Announcer (00:01):
Highlighting the amazing stories from inside the North Clackamas school district. This is the Proud To Be NCSD podcast, hosted by longtime principal and current community relations director Curtis Long.

Curtis Long (00:14):
And welcome in to another exciting edition of the Proud to Be NCSD podcast. And in order to properly tell this week's story, we need to go back in time.

Movie Clip (00:23):
Next Saturday night, we're sending you back to the future.

Curtis Long (00:28):
No, not that kind of time travel you see in the movies. More like a quick memory refresh. If you're a loyal listener to this podcast, you may remember an episode last season that started among an energetic elementary school classroom. Getting ready to start a new lesson.

Solstinancy Hernandez-Contreras (00:42):
Hey, go get a pencil.

Curtis Long (00:43):
Yes, go get a pencil because when we visited last spring, it was writing time in this North Clackamas classroom for 20 plus eager third graders, including some asking their teacher for some quick feedback and others who learned the hard way that you can't edit your work very well when you write with an ink pen.

Solstinancy Hernandez-Contreras (00:59):
We cannot erase pen. So I will give you another sheet. Go find a pencil.

Curtis Long (01:03):
That was when we visited Salstinancy Hernandez Contreras third grade classroom at Lot Whitcomb Elementary. You may remember Hernandez Contreras classroom may have sounded a little different. Listen closely as the kids pay close attention to their teacher's instructions. Hernandez Contra's voice level never changes, but the language suddenly does.

Solstinancy Hernandez-Contreras (01:27):
Jeremy,

Curtis Long (01:28):
That was our first introduction to one of several dual language immersion classrooms available at multiple schools throughout the North Clackamas school district. Dual language immersion or DLI classrooms teach the same curriculum as an all English speaking classroom in the same grade. But depending on the grade level, a certain portion of the day is taught in English while the rest of the day proceeds in Spanish. Students can enroll in a dual language immersion classroom at any time and can start with any level of Spanish speaking experience. And by the time they reach high school, nearly all student conversations and teacher instructions are conducted 100% in Spanish. In fact, this year's senior class in North Clackamas contains many students who have grown up in NCS d's, dual language immersion programs, opening doors to post high school dreams they would've never thought possible like this. You are listening to the latest song from Conexion fina, a local band made up of three very talented Rex Putnam High School students who not only sing and play all the instruments, but met each other and gained the confidence to publicly perform while growing up together as students in NCSD'S dual language immersion programs.

Curtis Long (02:51):
Today on the Proud To Be NCSD podcast, meet these three mind blowing musicians whose past experiences as part of the district DLI programs as far back as elementary school, have them now headed toward a very bright future after high school.

Curtis Long (03:08):
And we're very excited to catch these three prolific Putnam performers on a morning before they head to their DLI classes. Welcome to the podcast Senior Sebastian Castillo Garduno, sophomore Dalia Sanchez Martinez, and Senior Leslie Osorio Martinez. Sebastian. Dalia. Leslie, thanks so much for joining us . Happy to be here. And since this podcast is the second installment about our district dual language immersion program, we'll once again conduct the podcast in a dual language format. So each time I ask a question, we'll ask your assistant principal Mr. Marquez to ask it in Spanish as well. And you three are so talented you can answer in both languages. So to start things off, let's have each of you introduce yourselves. Tell us a little bit about where you went to school before coming to Rex Putnam.

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (03:48):
Hi, my name is INE Castillo. Went to Alder Creek before coming to Putnam.

Dahlia Sanchez Martinez (03:51):
I'm Dahlia and I went to Alder Creek before coming here.

Leslie Osorio (03:54):
Coming here. I'm Leslie and I also went to Alder Creek.

Curtis Long (03:56):
So explain your journey in the bilingual program from when you started in the program until now.

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (04:02):
Well, I started at El Puente Elementary School and then after that I moved to Alder Creek and then I'm here now. But it's been a good, good process.

Leslie Osorio (04:09):
And I'm Leslie, I've been in the immersion program since kindergarten at Riverside Elementary. And then I went to Alder Creek. It's been a really great experience.

Dahlia Sanchez Martinez (04:17):
Uh, I joined in the very beginning of sixth grade and it, it was at the beginning, it was something new to me, but it was like, it was good

Curtis Long (04:57):
So much fun to hear all your answers. What are your favorite memories from your years in the bilingual program?

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (05:02):
I think just like the bonding with other people that kind of look like you, that speak like you, that think like you. I think it's, I think that's what I liked most.

Dahlia Sanchez Martinez (05:10):
I think what I liked most was, uh, I had nothing in common with everyone and having classes with my friends,

Leslie Osorio (05:16):
Um, something that I liked is having a connection to my culture. It was a really big part of why I joined the immersion program. I remember, I think it was first or second grade, we had a cultural day, so everybody brought like their own food, like tamales, , whatever it was from their culture. And it was just very interesting to see all these people come together and make food is like a love language. So like food for everyone and we all shared and it was a really great experience that I will always remember.

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (06:19):
Uh, I think something not too specific, like not a certain day that I remember center memory, but like what I don't forget is that there wouldn't be a day where me and my friends wouldn't be laughing like, or like enjoying the day. Like we'll always be having fun at school and I think that's something that I won't forget.

Curtis Long (06:55):
How did your group Conexia Fina form?

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (06:57):
We got over here to Armando, uh, in the Ion group. We got Dalia as the bass player. Uh, me as the guitarist and Armando as ti and Armando can answer that question. I, I wrote the first song. No. Yeah, yeah. I texted him. I was like, oh, I need help, uh, producing the song. 'cause he knew more about like, uh, like recording and studio stuff and I texted him and I was like, oh yeah, uh, I might need help like producing this song. And he was down for it. So, and then we didn't meet up for like a whole six months or something. Right. We didn't talk to each other for a whole six months. And then we came, we came back around and I texted him again and we met up, or before we met up we were like, oh, we need a bass player. And we knew about Dahlia and we texted Dahlia and she said she was down too. And that's how we started.

Curtis Long (07:36):
And that extra voice you're hearing, that's Armando who came in to join you on this podcast who wasn't a part of our bilingual program, but is good friends with you and has joined your band Yeah. And goes to Putnam here. Yeah. Dahlia or Leslie, do you have anything to add about the band's formation?

Leslie Osorio (07:51):
I was just invited to be participating into the song that

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (07:55):
Was, she was one of our recent features for one of the songs.

Curtis Long (08:33):
Sebastian and your group kind of expanded a little bit. You decided to invite Leslie to be a guest on your latest song. Tell us about that.

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (08:39):
Uh, so, so we made the song for like the December season, like more Christmas vibe, more like, I mean, it's a sad song, right? But like it was like around, it was for around that time. And uh, we kind of wanted like a soft voice to be in the song as well. And uh, we decided Leslie was a good fit for that song.

Curtis Long (08:56):
And Leslie, you took that invitation right away and said, uh, yeah, I'll do it.

Leslie Osorio (09:00):
I mean, yeah, we had been talking about it for a while. Like he had made a song prior and we just never got to it. And then he asked me again and we just decided, yeah, do it.

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (09:15):
A year ago, um, I made a different song and I told her that she wanted to be on the song, but like, I fast forward a year, nothing happened. We weren't like, like us the group, we weren't that experienced yet, but we recorded this song. This song was our third song, I think our third song out. And we were like, oh, she can be in the Sunday this time. And yeah, it happened like that.

Curtis Long (09:38):
And just like that, two of our three bilingual band mates are set to graduate this spring with a bilingual advantage thanks to years in NCSD's dual language immersion program.

Leslie Osorio (09:48):
I do know I wanna study social work and I think the dual language immersion program has helped me a lot with like signing up for scholarships and like finding these connections at these schools.

Curtis Long (09:58):
But even before graduation, these special songwriters have plenty more to share about the benefits of growing up year by year and grade by grade in a caring bilingual program.

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (10:08):
I feel like it's very important to keep your culture alive. At least for me it's very important to keep, keep Spanish and like in the future if I have kids, I would want them to keep speaking Spanish as well. So I think that's very important,

Curtis Long (10:18):
Important for kids to speak Spanish. And important for you to hear the second half of our special dual language edition of the Proud to be NCSD podcast right after this.

Commercial Voice (10:34):
Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? The North Clackamas school district is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire before and after afterschool caretakers, custodians and bus drivers in North Clackamas. We promise it won't take you long to learn why our employees say they're proud to be an NCSD. Apply today on the North Clackamas school district website or call 5 0 3 3 5 3 6,000. That's 5 0 3 3 5 3 6.

Curtis Long (12:08):
Now I hear rumors as we record this, that you're performing today at Putnam at lunchtime. Is that true?

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (12:13):
Yeah. We're performing today during the lunch. We're gonna play uh, two covers and one of our songs that's gonna release hopefully February. Right? Hopefully . Yeah, if if everything goes well, uh, we it's gonna release February, but yeah, it's one of those songs that we're gonna perform.

Curtis Long (12:26):
And where are some other places that you've performed? All right, Armando's gonna take that one. Um,

Armando Garcia (12:30):
So we performed at Alder Creek. We've also performed downtown and we performed for quinceanera as a surprise for one of the D'S cousins. And you Oh yeah. Performed here. Yeah,

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (12:43):
We played for, um, at the whole school and at the assembly and we played for lunch before here as well. I

Armando Garcia (13:01):
Downtown Quinceanera. Mm-Hmm.

Curtis Long (13:07):
. What do you hope to communicate through your music?

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (13:10):
Well, I think we have two, we have three songs out right now. One of them is more like a romance song and the, and the other two are like more sad songs. And I feel like what we're trying to communicate is like it's okay to be sad sometimes and to be comfortable with your sadness. And I think our music like transmits that like it's okay to be said and to you can express. We hope that people can express theirselves with our music and feel what we feel when we're making the song. I think that's one of the things we wanna do.

Curtis Long (14:03):
Now I think the great part about all three of you is you were part of our bilingual program all the way from middle school and Dahia you said you joined in in middle school, right? Yeah. So tell me, how have you benefited from being a part of the bilingual program? I think it

Dahlia Sanchez Martinez (14:16):
Was easier to be able to speak Spanish around people. 'cause in elementary I was mostly speaking English and like I didn't wanna forget like to speak Spanish.

Leslie Osorio (14:25):
Me personally, it's helped me a lot to get jobs and to just communicate with a lot of people outside of school as well. Find new connections.

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (14:31):
Yeah, I'm just gonna agree with them getting jobs and I feel like it's very important to keep your culture alive, I guess you could say. Speaking Spanish is like very important for, at least for me, it's very important to keep, keep in Spanish and if like in the future if I have kids, I would want them to keep speaking Spanish as well. So I think that's very important.

Curtis Long (15:24):
All three of you have mentioned maintaining your culture in your answers. I wanna hear more about that. How has the bilingual program helped you maintain your culture?

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (15:32):
Well, yeah, like I said, like speaking Spanish, I think that's, that's like the main part of the bilingual program that's keeping the culture alive, I think. And just like putting, putting people that look like you, I guess together. I think that also makes like a spark for the culture as well. You can communicate.

Leslie Osorio (15:48):
Um, it's allowed us to like, like he said, um, language but also continue our growth and learning like our heritage and stuff like that. Like studies that we do about our culture or field trips and stuff like that. It allows us to have, I think

Dahlia Sanchez Martinez (16:02):
Just being able to, uh, speak Spanish.

Curtis Long (16:37):
All three of you. So impressive students here at Rex Putnam High School. But of course high school eventually comes to an end. What are your plans for the future and how do you think your bilingualism will help with those future plans?

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (16:48):
Our plan, our plan is to keep, uh, continuing with the music as a group, but in the, in the school perspective, me and Armando next year are gonna go to Clackamas Community College and we're gonna study all engineer though just to keep continuing like in that music path and being able to soon produce our own music. So I think that'll be nice.

Leslie Osorio (17:05):
I'm undecided on what college I wanna go to, but I do know I wanna study social work and um, I think the dual language immersion program has helped me a lot with like signing up for scholarships and like finding these connections at these schools.

Dahlia Sanchez Martinez (17:19):
I haven't really thought of it. I'm a sophomore.

Curtis Long (17:19):
Oh, Dahlia, you're only a sophomore. That's right. We don't need to put that pressure on Dahlia yet. I forgot. She's only a sophomore right now. That's right, Dahlia, you don't have to answer that. You don't have to be thinking too far into the future right now

Curtis Long (18:18):
Before we let you go. We wouldn't wanna let a chance pass by that you can't promote your band. What's coming up for that band?

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (18:25):
Right now we're working on a partnership with, uh, a local record label. Uh, they're called the Local Records and we're gonna be working on an upcoming song called ko. It's gonna be, hopefully that's what we said. Hopefully. 'cause we don't know. This is like a long process, but hopefully like around the February it will come out. We'll have everything ready. But um, yeah, I think that's like the main things now that's coming up for us. Records on Spotify, apple Music, YouTube, and Luc. If you guys wanna search us up on social media, we're at at conna everywhere, Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, wherever you guys want, you can just search it up. And we're there.

Curtis Long (19:32):
Sebastian Castillo Garduno, Dahlia Sanchez Martinez, Leslie Osorio Martinez, and Armando Garcia. Thank you so much for taking time out of your school day to join us today. Well, the purpose of this podcast is to show our community all the many special people who make up our student body of more than 17,000 total students. And we couldn't find four more special than all of you. Just like the title of this podcast says, each of you truly makes us proud to be NCSD. Good luck to all of you and thanks so much for joining us.

Sebastian Castillo-Garduno (20:01):
Yeah, for sure. Thank you for having us.

Curtis Long (20:03):
Thanks for listening to The Proud To Be NCSD podcast in North Clackamas. We know that education is a community effort and we're so thankful that you and your family are a part of our community. Until next time, remember, there are always great things to see wherever you go in NCSD.