Proud to be HSD Festival

On May 30th of last year, the Hillsboro School District hosted the first ever ‘Proud to be HSD’ festival in downtown Hillsboro. In conjunction with the Saturday market, the Hillsboro School District and the city of Hillsboro brought together the community and the students to celebrate diversity and unity.

On Saturday, May 21st, 2016, the Hillsboro School District hosted the second annual ‘Proud to be HSD’ festival. The festival occurred from 8 AM to 1:30 PM in downtown Hillsboro on Main and Lincoln Street. The festival celebrated the Hillsboro School District along with showcasing and supporting the talents and accomplishments of our students.

STEAM is a large group focused on during the festival. STEAM encompasses science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. The STEAM pavilion showcased the STEAM after school program, the work done in STEAM focused schools, and the work done within the partnership with Right Brain Initiative. It also featured a special guest, the Artosaur!

Along with the STEAM pavilion, teachers and students hosted a career and college pathways area. This allowed teachers to talk about their programs and students to showcase and present their work.

Students also performed magic tricks, dances, and songs at the two performance areas within the festival and created banners to represent their schools.

In addition to school based areas, Hillsboro School District program exhibitors and community partners of the Hillsboro School District had booths.

Though the festival focused largely on academics, academics wasn’t all that encompassed it. A physical education booth was present, hosting the most popular mascot challenge at 12:15 PM, which resulted in Glencoe’s Captain Crimson emerging victorious.

Other mascot guests included the Portland Winterhawks’ Tom-a-hawk, the Hillsboro Hops’ Barley, and Portland State's’ mascot Victor E.

Furthermore, Brookwood Elementary School’s chess club occupied a booth, in which they challenged members of the community to a chess match. Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

The Proud to be HSD festival also hosted a scavenger hunt in which members of the community sought out certain objects at the festival and had the opportunity to win prizes provided by local businesses.

Don’t worry, the schools themselves weren’t neglected. Throughout the festival there were opportunities to purchase spirit gear from your favorite school.

All in all, the Proud to be HSD Festival provided a much needed opportunity for the community to get together and celebrate the creativity and talent of Hillsboro and the people that call it home.

Photo Credits: HSD and Marleen Zytniowski