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It’s less than a half-hour before the Friday afternoon dismissal bell rings at Sunnyside Elementary, and while teachers shuffle around their classrooms organizing end-of-week routines and students busily put the final touches on late afternoon assignments, one group of volunteer fifth graders is doing some weekly weightlifting up and down the hallways.

But these tireless 10- and 11-year-olds aren’t lifting dumbbells.  Instead, they’re flexing their muscles to make recycling a top priority at their school.

When middle schoolers accidentally do something embarrassing, the last thing they want to be is caught on camera.  Unless you’re one of 58 eighth graders enrolled in Rowe Middle School’s “Shamrock News” class, where students spend nearly every minute of class time with video cameras in hand reporting school news and laughing over bloopers as they skillfully produce Rowe’s weekly news program.

“It’s really fun shooting and editing the different segments,” says eighth grader Seren Dreves.  “Plus you can always go back and find them on the internet.  Someday I’m going to watch and think, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s what I was like in eighth grade!’”

Heading into her junior year at Milwaukie Academy of the Arts, Ella Genzer knew she’d have a long list of important responsibilities—keeping up her grades in advanced-placement classes, helping take care of her younger sister at home, and even taking time to start thinking about college and career options post high school.  But her favorite responsibilities so far this year?

After shuffling their way through neighborhood streets, the last stop for thousands of North Clackamas students and families who walk to school each morning often comes at a crosswalk, where they’re met by a friendly crossing guard who makes sure drivers stop at the flashing lights blinking from all directions.

At Oregon Trail Elementary, those blinking lights are actually woven into their favorite volunteer crossing guard’s clothes.

After 30 years as a flight medic, Glen Sharp certainly thought he was ready for the rest and relaxation of retirement.  But once the youngest of his three children graduated from North Clackamas, he decided to steer his quiet retirement life in a new direction.

“I had read that the school district was looking for bus drivers, and my wife was getting tired of me sitting in the house,” he laughs.  “So I decided, what the heck?  I’m a smart guy; I could probably learn how to do that.”

With nearly 17,000 students, did you know the North Clackamas School District is Oregon’s fifth largest out of nearly 200 districts throughout the state?  

NCSD’s 32 schools are spread among 40 square miles encompassing Milwaukie, Oak Grove, Johnson City, Clackamas, and Happy Valley. In addition to its award-winning schools, the district also maintains several other buildings, including a central office, technology center, transportation headquarters, and a facilities/groundskeeping yard. That’s more than 2.5 million square feet  of floorspace to shine, landscape to manage, technology to upgrade, and heating/cooling systems to maintain, let alone the daily operations that fill more than 160 school days each year. 

Olivia Teav and Sarah Cavanaugh are the polar opposites of the grouchy, grumbling lunch ladies typically portrayed in children’s books or on television. Not only are the two close coworkers constantly cracking each other up as they serve up nearly 300 healthy meals a day at Verne Duncan Elementary, they also solicit laughs in the hot lunch line from students…or at least a few eye rolls.