1) CWA Kindergarteners ready for the Annual Apple Squeeze!

2) 78 CWA Lower School students ran at the second cross country meet of the year.

3) Hands-on learning: 5th grade students conduct an archaeological dig on campus.

4) First place with second place nowhere in sight!

5) CWA Lower School students hone their chess skills every Wednesday at Chess Club.

Since it’s the first Five Photo Friday of the school year, we’re throwing in a bonus. Lower School artists imaged “whirled peace” on Pinwheels for Peace Day, an international event. The project was part of Ms. Candy’s art class.

“Charles Wright Academy emerged as the right choice because I knew I would be working with the right people. The welcome I received during my time with you continues to warm me to this day, and my excitement grows with each passing moment,” says Ford.

Before joining the CWA community, Ford served as Head of Middle School for Dedham Country Day School in Massachusetts and worked at three other independent schools. He graduated from Williams College and has done graduate work at Loyola College in Baltimore.

In a letter to parents shortly after his appointment, Ford shared this story about his approach to leadership:

“I recently had the pleasure of attending the home opener of Dedham Country Day’s Middle School baseball team. As I approached the field, a 7th grader turned as he heard whispers from his teammates that I had come to watch the game. ‘Thanks for showing up,’ he said with a smile that turned to a laugh as I made a face at him.

“I sat at first among the parents who had gathered on the bleachers—taking time to exchange greetings, field a question or two, and quietly assure a mother that her son had done fine after having been out sick the previous day. A member of the faculty drew me into a conversation about the rehearsal schedule for the upcoming 6th grade play, and a father whispered confirmation of our meeting later that week to talk about his daughter. I spent the final inning sitting on the bench with the team—cheering as our pitcher got out of a jam by turning a double play, sharing sunflowers seeds with the boys, talking with two of my students about the upcoming math test, and making an appointment with another for early morning extra help the next day.  The game ended shortly thereafter, and DCD had earned the first win of the season. I left knowing that my time at the baseball field had been the most important hour of my workday—and the type of hour that brings my greatest joy as a school leader.”

On a personal level, Rudy enjoys singing, playing the guitar, golf, and tennis. He has been a Boston Red Sox fan since 1984.

Officially, Barb’s work as a community builder began after college, but her ability to bring and keep people together has always been one of her many skills. She went to University of Puget Sound after graduating from Charles Wright and as is Barb’s way, she worked hard and she played hard, earning a Bachelors degree in International Affairs, with Minors in Economics, Politics and Japanese.  With degree in hand, Barb joined two of her sisters, Kathy ’79 and Chris ’77 and began an entrepreneurial  journey that would build three “sister” businesses, Dobler Management Company, Sound Screening and Sound Collection Services into one of the largest property management businesses in Washington today. Each sister is responsible for a separate area of the business, but no one would deny that Barb’s industrious and determined business management style has been one of the keys to their success.

Current CWA board member, business partner and sister, Kathy Dobler says, “Perseverance best describes Barb. If she needs to get something done, she will do it. 3:00 AM is just another part of her work day. If she needs your help to initiate or complete a project, look out—because there is no escape from her or her Blackberry—neither of them ever runs out of batteries.” She continues, “Barb is a team player and her perseverance makes her a perfect partner, responsible Board member, reliable volunteer, unrelenting coworker, and most importantly, a wonderful sister.  We have fun together in everything we do.

Fun is a big part of who Barb is and why she is successful. Dave Meadowcroft, fellow ’84 alum, who served with Barb on the alumni board over the years, had this to share, “In addition to being a successful entrepreneur and community leader, her finest hours are seen carrying the Dobler torch…  She is very active as a parent volunteer, party planner, sports fan, and photographer who even finds the time to manage her dog, Bella’s, Facebook page.  She is a loyal friend to many, has a great sense of humor and continues to be a great asset in the CWA community.”

Charles Wright is a fortunate beneficiary of Barb’s generosity and dedication. She is quick to support the school in whatever way necessary, often going above and beyond to assure what needs to happen, does—from capital campaigns gifts to hosting countless pool parties for the families of son, Michael’s class of 2018. She knows that community is important and works tirelessly to strengthen each one that she is a part of.

“There are so many little things you can do to build community”, says Barb who spends much of her time doing just that. She also spends much of her time looking for the biggest ways to improve our local communities. She currently serves as a community advisor on the Tacoma think tank, “Tidal Wave”, a coalition of city leaders and community members who create change in the City’s neighborhoods. She also serves on the boards of the Emergency Food Network, the YWCA, the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council, the West Mall Business and Neighborhood Coalition and the National Association of Screening Agencies (yes, NASA!)

In addition, Barb has served as an instructor for the National Crime Free housing program for the cities of Lakewood, Tacoma, Federal Way, Des Moines and Puyallup Police Departments since 1996 in an effort to create safe, stable communities around the south sound.

Because Barb embodies the best of what it means to be a Tarrier, it is with both admiration and gratitude CWA presents the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award to class of ’84 graduate, Barb Dobler Tucci.

The Rev. Charles Baker Bradshaw Award
(1956 – 1958)
Presented to the senior who best demonstrates consideration for others.
MEKENZIE DOLLY HAYFORD

Edgar L. Sanford Award
(1958 – 1969)
Presented to the senior who best exemplifies the qualities of a Charles Wright student
SEAN LAWRENCE FULLER
NATALIE MERRILL WEYERHAEUSER

E. Bruce Haertl Award
(1969 – 1977)
Presented to senior who displays great improvement.
SALVATORE MICHAEL CINDRICH

Philip V. Havens Award
(1977 – 1986)
Presented to the senior who exhibits unsurpassed enthusiastic support of school activities.
JESSICA SACHIKO HIROTA

Robert W. Minnerly Award
(1986 – 1996)
Presented to the senior who demonstrates good citizenship through respectfulness, integrity, and fairness.
JULIA RACHEL DONNER

The following awards were presented to Upper School students at the annual awards assembly.

BROWN UNIVERSITY BOOK AWARD:
Presented to the junior who best combines a high degree of ability in English, both written and spoken, with those outstanding personal qualities, which, in the words of the Brown Charter, “give promise that the student becomes one of the succession of men and women duly qualified to discharge the offices of life with usefulness and reputation.”
Anthony Wohns

BEST WRITING, RESEARCH, & SCHOLARSHIP AWARD:  Presented to the junior who best combines writing, research and scholarship.
Sarah Yamamoto

B.J. SMITH AWARD:  Presented to the freshman displaying the most fresh and distinctive writing voice.
Joey Song

JEAN HEATH MALDEN SOPHOMORE WRITING AWARD:  Presented to the sophomore English student whose work in essay writing deserves special commendation for clarity of expression
and power of argument.
Alec Willis

SENIOR ENGLISH AWARD:  Presented to the senior who has throughout the past academic year: demonstrated a keen interest in literature, consistently written essays noteworthy for effective style, clear argument and original ideas, and repeatedly made valuable contributions
to class discussions.
Sarika Halarnakar

YEARBOOK AWARD:
Natalie Weyerhaeuser

DOROTHY CREPIN MATH AWARD: Presented to the senior who has displayed an outstanding record of math achievement and who, in class and out, displays the qualities of inquisitiveness, imagination and initiative in relation to new ideas.  The student should be one who accepts mathematics as a challenge.
Sarika Halarnakar

LEIGH VANETTEN SCIENCE AWARD:  Presented to the senior who, in the opinion of the science department faculty, has demonstrated a continued interest and enjoyment in the study of the scientific disciplines and who, by further study, may use his/her scientific education in his/her professional career.
Kate Pan

ROSEMOND VANETTEN CHEMISTRY AWARD:  Presented to an underclassman who best exemplifies Leigh VanEtten’s enthusiastic commitment to the study of chemistry, this award was created in recognition of his 29 years of teaching and leadership, both in and out of the classroom, by his former students.
Ivy Wakaba

ROBERT J. CREPIN PHYSICS AWARD:  Presented to an outstanding physics student.
Nathan Fisher

RENSSELAER MEDAL:  Presented to a junior who is an outstanding student in science and mathematics and demonstrates potential for success in a science or technologically oriented profession.
Anthony Wohns

RICHARD NEUNHERZ HISTORY AWARD: Presented to a senior who demonstrates the academic rigor, intellectual curiosity and depth of character necessary for achieving excellence in the field of history.
Libby McAvoy

FOREIGN LANGUAGE AWARD: Presented to the senior who has distinguished him or herself by achieving a high standard of excellence in language studies—French, Japanese or Spanish.
Julia Donner
Kate Pan
Audrey Sung

BOOSTER CLUB ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS: Presented to senior athletes who have earned at least eight varsity letters during their time at CWA.
Lucas Agnew
Patrick Dale
Marcquel Hawkins
Nylson Ho
Michael Kane
Jaqueline Kirschner
Colin MacLeod
Stanley Peterson
Rachael Williams

CHUCK WIGHT ATHLETIC AWARDS:  Presented to the senior boy and girl who have provided the most inspiration to others through their love and enthusiastic participation in athletics and/or their sportsmanship.
Jessica Hirota
Co-recipients: Patrick Dale and Marcquel Hawkins

MOST OUTSTANDING ATHLETE AWARDS:  Presented to the boy and girl who have most excelled and distinguished themselves in their chosen athletic endeavors.
Colin MacLeod
Rachael Williams

PERFORMING ARTS AWARDS: Presented to the senior who has distinguished him or herself in the performing arts.
Abigail Lindsey Holmes

VINCENT PETERSEN MUSIC AWARDS:  Presented to the senior musicians who have most contributed to the school’s musical program who show a great deal of potential for future growth.
Instrumental: Josh Naon
Vocal: Aron Roberts

FINE ARTS AWARD:  Presented to the senior who distinguishes him or herself by achieving a high standard of excellence in the studio arts.
Munyo Frey-Edwards

PRESIDENT’S STUDENT SERVICE AWARDS: Presented to students who have recorded at least 100 hours of community service in their senior year.
Janay Davis (Bronze)
Nicole Fannin (Bronze)
Munyo Frey-Edwards (Silver)
Edward Kim (Bronze)
Jean Kim (Gold)
Bryan Gula (Gold)
Parker Reynolds (Silver)
Sophia Shin (Silver)
Kim Skokin (Bronze)
Sarah Yamamoto (Bronze)
Emily Harper (Silver)
Rachael Williams (Silver)
David Park (Bronze)

COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD:   Presented to the senior who demonstrates outstanding effort and enthusiasm in performing community service.
Rachael Williams

PRESIDENTIAL OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS:
Rebecca Byrne
Sam Cindrich
Lauren Dudley
Sophie Flies
Kyli Gillard
Marcquel Hawkins
MeKenzie Hayford
Erin Hoolihan
Colin Kodama
Drew Pine
Natlaia Regalia-Affinito

WASHINGTON STATE HONORS AWARDS NOMINEES: Presented to seniors whose grade point averages and SAT scores place them in the top ten percent of Washington state’s high school graduating seniors.
Lucas Agnew
Kramer Canfield
Erik Cleland
Julia Donner
Sophie Doumit
Nicole Fannin
Sara Finkleman
Nathan Fisher
Nick Flood
Munyo Frey-Edwards
Stephanie Friend
Sean Fuller
Sarika Halarnakar
Emily Harper
Jessica Hirota
Sarah Saffari (Johnson)
Michael Kane
Miho Kim
Jean Kim
Charlie King
Jackie Kirschner
Nick Kohnen
Nam-Hoon Lee
Colin MacLeod
Libby McAvoy
Josh Naon
Jake Patten
Parker Reynolds
Brendan Rome
Alex Smith
Michael Song
Audrey Sung
Caroline Thompson
Natalie Weyerhaeuser
Rachael Williams

WASHINGTON STATE PRINCIPALS’ SCHOLARS PROGRAM:  Presented to seniors in recognition of outstanding academic achievement, leadership, service and merit.
Julia Donner
Sean Fuller
Kate Pan
Natalie Weyerhaeuser

UPPER SCHOOL BOOK AWARDS:  Presented to a student in each class who has attained high academic achievement while at the same time exerting a positive influence on the community.
9th Grade:  Hanna Um
10th Grade:  Alex Lutton
11th Grade:  Timothy Chang
12th Grade:  Alex Smith

SAM BROWN AWARD:  Presented to honor the person most responsible for the founding of this school, this award is given to a senior of honor, wit and distinction.
Sarah Saffari (Johnson)

SANDRA OVERMIRE MINNERLY AWARD:  Presented to a senior who selflessly and quietly supports others in making CWA a better community.
Emily Harper

Melinda Mazoue, Chair of the Parent Association, presented the 2011 Inspirational Faculty Award to Nick Coddington at CWA’s 2011 commencement ceremony. This is the text of that award:

As a member of the history department and an advisor of several clubs and activities, Nick Coddington brings unquestioned passion, dedication and inspiration to his role as a teacher and mentor. He teaches history not as a series of names, dates, places and facts, but as a series of stories, linked by common themes and starring a cast of intriguing people. He instills in his students not only a strong desire to make the world a better place, but the intellectual ability, confidence and character to bring about that change.

Nick, who joined the Charles Wright faculty in 2005, cares deeply about his students and what they learn in his classes. Whether he is teaching 20th Century World History to freshmen or Honors U.S. Government to seniors, his enthusiasm is contagious and motivates his students to work hard and enjoy the study of history. A graduate of West Point and a retired NATO intelligence officer, students quickly determine that Nick himself is a credible source on many topics. “It is so great to have a teacher who not only knows history but has contributed to history!” writes one student.

Responding to the interests of his students, Nick has become a driving force behind several new programs at Charles Wright, including the Model UN team, the National History Day program, the Polish exchange, the Global Summit, and the Global Outreach team’s work to build schools in Uganda and provide bicycles to children in Zambia. He frequently recruits guest speakers to share their life stories with his classes. As one alum writes, “Mr. Coddington not only helps students learn about important events in history, but also simple, everyday things like the value of buying a nice bouquet of flowers for your guest speaker.”

Students, alums, parents and fellow teachers say that Nick embodies the best of Charles Wright – an extraordinary teacher who will stop at nothing to help his students grow personally and academically, and who always challenges students to achieve more than they think is possible. “He makes me want to be a better person,” writes one student. “He changed the course of my life,” says an alum. “Although I only had him as a teacher one year, he has been a father figure to me all through high school,” writes a graduating senior. “He has had a hand in the advancement of almost every student here at Charles Wright,” says another.

In deep appreciation of his unique manner of executing CWA’s mission and his ability to empower our students to achieve their personal best in mind, body and spirit, the Parent Association grants the 2011 Inspirational Faculty Award to Mr. Nicholas Coddington.

Thank you, Nick, for your contribution to the excellence of Charles Wright Academy.

Ultimate is one of the most popular athletic programs at Charles Wright. It’s a club sport for sixth graders and Upper Schools and an official physical education option for seventh and eighth graders in their third sports season. A total of 54 seventh and eighth graders opted for Ultimate this winter. About 20 sixth graders and 30 Upper Schoolers are also participating in a series of fall and spring tournaments. Because the Ultimate club teams practice before school and compete on the weekends, students can participate while also playing on a CWA sports team that practices after school.

Up next is Spring Reign, the world’s largest youth Ultimate tournament. The event will be held in Burlington April 30 and May 1. CWA’s middle school team has won this event in 2006 and 2010.

Ultimate combines the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football. A game of Ultimate is played by two seven-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone. A player must stop running while in possession of the disc, but may pivot and pass to any of the other receivers on the field. Ultimate is a transition game in which players move quickly from offense to defense on turnovers that occur with a dropped pass, an interception, a pass out of bounds, or when a player is caught holding the disc for more than ten seconds.

There are no referees at any level of ultimate. The sport is governed by Spirit of the Game™, a tradition of sportsmanship that places the responsibility for fair play on the players rather than referees.

“The best part of coaching ultimate is watching kids compete with incredible passion and determination. I love to see how they develop the patience and understanding to play honestly and referee their own games,” says Coach Christopher Hoppin. “It is wonderful to see two opposing players stop and work out a foul call, decide who was at fault, and work out how to deal with the offense based on the rule book, all without adults. I have never seen a sport that builds better sportsmanship. There is no one to blame in ultimate!”

This year CWA had six vocal ensembles and eight soloists, a record number of participants for recent years. The Tarriers competed in six categories against ten other high schools – Bethel, Clover Park, Curtis, Eatonville, Franklin Pierce, Graham-Kapowsin, Lakes, Spanaway and Steilacoom.

Senior Aron Roberts, an alternate to state last year, won the very competitive bass category. He sang “The Roadside Fire” from Ralph Vaughan William’s Songs of Travel. There were a total of ten singers in the bass category and five, including Roberts, earned perfect scores from the judges. Roberts was also recently selected by audition to participate in Washington’s high school All State choir. He performed with the group at Benaroya Hall on February 20.

Junior Decker Nielsen was the winner of the soprano category. She also performed at state last year after having been called up from an alternate position. Her solo was “Après un Rêve” by Gabriel Fauré. Nielsen was competing against 34 other sopranos, so two winners were chosen to advance to state.

Nielsen and Roberts also joined forces with seniors Pat Dale and Rachael Williams to win the small mixed ensemble category, beating other entries. They are the first vocal ensemble from CWA to qualify for state in at least the past seven years. All members of the group are in the Academy Singers, the Upper School’s auditioned choir, and all have participated in choir every year in high school. They sang Three Madrigals by Emma Lou Diemer with Shakespearean texts. “O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?” “Take, O take those lips away,” and “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more!”

The regional contest was also an important milestone for several of the choir’s new singers. Chris Hyun, Kate Williams, Derrick Kim, Eemon Tizpa and Jolene Taylor prepared and sang their very first solos at the event. Anna Block-Gallegos performed her first contest solo and several other singers participated in long ensemble numbers.

“It was a very exciting day and the kids and parents were all very excited for the wins,” said their teacher, Aimee Mell. “Everyone supported each other wonderfully. It was a blast!”

The state Solo and Ensemble contest will be held at Central Washington University on April 29 and 30.

In the Middle School, sixth grader Devon Baldwin was also recently selected for the All State Youth Honor Choir. He performed with the ensemble in Bellevue during the Washington Music Educators Association/National Association for Music Educators conference. Like the other fifth through eighth graders in the group, Baldwin was nominated by his teacher and submitted an audition tape.

Charles Wright’s choirs will hold their next concert on April 27. Both the Middle and Upper School ensembles are scheduled to perform.

Knowledge Bowl is a fast-paced event that uses a quiz-show format to test students’ knowledge of math, science, history, geography and literature. Competitions feature four oral rounds of 45 to 60 questions each and one written round of 40 to 60 questions. Six-member teams have 15 seconds to confer and provide an answer.

CWA won state titles in the 1A division against other schools with 467 students are less in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008.
In 2009, CWA’s third request was granted to compete against 2A schools and the Tarriers won their first 2A state championship that year. In 2010, the Tarriers moved up another notch to the 3A bracket. Although CWA has just 275 high school students, their competitors in the 3A bracket come from schools with up to 1,280 students. Last year both the A and B teams from CWA made it to the semifinal round of the state contest. In their first appearance at the 3A level, the Tarriers recorded third and sixth place finishes. The title was won by Camas High School.

Like a handful of other schools around the state, CWA has qualified two teams to compete at the state tournament. CWA’s squads are coached by Lemma and David Kangas. The Tarriers’ A Team is comprised of senior Brendan Rome and juniors Anthony Wohns, Sarah Saddlier, Peter Schilling, Josh Zhu and Tim Chang. The B Team’s members are seniors Alex Smith, senior Yuri Korol, and juniors Justice Nichols, Steven Lemma, Nikki Ebalo, and Sarah Yamamoto. Both squads will depart Friday afternoon and spend the first weekend of spring break at the tournament.

CWA also has a middle school Knowledge Bowl program with several squads competing at interscholastic tournaments.

At the L’Arche farm, a group of teachers and staff members worked with developmentally disabled L’Arche core members and the program’s other volunteers and staff to prepare the hanging baskets the organization will sell at area farmers markets around Mother’s Day.

Meanwhile, another group ventured down to North Beach on Pierce County’s Chambers Creek property. “This stretch of beach is important to the South Puget Sound ecosystem in several ways,” explained Stephanie Leisle, an environmental educator with Pierce County Public Works and Utilities. “It is directly across from the largest South Sound seal rookery where this fall we saw several moms leave their young pups while they went hunting. It also borders an eelgrass bed which is used as feeding grounds by juvenile salmon and a place were returning adults wait for the right time to head upstream to spawn. In addition, some stretches of the beach are used by sand lance and other small forage fish for spawning.”

Pierce County hired a contractor to removed crumbling steel pipes and parts of the other northern dock, and visitors and a couple of small volunteer groups have pitched in to help with the cleanup effort after the area opened to the public last fall, but Leisle reports the two-mile stretch of beach along the Chambers Creek properties has never been completely clean of trash.

Charles Wright’s employees made some significant progress on the cleanup effort during their in-service project. They collected more than 2,600 pounds of trash, including a lot of lightweight Styrofoam. CWA’s Middle School students have been working to clean up Chambers Creek for the past nine years, removing trash and invasive species, and most recently building and installing boxes for Wood Ducks. Now many more members of the Charles Wright community are connected to that work by personal experience.

Just days after the Charles Wright in-service, a train derailment near the same stretch of beach made news across Western Washington. “When I heard about the train, I couldn’t help but feel like a frustrated housekeeper,” one staff member said. “Hey! I just cleaned that beach!”