CWA celebrates first day of school
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
The 2010-2011 school year began today. While the Middle Schoolers were wrapping up at camp, the Lower School welcomed the class of 2024 (this year’s Beginning Schoolers) and students and parents in all the Lower School classes posed for family photos before the school day began. The Upper School held an assembly in the Donn Laughlin Theater, the very first assembly where the class of 2011 could call themselves seniors, and the halls were soon full of their books and backpacks. By the time the Middle School faculty and students returned to campus mid-afternoon, the year was well underway. Tomorrow the entire student body will be in class. Read the rest of this entry »
CWA’s college counselors work closely with students to identify a list of schools that may be a good fit for them and then help them craft applications to each school. The advice they give every student is different, but it’s a pretty safe bet that they always tell students they should never, under any circumstances, apply to just one school. “The thing was, there was only one school I wanted to go to,” says senior Ben Mishkin. “So I figured, why apply anywhere else? I think I just about gave everybody heart attacks, especially my parents, my college counselor (Katie Ryan) and my advisor (Wes Wesby).” Ben gambled big and he came up a winner. The one and only school to which he applied is St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, and he got in. 
At the end of every school year, CWA administrators recognize faculty and staff members as they celebrate the completion of their fifth, tenth and fifteenth years at Charles Wright. At today’s employee recognition event, 25 faculty members will be recognized as they reach major milestones in their careers. A total of 14 faculty and staff members are finishing their fifth year on campus. Six others are finishing ten years. Richard Kalustian, a Middle School science and math teacher, has reached 15 years. Helen Bingham Rowles, now teaching fifth grade, is celebrating 20 years. Phyllis Kriese has been at the receptionist’s desk in the Upper School for 30 years. Lower School music teacher Judy Herrington has been teaching here for 35 years. Steve Daniels, the eighth grade earth science teacher, is completing a remarkable 40th year at CWA.
This evening CWA Headmaster Rob Camner emailed faculty, staff and board members to share the sad news that Bob Minnerly, his predecessor, passed away today. Minnerly served as CWA’s Headmaster from 1986 to 1996.
“When I was younger I wanted to go away to college. Then I realized that if I was from any other part of the country, I would want to come here,” says CWA senior Susan Blyler. “I like the attitude of people in the Northwest, the vibe and the culture.” That’s the main reason that after ten years at Charles Wright, while her classmates fan out across the country, next fall Susan will be moving across town to attend Pacific Lutheran University. 
A Charles Wright Tarrier since the age of four, student body president and captain of the boys golf team, senior Chris Panagiotu has received a lot of advice about the college admissions process. It turned out that the very best piece of advice came from a fellow student: “You should look at Oregon.” 
The vegetable gardens at Charles Wright, carefully maintained through the winter by faculty and students, are growing quickly this spring. To support the gardens, the school is hosting an Edible and Ornamental Plant Sale on Friday, May 21. The sale will be set up outside the Lower School Commons and run from 2 to 4pm. All proceeds support the school garden programs. Many of the plants that will be for sale are seedlings the students have cultivated this spring. They’ve all been grown chemical-free (organically, but not organic certified).
CWA only gathers the entire student body under one roof twice year. In December, students and teachers gather in the Wight Gym for the annual holiday assembly. Again, in April, they gather for Founders Day, a celebration of the school’s history and purpose. Last week Chaplain Mike Moffitt led the community in a Founders Day assembly focused on the school’s ethos of excellence, a key phrase in the school’s mission statement. 
Bathtub is to faucet as teapot is to stove? Fume? Spurt? Saucer? Spout? A team of students from the Lower School at Charles Wright Academy knew the answer and it helped them beat out teams from 519 other American elementary schools to win highest honors in the WordMasters Challenge – a national language arts competition entered by approximately 220,000 students annually. Competing in the difficult Blue Division and coached by Deanne Trummert and Jon Flies, the school’s third graders tied for first place in the nation in the year’s second of three meets. 
Charles Wright Academy and Annie Wright School will co-host the annual Wright Connection college planning event on April 15 and 16. The college counselors from both schools are issuing a special invitation to all parents to attend the Wright Connection Parent Night on Thursday, April 15, from 7pm to 8pm.