Exciting Honors!

Majestic Moler, senior point guard, has verbally committed to play collegiate basketball at NAIA school Northwest University in Kirkland, WA. Majestic will play for legendary coach, Ken Crawford. Coach Crawford says of Majestic, “Majestic will be a big part of our rotation as a freshman and will help us reach the National Tournament with her dynamic style of play”. Majestic is a two-time All-Nisqually League 1st Team selection. She was awarded the team’s Tarrier Hustle Award for the 2nd year in a row at the team banquet.

Shoni made 1st Team All-State for Basketball. This team is created by the Associated Press. The teams were selected based on votes from sportswriters across the state. To read more about this great honor click HERE!

Tennis

4/6 Charles Wright @ Kings
CWA – 5  Kings – 0

1. Singles:  Alexis Schorno (CWA) def. Audrey Hackett 4-6, 6-1, 6-0
2. Singles: Jenny Seol (CWA) def. Abby Jenkins 7-5, 6-2

1. Doubles: Maddy Gonzalez/Meera Patel (CWA) def. Giroux/Fridlino 6-3, 6-4
2. Doubles; Mei Ge/ Casey Kim (CWA) def. Densmore/McKay 6-0, 6-0
3. Doubles: Laney Schorno/Maria Gonzalez (CWA def. Young/McCutchen 6-2, 6-2

Baseball

4/5 Charles Wright @ Vashon
CWA- 2           Vashon- 13

August Perry-Jones and Henry Cheney scored for the Tarriers. NoahFields and Nathan McDougall drove in the runs.

4/6 Charles Wright @ Seattle Christian
CWA- 4           Seattle Christian- 5

The Tarriers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Seattle Christian battled back to tie it, 3-3, in the 5th inning. CWA regained the lead in the top of the 7th before Seattle Christian scored the winning run in the bottom of the 8th for a walk-off win. August Perry-Jones had a strong performance on the mound for the Tarriers.

Henry Cheney RBI,2B, 2 runs
Henry Lenaburg 2RBI
August Perry-Jones 2-3, run, 2B

The post US Athletics Update: Week of April 4 appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Tacoma, Wash. – The entire Charles Wright Academy community honored the school’s history and mission during Founders’ Day celebrations on Thursday, April 14.

Parents were invited to breakfast in the Middle School Commons, where students, faculty, and families gathered for a delicious buffet of baked pastries, eggs, bacon, pancakes, and more prepared by CWA’s food service team, led by Sheila Clemans.

In the afternoon, Lower, Middle, and Upper Schoolers gathered in the Wight Gym for the annual all-school Founders’ Day assembly—the second of two all-school assemblies during the academic year (the other being the holiday assembly in December). Chaplain Mike Moffitt typically takes the opportunity to lead the school in a reflection of one aspect of the CWA mission, but this year’s assembly marked a very special occasion: the pending retirement of Headmaster Rob Camner after a 20-year tenure at CWA. A video highlighting his many accomplishments was narrated by a very special guest, daughter Lisa Camner McKay ’00.

Upper Schoolers Johnny Hammer ’16 and Amanda McLean ’16 put on a special edition of the Peach Acres News, highlighting Mr. Camner’s illustrious career prior to his time at Charles Wright, and math teacher Leon Phillips guest starred in a role that highlighting Mr. Camner’s fiscal acumen in leading the school. Other students also had the opportunity to present and perform during the assembly. Middle School and Upper School choral groups sang, and the Middle and Upper School orchestras performed the world premiere of “Three Celtic Dances,” an original composition resulting from a collaboration between Keshava Katti ’18 and Jonathan Zacarias ’18. Lower School students led a rendition of “Somos el Barco” and “The Happy Wanderer.”

The 2016 CWA Alum of the Year Award went to Kathy Niakan ’96, who was recently featured in Ties and has been internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work in genetics and embryonic development.

More photos from the day’s festivities can be viewed here.

The post Tarriers Celebrate 2016 Founders’ Day appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Jackie ’16 sent us the inside scoop behind the shenanigans that made up Senior Skip Day 2016. Do you have memories of Senior Skip Days of yore, Tarriers? If so, please share them in the comments!

A select number of the Class of 2016 senior pranksters took over Charles Wright this weekend—and voila! The hallways of the Upper School were covered with a string laser maze. Stairwells were Saran-Wrapped and bombarded with balloons. All of the clocks in the Upper School have been stolen (Time flies when we’re having fun!) and replaced with “20:16.” A flag was hung up made by Hasanah ’16!

We’re kind of a b16 deal. Step aside while we rock the scene; we’re the Class of 2016!

The post Class of 2016 Celebrates Senior Skip Day appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Fourth grade Tarriers competed in the regional Math Is Cool competition on Friday, April 15, in SeaTac. The team came in fourth place and Daniel ’24 placed eighth in the division in which Charles Wright participated.

“We had a really wonderful night and are so proud of the students’ good work,” said fourth grade teacher Nick Zosel-Johnson. “It was quite the competition and a very challenging test. The fourth place finish was a thrilling reward for a year of practice. We are so proud of the dedication, teamwork, and growth of our team this year.”

Congratulations, Tarriers!

The post Class of 2024 Places Fourth at Math Is Cool Competition appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Tennis

4/14 Charles Wright @ Cascade Christian
CWA-5 Cascade Christian- 0

1. Singles: Alexis Schorno (CWA) def. Dani Tang 6-0, 6-1
2. Singles: Forfeit by Cascade Christian

1. Doubles: Mei Ge/Meera Patel(CWA) def. Cooksley/Jung 6-2, 6-1
2. Doubles: Laney Schorno/Maria Gonzalez(CWA) def. Sadler/Seeger 6-0, 6-0
3. Doubles: Casey Kim/Heidi Xu(CWA) def. Coe/Williams 6-0,6-1

4/18 Charles Wright @ Tenino
CWA-5 Tenino-0

1. Singles: Alexis Schorno(CWA) def. Brandi Bratton 6-1, 6-2
2. Singles: Jenny Seol(CWA) def. Ally Vestal 6-1, 6-0
3. Singles: Maddy Gonzalez(CWA) def. Ximena Ontiveros 6-3, 6-2

1. Doubles; Mei Ge/Casey Kim(CWA) def. Jones/Schow 6-0, 6-0
2. Doubles: Laney Schorno/Maria Gonzalez(CWA) def. Nienhaus/Kennedy 6-0, 6-0

4/19 Charles Wright vs Vashon
CWA-4 Vashon- 1

1. Singles; Alexis Schorno(CWA) def. Sierra Richter 6-1, 6-0
2. Singles: Jenny Seol(CWA) def. Yulia Fiala 6-0, 6-0

1. Doubles: Wittwer/Mulvihill(V) def. Casey Kim/Mei Ge 5-7, 6-3, 12-10
2. Doubles: Laney Schorno/Maria Gonzalez(CWA) def. Sutherland/Osborne 6-1, 6-2
3. Doubles: Kate Pasco/Aury Hay(CWA) def. Paytra/Tabitha 7-6(1), 6-1

Soccer

4/16 Charles Wright vs Overlake
CWA-2 Overlake- 1

1st goal: #7 Billy Chissoe, asst. by #11 @ 61:00
2nd goal: #9 Dylan Sam, asst. by #7 Billy Chissoe @ 73:00

Shots:    CWA – 13   /   Overlake – 12
Saves:    CWA – 11   /   Overlake – 7
Corners:     CWA – 2   /   Overlake – 6
Fouls:     CWA – 3   /   Overlake – 6
Offsides:     CWA – 2   /   Overlake – 0

4/19 Charles Wright @ Bellevue Christian
CWA-4 Bellevue Christian- 0

1st goal: Own goal by BC defender Alex Loeber #5, asst. by CWA Billy Chissoe #7 @ 28:01
2nd goal: #5 Jack Jorgenson, asst. by #12 Michael Saffari @ 58:16
3rd goal: #10 Nick Iregui, asst. by #12 Michael Saffari @ 70:02
4th goal: #11 Adam Berg, asst. by # 2 AJ Taghavi @ 79:56

Shots:     CWA – 14   /   Bellevue Christian – 6
Saves:     CWA – 4    /    Bellevue Christian – 5
Corners:     CWA – 6   /    Bellevue Christian – 3
Fouls:      CWA – 5    /    Bellevue Christian – 5
Offsides:     CWA – 1   /    Bellevue Christian – 0

4/20 Charles Wright vs Orting
CWA-0 Orting- 1

Shots:    CWA – 12   /   Orting – 12
Saves:    CWA – 6    /    Orting – 8
Corners:    CWA – 10   /   Orting – 3
Fouls:    CWA – 7   /   Orting – 7
Offsides:    CWA – 2   /   Orting – 0

Baseball

4/14 Charles Wright @ Bellevue Christian
CWA- 4 Bellevue Christian- 1

WP – August Perry-Jones (CG, 0 ER, 7 hits, 78 pitches)
Perry-Jones 3-4, run
Cheney 2-3, 2 rbi, run, 2B, sb
Lundberg 2-3, 2 runs, 2B

4/16 Charles Wright vs Cascade Christian
CWA- 8 Cascade Christian- 11

Cheney 2-4, 2 runs, 3 rbi, 2B
Fannin 2-4, 2 runs

4/18 Charles Wright vs Vashon
CWA- 3 Vashon- 8

Henry Lenaburg 2-3, 2 rbi, 2B
Henry Cheney 4 base on balls, run

4/20 Charles Wright vs Seattle Christian
CWA- 4 Seattle Christian- 9

Cheney 2-2, HR, 2 rbi, 2 runs, 2 BB
Lenaburg 2-4, rbi, 2B
Meadowcroft 2B
Cade Cochran 1-1 (first high school varsity career hit)

Boys & Girls Golf

4/20 Chambers Bay Invitational

The CWA Boys came in 4^th and the CWA Girls were 2^nd.
Annie Walker was the medalist of the match.

Track & Field

4/14 Nisqually League Meet
CWA Men place 2^nd with 132 points
CWA Women place 1^st with 183 points

Top Ten in event-
For full results please visit- www.athletic.net

100 Meters
Boys                                                    Girls
2- Desmond Jones                             2- Taylor DiLeonardo
9-Brandon Birnbaum                       4- Kyleigh Kuehnis
7- Maya Wain Hirschberg
9- Jules Hebert
10- Youmna Hassan

200 Meters
Girls
5-Maya Wain Hirschberg
7- Katie Dearth
8- Olivia Wu
9- Kiana Taghavi
10- Alexandra Lord

400 Meters
Boys                                                    Girls
6- Raghav Agrawal                            1- Gabi Joubert
9- Grace Hanly

800 Meters
Boys                                                    Girls
2-Jonathan Zacarias                          1- Brenna Sclair
4- Carson Schauer                            2- Julia Hanly
8- James Parrot                                 7- Kassie Mastras
8- Madison Allen
9-Eunah Choi
10-Maddie Albers

1600 Meters
Boys                                                    Girls
7- Jason Li                                          6- Madison Allen
8- James Parrot                                 8- Kassie Mastras
10- Sophia Yean

Boys 110 Hurdles                             Girls 100 Hurdles
1- Jack Moore                                                2- Dana Drouillard
6- Same Levine                                  4- Alexandra Lord
7- Brennen Kendall                          8- Ann Thompson
9- Charen Cruz

300m Hurdles
Boys                                                    Girls
4- Jack Moore                                   3- Dana Drouillard
5- Sam Levine                                    5- Alexandra Lord
7- Brennen Kendall                          6- Ann Thompson
7- Charen Cruz

4×100 Relay
Boys
4- Desmond Jones, Brandon Birnbaum, Joe Nunez, Cooper Grotkpf

Girls
1- Maya Wain Hirschberg, Gabi Joubert, Jules Hebert, Taylor DiLeonardo
3- Abby Nagaich, Chambolion Fairley, Ashley Nelson, Olivia Wu

4x 200 Relay

3- Maya Wain Hirschberg, Katie Dearth, Olivia Wu, Kyleigh Kuehnis

4x 400 Relay
Boys
2-Desmond Jones, Brandon Birnbaum, Ragav Agrawal, Cooper Grotkopf
4- Jason Li, Jonathan Zacarias, Carson Schauer, Owen Fitz

Girls
1-Grace Hanly, Julia Hanly, Brenna Sclair, Gabi Joubert
3- Maddie Albers, Madison Allen, Kira Boyce, Eunah Choi

Shot Put
Boys                                                    Girls
2- Connor Currier                             2- RubyJoy Pikes
8- Markus Dueker-Ramirez             3- Lola Oyetuga
10- Cassy Portnow

Discus
Boys                                                    Girls
1- Connor Currier                             1- RubyJoy Pikes
4- Lola Oyetuga
8- Maddie Adams
9- Cassy Portnow

Javelin
Boys                                                    Girls
6- Logan Howell                                7- Nikki Baldwin
9- Connor Currier                             10- Dana Drouillard

High Jump
Boys                                                    Girls
2- Morgan Ji                                       3- Gabi Joubert
7- Sam Levine                                                3- Taylor DiLeonardo
10- Brennen Kendall                                    7- Hannah Hallman

Long Jump
Boys                                                    Girls
6- Morgan Ji                                       2- Taylor DiLeonardo
6- Youmna Hassan
9- Annelise Spangler
10- Eunah Choi

Triple Jump
Boys                                                    Girls
2- Morgan Ji                                       6- Hannah Hallman
4- Desmond Jones                             7- Youmna Hassan
10- Annelise Spangler

The post US Athletics Update: Week of April 18 appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

CWA Lower School students worked in multi-grade groups to create a community poem in celebration of Poem In Your Pocket Day and Earth Day. Third grade teacher Carie Olsen recited their work at Town Meeting today! Check out the original “Who is Mother Nature” poem and see how it inspired students to create their own vision of Mother Nature.

The original poem reads:

Mother Nature is where we live.
In other words, she is
a refuge to the lost,
a magnet to the curious,
a dare to the daring,
the cradle of rapture,
the university of the universe,
the glory of a morning and of a morning-glory,
not a whale but the idea of a whale,
a sign rewriter: I Welcome All No Trespassing,
the best cure for couch disease,
an opera performed by birds, bullfrogs on drums,
the sound of silence… amplified
to the symphony of the spheres,
and _______________________________.

Lower Schoolers wrote:

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Four Charles Wright Academy ninth graders competed at the Washington state National History Day competition on Saturday, April 23, at Green River Community College in Auburn.

The National History Day theme for 2016 is “Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History.” Congratulations to Heidi Xu ’19, who placed third in the senior individual website category (“The Placebo: The Exploration of Medicine and Psychology”), and to Ryan Quisenberry ’19, who placed third in senior individual performance category (“T.E. Lawrence and the Euro-Arabian Exchanges of World War I”). Hannah Scharrer ’19 (“An Exchange of New Ideas: Second Wave Feminism and Its Effects on America”) and Nikki Baldwin ’19 (“Exchanges, Explorations, and Encounters with Segregation Along the Green Book Roads”) also competed in the senior paper category. Congratulations, Tarriers!

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Charles Wright Academy’s Academic Technology Coordinator Holly Gerla and Lower School Learning Specialist Mary Beth Cole—who also serves as the leader of the Pierce County CHADD chapter—help us wade through research on the evolving world of technology, screen time, and health for teens and tweens ahead of a May 18 screening of the documentary Screenagers at CWA. To learn more about this free event, please click here.  

The intersection of technology and attention disorders is quite complicated, especially if you have read recent headlines like, Is the Internet Giving Us All ADHD? (Washington Post, March 2015) juxtaposed with other offerings claiming Technology Makes ADHD Better, Not Worse (Forbes, June 2015). How are we to make sense of all of this?

In our current digital age, we use technology to learn, communicate, organize, create, and be entertained. Our growing use of, and dependence on, these devices has teachers, researchers, and doctors asking questions about the impact of all this connectedness not only on our ability to focus and pay attention to tasks, but on our health and well-being in general. Within the last year, the phrase “adult onset ADHD” has actually become a thing (even though it’s not really a thing) as we all struggle to understand why we are so easily drawn to, and distracted by, our smart phones. Think “SQUIRREL!” from the movie Up.

Well, to link the distracting nature of technology directly to ADHD is a bit disingenuous. As author Caitlin Dewey points out in her piece for the Post, “The Web certainly may cause ADHD-like symptoms, and it could exacerbate the disorder in children and adults who suffer from it already … but there’s no evidence that Internet use could actually cause an otherwise healthy person to develop the disorder. After all, ADHD is believed to have a range of underlying genetic causes, things you couldn’t just ‘catch’ from a computer screen.” What many are actually alluding to when they discuss such distractibility is not ADHD, but multitasking, which years of brain research now shows to be an impossibility. No matter how good we think we are at multitasking, what we are actually doing is task-switching. Perhaps we don’t notice because we do it so rapidly, but each and every time our brain has to make the switch between tasks, however small, it takes a toll on our productivity. We are drawn to the beep, buzz, alert, or notification that forces the change in focus, and we lose track of where we are because we haven’t actually seen a single task through to the end. Hence we can feel like we are doing a lot of things but accomplishing nothing at the same time. Sound familiar?

As for the realities of ADHD and technology, parents are often baffled that their child can’t sit still long enough to read a book or complete a project, but put them in front a video game and they can play for hours. There are multiple factors at work here. Dr. Dimitri Christakis, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and the director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Children’s Hospital in Seattle, urges us to think about ADHD differently than we currently do, not in terms of who can and cannot pay attention, but as a spectrum of “attentional capacity.” All of us exist somewhere on this continuum, and finding out what works for each of us is critical. The ADHD brain works differently. As Dr. Dale Archer puts it, “The chaotic effect of competing sources of information that can distract and derail others is like manna to an ADHDer, for whom these extreme states actually boost a feel-good response in the brain. It’s why many with ADHD appear so focused and functional in the middle of a maelstrom.” That super-focused video-game player? The stimuli of the game, and the rapid nature of your choices leading to immediate rewards, is exactly what an ADHD brain craves, he says. So in this case, the child’s attentional capacity for the game is greater than it might be for other activities that do not offer similar rewards. Who wouldn’t choose the game in those circumstances?

There is still cause for concern, however, in that too much time or attention devoted to a certain task can be a problem. Discussing the common misconception that people with ADHD simply cannot pay attention, Dr. Ned Hallowell, one of the country’s leading experts on ADHD, puts it this way: “People with ADHD can super-focus at times and pay better attention than anyone. When what they are doing interests them they often go into a state of hyper-focus, such that they lose track of the passage of time or their biological needs and drives. It is when they are not interested that their minds wander. But their minds do not go empty, which is why attention deficit is such a misnomer. In ADHD attention wanders, but it never disappears.” There are also negative social-emotional effects with extensive screen-time exposure for children with ADHD, as they may have more difficulties in social situations because they are unable to read other’s reactions, recognize emotions, or appropriately express their own emotions. Often times when children with ADHD hyper-focus while engaged in screen activities, they may become more withdrawn socially due to the amount of time that they spend on them. And though we can make sense of why the ADHD brain craves the fast-paced visual and auditory stimulation that TV and video games provide, that kind of concentration is not the kind they need to thrive in school or elsewhere in real life, according to Dr. Christopher Lucas, associate professor of child psychiatry New York University School of Medicine. “It’s not sustained attention in the absence of rewards,” he said. “It’s sustained attention with frequent intermittent rewards.”

Excessive screen time is not just a problem for kids with ADHD, however. As we shared with you at our January workshop, many American children are spending up to five to seven hours a day on screen-time activities. In 2011 the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children’s entertainment screen time be limited to less than one to two hours a day and for children under 2, none at all. Research has shown that too much screen time can increase a child’s risk for attention issues, as well as anxiety and depression. “Excessive screen time is associated with linguistic delays and poor memory performance in children,” writes Dr. Louis Weissman. “These delays can begin before the age of 2 when children are learning so much about communication by watching facial expressions, body movements, and tone of voice.” Despite what we know, however, following the AAP’s guidelines has proven difficult, if not impossible, for many families. Furthermore, technology has already rapidly advanced past where it was in 2011. Recognizing that not all screen time is the same, the AAP is now fast-tracking revised guidelines that will be released in October 2016, encouraging families to think of screen time more like the food pyramid. What is a “healthy media diet” for your child? How much time is too much? When your kids are on screens, what aren’t they doing? Children are becoming more sedentary as their screen time with tablets, laptops, and cell phone usage increases, and we know there are multiple factors contributing to its negative impact on their sleep, so the AAP recommends that parents establish screen-free zones at home by making sure that there are no televisions, computers, or video games in children’s bedrooms.

There is a lot for families to digest and consider when managing their use of technology and screen time, whether ADHD is present in the home or not. For all of us to maximize our attentional capacity, we need to critically look at how we are spending our time and seek the right balance. Whether it’s television, video games, or just surfing the Internet, how do you set healthy limits? For the parent who feels like Snapchat and Instagram have “stolen” their child from them, this means some pretty critical thinking needs to occur about how, when, and why your child has access to social media. Add adolescence and hormones to the mix, and we really have a lot to learn!

We invite you to join us at Charles Wright Academy on May 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the Middle School Commons for a free screening of the documentary Screenagers. Sponsored by our Parent Association, and supported by our local chapter of CHADD, this film offers us a chance to get together and discuss reasonable family guidelines and limits as we examine the impact of technology on our lives. We encourage you to bring your tween(s) and teen(s) who are at least 10 years old with you to watch the film! Technology coordinator Holly Gerla, Middle School Librarian Sam Harris, and parent coach Emily McMason, who hosted January’s Raising Kids in the Digital World workshop, will lead the post-film discussion. We look forward to seeing you!

Click here to register for your FREE tickets to “SCREENAGERS.”

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Upper School senior Dom Refuerzo ’16 delivered this speech at the 2016 annual dinner honoring the Yazi Scholars, a program for which Charles Wright Academy partners with the Boys & Girls Club of South Puget Sound. Dom highlights the joys of exploration and discovery they experienced while a student at Charles Wright. 

I’m gonna be honest with you—I consider myself a pretty good writer. And so when someone let me know that it was my turn to write the Yazi dinner speech, I had it in my brain that I was gonna kill it. But the problem is, as much as I am good at writing, I am just as poor at speaking. But we’re gonna get through this.

I’ve become familiar with paradoxes like this during my time here. Some of them were beyond my understanding, like Schrodinger’s Cat. Basically there’s a cat in a box that is, by some miracle, I think both dead and alive?

Of course it’s all imaginary, so no animals were harmed in the making of this speech. However, what’s real is that human beings live in contradictions. And that is a lesson that I would not have learned had I not gone to Charles Wright.

I’ve been involved in student government for three years, and all of my speeches have a line that goes something like this: I hope you never cease to make wonderful mistakes. Yep! I’m an advocate for mistake-making… except when it comes to me.

You see, I’ve set my curriculum up so that I could become an engineer or astronomer, some great mathematician or scientist. But being a student at this school has presented me with an opportunity to write a One Act with one of my best friends. It’s a musical. He wrote most of the dialogue and I wrote the songs. Side note—the One Acts are going swimmingly, and they’re next week! You should all definitely go.

Anyway, I was standing in my living room one day, writing these One Act songs into a journal and listening to KPOP, when something happened. There’s a quote by Kurt Vonnegut, who is by the way an ARC author, so sophomores especially listen to this, that goes, “I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.'”

I was so happy while this pen portrayed the lyrics that I had mulled over for hours on end. But the realization of my want to pursue songwriting, when all I’ve been doing is science and math… it’s kind of scary.

And so here are the paradoxes of my life: I am scared of what my future has in store. But I am brave in this moment as I am standing here with sweat in my hands and a heart beating out of my chest and speaking in front of all of you despite it all. I’m a little insecure in my skills as a musician, but I am confident in my success in whatever path I ultimately choose. I am vain and naive and selfish, but most of all, I am thankful.

So thank you so much for believing in my academic skills, despite scoring a D on my first Charles Wright test. Because without you, I wouldn’t have ended with an A in the class. Thank you for recommending me for leadership programs, because without you I wouldn’t have had the courage to run for an ASB position. Thank you for sending me off to Italy for free, because without you I wouldn’t have vanquished those language barriers.

I am always changing, always operating in contradictions, but if there is one constant in my life, it is gratitude. Thank you for giving me countless blessings. I wish this community nothing short of the best.

And oh, one more phrase of gratitude, if you don’t mind? Thank you for your time!

photo by Jasper Xin ’18

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It’s Outdoor Ed season! In honor of Tarriers’ many May adventures in the great outdoors—including fourth graders at Nature Bridge, third graders at the Mount Rainier Institute, six graders at Sea to Sky, and eighth graders’ Beach Hikes, let’s revisit Ms. Olsen’s exploration of the third grade Nisqually River Watershed curriculum from the Winter 2014 issue of Ties.

Lower Schoolers know that third grade is the Year of the Field Trip. Over the course of the entire academic year, we lead our students on 11 experiential education adventures in the great outdoors, wending our way through the Nisqually River Watershed as part of our integrated social studies and homeroom science curriculum that extends beyond the classroom and into the larger world.

The real world—the world into which our students will graduate—is not compartmentalized into academic subjects such as science, language, or history. In our larger communities away from campus, content areas overlap in each person’s understanding of the world. Our goal with this curriculum is to encourage critical thinking, at a developmentally appropriate level, about our relationship with our surroundings. We begin the year learning about the geology of mountains and the history and management of national parks; the unit culminates with a trip to Longmire and Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park. As the academic year progresses, we work our way down the watershed as we study forest ecology and management (with a field trip to the University of Washington Pack Forest), salmon ecology and management (with a walking field trip to see spawning salmon at Kobayashi Park), hydroelectricity generation and its effects on the river community (with a field trip to Alder Dam), all the way to the end of the estuary at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and Puget Sound at Nisqually Reach Nature Center.

Over the course of the year, we hear stories about treaty history from a local tribal chief, absorb the sounds and silence of an old growth forest, live like pioneers for a day (and come away appreciative of modern childhood), and use binoculars to observe and identify bird species specialized for specific estuary habitats. The field is an extension of our homeroom. Each activity informs our next unit in the classroom as we develop a sense of place—a spiritual, historical, cultural, and biological connection with the community that is integrated into language arts as students read primary sources documenting local history and write opinion essays inspired by a desire to save the wild spaces they’ve experienced, into math as they count and compare animal sightings in diverse environments, and into science as they theorize about geological and ecological shifts at the sites we visit.

When I go to faculty training sessions at these sites, most of the other attendees are middle school or high school teachers who are surprised that we do field work with our third graders and envious of our ability to take the kids into the field so often. It reminds me of our good fortune in working in a school where experiential education begins at a very young age. We are also lucky to partner with families who encourage their children to challenge their personal comfort level. Our third graders are not only capable of learning about the costs and benefits of types of habitat management, they are also eager and avid learners in the field, inquisitive about and attuned to what’s around them.

The third grade Nisqually River Watershed curriculum is unique in its structure but not in its philosophy; it is reflective of the ethos of outdoors and science learning that pervades the entire Charles Wright program across divisions. In one year alone, I backpacked the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier with 10th graders in the fall, snowshoed with third graders at Paradise in March, and backpacked the Washington coast with eighth graders in May—as part of my job! The third graders don’t call it environmental science when they count salmon carcasses and hypothesize on why there are more salmon this year than last year; they just call it having fun and doing their job as learners. They discover at a young age the interconnectedness of science, history, social studies, and the outdoors and that, as a citizen of the world, they have a role to play in each. It is something that begins to live inside of their very bones.

by Carie Olsen, Third Grade Teacher

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The Sports Boosters hosted the first annual CWA crab feast—dubbed Crab, Chowder, Blues, & Brews—in the Tarrier Dome on Saturday, April 30. Approximately 200 Tarriers gathered to celebrate Charles Wright athletics with fresh Alaskan Bairdi crab, clam chowder, and crab bisque while enjoying live music by Steve Stefanowicz and Too Many Cooks (and special guests). 

“We had a successful first annual Crab, Chowder, Blues, & Brews event at the Dome,” said Wendy Cochran, CWA parent and member of the Sports Boosters leadership team. “On behalf of the Sports Boosters, thank you to all for coming out to support the Charles Wright sports program. Go Tarriers!”

In addition to a veritable seafood feast, the Boosters also honored the six-year tenure of Upper School Head Bill White as the athletic director and welcomed longtime CWA teacher and coach Tyler Francis as the incoming athletic director. New football coach and faculty member Brian Burdick also attended, as did soccer, volleyball, golf, baseball, and basketball coaches. “The Crab, Chowder, Brews, & Brews was a huge success,” said Mr. White, who highlighted the “great food, loud music, and the opportunity to play ping-pong, shoot basketball, and enjoy good company.”

Incoming Athletic Director Tyler Francis and his wife, Marlus.

Mr. White also extended thanks to Jim and Mona Stone and Darin and Catherine Grider for the wonderful meal, the Sports Boosters leadership team led by Barb Tucci ’84 and Wendy Cochran, Sports Boosters coordinator Mindy McGrath, and coaches Tyler Francis, Dave Adams, Laryssa Schmidt, David Parker, Rob Scotlan, Bill Chissoe, and Brian Burdick for organizing, setting up, cooking, speaking, and cleaning up.

Visit the Tarrier Sports Fans Facebook page for a full gallery of photos and video from the festivities.

Members of the Sports Boosters leadership team.

The post Sports Boosters’ First Annual Crab Feast A Success appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

This month marks the Annual Leadership Giving Celebration, thanking those members of the Charles Wright community who have given generously and consistently over the years. The Fund for Charles Wright Academy (formerly the Annual Fund) helps to supplement the operating costs of the school during the academic year that aren’t covered by tuition. Gifts and donations to the Fund directly impact faculty, students, and the program here at CWA. Participation matters, and every gift of every size makes a difference. Below, the Gonzalez family shares their gratitude for the school and highlights why they support the Fund. Please consider making a secure online gift today by filling out this form.

Our family has supported the Fund because it is the best way we can help the school to deliver on the promise of a truly outstanding education. We have witnessed our children become not only thoughtful students and lovers of learning, but also great global citizens, environmentalists, and civic-minded young adults.

Each of our three kids has, in their own unique way, been transformed by CWA. It is thrilling to see their individual growth into confident, knowledgeable, and genuinely committed scholars. This is the result of engaged, talented, caring, and motivated master teachers who have lined the classrooms and hallways of the school with insight, clarity, honesty, knowledge, and humor. They have had first-hand influence over our kids’ development and formation. It is to their credit that each will become a successful college student and will look beyond themselves as they choose a profession. As parents, we are deeply thankful.

Show your gratitude by giving to the Fund for Charles Wright Academy today.

George and Barbie Gonzalez
(Andrew ’15, Madelyn ’16, and Maria ’19)

The post A Cheerful Gift: The Fund for Charles Wright Academy appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Tennis
4/26 Charles Wright vs Cascade Christian
CWA- 5 Cascade Christian- 0
Singles – Alexis Schorno(CWA) def. Dani Tang 6-0, 6-2
Singles – Meera Patel(CWA) def. Elizabeth Jennings 6-0, 6-0

Doubles – Maddie Gonzalez/Seol(CWA) def. Cooksley/Jung 6-0, 6-2
Doubles – Kate Pasco/Aury Hay(CWA) def. Sadler/Seeger 6-3, 6-1
Doubles – Heidi Xu/Shining Wang(CWA) def. Williams/Coe 6-0, 6-0

4/28 Charles Wright @ Vashon
CWA- 3 Vashon – 2

Singles: Alexis Schorno(CWA) def. Sierra Richter 6-0, 6-0
Singles: Lizzy Maciejewski(V) def. Meera Patel 7-5, 6-3

Doubles: Maddy Gonzalez/Jenny Seol(CWA) def. Mulvihill/Wittwer 6-1, 6-3
Doubles: Mei Ge/Laney Schorno(CWA) def. Fiala/Nelson 6-2, 6-1
Doubles: Beka Lematuce/Lizzy Sutherland(V) def. Maria Gonzalez/Kate Pasco 3-6, 7-6, 12-10

5/4 Charles Wright vs Cascade Christian
CWA-5 Cascade Christian- 0

Singles – Alexis Schorno(CWA) def. Forfeit
Singles – Maria Gonzalez(CWA) def. Elizabeth Jennings 6-2, 6-0

Doubles – Maddy Gonzalez/ Jenny Seol(CWA) def. Cooksley/Jung 6-1, 6-0
Doubles – Laney Schorno/Mei Ge(CWA) def. Sadler/Seeger 6-1, 6-0
Doubles – Meera Patel/ Shining Wang(CWA) def. Elyse Coe/Ana Williams 6-0, 6-1

Soccer

4/22 Charles Wright @ Cascade Christian
CWA-4 Cascade Christian- 1

 4/26 Charles Wright vs Seattle Christian
CWA- 6 Seattle Christian- 0

CWA
1st goal: #12 Michael Saffari, asst. by #8 Declan Davidson @ 1:44
2nd goal: #12 Michael Saffari, asst. by #7 Billy Chissoe @ 9:54
3rd goal: #7 Billy Chissoe, asst. by #11 Adam Berg @ 26:50
4th goal: #12 Michael Saffari, asst. by #8 Declan Davidson @ 43:04
5th goal: #10 Nicholas Iregui, asst. by #11 Adam Berg @ 44:15
6th goal: #12 Michael Saffari, asst. by #8 Declan Davidson @ 62:42

Shots:     CWA – 21   /   Seattle Christian – 7
Saves:    CWA – 6    /    Seattle Christian – 6
Corners:    CWA – 1   /    Seattle Christian – 1
Fouls:    CWA – 9   /   Seattle Christian – 10
Offsides:     CWA – 1   /   Seattle Christian – 0

4/28 Charles Wright vs Cascade Christian
CWA-4 Cascade Christian- 0

4/29 Charles Wright @ Vashon
CWA-0 Vashon-1

Baseball

4/22 Charles Wright vs Bellevue Christian
CWA- 5 Bellevue Christian- 11

4/23 Charles Wright @ Cascade Christian
CWA-0 Cascade Christian- 0

4/25 Charles Wright @ Bellevue Christian
CWA- 6 Bellevue Christian- 2

4/27 Charles Wright vs Seattle Christian
CWA- 1 Seattle Christian- 6

4/30 Charles Wright vs Overlake
CWA- 4 Overlake-9

5/2 Charles Wright @ cascade Christian
CWA- 2 Cascade Christian- 6

Boys Golf

4/26 Charles Wright @ Cascade Christian
CWA- 170 Cascade Christian- 168
Match medalist was Gyan Bains

4/28 Charles Wright vs Vashon
CWA- 207 Vashon- 206
Match medalist was Gyan Bains

5/3 Charles Wright vs Seattle Christian
CWA- 175 Seattle Christian-197
Match medalist was Gyan Bains

5/5 Charles Wright vs Bellevue Christian
CWA-206 Bellevue Christian- 205
Match medalist was Gyan Bains

Girls Golf

4/26 Charles Wright @ Cascade Christian
CWA-246 Cascade Christian- 0

5/3 Charles Wright @ Seattle Christian
CWA-224 Seattle Christian 223

5/5 Charles Wright @ Bellevue Christian
CWA-203 Bellevue Christian- 229
Match medalist was Annie Walker

Track

4/28 Charles Wright Nisqually League Meet
CWA Women placed 1^st with a score of 187
CWA Men placed 4^th with a score of 101
For individual results please go to athletic.net

The post US Athletics Update: Week of 4/22-5/5 appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

The Report to Families is a snapshot of the Charles Wright Academy community over the past year. Using infographics, charts, and narratives, it tells the story of who we are, where we are going, and why that matters.

Here’s just a sampling of what you can learn in this year’s Report to Families:

– Demographic information about our students and faculty, from school size to class size to how many teachers hold Ph.Ds

– Comparative data about students’ SAT test scores, including how many students achieved National Merit recognition through their PSATs

– Insight into our Advanced Placement results in 2015

– The colleges and universities to which our students were accepted, and information on which schools they chose to attend

– In-depth information about student performance in activities and athletics

We have so many facets of the Charles Wright experience of which we can be proud. The Report to Families is a great collection of the stories that make CWA great, told through both rich data and heartfelt testimonies. If you know of someone who would like to learn more about Charles Wright Academy, it’s the perfect way to share a glimpse of who we Tarriers are!

The post Report to Families Is A Snapshot of School Life appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Tacoma, Wash. – The Charles Wright Academy visual arts department hosted the school’s seventh annual C’DAT Art Festival on Friday, May 6.

Throughout the day, Upper School advanced art students led classmates from the Lower School and the Middle School in a variety of visual arts and crafts projects, including wheel throwing in the ceramics studio, sidewalk chalk and a balloon installation, silk screening, Rorschach ink blots, Zentangles, hat decoration, paper collage, and puffin mosaic. As Visual Art Department Chair Christopher Hoppin has explained, C’DAT became a Tarrierism meaning, “See that?” or, “Do you see the awesome artwork we all just made?”

“C’DAT always takes place at the beginning of May, which is not a coincidence,” says Upper School art teacher Christina Bertucchi. “Spring is in the air, and the studio doors are propped wide open. It is one of my favorite days of the year because there is so much life and energy in the Upper School art courtyard. I love seeing Charles Wright students of all ages creating artwork together. It is also a delight to see my own students showing their peers and the younger students the way around the studio spaces. It is wonderful having the entire art department in one space working together to make the whole festival a day to remember.”

The art department—which includes Candy Anderson (Lower School), Bob Gordon (Middle School), Mr. Hoppin (Middle School), Dana Squires (Middle School), Nick Bivins (Upper School), and Ms. Bertucchi (Upper School)—works together every year to create a day-long program of immersive hands-on opportunities for all Tarriers to experiment and explore with new materials and techniques. And the advanced art students relish the chance to share what they’ve learned with their younger classmates.

See C’DAT 2016 photos from throughout the day below.

The post CWA Visual Artists Celebrate C’DAT 2016 appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Soccer

Boys’ soccer defeated a fast and talented Klahowya team 3 – 0 and became the West Central District 3 Champions! They move to the first round of regionals on Tuesday, May 17 at Harry Lang Stadium at 6:30pm.

Tennis

Girls’ tennis won the League Championship. Alexis Schorno first place and Meera Patel third place in singles. Maddy Gonzalez and Jenny Seol first place doubles. Mei Ge and Laney Schorno second place doubles. The Girls District Tournament will be Thursday, May 19th at Sprinker Tennis Center.

Golf

Freshman Gyan Bains won the boys’ golf League Championship. He defeated the two time defending champion by one stroke. Kevin Xu advances to district play as well. Annie Walker tied for first place in the League golf championship and Jackie Yeh placed 4th.  The West Central District 3 Championship will be held on Tuesday, May 17. Time and site TBD.

Track

Track & Field League Championships start today and continue into Saturday at Fife High School.

The post US Athletics Update: Week of May 9 appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

The 2015-16 edition of the Charles Wright Academy literary magazine (or “lit mag”), Inkblots, was published in early May. Below, editor Viola Michlitsch-Rambo ’18 describes the process behind curating and publishing this longstanding Tarrier publication.

The lit mag has been published annually under the name Inkblots for 18 years. Students can join the lit mag staff as part of a club rather than a class. We convene as a staff every Friday morning during clubs period to discuss our ideas for themes and tally scoresheets.

Students who are writers and artists are encouraged to submit their creative work by many signs around campus, particularly in English classrooms, that say “Submit to Lit.” We also have help from two promotions experts, Emma Jones ’17 and Seacy Hao ’17, who make the posters and make announcements at assembly from time to time about our important submission deadlines as they approach.

We decide which submissions to include by way of a process of reviewing approximately nine to 12 packets of submissions. As we read the poetry and look at the art, we mark “yes,” “no,” or “maybe” on a scoresheet with numbers that correspond to the submissions, then we turn the scoresheets in to our submissions editor who organizes the responses. We generally look for a balance of types of submissions by looking for expression in all different types of media in order to keep a balanced ratio of painting to photography and poetry to prose.

Our staff is composed of students who have been either welcomed to join staff by the lit mag’s staff advisor, Ms. Crouch, and students who have been intrigued by the posters around campus and decided that they were interested in working on the magazine. We have four editing positions: the executive editor, the submissions editor (Lola Oyetuga ’16), the promotions editor (Emma and Seacy), and the art editor (Maya Smith ’17).

My favorite aspect of editing the lit mag was being able to have a set time every week to gather with people whom I would not have met otherwise and work toward a goal with an excellent payoff.

The concept behind the lit mag is in the name: Inkblots. I remember Ms. Crouch told me last year that its name is paying homage to the Hermann Rorschach inkblot test. It shows up a lot in pop culture; a therapist shows a patient a series of inkblots that are open to interpretation by the patient, and the patient’s unique interpretation is supposed to say something profound about what the patient is feeling. My favorite part about being able to read the submissions is that the literary magazine takes the concept of the Rorschach test and makes it so that everyone can look at the magazine and read it and interpret it in their own way, and sometimes see a bit of themselves in it.

The post Inkblots: The 2016 Lit Mag Goes Down the Rabbit Hole appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Tacoma, Wash. – Charles Wright Academy celebrated retiring Headmaster Rob Camner in an outdoor celebration on Saturday, June 4, during which it was unveiled that the school’s Language and Performing Arts Building would be named in his honor. 

To commemorate Rob’s 20-year tenure at the helm of the school, the CWA Board of Trustees voted this spring to rename the building the Robert A. Camner Language and Performing Arts Center. The name was unveiled during remarks by current Chair of the Board of Trustees Joe Mayer ’88.  Upper School visual arts teacher Christina Bertucchi created a beautiful watercolor painting of the building for Rob as a memento of the occasion.

Almost 200 Tarriers—alumni, parents, parents of alumni, past and current Trustees, faculty, staff, members of the Society of Elders, and friends of the school—attended the retirement party, which was held outside on a gloriously sunny afternoon. Additional speakers included John Whalley, who chaired the Board when Rob was hired, Head of Upper School Bill White, Chaplain Mike Moffitt, and, of course, Rob. Guests were invited inside RACLAPAC’s Donn Laughlin Theatre for a visual walk down memory lane with a photo display highlighting Rob’s career at CWA.

Rob will retire at the end of the month. It is with utmost sincerity and heartfelt gratitude that the Charles Wright community thanks Rob for his steadfast guidance and leadership.

For photos from the afternoon’s festivities, please click here or view the slideshow below.

The post CWA Building Named After Headmaster Rob Camner Upon His Retirement appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Upper School physics and astronomy teacher Dan Wicklund shares an update from the classroom—outlining a cigar-box guitar science project. 

AP Physics I students built their own electric guitars from cigar boxes, wood, wire, and other supplies. They first built their own electromagnetic pickups, which are coils of wire wound approximately 100 times around several magnets. The pickups allow them to use electromagnetic induction to electrify sound. They also calculated the fret distances unique to their guitar, such that there were 12 steps in between octaves.

The post The Physics of Rock and Roll: Students Build Cigar-Box Guitars appeared first on Charles Wright Academy.

Chris Steele was a 1982 graduate of Charles Wright. As a student, he threw himself into what Charles Wright had to offer. He played soccer, took an active part in Donn Laughlin’s drama productions, both backstage and onstage, and was a talented art student. He had a particular love for the outdoors, and those who went on trips with Chris recall his passionate enthusiasm for hiking and climbing. After a long fight with cancer, Chris passed away in 2002. In his memory, his family and friends have established an award to honor a Charles Wright staff member who has made an outstanding contribution to the school and its students and faculty.

There isn’t one person on this campus who hasn’t benefitted from the talents and generosity of this year’s Chris Steele Award recipient. Even visitors to our campus have experienced her creativity, passion, and caring. The lure of her meals has often been a selling point in many job interviews, and we weren’t undersold—our school lunches are truly legendary! But it’s her tireless commitment to “everything CWA” that stands out the most. From our Headmaster’s Picnic feast to our bountiful Founders’ Day breakfast to and our holiday gala dinner, she nurtures us body and soul, always going above and beyond our expectations. Coworkers have used the phrases “commitment to excellence,” “awe-inspiring work ethic,” “tireless energy,” “flexibility,” “patience,” “unselfishness,” “warmth,” “kindness,” and “dedication” when describing her. With each and every meeting, event, and party in between, her care for us is abundant. She takes pride in serving us beautiful, delicious food and does so with such quiet humility. We are constantly wowed with not only the quality of her food, but also with the superb presentation. And it’s at these moments when her heart shows.

A valued member of CWA’s staff since 2001, this year’s recipient of the Chris Steele Award for outstanding service by a staff member is Sheila Clemans.

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