’d like to embark on the application process, which includes writing a few short essays and gathering letters of recommendation from colleagues, supervisors and students.
Regional winners receive $1,000 and are considered for statewide recognition, which comes with a $10,000 award and a year of professional development and opportunities to represent educators across the state.
Last year, Jason Galbraith, a computer science teacher at Sunset High School in Beaverton, clinched the award for his innovative class offerings where students pick the subject based on their interests rather than what fits into their schedule. In the process, he says they not only learn to code but also gain confidence and resilience by tackling difficult subjects and questions they are passionate about.
The deadline to nominate is Feb. 11.
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 We know artificial intelligence is changing the game, but no one will be more affected by these changes than today’s young people.
Alongside our partners Clackamas and Multnomah education service districts, we’re excited to be hosting the third annual Artificial Intelligence EDU Conference. This year’s conference will be held on May 12 at the University of Portland.
We’re now accepting presentation proposals for this upcoming conference, and we’re especially seeking applications from educator-student teams, industry partner-school teams and administrator-parent teams.
The themes for this year’s conference include:
- Human-centered and ethical AI literacy
- Next generation student voice and inclusion
- Educator efficiency and human amplification
- Community partnership and leadership
- Workforce readiness and durable skills
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The Monthly Messenger is a monthly update for Northwest Regional Education Service District partners. Would you like to see your team's work featured? Email communications.
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