Charles Wright Middle Schoolers are very busy people. All year students are preparing for major class trips, producing their own newspaper, singing in the choir, playing in the band and orchestra, organizing clubs and competing in sports… and that’s just during the school day!
CWA faculty chaperone dances several times a year, along with off-campus adventures like Laser Tag outings, ice skating, and attending Fright Fest at the Enchanted Village in Federal Way. Eighth grade graduation and the sixth grade Half Way party are annual celebrations of the milestones in students’ lives. Middle Schoolers also join the entire student body to celebrate the beginning of the school year at Headmaster’s Picnic (they design, build and operate the carnival booths for younger students), Spirit Week, Homecoming and Founder’s Day.
Activities within the school day
Choir, band, orchestra, newspaper, creative writing, drama, visual arts, foreign language studies and sports are all part of the school day at Charles Wright. Seventh and eighth graders compete against other local schools in the Middle Chinook League in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, track and field, and volleyball. The Middle School tennis and Ultimate teams also compete against other schools, but these aren’t league sports.
During lunch, students from all three grade levels form co-ed teams for dodge ball and kickball tournaments, organized by their peers elected to the student activities council. There are also two very popular annual talent shows. Past performers have included singers, pianists, dancers, stand-up comedians, Rubik’s cube solvers, beat-boxers and guitarists.
Clubs
Students are encouraged to take the initiative to start their own clubs and they are only limited by their imagination. Some current clubs include: Airplane Club, Debate Club, Tech-kies Club, Chess Club, Knowledge Bowl, Student Activities Council, Math Olympiad/Math is Cool, and Science and Engineering Competition.
Middle School Days
The final two days before Spring Break are Middle School Days where kids choose from a wide variety of activities that have recently included things like: archery, bottle rockets, German or Mexican cooking, horseback riding, knitting, rock climbing, ocean beach clean-up, biking, sea kayaking, river rafting, assisting in the Lower School, redecorating the faculty lounge, Experience Music Project trip, photo scavenger hunt in Seattle, drama workshop and comic book drawing.
Class Trips
Each fall right before school begins, Middle School teachers and students hop on the bus and head off to Middle School camp. For three days they play team-building games, work on art projects, create skits and get to know each other really well. When classes begin, they’re all comfortable with one another and ready to learn.
Throughout the year, many trips are built into the curriculum. Sixth graders go to the Seattle Asian Art Museum and eat in the International District. Seventh graders go to the state capital. Eighth graders go to Finance Park, a Junior Achievement Program in Auburn, where they practice managing a family budget. There are also all sorts of community service projects on and off campus.
The school year culminates with a major class trip for every class. In sixth grade it’s a three-night trip to an island in the Howe Sound of British Columbia where students practice leaving a very small footprint on the planet at Sea to Sky Outdoor School. The seventh grade heads south to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. The final Middle School trip is the eighth grade Beach Hike when students and faculty backpack along the Olympic coastline pitching their tents with ocean views and cooking over campfires.
