Upper School Activities Provide Exceptional Opportunities
During the past two weeks Annie Wright Upper School girls have traveled to Alaska, San Francisco and New York to engage with experts and learn about their chosen areas of interest through the after school activities program. These experiences, heavily subsidized by the school, immerse students in businesses, cultural centers, natural resources and more, and more importantly, connect them with experts in their fields of interest.
The Model UN/Global Action activity visited Anchorage. The group decided they wanted to learn more about indigenous sovereignty, environmental preservation, animal rights and local governance. One of our seniors, Mariella Beaurpere, took it upon herself to arrange a meeting with Anchorage’s mayor, Ethan Berkowitz. Students engaged in a multidimensional discussion with Mayor Berkowitz on a number of different topics relating to Anchorage, Seattle/Tacoma connections, and the aforementioned trip learning goals. The trip also featured meaningful meetings with tribal elders at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, conservationists at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and even an Annie Wright alumna from the class of 1953, an expert on the growth of Anchorage and Annie Wright’s pioneering history. Students left the trip with a deeper understanding of US-Native relations, the oil and gas economy, and the politics of endangered animal care.
The Robotics team went to California’s Bay Area to explore careers in computer science. They started the first day by visiting Crystal Springs Upland School’s Robotics team. Next they drove to Stanford and got a tour of the university by a current mechanical engineering student. They learned a lot about the school and their unique engineering program, which allows students to explore the application of engineering in various fields. The next day, they toured the Google campus and talked with current software engineers. They also toured Google X and looked at the various products produced by them, including the Google Glasses, Waymo (self-driving car), and Loon. The team concluded the trip by going to an escape room and beating their advisor!
Inkwell, the student journalism activity, visited New York, where they met with young female experts in business, reporting, editing, partnerships, digital journalism, social media, podcasting, broadcasting and more from The New York Times, The Financial Times and Facebook. They also met with students and faculty members at the Columbia University School of Journalism, toured Columbia and Barnard, had coffee with a renowned freelance photojournalist, toured NBC, witnessed profound storytelling at the 9/11 Museum and Memorial, viewed iconic art at the Museum of Modern Art and walked around neighborhoods including the Upper West Side, midtown, Times Square, Soho, Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side.
In addition to these recent trips, other activities have traveled and will travel near and far throughout the year.
In September, the Annie Writers creative writing activity went on an overnight field trip to Sequim to work with a writing coach from an organization called Young-Women Empowered (or Y-WE). They stayed in a beautiful beach house and did writing activities that built their confidence, especially with poetry.
The Yearbook editorial board traveled to Dallas, TX last fall to participate in the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention. They joined 5,000 students from around the country to learn both practical skills for yearbook and meet professionals practicing in the field of journalism. Highlights included hearing from Wade Goodwyn, an NPR National Desk correspondent, John Moore, special correspondent and senior staff photographer for Getty Images, and Chris Sekin, managing partner of Johnson & Sekin.
Student Leadership and Governance, a new activity this year, has met locally with civic leaders in Tacoma and with student governments of other schools to learn about different forms of goverance and develop best practices.
Orchestra will travel to Bellingham March 16-17 to participate in the WASTA-WWU Orchestra Festival, where they will perform and receive grading and coaching from university faculty. Theatre 360 will travel to LA May 4-7 for performances, workshops and more, Science team will travel to Eastern Oregon over Memorial Day weekend to explore different aspects of geology, botany, ecology and more, and Chorus will perform in San Francisco at the Heritage Festival May 25-27.
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The Model UN/Global Action activity visited Anchorage. The group decided they wanted to learn more about indigenous sovereignty, environmental preservation, animal rights and local governance. One of our seniors, Mariella Beaurpere, took it upon herself to arrange a meeting with Anchorage’s mayor, Ethan Berkowitz. Students engaged in a multidimensional discussion with Mayor Berkowitz on a number of different topics relating to Anchorage, Seattle/Tacoma connections, and the aforementioned trip learning goals. The trip also featured meaningful meetings with tribal elders at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, conservationists at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and even an Annie Wright alumna from the class of 1953, an expert on the growth of Anchorage and Annie Wright’s pioneering history. Students left the trip with a deeper understanding of US-Native relations, the oil and gas economy, and the politics of endangered animal care.
The Robotics team went to California’s Bay Area to explore careers in computer science. They started the first day by visiting Crystal Springs Upland School’s Robotics team. Next they drove to Stanford and got a tour of the university by a current mechanical engineering student. They learned a lot about the school and their unique engineering program, which allows students to explore the application of engineering in various fields. The next day, they toured the Google campus and talked with current software engineers. They also toured Google X and looked at the various products produced by them, including the Google Glasses, Waymo (self-driving car), and Loon. The team concluded the trip by going to an escape room and beating their advisor!
Inkwell, the student journalism activity, visited New York, where they met with young female experts in business, reporting, editing, partnerships, digital journalism, social media, podcasting, broadcasting and more from The New York Times, The Financial Times and Facebook. They also met with students and faculty members at the Columbia University School of Journalism, toured Columbia and Barnard, had coffee with a renowned freelance photojournalist, toured NBC, witnessed profound storytelling at the 9/11 Museum and Memorial, viewed iconic art at the Museum of Modern Art and walked around neighborhoods including the Upper West Side, midtown, Times Square, Soho, Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side.
In addition to these recent trips, other activities have traveled and will travel near and far throughout the year.
In September, the Annie Writers creative writing activity went on an overnight field trip to Sequim to work with a writing coach from an organization called Young-Women Empowered (or Y-WE). They stayed in a beautiful beach house and did writing activities that built their confidence, especially with poetry.
The Yearbook editorial board traveled to Dallas, TX last fall to participate in the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention. They joined 5,000 students from around the country to learn both practical skills for yearbook and meet professionals practicing in the field of journalism. Highlights included hearing from Wade Goodwyn, an NPR National Desk correspondent, John Moore, special correspondent and senior staff photographer for Getty Images, and Chris Sekin, managing partner of Johnson & Sekin.
Student Leadership and Governance, a new activity this year, has met locally with civic leaders in Tacoma and with student governments of other schools to learn about different forms of goverance and develop best practices.
Orchestra will travel to Bellingham March 16-17 to participate in the WASTA-WWU Orchestra Festival, where they will perform and receive grading and coaching from university faculty. Theatre 360 will travel to LA May 4-7 for performances, workshops and more, Science team will travel to Eastern Oregon over Memorial Day weekend to explore different aspects of geology, botany, ecology and more, and Chorus will perform in San Francisco at the Heritage Festival May 25-27.
