While students and staff enjoy well-deserved time off during Winter Break, an incredible team of custodial and maintenance staff work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure Port Townsend High School is clean, safe, and ready for learning. From deep-cleaning classrooms to restoring the beauty of our older campus, these unsung heroes embody dedication and pride in their work.
Heidi Johnson, a familiar and beloved face at PTHS since 2018, is widely known for going above and beyond. Whether it’s decorating the campus for every season or playing upbeat music for students in the common areas, Heidi always brings joy to her role. During breaks, however, her focus shifts to projects that can only be tackled when the campus is empty.
“When students and staff are away, we can focus on big projects like shampooing carpets, waxing floors, painting walls, deep sanitizing restrooms, and dusting every surface,” Heidi shared. “We make sure all areas people touch, like rails and tables, are spotless.”
Heidi also takes immense pride in her work. “Especially when school just starts after summer and the floors are so clean they look like glass, it feels awesome! People are almost afraid to step on them,” she added with a laugh. “But the most important thing is creating a nice, clean, and comfortable atmosphere so students can focus on learning and not worry about what isn’t clean.”
Alongside Heidi, custodians Steven Nutter and Kimberly Cortez, and maintenance workers Shane Trammell, Chris Storm, Isaac Way, and Artie Boyd form the hardworking team that keeps PTHS running smoothly. Justin Gray, who oversees the custodial and maintenance operations, highlighted the unique challenges and rewards of maintaining an older campus.
“It’s constantly a challenge, but it’s also something the team takes great pride in. Ensuring the campus looks nice and is clean is incredibly important to us,” Justin said. “During breaks, they can get into areas that are normally occupied and focus on restoration work, electrical, plumbing, and other big projects.”
This dedicated crew ensures that every corner of the school is refreshed and restored, often without anyone seeing the immense effort it takes. Their work creates a welcoming and polished environment for all students and staff to return to after break.
As we approach Winter Break, let’s take a moment to thank Heidi, Steven, Kimberly, Shane, Chris, Isaac, Artie, and the entire team for their hard work and commitment to Port Townsend High School. Their efforts ensure our campus remains a place we’re all proud to call home.
Thank you, custodial and maintenance team, for everything you do!
On Thursday, December 12th schools from all over the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas arrived at Fort Worden for the first regional Knowledge Bowl competition of the season. The event marked the first competition since PTHS won its second consecutive state championship last spring. With much of the state championship team graduating last June, one of the challenges for coach Jeff Taylor has been how best to reconfigure the multiple teams. Often in Knowledge Bowl competitions several teams compete from each school until later in the season to determine the best arrangement of players for the next season.
Competition for PTHS Knowledge Bowl includes familiar foes such as 3A Central Kitsap, 2A Sequim and Port Angeles, Chimacum, and Quilcene, as well as schools from much further out like Clallam Bay and North Mason.
For the home event just a few miles from the PTHS campus, the Redhawks brought six teams to the competition, twice as many as any other school. For the first competition, Coach Taylor took the approach of arranging teams as balanced as possible in terms of skill level and age experience. Veteran competitors helped the team by mentoring freshman players with little to no competition experience.
Out of the 30 teams that competed, all six PTHS teams finished in the top half of the competition, with our top Redhawk team finishing 6th and all of the rest following closely behind within 10 points. Considering the approach from most of the competing schools who placed their most veteran players on their top team, finishing 6th was a significant feat!
The Knowledge Bowl team's next competition is in January, followed by the state tournament qualifier in February. Coach Taylor plans to use the January competition to further refine the teams to compete for the 1A state spot in February.
Stay tuned for future articles following the Redhawk Knowledge Bowl season! We'll go into more depth about what competitions look like and provide updates on our progress!
Does your high school junior need help charting a path for life after graduation? Do they have a career interest but feel unsure about where to start? Here’s a surprising fact: In 2023, Washington State families left approximately $65 million in federal Pell grants unused because they didn’t complete the FAFSA. That’s a significant amount of missed financial aid that could support students in achieving their dreams.
To assist students in identifying and pursuing their next steps, Future Finder is back at Port Townsend High School. This five-session series will take place during Period 7 on Wednesdays, starting February 12th. Designed for juniors, each session will help students explore career interests, build actionable plans, and learn critical steps to move toward jobs, trades, certifications, or two- and four-year degrees.
Future Finder Highlights:
- Career Panels: Local professionals will share insights about their careers and answer student questions.
- Career Research Tools: Students will learn how to identify the best career or educational pathway to match their goals.
- Financial Planning: Detailed information on funding options, including FAFSA, scholarships, and grants, will ensure students know how to make their plans affordable.
Dates:
- February 12, February 26, March 12, March 26
- A final session will take place in May or early June.
By the end of the series, participants will leave with clear, step-by-step plans to execute over the summer and into fall. As one student from last year’s Future Finder put it:
“I appreciate the time put in to help us try to figure out what to do after high school – it is very important!”
Sign Up Today!
Space is limited, so encourage your student to sign up at the PTHS Counseling Office as soon as possible.
The sessions are led by Skillmation volunteers and former business leaders David Rinn and Norm Tonina, both members of the Port Townsend community. To learn more about their professional backgrounds, visit their LinkedIn profiles.
Help your student take the next step toward their future with Future Finder – because the path to success starts with a plan!
About Port Townsend High School
Website: https://highschool.ptschools.org/
Location: 1500 Van Ness Street, Port Townsend, WA, USA
Phone: 360.379.4520
Non-discrimination statement
Port Townsend School District No. 50 does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of race, creed, religion, color, immigration status, national origin, age, honorably-discharged veteran or military status, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, marital status, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. The district provides equal access to the Boy Scouts of America and all other designated youth groups listed in Title 36 of the United States Code as a patriotic society. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:
Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator
Carrie Ehrhardt
1610 Blaine Street
(360) 680-5756
Title IX Officer:
Carrie Ehrhardt
1610 Blaine Street
(360) 680-5756
Section 504/ADA Coordinator
Shelby Macmeekin
1610 Blaine Street
(360) 379-4501
Title IX inquiries may also be directed toward the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR):https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html
