Congratulations to all the members of the first ever Bishop Blanchet Math Team: Kathryn Adkisson (10), Renjie Chen (11), Ailee Chung (11), Tony Huang (11), Nguyen Huynh (11), Seiwon An (11), Taolin Liu (11), Roshan Selden (11), Ky Nguyen (12), Emilee Oquist (9), Joy Wang (10), and Helen Wu (11). After competing in the Northwest Math League meets and the Washington State Math Council Annual Competition, three of our members have qualified for the state meet! The following students will compete at Central Washington University on Saturday, April 23rd: Nguyen Huynh (11), Seiwon An (11), and Renjie Chen (11).

Bishop Blanchet's first-ever Math Team!

Robotics Competition 

The BraveBots robotics team (Team 4682) competed March 12th and 13th at Glacier Peak High School against 37 other teams. The Bravebots finished with five wins, six losses and one tie. The team had a slow start and gained momentum as the weekend progressed.

 

The team then competed at Mount Vernon on March 19th and 20th against 34 other teams. They finished with nine wins and three losses. The BraveBots, under the driving team of Lorenzo Tamez (9), Cormac Brown (10) and Annie Mae Foley (10) and with the support of the rest of the team - Robbie Barrett (12), Will Marchand (10), Daniel Deubler (10), Andrew Gilbrough (11), Sam Kallick (10), Alec Misenti (10), Brendan Nenninger (10), Phil Steinke (10), Steven Cho (11), Elise Valdez (11) and Johana Warrick (11), finished the qualifying matches in 3rd place which qualified them as the 3rd alliance team. Team 4682-BraveBots can be proud that they competed in the quarter finals.

 

At the competition, the BraveBots earned the Industrial Design Award! This award celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine (robot) that effectively addresses the game challenge. This award is the culmination of many hours, days and weeks of hard work by Team 4682-BraveBots.

Team 4682-BraveBots won the Industrial Design Award!

Japanese Week 

The Japanese Club, under the leadership of Ms. Watanabe, put on a wonderful Japanese week introducing the student body to  Japanese culture through decorations, Kanji letters, food and games.

Latin Week

The Latin Club, led by classics teacher Ms. McFarland, hosted the 2nd Annual Latin Week. The activities of the week introduced students to the Latin language through morning reflections, trivia, and Latin-inspired words posted around school. It was a great opportunity to educate the student body on the many ways Latin has influenced American society.  Latin forms the basis of many world languages.  The use of Latin words permeates many fields including science, medicine and law. It, of course, is still alive and well within the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church.

Talent Show

Once again, BBHS students displayed their incredible talents at the annual talent show. 

The student newspaper, The Miter, produces on-line news covering the latest events at Bishop Blanchet.  With features on spring sports, the talent show, the robotics team, and Latin Week, your on-line student newspaper is ready for you: http://themiter.org.
 

The dance team has had a busy and successful year. They competed at three regional competitions. They qualified for districts and placed third at the competition. This qualified them for the WIAA State Tournament this past weekend in Yakima, competing in the 1A/2A/3A Division. The team finished 7th overall in 3A schools in the state! Their hard work and dedication definitely paid off and they truly represented the Bishop Blanchet community.

Bishop Blanchet took 19 students, one administrator and one dance team advisor to the Students of Color Conference held in Everett. This is the first time that Bishop Blanchet has been invited. They were the only school from King County and the only Catholic School represented.  Students of the newly formed  BBHS Black Student Union (2015-16), BBHS Diversity Club and BBHS Dance Team participated with more than 2,000  students of color from all over Snohomish County. The Bishop Blanchet Dance Team, along with the Contagious Dance Company (both coached by Albee Abigania) performed as the entertainment for the event

The keynote speaker Dr. Erin Jones, Superintendent of Tacoma Schools, spoke to the importance of never settling for the status quo, but to strive to be more than that, to attend college, make something of yourself and make a difference in the world.  Students were also able to attend workshops including entrepreneurship, leadership, how to navigate the college application process and many more.

The 2nd Annual Blanchet Rock Against Cancer Concert was held Friday, March 18, in the Ernie Rose Activities Center. This fundraiser is student-­driven, spearheaded by Gunnar Streuli (11). One-hundred percent of the proceeds went to charities: Cancer for College and the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Bands featured this year were Mason Turner and The Reign, Filament Wire: ­ Malcolm McDowall (11), Ryan Norwine (11), and Gunnar Streuli (11) ­and Licentia: Felix Halverson (9) and Liam Tracey (9). 

Congratulations to Kyle Joyce (11) and Cole Lunde (11) who both recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Eagle Scout  is the highest  achievement  or rank attainable in the  Boy Scouting  program of the  Boy Scouts of America  (BSA). Only about 5% of Scouts ever achieve the Eagle rank. Great job, Kyle and Cole! 

Kyle Joyce (11)

Cole Lunde (11)

This Hunger Retreat is open to all students and responds to the Lenten call of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Held during Lent, the retreat consists of a 24 hour fast, community service, and education and advocacy for the poor and hungry. The retreat is student-led, and is sponsored by the school's St. Vincent de Paul Society.

During the retreat, BBHS hosted a Poverty Simulation put on by Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry. Students, parents, and some younger siblings participated in the simulation to understand what it might be like to live in a low-income family trying to survive month to month. After the simulation, the group came together to discuss challenges of living in poverty and ways our community can help.

The BBHS Improv team competed at the Seattle Open competition at Jet City Improv in the University District, earning second place. Congratulations to the following Improv Team members:  Michael Alinger (12), Kenzie Pyle (11), Dean Chrisafis (12), Braden Thole (12), Felix Halverson (9), Marcus Covington (11), Maddy Brown (9), Leah McIntyre (9), Sam Zink (9), Tomas Alvarez (11), Emma Facer (10)  and Lawrence McDonell (11).

Development

Faculty/Staff

Madden Science

BBHS Science teacher Mr. Madden has been developing his own videos to explain complicated science concepts. His students can use these videos as study aids in his course. Here is a sampling of his videos that make science a little more fun and a little easier to digest. 

Mass vs. Weight	Biomimicry - Life's Principles
Why do leaves change color in the fall?	Momentum Concepts

Remembering Basketball Coach Don Zech

Former Blanchet coach Don Zech passed away at the age of 83. Zech led the Blanchet High boys' basketball team to an undefeated season en route to the 1963 Class 4A state title. Following his years as a coach at Blanchet, he spent six years coach at the University of Washington and then 21 years at the University of Puget Sound, leading them to the 1976 Division II National Title. He recruited 10 college players who later played in the NBA. Before his retirement, Zech won four West Coast Coach of the Year awards, two GNC Coach of the Year honors and was named the NABC National Coach of the Year in 1976. You can read more about his life and career in the Seattle Times. 

Form BBHS Coach Don Zech holding the 1963 4A State Championship Trophy.