Northwest Academy

The NWA Science Research Program would like to congratulate the 22 high school students whose outstanding original writing, artwork and poetry was selected for publication in the 2026 student anthology: Honoring our Rivers, featured in CLEARING Magazine. We would also like to extend our special congratulations to Sylvie Beers, whose stunning painting of an American Bittern was selected for the front cover, an incredible honor!

Congratulations to all of our student authors, poets and artists for this accomplishment. Many students worked in collaborative partnerships, with one student writing a poem and the other creating art inspired by writing. Through their work, our students may bring greater awareness to the rivers and watersheds that sustain our communities. We hope that their voices and creativity will help to inspire others to continue to protect and safeguard aquatic ecosystems and the diverse life within them. Check out the digital version of the journal here: https://loom.ly/YcYlGtU

Animator Brian Leif Hansen from Shadow Machine stopped by for the second year in a row to talk with our Media Arts students! He brought in familiar character models from beloved stop motion films and gave an insightful talk on what it is like to be a professional animator.
ShadowMachine

What appears to be a carnival where you win handmade prizes and candy is actually our middle school math classes showing off the math principals they learned this year! From a hand crafted claw machine to classic spin the wheel games, our math carnival had it all!

No better way to expand and grow creative minds than by visiting local art galleries! Our curatorial students from Parentheses Projects (.projects) took a trip to Adams and Ollman gallery where they met with artist Ralph Pugay, whose work is currently displayed.

Come hang with us at Portland Sunday Parkways! Northwest Academy will be bring the fun this Sunday, Aug 2 at McKenna Park from 11-4 pm. We'll be handing out stickers, drinks, and general good cheer - and kids can make their own custom pins. Hope to see you there, on your bike or not!

Our Main Street building got a new mural this year, designed and painted by high school students. Rose's Arts After Hours Visual Arts class collaborated to create the design, which combines Photography and Music, two of the subjects taught in Main. They used a grid technique to draw the mural onto the curved wall, and students painted it during ArtsWeek.

At the same time, Middle School students worked on a graffiti inspired project that will be installed in Main this summer. They used painted letters using different styles of graffiti to spell out the name of their favorite school, Northwest Academy! 😉

Local artist Karl Burkheimer joined us during ArtsWeek to teach a whittling workshop, and only one bandaid was needed (for a teacher 😆). Students chose from different types of wood and went to work. The resulting pieces were mostly abstract, and were integrated into a sculptural installation Karl had designed with students earlier in the year. Thank you to Karl for all of the whittling wisdom!

We got crafty during ArtsWeek! In our high school Clothing Personalization workshop, students picked from donated pieces or brought something from home, then worked with staff to make it their own. They tried embroidery, Citrasolv transfers, fabric painting, dyeing, fabric resist, and other upcycling techniques to create unique designs. For many students, it was a relaxing, social process, and almost everyone walked away with a new skill.