This year, the auction co-chairs, Emily Dienst and Kendall Leith, along with their decorations committee, headed by Laura Reynolds and Robin Tyner and display chair, Malynda Potter transformed the dome into the ultimate underwater setting, complete with handcrafted sea creatures (which were in high demand by the night’s end)! Kudos to Emily and Kendall, our magnificent co-chairs! Their leadership was extraordinary.

Although the final numbers are not in, it’s clear the Parent Association took a big step toward fulfilling their five-year pledge to the Language and Performing Arts Center campaign.  The Parent Association is extremely grateful for all of the generous bidding. All the beautiful blown glass centerpieces were sold, as were almost all of the silent auction items. Class projects, once again, stole the show during our fast-paced live auction. Other rave reviews included the scrumptious paella and the specialty cocktail (Ymm)!

To get a glimpse of the evening, click here to view beautiful pictures taken by auction volunteer, Shawna Grieben.

Last chance to support the auction
A few great items remain from the Auction and the Parent Association is hosting a brief post-auction sale in the Tarrier House on April 9th from 8:00am until 10:30am. Come check out the bargains!

Click here to watch a time-lapse video of construction.

Meanwhile, the Parent Association’s annual Wright Spirit Auction and Dinner is coming up on Saturday, March 21, at 5pm.  The event will raise funds to fulfill the Parent Association’s pledge to support construction of the new Language and Performing Arts Center.  For those headed to the auction, two important questions remain: What to buy and what to wear?

This year’s invitation suggestions guests come in “comfortable attire” but some people consider tuxedos comfortable and others define comfortable as sweat pants and flip flops (who wouldn’t, really) so the volunteers who put together the annual Wright Stuff Rummage Sale created this online photo gallery to guide your fashion choices.  Click here to see what these parents define as comfortable attire.

The following advise has also been offered: For women, you’ll probably still see a few cocktail dresses, but you’ll also see more casual dresses and dressy pants, as well.  Men’s outfits will probably range from suits to khakis and collared shirts.

Auction books are going in the mail this week to those who submitted their RSVPs. There is tremendous variety this year with items valued from $10 to $15,000.  Bidding on silent auction tables will start closing as early as 6:15pm, so if you’re looking for great deals come early!  Click here for a pdf of the auction catalog.

One of the most exciting auction items this year is seats for a first-of-its-kind, unforgettable evening featuring student performers from all three divisions all rolled into the opening night of the US Winter Musical in the new Language and Performing Arts Center.  On February 4, 2010, audience members will enjoy a delicious dinner while seated at stage-side tables and served by members of the cast in true dinner theater style.  Be prepared for the unexpected as actors engage the audience as an integral part of the evening’s show.  Tables for ten will be sold at the auction and rumor has it the bidding will start at $500 a table.  A limited number of tables are available, so get your friends together now and make plans to buy a table together!  This family-friendly evening is sponsored by the CWA Board of Trustees.

Here’s a sampling of the other great items on the block this year:

Live Auction: The beautiful outdoors without the work!  Let Outdoor Ed do it!
Get into the great outdoors for three glorious days without the effort of carrying all the necessary equipment.  Highly trained, experienced, outdoor education professionals will carry the gear; cook gourmet trail meals, set up and break down camp, and guide the hikers.  Hikers will be required to merely carry a day-pack with personal items and a snack for lunch.  Here is your chance to get the teachers to carry your stuff!  Preferred dates are August 14-16, 2009, but another date can be arranged if mutually agreeable.  Expires 3/21/10.  Value: Priceless.  Thank you CWA Outdoor Education Team!

Live Auction: Love that Log Cabin
What fun your family will have at a log cabin getaway for five nights in Packwood!  This relaxing mini-vacation is at a four-bedroom (one king, one double, one bunk bed and two twin beds) log cabin in Packwood, Washington.  Enjoy days of skiing at White Pass with this $100 gift certificate, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, or just relaxing by the fire.  In the summer, there is great hiking.  To complete this wonderful package, Laura will send you off with a delicious spaghetti or chili dinner, your choice.  Expires 3/21/10 and must be mutually agreed upon dates.  Value: $1,600.  Thank you Laura and Paul Reynolds!

Live Auction: Hear Me! Hear Me! Deputy Lower School Mayor for a Day!
This is a new tradition you will not want to miss.  Your child(ren) will be Deputy Mayor for the day, assisting Mayor Diane Hunt with the schedule of the weekly town meeting.  They will choose the opening song, distribute birthday cookies, recognize people who’ve lost teeth, share a story or message, recite a poem, offer a “save the planet” suggestion and choose the exit music!  Expires 6/5/09.  Value: Priceless.  Thank you Lower School Head Diane Hunt!

Live Auction: Come to the Table – an Exclusive Dining Table and Chairs by Doug Granum
“The Soul of Charles Wright” is a unique dining table with ladder back benches and jewels, created by Douglas Granum and dedicated to his dear friend, Sam Brown.  Created and formed from the acacia-like western elms that once stood on the site of the old Lower School, the wood for this one-of-a-kind suite was air-dried for three years.  The wood from these fine old trees is imbued with the souls of generations of exuberant Charles Wright children.  This suite is composed of holly, cherry and western elm, which has been hand-rubbed with ten coats of heated oils.  The set is encrusted with ruby, emerald, diamond, sapphire and other gems.  This heirloom piece is form and function at the highest level.  It is a work of art and is the only one on the planet, never to be replicated by virtue of its provenance at Charles Wright, as well as the completely unique character of the wood.  These works have been given the ultimate attention to detail with the love of the soul of the trees.  Value: $15,000.  Thank you Douglas Granum!

Over in the silent auction you’ll find all sorts of things that would probably be part of the live auction at a lot of other events.  Check these out:

Sea Star Tables (closing at 6:15pm): Beautiful Mt. Rainier Inn
Enjoy a spring fling at the newly renovated Mt. Rainier National Park Inn.  Before April 30, you and a guest can be treated to a one night stay for two (one room), and breakfast the next morning.  Spend some time in the spring sun with your use of either cross-country skis or snowshoes for the day (through March).  Expires 4/30/09.  Valid only Sunday through Thursday.  Holidays excluded.  Value: $195  Thank you Cindy Grady!

Tropical Fish Tables (closing at 6:35pm): They Can Put Out Your Candles!
Host a birthday party at the University Place Fire Station!  Ten children will enjoy a party at the station and receive a bag of fire department goodies, a tour of the station, ride in the fire engine, squirt a fire hose and try on fire fighting gear!  Expires 3/21/09.  Birthday child must be between the ages of five (turning six) and nine (turning ten).  Party must be scheduled at least two months in advance and held Wednesday through Saturday.  Value: $150.  Thank you University Place Fire Department!

Seahorse Tables (closing at 6:55pm): Sam and Nathalie Brown Memorial Basket
‘Lillegaard’ is a shady spot basket of wildflowers, mosses and ferns from our Lillegaard woods – all perennials!  Enjoy trilliums, digitalis, pulmonaria, campanula, ajuga and licorice fern.  Value: $300.  Thank you Wayne and Dee Knight!

Jellyfish Tables (closing at 7:10pm): PNW Seafood Feast for Ten
A Pacific Northwest feast including steamed clams, fresh barbecued oysters, fresh salmon and Alaskan halibut.  This complete feast starts with appetizers and culminates with delish desserts done with fresh items from the Pacific Northwest.

1. Visit the “Enrolled Families” section of the new-and-improved www.charleswright.org. From there you can visit the Parent Association and learn about all sorts of activities, including Wright Stuff! When your friends ask about what WS wants donated, you can point them to this section of the site. Let’s end TV dumping in 2009!

2. Break out your favorite recipes and plan when you can bring something to share for lunch some Wednesday at the Farmhouse (January 7 included). We look forward to an entrée, lunch, and salad each week! (You are always welcome to borrow a crock pot use the roasting oven for this.)

3. Enjoy all the gifts you bought from W.S. for yourself and others this season! (And don’t be bashful about saying where you got these things, and what incredible prices they were!)

Since 1975, Judy has patiently helped every Lower School student find his or her own voice.  She has taught more than 1,300 young Tarriers – including multiple generations of some local families – to love music and to perform with skill and confidence.  Her students have grown up to be opera singers and rock stars, doctors and lawyers, scholars and athletes, but whatever their path, they all carry with them into the world Judy’s passion for music.

We are so very fortunate to have Judy with us.  She is highly regarded as a guest conductor and as a workshop and choral clinician. In 1991, she founded the Tacoma Youth Chorus, a select, auditioned youth choir program. Well known through the Puget Sound area, TYC now serves over 240 musically gifted boys and girls.

She writes, edits publishes choral compositions and arrangements.  She has served as president of the Washington-American Choral Directors Association. She has conducted all-state honor choirs and festivals all over the world.  Last year she was selected as the guest conductor for the Western American Choral Directors Association Junior High Honor Choir, a prestigious national recognition.

The important role Judy plays in the life of this school has been recognized in many ways over the years.  She served as performing arts department chair for several years. In 1991 she received the Parent Association’s Distinguished Faculty Award, one of the greatest honors for any teacher at this school.

In recognition for her 34 years of service to Charles Wright and the impact she has made on so many students, the choral music room in the new Language and Performing Arts center will be named in honor of Judy Herrington.

As construction continues on the new building and we prepare for the grand opening next September, the school’s leaders look forward to announcing how other beloved teachers will be honored in the naming of Language and Performing Arts Center.  If you would like make a gift in honor of someone who has made a special impact in your life or the life of your children, we would be happy to help you make that recognition possible.  Completing the campaign to build this facility supports the outstanding music program available for all our children here at CWA.

Construction Update
Construction continues on schedule for completion by June 2009 with the grand opening scheduled for September 2009.  The performing arts classrooms and black-box studio on the upper level of the building are nearly all framed in.  This area is now under cover and construction crews will be working throughout the winter inside this dry and (somewhat) warm space.

Steel components for the hallway and base flooring for the performing arts classrooms on the lower floor began arriving this morning.  As the steel is installed, the front of the building will begin to take shape.  By the end of December, students, faculty, parents and visitors to campus will have a very good sense of what the building will look like in its final form.

Campaign Update
Faculty members were among the first to step forward this fall and make pledges to the capital campaign.  In the Lower and Middle Schools, 100% of the school’s teachers have made a pledge.  In the Upper School, 93% have made a gift.

Many parents are getting on board too.  Their participation levels are currently: Lower School 49%, Middle School 37%, and Upper School 38%.

The very first gift to the capital campaign was a pledge from the Parent Association and the group took one step closer to delivering on that pledge last month when they raised more than $58,000 at the Wright Stuff rummage sale.

Teachers and parents have also been extremely generous in their gifts to the Annual Fund this year.  In the Lower School, 91% of teachers and 61% of parents have made gifts.  In the Middle School, 100% of faculty and 49% of families have donated to the Annual Fund.  In the Upper School, 95% of teachers and 50% of parents have given.

Click here to make your gift online.

Wright Stuff has seen many new faces over the last few weeks! In addition to inviting everyone to stop by the Farmhouse to lend a hand, we’ve been inviting classes of parents in, grade-by-grade, to join us for a day, learn about the rummage sale, and enjoy each other’s company. We’ve been rewarded with new additions to our family of “Farmhouse Folk” that enjoy the thrill of the treasure-hunt. Look forward to your class invitation via newsletter or email!

We have just a few weeks before Charles Wright presents the largest rummage sale in the South Sound. Our warehouse is bulging with items that have been lovingly sorted, cleaned, priced and packed. Before long you’ll see signs and reminders to come help with set-up (November 1-6) and the sale (November 8 & 9). Please consider spending some time on this fabulous fundraiser – you’ll be alongside parents, teachers, and other members of the CWA community. Remember – working just 8 hours gets you into the presale on Friday, November 7!

We have jobs to suit every talent, so let us know what you like to do. Email Sue Carson at cwarummage@gmail.com and let her know you’ll be there!

The upper level slab has been poured.  It underlies the theater, scene shop and performing arts classrooms.  While framing of the upper level continues, preparations are underway to pour the lower level slab later this month.  Despite the arrival of fall rains, construction is running right on schedule and work on the lobby will begin in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, alumni all over the country are getting in on the action.  This fall events were held in New York City, Boston, Denver, Seattle and Portland to celebrate the start of construction.  CWA Chaplain Mike Moffitt has produced a short movie on the history of the Language and Performing Arts at Charles Wright with photos and videos of many alums, current faculty and former teachers.  Click here to watch the movie on Charles Wright’s website.

You too can be part of this amazing project.  Click here to make your gift, just like all the Middle School teachers have done!

Here’s a few photos from those alumni events around the country.

Parent volunteer Kari Whitney reports:

Volunteers continue to sort rummage at the CWA farmhouse on a weekly basis. The contributions seem to break record levels this year! Thank you to everyone who has given us their gently-used goods and thank you to those who have exercised patience with our packed receiving room that is emptied weekly during Wednesday sorts.

I received a nice email from a new family this year.  They wrote:

I’m a new grandparent. I know nothing about what kinds of things are included in this event.  I understand I can help out on Wednesdays. My specific question for you:  I recently retired from the “rag business,” a designer of high end clothing.  I have a closet full of unworn, new garments and question whether there would be a place for such things at the sale.

Thanks for asking! There is most definitely a place for such items! In fact, this summer we received several boxes of unworn sample pieces from a woman who used to partner in a clothing business. We’re very happy to receive these items, and our customers look forward to finding such treasures!

The sale fills the Tarrier Dome with everything from clothing to housewares, books to sporting goods, holiday décor to office supplies, toys and much more. The best of everything goes into a special limited-access section called “Best” where one can find high-end and new apparel, fine jewelry, re-giftable toys, and so-on.

Please feel free to bring them to Wright Stuff. As you know, we sort, price and pack on Wednesdays during the school day (more days to be added soon!), but our “receiving room” is open 24/7. The Wright Stuff Farmhouse is located in the maintenance lot – the last right-turn before you leave campus.

(I asked the sender if I could blog her email. She responded, “I appreciate your quick response. Please print whatever message you find appropriate. I look forward to being part of the school’s support.” Thank you, sender, for your support and enthusiasm!)

Leon Phillips, who moved his office up to the Upper School and will be teaching both Middle School and Upper School math this year, started a top ten list on the whiteboard in the faculty lounge of ways to cope with shared offices and classrooms. This list has grown with the additions of countless teachers and we thought we’d share a few of our favorites:

4) Rainbow Week – go to whatever class, whenever.

7) Downsize – use only golf pencils and post-it notes.

9) 5 Words – Honey, I shrunk the kids.

10) Declare yourself a Mobile Classroom – let them come to you!

11a) Go on an all-garlic diet – people will give you all the space you want.

11b) Microwave your classes – 45 minute lessons in two minutes.

12) Check out library video: “Contortionists in the classroom – a teacher’s guide to fitting in.”

13) Have outdoor ed all year.

Clever as these suggestions are, they may prove unnecessary. Administrators have arranged the class schedules to minimize the impact on both students and faculty.

Meanwhile, construction work is right on schedule at the new site of the new building. Last week, crews poured 320 cubic yards of concrete in just one day as they laid out new sidewalks, footings and retention walls.

This week the massive piles of dirt that resembled Mount Rainier are disappearing. The driveway loop between the Middle School and Upper School should reopen before school starts.

CWA’s Director of Finance and Operations, Mike Doidge, reassures everyone that there is no truth to the rumor that one too many walls was removed from the old West Wing. In fact, an interior wall had to be removed to build the new exterior wall.

Crews have been busy at the other end of campus too. New poles have been installed at the athletic fields to fly the state and national flags. The Dome gym is getting a new roof, remodeled ceiling, new floor, and handful of other improvements that really improve the facility for both physical education classes and the athletic program.

Access to the Upper School is now limited to the east entry doors and science wing. The main sidewalk between the Upper School and Middle School is closed.

Visitors to the Middle School and Upper School will be directed to park in Lower School visitor parking and directed up the stairs between the buildings to the main Middle School entry or the Upper School east entry. Parking is still available along side the Wight gym.

Campus administrators expect that work in this area will be completed in August. The road and the main doors to the Upper School should reopen before school begins.