Anthony Jones competing in the USASA 2023 National Championships

A LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

The Mountain Bike Team touring the University of Tennessee

We are in the final stretch of the school year with less than a month to go & the snow has continued to fly. All of our different programs have continued to progress in their sports as well as the classroom with a new school record on the SAT's as well as podium finishes across all of the disciplines. Our juniors have been taking extra time to visit different college campuses around the country to begin the process of narrowing down their selections for next year while our seniors are taking their final steps towards moving on to the next phase in life. With all of the action going on away from our little island in the woods, it has been hard to ignore the meters of snow that continue to pile up on the mountain which currently has us on track to break a 200 inch base this April! Our snow teams are wrapping up their year at the National Championships in Colorado before the top performers head over to Europe to compete against the world's best. The mountain bikers have been busy stacking up more podiums coast to coast from Tennessee to Washington as the skate crew has dominated the local event series before finishing the year in New York City. There are still spots left for the summer semester, but the 2023-2024 school year is almost full so please make sure to confirm your space with Dan Tattersfield prior to departure day.

Mike Hanley
Head of School

ACADEMICS

The March Students of the Month: Joseph Cromwell and Jack Morris

Greetings Wy'East Families,

During the month of March we hosted the SAT on campus and also transported students to a nearby school for the SAT. This spring, one of our students earned the highest SAT score for Wy'East yet. We will be administering the SAT again next fall, so this summer is an excellent time to prepare by taking an SAT prep class. Please reach out if you have not done so already about summer courses. Students who are on campus for at least four weeks this summer have the opportunity to earn Elite PE credit as well.

Throughout the month of March seniors continued to get more and more college acceptance letters. For the third year in a row, 100% of our seniors have been accepted to four-year universities! We are so proud of our Class of 2023 and are excited to send them off with options. Students are currently concentrated on finishing their courses with the best grades possible, as the last day to work on courses is April 26th.

Lastly, congratulations to our Students of the Month for the month of March: Joseph Cromwell and Jack Morris!

Kayla Hokanson
Academic Director

Joe Cromwell is a stellar student and embodies many of the qualities of a Wy’East athlete. He is responsible, reliable, and receptive. Joe shows up, on time, and owns his decisions. When he says he’s going to do something, he does it. When the occasion for feedback or correction arises, Joe listens carefully, asks questions, and moves forward with the new information. Joe has consistently maintained a high level of performance – both academically and in his sport throughout the term. Joe manages the ever-conflicting dance between training, travel, academics, and being a teenager with a grace that is both inspiring and intimidating. Thank you, Joe! You are a force on this campus and we are lucky to have you with us.
-Hannah Eagle

Jack Morris is an amazing athlete and student! His academic performance is above average and he sets the bar high for the expectations of the students on campus. Jack is also a determined and resilient athlete as he continues to become a stronger skier. We are very proud of Jack’s accomplishments in skiing and his outstanding grades and progress in academics. No matter what path Jack chooses after his time at Wy’East, we know he will continue to be successful and reach new heights. Great job, Jack!
-Loren Terry

STUDENT LIFE

Raf, Jack, and Taylor with their winnings—20lbs of candy!

Greetings Wy’East Families,

The month of March was one of our busiest yet. We started the month off with attending Monster Jam at the Moda Center. Students got to see the famous monster truck Gravedigger do some crazy stunts including a backflip! Generally, the way we have weekends set up, students have a rest/campus day and then on Sundays we do an activity. One of the goals of Student Government this year was to give back to our community. For winter term we signed up for the Special Olympics polar plunge and 5k. It was exciting seeing the stoke that student brought to this fundraiser. We are looking forward to future community involvement. In addition, student government has been working closely with administrative staff in planning weekend activities. This past month we took students bouldering at a local rock climbing gym, went to a nickel arcade, played laser tag, went to the movies, mountain biking on some local trails, got lunch at the Portland food carts, and went to the OMSI (science museum). Some weekend activity highlights included making paper airplanes at the science museum, winning over 20lbs of candy at the arcade, and sampling the local cuisine in Portland. When we aren’t doing activities off campus, students utilize the on campus training facilities to further progress in their sport. On weekends, we have set up the airbag for snowboarders and skiers to practice their tricks on and the best part is when the mountain bikers and skaters throw some skis on and hit the dry slope. The culture we currently have on campus is the best yet and we can’t wait for summer term!

Netanya Beard
Dean of Students

CULINARY

The month of March for the Culinary Department was a bit slower for us. Most of the student/athletes were traveling around the country. It was nice to take care of only 5 students for a few days while everyone else was out training and going to tournaments. It was a nice break for us as we tended to some housekeeping items that needed to be done. We kept the food going with breakfast made to order during this time. And with the few students that we had on campus, I treated them to Dairy Queen for lunch one day. With students returning, we ramp up our food production once again and start making the students favorite meals. With Teriyaki Chicken, Steak and Mash Potatoes, Macaroni and Cheese to name a few. At lunch, we have our favorites of McRib Sandwiches, Chicken Tenders (students favorite), Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches. For Breakfast, Eggs Benedict is becoming more of a popular dish. So, I have started to make it weekly for the students. As we head into the final month of Winter Term, I can not wait to showcase the Culinary Department’s finer side of food with our Graduation menu! Hopefully, I will be able to say hello to all that comes.

Travis Gibson
Culinary Director

FREESKI

Dax Watter enjoying a bluebird day of skiing

The Freeski team had a great March that was full of tons of snow and bottomless turns! In Tahoe students competed in the Futures Tour with our very own Hugh MacMenamin taking the top spot! In addition to the excellent performances at Futures, students skied some insane powder in Tahoe. Coming from Tahoe the snow followed us back to Hood where it just didn’t want to stop snowing! We’ve had some unforgettable powder days this month as well as still being able to get some training days in. As we approach the end of the term we are heavily focused on preparing for nationals. Specifically, we have been supporting students with focusing on their competitive mindset as well as dialing in potential comp runs. In addition to preparing for competitions, students have enjoyed many days as well as some night skiing at Skibowl. What makes skibowl special is that their rope tow paired with one of the most creative parks on Mt. Hood. Students were able to utilize the park at Skibowl to learn new tricks, create edits for social media and get a million laps in a 3-4hr pieces. Looking into this next month we are excited for Nationals and starting to plan and ramp up for a great summer term with all this snow!

-Brian, Topher, and Cameron

SNOWBOARD

Brady Campbell competing in the USASA 2023 National Championships

Hello Snowboard Team Families!

We’ve had another awesome month of riding, training, and traveling to new places. Just like the rest of the west coast, the Pacific Northwest has been getting pounded with snow, bringing some epic pow days at both Meadows and Timberline. The team has been taking full advantage of the new snow, working on a more freeride aspect of snowboarding which has been super fun for everyone. Even with all the snow we were still able to make it in the park for those competing to start getting dialed for their USASA National Championships at Copper Mountain in Colorado. The rest of the squad also spent their time training in the park as well with bigger features becoming smaller with the rising snow level.

Mid March we packed up the vans and made the 14 hour drive to Mammoth, California to ride their world class parks and for a couple of our athletes to compete in a REV tour. Unfortunately, Mammoth also is having a record snow year, burying the course and forcing them to cancel the event. Staying true to our beliefs, we turned that obstacle into an opportunity and shifted focus of the trip to “content creation” and preparation for nationals. It took a lot of hard work by Mammoth’s terrain park staff but by day 3 there were three perfect jumps in the medium park, three jumps in the small park, and loads of features throughout the mountain which made something for everyone. We were blessed with 3 blue bird days which brought some awesome content and some defined goggle tans. Another “mammoth” sized storm was supposed to roll in the night before we left, causing us to make the decision to drive part way back home and stay a night in Reno before continuing the journey back to campus.

We came home to some perfect weather and an amazing park set up at Timberline and Meadows. Timberline built a line of decent sized jumps, allowing the ones that wanted to push their limits the resources to do so. We were able to get a few nice weather days at both resorts before, in typical Oregon fashion, it started dumping snow again bringing some of the deepest pow turns and a whole lot of laughs & smiles ripping around Meadows just before nationals competitors departed for Colorado.

We took 7 riders to Nationals to compete against the top riders in the country while the rest of the squad trained with Elijah, and from what it seems, it still hasn’t stopped snowing! The main focus at this point is getting everyone finished up with their classes and ending the semester strong! We wish you all the best and hope you have heard great things from your kids about how the winter semester has played out.

-Stewart and Brandon

MOUNTAIN BIKE

Joseph Cromwell doing a bar spin during the Tennessee National Competition

We had a good March despite being in the full swing of winter in the PNW. The students that had passes went up on the hill and were able to take advantage of the snow. Those that don’t have passes, we spent time in the gym working out and getting ready for the upcoming trip to Windrock, TN for the Tennessee National.

Our trip to Tennessee is one of our personal favorites and this last trip is high on the list for favorite trip of the semester. We were welcomed with warm weather and clear skies. The team took full advantage of the opportunity we had to ride our bikes. There were trials and tribulations at the beginning of the trip with difficult conditions during the Enduro Race and early injuries on the team. Even though we had a tough start to the trip, the students were able to push through those tough times and we had a lot of success on the trip. During the Freestyle Jam, our students were shining in the crowd of participants during the event. Harper ended up winning best trick during the jam and Barb won for the women’s category. That success was carried over to the downhill race with Harper finishing 3rd in cat2/3 15-18 men with Boden coming in 1st in that category. Etan came in 4th in a stacked junior expert category. We hope to carry this success through the rest of the semester and end on a high note.

-Kevin and Asa

SKATEBOARD

Brazen, Miky, and Tag sharing a laugh during training on campus

Hello Skate Families,

I hope everyone has been enjoying their summers and getting lots of skating in. We had a blast with a very busy summer of skate camp. I’ve been working hard to get skate trips planned out for the upcoming school year. The big trips are looking like San Francisco CA in October, Southern CA in November, and Phoenix AZ in December. Each of these trips we will be meeting with industry heads, visiting schools, doing some sightseeing, and skating a ton of stuff. These locations have so much to offer, our exact itinerary will be based on the students' individual goals. I am looking forward to working with the students to help them develop and achieve their long term and short term goals.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. We will be having a parents zoom call to discuss the year in more detail and address any questions here soon. I have no doubt that this school year is going to be epic and can not wait to start skating with everyone!

Brian Johnson