Editor’s note: The spelling of Mason Werbelo’s name is corrected in this version.
SUQUAMISH — For the first 60 minutes, the Chief Kitsap Academy graduation was pretty much like any other high school ceremony.
On June 11, it was raining everywhere else on the peninsula, but the sun was shining on the grounds of Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort as the 15 graduating seniors lined up for their class photo. Then one by one, they passed under the ceremonial arch decorated with cedar boughs and carved paddles as they made their way to the stage beside the shadow of the giant totem pole overlooking Agate Passage.
Some students smiled. Several struck heroic poses. One particularly tall student had to bend to get under the arch.
For the third year in a row, Chief Kitsap Academy has a 100 percent graduation rate.
“There were five seniors in the first [2014] graduating class,” recalled Joe Davalos, superintendent of the Tribe’s education department. “There were 10 last year. And now 15.”
The Suquamish Tribe established the school in 2014, and offers classes in Native history and the Lushootseed language.
Through the school’s version of the Running Start program, five students graduated with 28 hours of college credit. Several were the first in their families to graduate from high school. One student had to learn the English language.
The graduates:
- Carlos Manuel Alegria-Sigo
- Grace Alexander
- Jacob Anderson
- Ty-Quay Bedrosian-Scott
- Cali Castilleja
- Nassyaha Dahl
- Ryan Rosemary Deam
- Yahwillah Ives
- Li-Uk McCloud
- Matias Miguel
- Ronal Miguel III
- Brian Schumann Jr.
- Josh Smith
- Mason Verbell
- Chal-Che-Quin Shadow Williams
Up until the end, the 15 sat through what was a pretty traditional high school graduation ceremony: school officials told them how proud they were of them; the class valedictorian spoke of overcoming challenges; the keynote speaker, Blackfeet storyteller and author Gyasi Ross, reminded them this was only the opening chapter in the story of their lives; their names were called and diplomas given.
Then, instead of closing the ceremony, Principal Fabian Castilleja did something unexpected. He invited any of the students to come up to the podium and speak if they wanted to. They all talked. Except one who was shy.
All spoke of how important their families were in helping them get through.
Jacob Anderson thanked his family. He said life had been tough the past few years. Without his family, he said, he probably wouldn’t be alive to be here today.
“We love you, too, son,” a voice whispered from somewhere in the crowd.
They thanked caring teachers who measured their own success by the success of their students.
In fluent English, Carlos Manuel Alegria-Sigo said he couldn’t speak or write one word of English when he came to the academy two years ago.
“Moving here was the most wonderful, and hardest, day of my life,” he said. “That first day, my teacher and I had to do all of our communicating through Google translator. But they stuck with me.”
They spoke of goals that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
“The next time you see me on this stage,” Ryan Rosemary Deam said, “I’m going to be a teacher.” She paused, smiled at Castilleja and added, “Or maybe the principal.”
Their words spoke to the hearts of Suquamish leaders, and justified the Tribe’s heavy investment in their children’s education at a time when many governments are under-funding their public schools.
“[Chief] Kitsap Academy is gaining the confidence of all,” Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman said after the ceremony.
“They are teaching students our culture, customs, our history and our story — things that were in danger of being lost. We want them to be confident enough to … go outside and take our culture and values to them and then come back [with what they have learned].”
Irene Carper, chief operating officer of Port Madison Enterprises, the Tribe’s economic development arm, added, “We’re really proud of them and the program. They are our future.”
The academy is an accredited grade 6-12 school operated and primarily funded by the Suquamish Tribe. The Tribe directly operates Chief Kitsap Academy, independent of the North Kitsap School District, under a compact with the state. The compact was signed in August 2013, the first in Washington. Since then, the Lummi Nation and Muckleshoot Tribe have compacted with the state to operate their own schools.
Online: For more about the academy, see the Oct 23, 2014 article “Chief Kitsap Academy now operated solely by Suquamish Tribe education department” at www.northkitsapherald.com/news/280254972.html.
