Important Dates

Charles Wright Academy 7723 Chambers Creek Road West Tacoma, Washington 98467-2099

Bill White, Head of Upper School bwhite@charleswright.org

8/31 Picture Day for 9th & 10th grade

9/1 Picture Day for 11th & 12th grade

9/4 Labor Day- No School

9/9 ACT

9/13 Upper School Parent Association Meeting, 8:15 a.m. (Cum Laude Room)

9/15 Charlie’s Picnic, 3:00 p.m.

9/19 Upper School Back to School Night, 6:00 p.m. (Upper School Commons)

9/20 CHADD meeting- CHADD Education with Emily McMason, 6:30 p.m. (Lower School Commons)

9/21- 10/1 Global Summit

9/25- 28 Experiential Education Week

10/7 SAT

10/11 PSAT (Dome)

10/13 Faculty In Service, No School

10/16 College Fair, 6:00 p.m. (Dome)

10/19 Fall Concert, 7:00 p.m. (Donn Laughlin Theater)

Welcome to the 2017-18 School Year! By Bill WhiteHead of Upper School

I would like to share with you, the speech I made to Upper School students on the first day of school:

Welcome! Happy New Year! The 2017-18 school year has officially started. Over the last few months the hallways have been quiet and the Upper School buildings were just hallways and rooms. With the arrival of students and teachers, it has returned to a vibrant place where learning occurs, where intellectual, artistic, and athletic engagement is cool, and where all members of the community collaborate to create an exciting and interesting place to attend school and to work. I have waited with great excitement for your return and with momentous anticipation that the upcoming school year will be the best in the School’s history. I will be turning 65 during the school year, but I still feel like the old Dalmatian dog at the firehouse that leaps in the air and is the first to board the fire engine when the alarm bell rings. As I start my 42nd year in education, I still have butterflies in my stomach, there is anxiety pulsat-ing through my body of what detail I have forgotten, and I have a feeling of overwhelming joy that I have the opportunity to work with wonderful students and colleagues. The thought of this energizes me more than you will ever know. I would like to welcome all new students to the Upper School. On behalf of members of the faculty and all returning students, welcome, we are thrilled that you are members of Upper School community. I would also like to extend a hearty welcome to all new members of the faculty. Ms. Webster will introduce new faculty members in a few minutes. For the past 12 years, Mr. Moffitt has opened the school year with inspiring words that set the tone for the year. My oratory skills are pallid in comparison to Mr. Moffitt. So please forgive me. With his departure, a change had to occur. Change! That will be the operative word this year. Last year. there were many discussions about change, but as Ms. Webster eloquently stated early last year, “we have no idea what the changes will be.” As we begin the 2017-18 school year, all of the changes discussed last year, plus others are about to commence. Change is hard. I am old, set in my ways, have worked a lifetime developing my philosophy and at-titudes, and have worked hard to keep things I have created the same. When change occurs, there is a loss. A grieving process! I have been grieving some this summer over some of the upcoming changes. I suspect you will have the same feelings. It is natural. Parting with things you either love or are comfortable with can bring on melancholic feelings. I have heard from

UPPER SCHOOLNEWSLETTERSEPTEMBER 2017

www.charleswright.org253.620.8300 phone253.620.8431 fax

SPORTS SCHEDULES ONLINE AT

charleswright.org/ athletics/athletics-overview

Upper School News September 2017 Page 2

a few of you regarding your concern about the change to the com-munity service program. Change is scary. It cultivates uncertainty. It is hard to imagine how a program or process that you have cherished and used for a long time wouldn’t work better than something new. Why change? If it is not broken, why fix it? The honest answer is that you really don’t know whether a change will be better than what you are currently doing. For that matter, will the change work? I do know that if you stay frozen, refuse to explore change, and never take the scary step to initiate change, you will never have the op-portunity to improve yourself or your organization. When I began my careers, there were no computers, no copy machines, no students with learning differences (students were labeled lazy), no Internet, no cell phones, and some math teachers still used slide rules. As a teacher, I lectured. Every day. I was imparting my knowledge and wisdom, thinking I was inspiring students to not only learn history, but also how to think critically. The field of education is dramati-cally different than it was in the 1970s. Some of the changes have been great and other changes have long since been forgotten. What I have learned is that you must be willing to reinvent yourself, try to transform yourself, your workplace/program/strategies because if you don’t, you won’t be competitive or be around very long in an ever-changing world. I remember the good old days fondly and with great pride. Personal communication was without electronic mes-saging, time was made to visit with friends versus connecting with social media, writing assignments or taking notes on paper, acquisi-tion of knowledge by reading, writing and listening to books, quietly reflecting, keeping a journal, or exchanging ideas with others with an open mind. I truly hope we don’t lose all of these values, but I recognize that some change is necessary. During the 2017-18 year, I am committed to embracing change. Re-inventing myself as well as the school I serve needs to occur. This year, grading periods will be based on a trimester system, with new trimester courses that will give students more choice in their curricu-lum, changes to the community service requirements, making CWA a sustainable school will become part of our vocabulary, advisory groups will no longer need to recycle (the custodians will recycle), DA has rearranged his room and has a new interactive White Board, Mr. LeFrancois has a new Smart Board, there is a Smart Board in the Cum Laude Room, with Veracross (the new School Information Sys-tem SIS), you will be able to view your teacher’s up-to-date Website and have access to your grades anytime you sign in, new administra-tive structure which will flatten the leadership model, and there are a number of new computers in the library, just to name a few changes. Another change that will impact you is school security. Some doors will be locked and more attention will be given to emergency situ-ations. With change comes bumps. Sometimes things don’t work as they were planned. A lifetime ago, I made a complete change in the daily schedule that was used by my previous school. I felt brilliant. It met all of the needs of the different constituents in the school. It was going to transform learning. At every faculty meeting for a year, I had to listen to how bad the schedule was, that I had no clue on how to build a schedule, that I had negatively impacted learning, and had ruin some teacher’s plans. They could no longer use the lesson plans they had used for years. My response to those teachers was if the new schedule causes you to change outdated lesson plans, then the change was a success. During the year, I took a beating. It was worse than the beating I took during a college football game brawl when a group of opposing players drug me by my facemask to their bench in Newark, New Jersey and used me as a human soccer ball

for what seemed like an eternity. I realized at that moment that I did not have a future in fighting. Rather than brood about the criticism I was hearing from my colleagues, feel sorry for myself, or be angry, I listened, learned, and made a few minor changes that became the school’s schedule and served the school well for 15 years. Some of the new changes this year might not work. Some will need adjustments. As we embark on this school year together, we will need your understanding, patience, and a good sense of humor. The changes are not designed to make your life more difficult or miser-able. The hope is to make CWA a better and more vibrant place. If you have a concern about any of the changes, please talk with some-one. The only way to make CWA better is if we hear your ideas and how the changes are impacting you. If you express it on social media to me, I will never know about it because I don’t have a social me-dia account. While I am letting some of the old go and embracing change, I won’t be using social media to learn about your concerns. I would rather talk with you face-to-face or have you communicate through a well-written and well-argued email explaining your con-cerns. Eighteenth century philosopher Voltaire said about change, “Our wretched species is so made that those who walk the well-trod-den path always throws stones at those who are trying to show a new path.” Please keep an open mind. Don’t throw stones if you don’t like the new path; I implore you to help the school forge a new path. I think you will find it exhilarating.

New Faculty

Gina DeanGina Dean comes to the CWA Upper School after 17 years of counseling and teaching experience including partner-ships with the Evergreen State College, Elma School District, and the Olympia School District. She has taught courses in emotional regulation, distress toler-ance, mindfulness, communication,

and disability management. Additionally, Gina has served on mul-tiple community youth theatre boards including the Capital Play-house and the Tumwater Theatre Arts Parents. Gina will teach a 9th grade seminar class in Health and Wellness. Also, she will collaborate with peers regarding the development of the course as well as establishing a comprehensive health and well-ness program at CWA. Gina is thrilled to be a Tarrier and is looking forward to working with all Upper School students and parents.

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Kim HayesKim Hayes joins the Upper School English Department as a full-time member of the faculty. Kim began her tenure at CWA last January as a long-term substitute. Originally from Seattle she graduated from DePaul University and started her education career in the Chicago area teaching

English, History and ESL. Kim has taught and worked in school ad-ministration and assessment development in a number of locations and capacities over the years, including Chicago, Spain, Arizona, Washington and Nigeria. During the 2017-18 school year, she will be teaching Upper School English including the college research class, ARC, Lost Generation, 9th grade English, and Film Studies. She will also be supporting the development of a new Writing Center.

The Upper School English Department introduced the creation of a Writing Center for students last spring. Ms. Hayes will be training students to become editors to support all Upper School students with the development and editing of papers. Students are expected to do their own work, but the editors will be available for guidance and support. The Writing Center will be located in the library. The School is excited to provide this resource as we work to improve the student experience and provide an extraordinary educational experience for students.

Mark HayesMark Hayes joins Charles Wright Academy after 15 years at Palmer Trin-ity School in Miami, where he taught in the English and History Departments, was a Class Dean for several years, and most recently, served as chair of the English Department. He also advised students in the Gay-Straight Alliance and the Out of the Darkness advocacy

groups. Previously, Mark taught at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, at Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, and for the Upward Bound Project at the University of Maine at Farmington. He will be teaching English in the Upper School and serving as the school’s Coordinator of Service Learning and Global Sustainability.

Born in Maine, Mark grew up among the mountains and lakes of that state’s western foothills. He earned his BA from Amherst Col-lege and his MA from the University of South Florida. He was twice selected as a fellow for the National Endowment for the Humanities’ summer seminar for teachers -- first in 1997 (“Faulkner’s Major Fic-tion”) and then in 2004 (“Colonialism’s Impact on British National Identity.”) Mark is a past member of the National Book Critics Circle and the Jazz Journalists’ Association; his book reviews have appeared in the Miami Herald, the St. Petersburg Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Boston Herald. For many years, he was the critic-at-large as well as a producer and host for both Passing Notes and The Sunday Time Warp at WDNA-FM in Miami.

Walter MannyWalter Manny is a veteran teacher with over 20 years of teaching experi-ence in boarding schools in New York and New Hampshire. Throughout his career he has taught math, physics, English, and human development. He has also been a soccer and ice hockey coach for most of his career and hopes to assist on the soccer field. Walter

joined us last February and will be teaching physics, algebra, and pre-calculus. This month, he will be co-leading a sophomore hike on Mount Rainier. Walter will be part of an advisory group in the Writing Center.

Erin RossingErin Rossing joins the Upper School Mathematics Department after spending the last five years teach-ing math at the American School in Shanghai. Erin enters her 11th year of teaching. She has taught at Middle and Upper Schools as well as college courses. Erin grew up in Colorado. During the 2017-18 school year, she

will be teaching Geometry and Honors Algebra II. Erin will be working with Gil LeFrancois as co-chairs of the math department.

September College Counseling ProgramsBy Katie RyanDirector of College Counseling

FOR PARENTS:

This fall, the college counselors will offer presentations about our College Counseling program for parents of 9th, 10th, and 11th graders at Back to School Night, September 19th. Our sessions will take place from 6:00 – 6:40, which is prior to the “main event.” For 9th and 10th grade parents, in the theater, Noel Blyler will give an overview of college counseling at Charles Wright, a time-line of the college admission process, and tips for what students and parents can do in the early years of high school to prepare for success in college admissions. This is the same Back to School Night presentation we’ve been making for several years. For 11th grade parents, in the Library, Katie Ryan will talk about what’s ahead this year for the Class of 2019 as they dive fully into their

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college searches. Katie will go through a timeline for the Junior and Senior years, demonstrate Family Connection, CWA’s online college planning tool, and offer advice for how parents can help to facilitate a productive and successful college process for their children while minimizing stress and anxiety. This presentation will replace our usual “College Night for Junior Parents.”

FOR SENIORS:

While the sophomores are hiking the trails for Outdoor Education, seniors will be focusing on college. They may choose to use the four days of Experiential Education Week, September 25-28, to visit col-leges with a parent or guardian*, or to remain on campus to finalize their college lists and work on their college applications. They can also choose a combination of these two options. Here on campus, the college counselors, English teachers, and guests from colleges will offer advice on how to produce high quality college applications and compelling college essays and lots of one-on-one support as se-niors work on their applications. Since many applications aren’t due until January, devoting all of this time in September serves to reduce stress throughout the busy fall. In past years, seniors have made ex-cellent progress on their applications during Experiential Education Week, so we expect it to be a productive and energizing time again this year. *Note: Students planning college visits must turn in a completed College Visit Itinerary, signed by a parent, to their College Counselor by Friday, September 15th.

FOR JUNIORS:

During Experiential Education Week, September 25-28, the Class of 2019 will take part in two college related activities. On Monday and Wednesday, they will tour the campuses of UW and University of Puget Sound. Following these visits, they will “debrief ” with mem-bers of the faculty to reinforce what they learned about the two insti-tutions, their own preferences, and how to evaluate college options. Juniors will also participate in a 3-hour workshop with the college counselors on Tuesday, during which they will learn how to use their Family Connection accounts for college research and planning, go over a timeline of the college process, discuss ways to evaluate and clarify their college preferences and goals, and begin work on their Junior Questionnaires. We hope that these early fall programs will start the year off on an informative and productive note for parents as well as students.

New Administrative Structure By Bill White Head of Upper School

As the 2017-18 school year begins, a new administrative structure has been established in the Upper School. The goal is to serve each student better than we have in the past. We have been very good at serving students, but the School can do it better. Annie Senner will be the Dean of Students, and she will manage four grade level deans who are assigned to each class. Heidi Huckins will be the 9th grade dean, Katie Miller, 10th grade dean, Nick Bivins, 11th grade dean, and Adam Auter, 12th grade dean. The grade level deans and Dean of Students will focus on our commitment to care for each student, to get to know them personally, to support their academic, social, and emotional growth, and to be involved in the student activities that enrich the educational experience at CWA. They will be charged with organizing experiential education week, class meetings, dances, and will work with students when there are minor discipline issues such as arriving late to class, disruptive behavior in class, or a minor disagreement with another student. Annie Senner will supervise the grade level deans and has responsibility for major discipline issues. Annie will hold bi-monthly meetings with the student support com-mittee. This committee consists of the Grade Level Deans, Learning Specialist, School Counselor, International Student Coordinator, and the Head of Upper School.

Laurel Webster is the Dean of the Faculty for the Upper School. Lau-rel’s focus will be working with faculty on classroom pedagogy, in-novation and the incorporation of technology into lesson planning, and faculty evaluation. In addition, Laurel will chair the Department Heads meeting that occurs weekly to discuss curriculum, pertinent educational topics, role of department chairs, and establishing a vi-sion for the future of Upper School curriculum. This group consists of the Head of School, Head of Upper School, Department Chairs, Technology Director, Head Librarian, and Director of College Coun-seling. Laurel will also manage Winterim with Dana Flaskerud and Laryssa Schmidt.

Our goal is to move toward a distributed leadership model that will provide members of the community more access to the deci-sion makers and to better serve all members of the community as our schools become more complex in their operations. Also, the School is interested in growing leadership for the future. Often the best leaders for schools come from within the organization and pro-viding authentic leadership opportunities is critical. I am excited for the change and believe this model will serve the CWA Upper School very well for years to come.

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Veracross: It’s going to be great but….By Bill White

Head of Upper School

The faculty and staff have been on campus a lot during the latter half of August for training on the new student information system, Ve-racross. Everyone is excited by all of the possibilities it will provide. It will transform communication at CWA, but all of us at School have had sleepless nights agonizing over how to use all of the features and how to understand it enough to have websites and grade books up and running by the first day of school. Small group conversations, emails, and texts between colleagues have been occurring non-stop as we learn the new software together.

At the recent faculty meetings, Veracross dominated the conversa-tions. Even with the uncertainties, one faculty finally stated, please let everyone know it will NOT impact learning one bit. Faculty members are prepared, focused, excited, and ready to teach and in-spire your children to learn. It was exciting to hear all of the dis-cussions regarding lesson planning, curriculum coordination, and teaching strategies. Teachers had taken my requests seriously to closely examine their pedagogy, try to be innovative and creative in their teaching, and to make sure that students receive an extraordi-nary education every day.

Your son/daughter should have received their Veracross login infor-mation by the time you receive the Newsletter. Parents will receive their login materials in the next week so you can track your child’s assignments and get news updates from the school.

Thank you for being patient with us as we immerse into this new database. This is an exciting time for the Upper School, but there will be bumps. Please call or email me if you have concerns or need some reassuring.

The Writing CenterLocation: Room 56# in Library?Scheduling: Writing Center CalendarContact: Ms. Hayes, LPAC Room 85khayes@charleswright.org

About the Writing Center

The Writing Center is dedicated to helping students improve their academic writing. Writing coaches are ready to offer a thoughtful response to papers or drafts written for any discipline at any stage of the composing process. Although it is not meant as a proofreading service, coaches can support students with their proofreading skills. The Writing Center offers a discussion-based support for writing across all disciplines and genres.

What happens during a writing conference?The typical writing conference is a one-to-one session in which the student and a peer or faculty writing advisor engage in focused conversation about the student’s writing. Sometimes we brain-storm; sometimes we work on organization; sometimes we work primarily on sentence-level revisions. In all cases, the session will offer advice that’s designed to be helpful to both the paper and to the student as a writer.

What should I bring to my appointment?

Bring your notes or the working draft of your paper, along with a copy of the writing assignment your teacher gave you. If your pa-per uses sources, it may be helpful to bring those as well. Try to be prepared with some ideas of what you would like to work on. Also, the most productive appointments are those scheduled in advance, so try to avoid last-minute, day-it’s-due appointments. You don’t have to have a draft to have an appointment; we’re ready to help you brainstorm or talk through some ideas.

What if I can’t think of a way to start writing? Do I need to have a draft to bring to an appointment?

Writing coaches will be happy to help you develop ideas for your paper. In that case bring the prompt and any sources you might be working with.

Will you proofread or edit my paper?

Writing coaches do not copy edit papers. Rather, they work with you on developing your argument, organization and ideas. If you have specific technical concerns (i.e. citation styles, proper grammar, ap-propriate punctuation), advisors will of course work through any problem areas with you and can introduce you to our many helpful handouts and resources. While we won’t “correct” your paper, we’ll help you become a better proofreader of your own work.

Becoming a Writing Coach

The goal of the Center is to help students become better, more inde-pendent writers. Writing Coaches serve as experienced peer read-ers and feedback providers to students who are working on drafts of papers from across the disciplines, at any stage in the writing process. Writing Coaches participate in ongoing training, discus-sions and professional development with an intellectually and so-cially engaged team of peers.

Qualifications

We actively seek a diverse team of writers to work in the Writing Center because we believe that it broadens perspectives on how to define good writing and effective learning, creates a community where more students feel represented, comfortable, and safe, and reflects the kind of campus we aspire to be. We encourage students to apply who have not always seen themselves as the “best” writ-ers in their classes, but who have gained confidence in themselves through the support of teachers and peers. The best tutors aren’t

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necessarily those who have always found school to be easy—often, they are students who have had to learn difficult lessons and are able to coach and encourage others more effectively as a result.

Writing coaches blend strong writing skills and academic growth with empathy for others and the ability to connect. They must col-laborate well with diverse peers, faculty, and staff. They must be responsible, organized, and able to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. Finally, they must have a positive attitude about writing, an understanding of the major concepts of English grammar, a strong sense of integrity, and the ability to listen well to others. Prior tutoring experience is not required.

Contact Ms. Hayes for an application. Once accepted she will work with you to set up training, schedules and community service hours.

The Student Government Retreat 2017: SupportBy Annie Senner Dean of Students

The newly elected Upper School Student Government representa-tives met on Saturday, August 19th, for an all day training to pre-pare for the 2017-2018 school year. Together they worked on the skills necessary to create a strong leadership team, participated in team-building challenges, set meaningful goals, and mapped out the “small steps” needed to create positive change in the Upper School community. We have learned over the years that this short but in-tense window of time pays off with big dividends throughout the year, creating a more productive Student Government as a whole, and happier, more successful, individual leaders.

This year, the student leaders selected the theme of “SUPPORT” as their theme and articulated their plan to build more school spirit, better support among peers, and more diverse relationships. They filled in details on their “Dream Sheet,” a working document that will soon be posted in the leadership meeting room. They will refer to this poster regularly throughout the year to keep them focused on their big goal to make positive change in the school culture.

Being a student leader is always challenging, especially in high school, where decisions that you make have a direct impact on your peers. The time spent at the retreat helps to develop a confident leadership team that is willing to take on difficult topics and con-versations that will truly result in meaningful change for our com-munity.

Global Summit 2017: 10th Anniversary! September 21-October 1, 2017

By Ann VogelInternational Student Coordinator and Global Summit Coordinator

The CWA community is excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our human rights and social justice conference, Global Summit, from September 21-October 1.

This morning we learned that the recent “political, social, and racial events in the U.S.” have contributed to the decision of our Moroccan delegation not to attend the Summit. We are deeply saddened by this but more determined than ever to forge connections of peace with countries throughout the world who come to our campus for the Summit. We are excited to welcome the delegations from Poland, Colombia, and China that will arrive on Thursday, September 21, ready to meet their CWA host families and friends.

The students and their teacher-chaperones will reside with CWA families that have students in 8th, 9th, 11th, and 12th grades. The Summit offers a unique opportunity to host a student or two, learn about another culture, and share American culture.

We know from our alumni, that the Summit has shaped their opin-ions and sometimes their college majors and later careers. It has planted the seeds for many friendships that remain strong a decade later, too, and the relationships have resulted in Winterim trips where CWA students stay in the homes of the students they have hosted.

During the GS, the speakers, field trips, and discussions focus on moving participants from an “us” versus “the other” mode of think-ing to one that values connections, the worth and dignity of all people, universal human needs and rights, and the ways each one of us can make meaningful differences in the lives of people who for-merly were “others,” usually through simple everyday actions such as by reaching out to understand and include them and by being an upstander rather than a bystander when another person is facing injustice.

CWA families and teachers host all visiting GS students and teachers, so the opportunities for meaningful connections multiply and “din-ner table diplomacy” is frequent, informal, personal, powerful, fun,

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and often long lasting. For information on hosting opportunities for Global Summit, please contact world language teacher Christine Telal at ctelal@charelswright.org

Students typically go quickly from anxious strangers to close friends. In fact, on the Sunday morning when students leave, tears flow and CWA students block the school bus that takes the GS delegations to SEA.

Among the many past and present GS speakers are Carl Wilkens, the only American to have stayed in Rwanda during the 1994 geno-cide and credited with saving hundreds of lives; holocaust survivor George Elbaum who recently returned to visit Poland at the invi-tation of our Polish friends; and Theo Chocolate, a local fair trade bean-to-bar chocolate company. We also have partnered with orga-nizations such as World Bicycle Relief (which inspired a new Theo Chocolate bar and a trip with a CWA teacher and students to Zam-bia to deliver bicycles and chocolate bars!); Olympia-based Alaffia, a company that makes personal care products for the sole purpose of supporting families, and especially women, in Togo; Kiva with whom our GS students fund micro-loans to entrepreneurs from throughout the world; and non-profits PATH and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Music teacher Rafe Wadleigh and art teacher Christina Bertucchi involve students in interactive and theme-based arts projects that engage the community in connecting, and the week ends with an assembly.

The seeds for the Global Summit were sown in 2006 when former Upper School history teacher Nick Coddington (now a doctoral candidate at Columbia University) attended a Holocaust education workshop in NYC and met a young Polish teacher, Marcin Pas-nikowski, who taught at a middle school in Swidnik, Poland. Af-ter the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Poland found itself increas-ingly turning to “the West,” so the Polish school created a weeklong exchange program for middle school students in Western Europe. Soon, Coddington and Pasnikowski agreed that an American school should join this experience in Poland. The first group of CWA 9th and 10th graders visited Poland in the spring of 2007, and Polish students visited CWA for its first Global Summit that autumn. Our 9th and 10th graders continue to represent the United States at the Polish conference each spring.

If your family is interested in learning more about the Global Sum-mit, contact Ann Vogel at avogel@charleswright.org or (253) 620-8356.

Upper School Parent AssociationBy Bill WhiteHead of Upper School

I would like to welcome everyone to the 2017-18 school year! Every year, I enjoy meeting with Upper School parents to discuss what is happening in our division. Some topics that were discussed last year were trimester electives, the change from a semester to a trimester system, Winterim, and briefly about the new Student Information System, Veracross. This year, Veracross, school security, Teacher/Family Conferences, and homework are just a few of the topics that will be discussed in our meetings.

The dates and times of the meetings are listed below. The days of the week for meeting will vary between Tuesday and Wednesday. The majority of the meetings will be held on a Tuesday in the morning. There will also be a few evening meetings on a Wednesday so more people can attend. All of the meetings will be in the Cum Laude Room, which is located in the Upper School Library.

8:15 - September 13 (Wednesday)8:15 - October 10 (Tuesday)6:30 - October 11 (Wednesday)8:15 - November 7 - (Tuesday - talk about end of first trimester, how parents access grades)8:15 - January 9 (Tuesday)8:15 - February 13 (Tuesday)8:15 - March 13 (Tuesday- Final Exams) 6:30 - March 14 (Wednesday- Final Exams) 6:30 - April 10 (Tuesday- New Courses offerings and changes)8:15 - May 9 (Wednesday)

I hope you will have the opportunity to join other parents and learn more about what is happening in the Upper School. I would like to thank Jackie Quisenberry and Alice Fairley for being the Upper School Parent Association Reps this year. I look forward to seeing all of you in the near future.

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Athletic UpdateBy Tyler Francis Athletic Director

Summer Athletics

The Upper School teams have been working out this summer getting ready for the upcoming season. Charles Wright teams were meeting 2-3 times a week working on skills, drills and conditioning.

The volleyball team held 2 practices a week getting a head start on the upcoming season. They have their sights on a return trip to the state tournament.Tarrier football has been on campus having practices, conditioning and attending camp. They attended the Gervais Camp down at Ev-ergreen State University. The majority of the time, there were 15-20 players in the weight room on work-out days.

The CWA basketball teams each held practices and attended team camps in July. The girls team attended Central Washington Univer-sity and boys attended Gonzaga University team camps.

The Charles Wright girls soccer team practiced on campus 2 times a week in June & July. The team looks to build on last year’s district tournament appearance.

Fall Preview

The CWA Upper School Athletic teams look to have a very success-ful fall.

The volleyball team looks to be the favorite to win the league. They will be looking to repeat as district champions and make a nice run at the state tournament. The Tarrier volleyball team returns a strong nucleus from last season’s team.

The boys tennis team will also look to repeat as the district 3 cham-pions. The regular season and district tournament competition is in the fall with the state tournament in the spring. This team is very deep with young talent.

The boys and girls cross country teams look to make another run at the state tournament. Last year there was only 1 team allocation to state but this year there are 2. This team is ready for a strong run.

The Tarrier football team missed the play-offs on the last regular sea-son game last year. This year they will be aiming for the play-offs again. This team is loaded at the skilled positions.

CWA girls soccer team missed the state tournament by 1 game last season. This year they are in good shape to make a good run at the post-season again.

Come out this fall to support CWA athletics.

The Fall Show will be Oscar Wilde’s version of Salomé. We will again be showcasing our amazing performers, space, and tech in this

emotionally charged classic.Show dates and times are...

November 9, 10, 11, at 7:30 p.m.In the Donn Laughlin Theatre

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Go Tarriers!