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.
Todd Ritchie,
Middle School Counselor
Todd Ritchie is the Middle School counselor. He hopes students will remember him for his ability to listen to them without judgment. Based on play therapy principles, he leads several activities for students at Charles Wright including a Dungeons and Dragons group and a model airplane club for students to build and learn to fly their own plane.
Ritchie holds a bachelors degree from the University of Minnesota and masters in social work from Walla Walla University. Before joining the faculty of Charles Wright in 2007, he worked with special education and high-risk students in Wyoming and Idaho. He also worked with adults learning English in Duluth, Minnesota.
Ritchie has some unusual talents including a funny thing he can do with his lips where he makes his upper lip go one way and his bottom lip go another. He is an avid pilot of single-engine aircraft and a musician who enjoys backcountry skiing, climbing, biking, kite-skiing, swimming and scuba diving. “I enjoy learning new things that are outside my comfort zone,” he explains.
Ritchie holds a bachelors degree from the University of Minnesota and masters in social work from Walla Walla University. Before joining the faculty of Charles Wright in 2007, he worked with special education and high-risk students in Wyoming and Idaho. He also worked with adults learning English in Duluth, Minnesota.
Ritchie has some unusual talents including a funny thing he can do with his lips where he makes his upper lip go one way and his bottom lip go another. He is an avid pilot of single-engine aircraft and a musician who enjoys backcountry skiing, climbing, biking, kite-skiing, swimming and scuba diving. “I enjoy learning new things that are outside my comfort zone,” he explains.
