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.
Lydia Valentine,
7th Grade English, Creative Writing, 7th Grade Team Leader
Lydia Valentine teaches seventh grade English and seventh and eighth grade creative writing. “My favorite thing about teaching in the Middle School is that students are given the opportunity to learn and practice skills of resiliency and self-reliance in a way that I have never experienced in other schools,” says Valentine.
Valentine’s favorite quote is from Doug Floyd: “You don’t get harmony when everyone sings the same note.”
“The most important thing I hope to pass on to my students is a belief that we all have a unique voice and that every single one matters,” she says. “Each individual has the responsibility to work to hear the voices of others, to try to appreciate the voices that are out of tune with his or her own, and to strive toward balance every day, even in the greatest times of discord.”
Valentine holds a bachelors degree from Johns Hopkins University. She joined the Charles Wright faculty in 2004 and enjoys reading, writing, photography and scrapbooking. She says, “Working to be a good mom is at the center of everything in my life.”
Visit her web site
Valentine’s favorite quote is from Doug Floyd: “You don’t get harmony when everyone sings the same note.”
“The most important thing I hope to pass on to my students is a belief that we all have a unique voice and that every single one matters,” she says. “Each individual has the responsibility to work to hear the voices of others, to try to appreciate the voices that are out of tune with his or her own, and to strive toward balance every day, even in the greatest times of discord.”
Valentine holds a bachelors degree from Johns Hopkins University. She joined the Charles Wright faculty in 2004 and enjoys reading, writing, photography and scrapbooking. She says, “Working to be a good mom is at the center of everything in my life.”
Visit her web site
