

We Are Bremerton!
Bremerton School District community e-newsletter
March 2023
Bremerton School Board Updates
The board recently adopted two policies:
- Policy 4200; Parent Access and Safe and Orderly Learning Environment
- Policy 5004; Infection Control Program
The District continues its work on the Long-Range Facilities Master Plan (LRFMP). Updates can be found at www.BremertonSchools.org/LRFMP. The Board is represented on the Advisory Committee by Director Dubos and Director Hurley.
The next regular School Board meeting is Thursday, March 16 at 5 p.m. The Board will be acknowledging milestone years of service for our classified staff in honor of School Support Professionals Week! The board will also vote to approve Dr. James Crawford's contract.
(Photo L-R): Interim Superintendent Donna Colosky, Director Carolynn Perkins, Director Jonee Dubos, Student Representative Julie Meyer, Board President Alyson Rotter, & Director John Paul Hurley. Not pictured: Director Karen Bolton.
March 13-17 is School Support Professionals Week
March 13-17 is School Support Professionals Week (formerly known as Classified Staff Week). This tradition started in 1975 to recognize the contributions of Education Support Professionals in the public school system and acknowledge the difference they make in our schools!
More than 340 education support professionals work with and help students throughout the Bremerton School District. These staff members work to maintain school buildings and grounds, provide administrative support, prepare and serve meals, provide safe transportation, keep school facilities clean and safe, promote and support student and staff health and wellness, assist in the classrooms, provide information technology and media services, and more.
Congratulations BHS senior Claire Warthen!
Mayor Greg Wheeler has named Claire Warthen as the recipient of the 2023 Mayor’s Youth Leadership Award and a $500 scholarship.
Warthen attends Bremerton High School (BHS) and would like to pursue a career in political science and public policy to help make positive change in the community. Claire has served in numerous leadership roles in her school, including as class president and as Associated Student Body president, National Honor Society president, as Model UN Secretary General, among others. She has also participated as a page with the Washington State Senate and as a member of her local senator's youth council.
She has been committed to serving her school and community as a volunteer Spanish translator for Bremerton School District for several years, as Black Student Union webmaster, and as a St. Vincent de Paul food bank volunteer. She has also been active in sports, including girls soccer and girls golf. Through her involvement in student government and school activities, she is focused on listening to numerous different perspectives and advocating for the needs of other students.
Warthen has received a number of awards and honors, including the Bausch+Lomb honorary science award from the University of Rochester for high achievement and rigor in science and math classes. In addition, she has earned Most Valuable Player honors in girls soccer and a sportsmanship award in girls golf. She has also been recognized by the Olympic League as a Scholar-Athlete award recipient for maintaining a 3.5 GPA or higher. Additionally, the Bremerton Rotary selected her to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) overnight camp.
The Mayor’s Youth Leadership Award is an annual program started by Mayor Greg Wheeler that recognizes exceptional youth in the City of Bremerton. For information on the scholarship program, visit the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Award page.
Black History Month highlights
Bremerton High School Black History Month Assembly
Well done, Knights! Students in the Bremerton High School Black Student Union organized the Black History Month Assembly last month. Students highlighted influential black leaders, local black-owned businesses, and honored two local black leaders: Harriette Bryant and Vicki Collins. Students participated in Black History Month trivia and were entertained by parents and students who were playing instruments, singing and rapping.
Members of the Black Student Union also visited several elementary schools last month to read stories and poems and do an activity celebrating Black History Month! The photos below were taken during their visit to Naval Avenue Elementary.
Wrestling is all in the family for the Michaelsons!
Congratulations to Bremerton High School (BHS) athletes Thor and Lars Michaelson! These brothers are both two-time state champion wrestlers (Read more in this Kitsap Sun story)!
Thor (senior - 170 lbs.) and Lars (junior - 182 lbs.) aren't the first in the family to find success on the mat. Older sister Haley (2019 BHS graduate) was the first wrestler from BHS (male or female) to place all four years at the state meet. Magnus - the youngest Michaelson - is a seventh grader at Mountain View Middle School (132 lbs). He is one of the wrestling team captains and undefeated this season as he heads to the West Sound Middle School League Wrestling Championships this weekend at North Kitsap. Dad Ty Michaelson (who wrestled at Central Washington University) teaches at Armin Jahr Elementary and is the BHS wrestling coach! While mom Beth (BHS class of 1994) isn't a wrestler, she's a fixture at many wrestling tournaments as a volunteer and a mom.
Congratulations to all of the Michaelsons for another great wrestling season (and good luck to Magnus this weekend!).
Photo: Thor (left) and Lars (right) pose with the new banner hangs in the walls of BHS!
Way to go Bremerton High School music students!
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) recognizes extra-curricular and co-curricular activities throughout the year for academic achievement. The "season" for interscholastic awards for band, choir, and orchestra is the winter season, which just concluded.
WIAA recognizes any team that has a cumulative average GPA from the first semester that exceeds 3.0. Bremerton High School choir, band and orchestra all received this recognition!
Photo: BHS Choir students perform at the "Collage Concert" in January. Learn more here.
Speaking of outstanding music students....
Seven of Bremerton High School's choir students traveled to Bellevue over President's Day weekend to participate in the All State and All Northwest choirs. These students auditioned through a rigorous recorded audition process back in the fall.
The four All State singers were selected as the best of Washington State to participate in a 2-day workshop with a guest conductor and a final concert. There were 235 students from across Washington in the choir.
Photo (L-R): Ayden Espinoza, Lilia Stodden, Milani Martinez, and Drago Smith.
The three All Northwest singers were selected as best across our northwest region, including Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. They, too, participated in a 2-day workshop with a guest conductor and a final concert. There were about 250 students in the All Northwest choir.
Photo (L-R): Juliana Meyer, Leo Peck and Attianna Cabato.
Twenty-one BHS choir students (and nine chaperones) are headed to New York during spring break! Watch for highlights in a future We Are Bremerton community e-newsletter!
Yet more music news!
BHS grad returns to Bremerton and shares her love of music with students!
Kathryn Donaldson (photo, right), a 1999 Bremerton High School graduate, always knew she wanted to be a teacher. Both of her parents were educators in the Bremerton School District. It was after taking choir at Bremerton Junior High that she decided she wanted to be a music teacher.
After 17 years of teaching middle school choir and theatre and high school theatre in Colorado, Kathryn moved back to Bremerton to be closer to her family and joined the District last year as a music teacher at Kitsap Lake Elementary (KLE).
High on her list of goals at Kitsap Lake Elementary: starting a student choir! Starting in November, students in grades 3-5 stayed after school to rehearse for their concert which was held in February. KLE choir students also had the opportunity to sing a combined song with the Bremerton High School Choir when they visited Kitsap Lake Elementary for a special Martin Luther King Jr. holiday performance.
The next big project for Ms. Donaldson and the talented students at KLE: Disney's Aladdin Kids production (scheduled for June 1).
Below are a few photos from the KLE choir’s performance in February. Nice work, KLE Eagles! See all photos.
Last but not least...Crownhill Elementary has a new student choir too!
Crownhill Elementary School has a new after school choir for 4th and 5th graders led by Crownhill's new music teacher Liam Near.
Crownhill choir students performed in a holiday concert before winter break and sang "Reach Out With A Kind-Hearted Hand" at an assembly for kindness week in February. We invite you to check out the video below!
You are sounding great, Crownhill Huskies!
Bremerton High School Ukrainian student shares his story
Maksym (Maxim) Stepansky is a 15-year-old student attending Bremerton High School from Dnipro, Ukraine.
Maksym was born, raised and lived - as he describes it - a wonderful life in Ukraine until February 24, 2022.
He came to the United States with his mother under the U4U program. The rest of his family remains in Ukraine. His father is a professor of microbiology and epidemiology and the Ambassador of the American Society for Microbiology for Ukraine. He works at a medical university and provides microbiological care to the wounded. His brother is a dentist and works in a children's hospital and also treats wounded soldiers. His grandmother is a family doctor.
Maksym's dream is to study medicine at a prestigious university. He actively studies American culture, English language, and US history and is a member of the American Society for Microbiology.
Thank you, voters!
You may have noticed that we have new electronic readerboards at most of our schools. These readerboards can be updated quickly and easily (no ladder required!) and provide timely information for families and community members. These boards were purchased with Capital Levy dollars. Thank you voters!
Don't miss BHS Performing Arts production of "Our Town" this weekend!
March 10th, 11th & 12th
- Friday & Saturday at 7:00 pm
- Sunday matinee at 2:00 pm
Tickets will be sold at the door (cash or check only).
- General Admission - $8
- Under 12, seniors and students w/ ASB - $5
Join our team!
Stay informed!
Community multi-use sports complex updates & information
The Bremerton School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employee(s) has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Garth Steedman at 360.473.1031 or the Section 504 Coordinator, John Welsh at 360.473.1012 Mailing address: 134 Marion Avenue North, Bremerton, WA 98312.
Bremerton School District
Email: communications@bremertonschools.org
Website: www.BremertonSchools.org
Location: 134 Marion Avenue North, Bremerton, WA, USA
Phone: 360-473-1000
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