Many teenagers want to change the world and most have absolutely no idea what they would specifically try to change or how they would go about doing it. Katie Welch does. She would end genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes as a lead prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. It’s a long way from Steilacoom to The Hague, and for Welch that road leads straight through George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Read the rest of this entry »

For much of his high school career, Blake Greene’s interests looked disparate. He likes creating art. He likes analyzing literature. He’s concerned about social justice issues. He wants a career that will allow him to support himself comfortably. Imagining, let alone finding, a college that could tie all those threads together seemed nearly impossible.

Fortunately, Greene doesn’t dwell on impossibilities. He kept looking. He kept talking to his teachers about what he hoped to find. He applied to a long list of schools all over the map geographically and in their approach to education. In the end, he did not find a school he would describe as perfect, but he found a place with the challenges and opportunities to tie those interests together: Rhode Island School of Design, better known as RISD. Read the rest of this entry »

Once upon a time, there lived a girl who thought she knew exactly which college she wished to attend. She had her heart set on living in New York, so she researched every school in the state and by eighth grade she had made her decision. Application list in hand, she went off to visit three schools, and just like Goldilocks, she found that one was too small, one was too big and crowded, and one was just right. Now Kim Skokin is planning to live happily-ever-after for the next four years at Syracuse University, proving college admissions really can be a fairytale. Read the rest of this entry »

For Tim Chang, choosing a college was less about making a choice and more about letting go of the decision altogether and following where God was leading. It turns out that was just the sort of unconventional wisdom Rice University looks for in students and Chang is now a proud member of the Owls’ Class of 2016. Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s note: This story is the first 2011-2012 entry in Charles Wright’s College Choices blog series. Please check back soon for more stories or to read the 34 stories from the classes of 2010 and 2011.

When it came to choosing a short list of colleges, Anthony Wohns took a step back. He thought carefully about the experience he hopes to have for the next four years and the doors his college education will open in the future. He chose Harvard as his top choice because of the sense of belonging he felt among Harvard students and the strengths of academic programs in his areas of interest. Read the rest of this entry »

The following article, written by Upper School Head and Athletic Director Bill White, first appeared in the February issue of the Upper School parent newsletter, US News.

Over the past month, the Nisqually League has accepted three schools which will create new competition for CWA beginning next fall. In November, the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association published new enrollment numbers for school classifications. Classifications are based on school size, but schools can opt up to a higher classification. Historically, we have been one of the smallest schools in regards to enrollment in the 1A classification. In November, we learned that we had dropped into the 2B classification by two students. Because of the size of our program and the competitive nature of our program and students, we elected to opt up to the 1A level. Read the rest of this entry »

A pair of CWA juniors, soccer player Katie Mayer and football player Beau Iverson Jr., have been named to the highly selective News Tribune all-area teams. This honor recognizes the best athletes in the South Sound, regardless of the WIAA classification in which their schools compete. Mayer and Iverson both made significant contributions to their teams this year. Read the rest of this entry »

It was another busy week around the Lower School at CWA! Check out this Five Photo Friday. Read the rest of this entry »

CWA’s fall sports season was one of the most exciting and most successful in recent years. The boys cross-country team took fourth place at state with two runners on the podium in individual places. The boys tennis team swept through the league and quad-district tournaments defending their quad-district title and setting themselves up to make a run at their third consecutive state championship title in the spring. The girls cross-country team sent two runners to state, both of whom turned in strong performances. Both volleyball and football also competed at the district level. It was the second district appearance in as many years for the volleyball team. It was the football team’s first district appearance in 14 years. As the all-league honors began rolling in for Tarriers on both team, word came that CWA Head Football Coach Mike Finch took Coach-of-the-Year honors for the Nisqually League. Read the rest of this entry »

The Williams women’s soccer team advanced to the NCAA Sectional Semifinals last weekend after defeating Westfield State 2-1. Natalie Weyerhaeuser ’11 is one of ten Williams freshmen on the 23-woman roster. The team has 12-4-3 overall record this year.  Weyerhaeuser leads the team in shots-on-goal percentage. The team now faces Emory on Saturday, November 19, in sweet-16 action. Read the rest of this entry »