DID YOU KNOW?
Tacoma’s story spans more than two centuries from the time Captain George Vancouver anchored off Tacoma’s north shore in 1792.
In 1870, Tacoma’s natural deep-water port became an attraction that the Northern Pacific Railroad couldn’t pass up, when it made Tacoma a stop on its transcontinental line.
Old Tacoma and New Tacoma merged in 1884 and incorporated as Tacoma. By 1890, the population reached 36,000 people.
Tacoma is home to the Port of Tacoma, the seventh-largest container port in the United States, and it is within 20 miles of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and 36 miles of the city of Seattle.
Gary Petersen,
Assistant Athletic Director Transportation/Upper School History
Gary Petersen teaches criminology in the Upper School and serves as Charles Wright’s transportation director and assistant athletic director. Among current faculty and staff, Petersen has the longest history at Charles Wright. He arrived on campus as a seventh grader in 1963, graduating in 1969 with the last all-boys class. His sister was one of the first five girls to attend CWA the next year to “test the waters.”
Petersen and his classmates were the first Charles Wright students to do senior projects. He worked at Tacoma’s Head Start program which inspired him to study social work in college. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of Wyoming where he founded the first Big Brothers program in Laramie. He earned his masters degree in social work at the University of Utah. Petersen worked in the field of juvenile corrections for ten years before returning to Charles Wright in 1981.
During his tenure, Petersen has also taught physical education, directed the athletic program, and coached softball, basketball, football, tennis and soccer. He is a member of the Cum Laude honor society. His passion, however, is teaching criminology.
“I couldn’t teach this course at any other high school,” Petersen says. “We have really frank discussions with everyone from gang members and ex-convicts to crime victims and judges. During the Green River killer’s trial, we even had Gary Ridgeway’s lead defense attorney come speak to us. This class is all about teaching kids about the consequences of their choices and to hopefully appreciate the lives they have been given.”
Petersen’s course is consistently one of the most popular electives in the Upper School. “I think it’s a real eye-opening experience,” he says, “especially the tour of the Pierce County jail.” A number of students have been inspired to go on to careers in the criminal justice system.
For more than 35 years, Petersen has umpired baseball and softball. He is the chief umpire for Metro Parks of Tacoma’s youth baseball and softball program. He also enjoys playing golf, collecting old records and traveling.
Petersen and his classmates were the first Charles Wright students to do senior projects. He worked at Tacoma’s Head Start program which inspired him to study social work in college. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of Wyoming where he founded the first Big Brothers program in Laramie. He earned his masters degree in social work at the University of Utah. Petersen worked in the field of juvenile corrections for ten years before returning to Charles Wright in 1981.
During his tenure, Petersen has also taught physical education, directed the athletic program, and coached softball, basketball, football, tennis and soccer. He is a member of the Cum Laude honor society. His passion, however, is teaching criminology.
“I couldn’t teach this course at any other high school,” Petersen says. “We have really frank discussions with everyone from gang members and ex-convicts to crime victims and judges. During the Green River killer’s trial, we even had Gary Ridgeway’s lead defense attorney come speak to us. This class is all about teaching kids about the consequences of their choices and to hopefully appreciate the lives they have been given.”
Petersen’s course is consistently one of the most popular electives in the Upper School. “I think it’s a real eye-opening experience,” he says, “especially the tour of the Pierce County jail.” A number of students have been inspired to go on to careers in the criminal justice system.
For more than 35 years, Petersen has umpired baseball and softball. He is the chief umpire for Metro Parks of Tacoma’s youth baseball and softball program. He also enjoys playing golf, collecting old records and traveling.
