Tribe helps BI students celebrate school’s new name

The first week held many new beginnings for Bainbridge Island School District students—the x̌alilc Elementary School gathered for a blessing of the school’s new name, 11 new educators started teaching, the city installed safety measures along Sportsman Club Road, and Bainbridge High School received national academic mention.

This year’s kindergarten cohort at x̌alilc on the first day Sept. 8 attended its first assembly, where students learned about the school’s new name from teachers, students from Chief Kitsap Academy and members of the Suquamish Tribe.Principal Whitney Skarbek welcomed tribal members who shared the significance of the name they gifted to the school.

Skarbek read the land acknowledgment, encouraged students to learn more about the people who lived on the land before them, and emphasized the responsibility to treat the gifted name with respect. Josh Bagley, Suquamish Tribe vice chairman and a retired fisherman, thanked the school for changing the name and “wanting to be a part of our culture.”

Joey Holmes, a Suquamish multi-media specialist and member of the school naming committee, taught the students to say “good day” and several other Lushootseed words and introduced the “Blessing Clearing” and “Warrior” songs performed by the dance and song groups. “In our culture, we believe that the language belongs to the land because a lot of these sounds that you’ll hear in our language are mimicking sounds that you hear in nature,” Holmes said.

The students watched and listened intently during the cultural exchange as Denita Holmes, Suquamish tribal treasurer and council member, described the clothing that tribal members were wearing. “Some of us are wearing our wool skirts, and some of us are wearing a cedar hat and Coast Salish elements on our clothing,” Holmes said, “This is our regalia; this is what we used to wear a long time ago.”

Cultural Arts teacher Bearon Old Coyote shared some of the Suquamish culture and traditions and introduced the “Floor Blessing” song where “lady dancers typically would have cedar bows in their hands to clean the floor.”

Students learned that the school’s name came from the marked rock near the school in Agate Pass, which has carvings dating back more than 1,600 years. After the performances, children received snacks and gifts from the tribe to help them remember the day, and Holmes asked them to be a witness. “You’re going go home to your families or to your friends, and tell them what you saw here today,” Holmes said.

Skarbek said, “This was a really special once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

New teachers

BISD welcomed 11 new teachers: Blakely Elementary – Tessa Beckett and Janet Duxbury; x̌alilc Elementary – Kathryn Tibbens; Ordway Elementary – Erin Wiley; Sakai Intermediate School – Evelyn Kilpatrick, Elizabeth Meyers, Anita Watson and Courtney Teddy; Commodore Options School – Wendi Olinger; Woodward Middle School – Marcela Sandoval and Danielle Lin.

New fence

The city and BI Parks District installed a new fence along Sportsman Club Road between Sakai Intermediate School and Island Church to protect students as they walk to their rides in the parking lot to reduce traffic congestion.

Top school

BHS received a national mention in US News & World Report magazine, which ranked it as the 10th best high school in Washington state.