Innovation, collaboration and competition integral to hands-on Robotics Engineering class

February is Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month and we are proud to highlight one of our more than 100 CTE courses offfered in our high schools.

Robotics Engineering is a CTE class in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program area. The course focuses on designing, building and programming wireless robots. An important component of the class is to compete in regional, state and world competitions, with students required to attend at least two during the school year.

Earlier this month, school robot teams competed in VEX Robotics tournaments with several robots moving on to the highly competitive state competition and beyond. Read more...

When stories are teachings; orca touches hearts years after her capture

The questions were poignant and plentiful. Who was her mother? Did she have siblings? How and why did she live so long in captivity?

On a recent visit to Alderwood and Happy Valley elementary schools, Lummi author Tah-Mahs Ellie Kinley read aloud from her newly published book Our Hearts Beat as One, about a Salish Sea Southern Resident orca held in captivity since the early 1970s. The orca’s Lummi name is Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut (ska li chuk tuh not). In captivity, she was known as both Tokitae (Toki) and as Lolita (her performer name.)

After the school readings, Kinley, along with co-author Julie Trimingham, answered student questions.

The answer to how Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut was able to live so long in a Miami tank ultimately became the purpose of the book. To tell this orca’s story is to honor her life; and to share the tragedy of her captivity and long life in a seaquarium continues to give her purpose. Read the full story here.

Inaugural girls flag football games mark welcoming of sport opportunity in Bellingham Public Schools

Girls flag football officially launched in Bellingham Public Schools as Bellingham, Sehome and Squalicum high schools played their first-ever games in January.

Bellingham, Sehome and Squalicum were joined by Ferndale to form a Whatcom County quartet of teams wrapping up an eight-week flag football season.

Bellingham, Sehome and Squalicum saw strong turnout interest for the sport’s first-time local offering.  

Squalicum fielded the largest roster with 24 student-athletes, while Bellingham and Sehome had nearly 20 apiece. The interest supports a national trend, as NFL FLAG reports a 30% female participation increase in the sport at the high school level since 2019. 

Coaches saw a fair playing field in the first-ever local season, as the vast majority of student-athletes began playing without background in organized flag football. The first official day of practices came 10 days prior to the games. 

Wade King Elementary School choir a popular musical avenue for students to experience

Wade King Elementary School music specialist Angela Mazur was inspired to start an elementary choir in fall 2023 ahead of the school’s Veterans Day assembly. What began as 28 students who joined and performed for the assembly quickly blossomed to 75 at the next rehearsal due to overwhelming interest. 

Now well into its second full academic year, the choir is open to third, fourth and fifth grade students and meets outside the school day – before school for the morning choir, and after school for the honor choir. 

School-based health center now a reality at Options High School

Options High School is proud to be part of a growing movement to provide essential health services on school campuses. Onsite health centers have been shown to improve the mental and physical health of youth and to improve school attendance. The centers especially benefit those students who may experience barriers to accessing health care.

Options Principal Katie Jones tells us she has heard from many students that point to the early success of the center and how it helps keep students engaged at school. “I have had multiple students share that they haven’t had medical care in years,” she reported, and students are eager to sign up for the medical clinic.

“We have seniors who are excited to get immunizations and primary care before they graduate. We also have students who have historically left school due to feeling overwhelmed who are staying on campus now and using The Nook to support themselves before they return to classes.”

The Nook is a calming area where students can go if they are feeling the need to take a break, breathe and regroup.

Bellingham students and brothers publish book – The Deck: Stories from a Pandemic

Standing before a full audience at Village Books on a Sunday evening in January 2025, the author event featuring Bellingham High School brothers Cody and Taylor Watts and their new book represented the culmination of a process five years in the making.  

Cody, now 18 and a senior, and Taylor, now 16 and a junior, shared insights and reflections of The Deck: Stories from a Pandemic – penned five years prior when the brothers were 13 and 11, respectively, and in middle school during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The 425-page book chronicles journal entries made over an 18-month span, intentionally and uniquely written from the lens of middle school minds.