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 »

CWA’s Science Bowl teams made a strong showing at the regional competition at the University of Portland. The Tarriers fielded two teams and both teams excelled at the hands-on engineering competition. The task was to design a wind turbine that, while connected to a small motor and voltmeter, would output the greatest voltage when subjected to the high speed airflow of a shop vacuum. Teams were supplied with a bag of materials and each member had to construct his or her own device. Scores were then combined to determine team score. CWA won first and second place for the team score in this turbine competition, while specific students won individual awards as well. Team One was led by Captain Peter Schilling. Team members included Nikki Ebalo, Sarah Sadlier, and Frank Wu. Team Two was led by Captin Josh Zhu. Team members were Jack Dimmer, Tina Patel, Natalie Tjota, Ashley Thomas, and SJ Yun. Read the rest of this entry »

The cast, crew and pit of CWA’s winter theater production and making final preparations to take the stage this weekend as they present Starmites, a post-apocalyptic superhero musical. Shows are scheduled for Thursday, February 9, through Saturday, February 11, at 7:30pm in the Donn Laughlin Theater. Tickets are $5 for students, faculty and staff, and $10 for general admission. Seats can be reserved in advance with Phyllis Kriese at 253.620.8300.

Read the rest of this entry »

CWA freshman Young-eon Kim of Federal Way recently received honorable mention in the National Council of Japanese Language Teachers 2012 Nengajo Contest. Students from Charles Wright and 106 other schools across the United States submitted 570 cards with original designs to celebrate the new Year of the Water Dragon.

Kim is a student in Stephanie Glenn’s Japanese 400 class. She studied the language in Middle School and spent last summer as an exchange student in Japan, allowing her to advance in the course sequence. She is also studying sculpture this year.

By Devika Agrawal ’13

Winning their first three matches, Charles Wright Academy’s Upper School Knowledge Bowl team started the 2012 season with a bang. The team is very enthusiastic about their upcoming regional competition on March 3 and is working extremely hard towards their goal of winning the 3A state championship for the first time in school history. Read the rest of this entry »

As has long been the tradition at CWA, the hearts of the Tarriers were warmed on Monday afternoon by the annual Holiday Assembly. At the end of the all-school event, students lit candles representing eight different fall and winter religious and cultural celebrations. The CWA community candle was then lit by the oldest Tarrier, senior Sophia Shin, and the youngest Tarrier, Beginning Schooler Max Portnow. Read the rest of this entry »

Upper School visual arts teacher Brian Hutcheson gave his class a unique challenge this fall: Don’t just create 3D art. Animate it! Now the products of their work – created individually and in teams – are on display in the Upper School’s newly christened Ted Sanford Art Gallery and visitors can marvel not only at the creativity of their projects but the ingenuity as well. 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 »