05 May Spring 2016 Fieldwork Coordinator Update
Here are a few place-based highlights from this spring at Southwest Charter:
Chef Seth at Aquariva
This March the 1st and 2nd graders celebrated the end of their restaurant unit. As part of this unit, students designed their own restaurant and studied different aspects of restaurant management. For fieldwork, students visited the Aquariva, right down the river from us, and had a private tour and baking demonstration from head chef, Seth Tucker. Seth also visited the classroom to answer questions about how to run a restaurant. Both classes had an opportunity to tour Verde Concina’s Sylvan restaurant, as well, and sampled some of their tasty food. Students strengthened their skills in the kitchen by taking a class at the Portland Culinary Workshop, where they baked bread and make cheesy bread sticks.
Class at Portland Culinary Project
As a culminating project, both classes transformed their rooms into restaurants (Megan’s was a Pizzaria and Nesa’s served Mexican cuisine) and hosted their families for a meal. To prepare for this event, our art teachers made personalized aprons with the students and ceramic food. Students also created menus, bills and receipts, showing their skills in writing and arithmetic. On the grand opening day, students served their families pizza from Rovente and yummy cheese quesadillas, which were made fresh on site by cooks from Verde Cocina. Overall, this was a super fun unit with lots of connections to our community and real life. Huge thanks to all the volunteers and guest experts who made this project happen!
Restaurant celebration in Nesa’s Room
Bread ready to be baked
In April, the 4th and 5th graders launched a study into urban animals, with a focus on coyotes. Coyotes have attracted a lot of attention in the press and social media lately, although it is clear that they have lived in our city and neighborhoods for a very long time. The students will be researching coyote biology and looking
4/5 students at Johnson Creek Park, where they looked for signs of urban coyotes
specifically at how coyotes live in urban areas. The classrooms hosted Zuriel Rasmussen, leader of Portland State University’s Portland Urban Coyote Project- a program that partners with the Audubon Society to track coyotes in our city and helps to educate citizens. Students will be working over the next few weeks on a plan to help the Coyote Project with their mission and will present it to Zuriel when she comes back for a second visit. Yip, yip yiiiiip!
Meanwhile, the 7th and 8th graders have had their hands full with preparations for their trip to Seattle, engaging in service internships and working full-steam on their Project Citizen projects.
- 8th graders are fanning out across the school, neighborhood, and city on Thursday afternoons to offer service to a number of agencies and organizations: Mirabella, Grey’s Landing, Neighborhood House food pantry, the Portland Children’s Book Bank, Montessori Children’s House and classrooms in our school. The 7th graders are busy preparing for internships next year by taking an in-depth look at careers and career skills. Several parents have visited the class to talk about their professions and Miriam Lea came in to give pointers on how to interview for a job.
- The Project Citizen showcase is scheduled for Salem on Friday, May 20th. This year, our 8th graders have selected the problem of affordable housing and our 7th graders are focusing on late start times for schools. Our school has won 1st place in the state for five years running. Wish them luck in Salem!
- Students will take the Amtrak to Seattle on May 16th and will return on May 19th. Their adventure will include a stay at the youth hostel in the International District, a visit to the aquarium and the Experience Music Project, a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, an exploration of Pike Place, a guided tour of the historic Chinatown, and a glimpse of Seattle’s underground. Bon Voyage!
Look for an end-of-the-year update in June for more spring fieldwork and place-based highlights.
Sarah is a former public school educator and current higher education professional specializing in alumni engagement and community building. As an educator, she saw firsthand the barriers that can prevent students from reaching their full potential. She is passionate about breaking down those barriers, advancing educational equity, and ensuring every student has the opportunity to thrive.
I grew up in Denver, CO with the Rocky Mountains as my playground, and spent my childhood summers exploring everything that the desert southwest has to offer. I believe that all children should have the opportunity to thrive in the outdoors and think deeply about their environment, which is why I am so drawn to the Cottonwood School and its field based educational philosophy. My childhood experiences in the mountains and my inherent curiosity for the natural world led me to pursue a degree in Geology, and I graduated from Smith College in 2025 with my BA in Spanish and Geosciences. I spent summers in college working for overnight camps with Girl Scouts of Colorado and did a math teaching fellowship my senior year, and knew that I wanted to continue working in education post graduation. I spent the 2025-26 school year as the before and aftercare Site Director at Cottonwood, and am so excited to be joining the team full time this year as an Educational Assistant for the Upper Grade classrooms. Outside of work you can find me reading lots of epic fantasy and sci-fi books, exploring Oregon’s local geology, hiking, playing board games, and obsessing over my house plants (ask me about my Night Blooming Cereus!).
My name is Sam Lloyd. I grew up in California and studied at UC Berkeley for my undergraduate degree, I majored in Economics at Berkeley then earned my Master’s in Education at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. I began my teaching career in Oakland, working with 4th and 5th graders for five school years, and about eight years ago, I moved to Portland with my wife and two daughters. Since then, I’ve been teaching middle school math in local private schools. I joined Cottonwood in 2025.
Growing up in an organic farming intentional community in upstate New York meant spending most of my childhood exploring and learning from the environment around me. After my family moved here to Portland when I was in middle school, my love for learning from the land continued, and while at Cleveland High School I was a regular Outdoor School volunteer. This was a formative experience, and propelled me to pursue teaching science in middle school.
My name is Matthew Gaffney, call me Gaff! I have spent my IT career up to this point doing EdTech and it has been such a rewarding experience. Blending the worlds of technology and education has been a joy to do so far. I strive to make our student’s learning experience the best it can be, and alway try to leave a situation better than I found it. In my free time, I love to go to concerts, explore the wonderful nature of the PNW, and play with my Goldendoodle, Simon. I think every single day is an opportunity to learn something new, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds at Cottonwood. Have the best day 🙂
Stephen Pham (he/him) is an educator, equity strategist, and nonprofit management consultant who works with social impact organizations to refine their strategy, strengthen their DEI lens, and build organizational capacity to achieve equity-driven impact. He partners with organizations across a wide range of stages and issue areas, including research organizations, housing innovation hubs, community foundations, and education nonprofits. Before starting his consulting practice, Stephen was a DEI and nonprofit management leader, supporting sector-wide efforts to scale equity-centered instructional and organizational practices. Stephen’s 12+ years of experience include heading nonprofit operations, talent, and culture at The Learning Accelerator, leading the national innovation strategy for Rocketship Public Schools, serving as a Blended Learning Master Teacher for BetterLesson, and teaching 5th-grade STEM in East San José.
Chris (he/him) has been interested in birds and wildlife since he was a child. Chris grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area where he first started to make observations of the natural world. He received a BS in Zoology from The Evergreen State College where he was able to get hands-on experience in ornithology, marine mammalogy, and tropical ecology. Upon graduating Chris worked for Audubon South Carolina where he participated in ongoing prothonotary warbler studies and led kayak and canoe tours through a swamp. Realizing the importance of science communication and education, he would go on to receive his Masters in Environmental Education from Western Washington University. After graduating, he spent three years as an Interpretive Park Ranger with the National Park Service, working at North Cascades National Park, Olympic National Park, and Saguaro National Park.
As an artist and educator, I believe the foundational tools for learning and engaging in creativity are play and humor. I look forward to putting this into practice as the art teacher at Cottonwood School.
Contact Paola: 
Hello! I am Daniel McArthur– I joined Cottonwood community in 2024 as Middle School Humanities teacher. I’m a passionate educator with a love for history and writing. I’ve been lucky enough to work with students in a wide range of settings, from an all-girls Catholic school to a homeless youth resource center to public high schools in Detroit, Michigan. In my roles, I’ve seen my students do amazing things when compassionate teaching meets high-expectations. I am originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, where I developed a deep love for mountains and lakes. Outside of the classroom, I enjoy reading, running, and hanging out with my cats. I am always looking for a new book or park recommendation. Let me know if you have any suggestions!
Cayla first joined our school community in 2023 as the before and after school Site Director. Then in 2024 as the 2/3 Teacher Assistant , and in 2025 as a Co-Teacher in the 2/3 classroom. She is thrilled to step into her new role as the Kindergarten Teacher! During her time at Cottonwood, she has deeply valued building meaningful connections with the students and Cottonwood community. Cayla is passionate about place-based education and creating an environment where all children can thrive and be supported.
My introduction to this wonderful school was as a parent back in 2009. My child grew up and now is a college student. The mission of CSCS has always been dear to my heart, and I returned in January 2022 to work in the school office.
Kristin is Cottonwood’s School Counselor where she supports student social emotional learning, academic engagement and access, and mental health and well-being at school. She is invested in integrating social emotional learning and wellness across our curriculum at Cottonwood. By teaching students to connect with themselves, each other, the wider community and the earth, we can build a more equitable world.
Sara was born and raised in Montana where she grew and nurtured her love and curiosity of learning from and about the natural world with the guidance of her parents and her community. She moved to Oregon in 2007 and attended Pacific University where she earned a BA in Environmental Studies. She left undergrad feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world, and sought out education as a way to foster empathy, critical thinking and creativity in the next generation. Post college, she worked on a ranch in Montana, rode her bicycle across the country and traveled to far away places just like her childhood story hero, Miss Rumphius. She spent some years working in various educational settings such as the Bird Alliance of Oregon, and then decided to pursue her graduate degree in Education at Portland State.
Liza joined the Cottonwood staff in 2018 as the full-time special education teacher. She holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and a dual Master’s degree in Reading & Special Education from the University of Michigan. Liza grew up in a large family in the Northeast that included a special needs sibling. Before getting her masters, she worked in administrative positions at schools in Boston and Southeastern Michigan. After grad school, she and her husband relocated to the Northwest for access to all of the outdoor activities in the Cascades and Oregon coast. In Portland, she has taught special education at Beaverton High School, Peninsula Elementary and Portland Village School. She is thrilled to be at Cottonwood where she appreciates the close knit community of staff & students along with the school’s place based education mission. In her free time, Liza enjoys spending time with her family in the mountains or at the coast, buzzing around in her EV, and enjoying the many great coffee houses in the Northwest.
McLean is thrilled to return to Cottonwood this year in a new role, as the P.E. Teacher/Specials and Middle School Teacher Assistant, after spending the past year traveling through New Zealand and Indonesia. He began his journey at Cottonwood in the fall of 2019 as a student teacher in one of the 4/5 classrooms, later stepping into the role of Middle School Humanities teacher, where he taught for four years. McLean brings a passion for integrating music, storytelling, theater, play, and outdoor learning into his teaching, and he’s excited to weave these elements into his new position! Outside the classroom, you’ll find him camping, playing music, gardening, watching and playing sports, and exploring the world.
Kimberley spent ten years teaching preschool through third grade at Trillium Charter School and has spent the years since teaching grades K through 2nd. 
Amanda, a longtime educator and leader in Oregon’s public charter school community, returns to The Cottonwood School of Civics and Science. She believes passionately in teaching youth to care about their community through hands-on learning, so they have the tools and enthusiasm to become active and informed citizens.