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Bill Wright packs it in after 30 years

by Jack Kintner

“A thirty year BorderWright,” says the invitation to Bill Wright’s retirement bash, set for Saturday, June 5, at the Silver Reef Casino.
When the Port Angeles native and Central Washington University graduate came to teach in Blaine he was sure it was just for a year, “but here I am,” he said, all these years later.

In his 30 years teaching, 20 in the middle school and the last 10 in grade five, Wright’s been involved beyond the classroom in several ways. In 1990 he led a successful effort to get a grand piano for the then-new Performing Arts Center. In 1993 he raised money through local banks for the elementary school playground set.

He started the Math Olympiad in 1981 in Blaine which soon included all of Whatcom County. “The first contest had 29 teams now it has over 200 just from this county,” he said.

Wright coached girl’s varsity volleyball for 17 years, playing for the state championship in 1986. “We beat Nooksack in the district playoffs but lost to them a week later at the state finals,” he said. He brought the scholarship fundraising campaign known as Dollars for Scholars to Blaine in 1995 and since then has helped raise over $150,000 in nine years.

His wife Kathy, he said, “teaches home economics, although now they call it Family and Consumer Education.” They have two boys, Will and Greg, and a daughter Leah, all of whom graduated from Blaine.
Wright said he plans to devote his time to his travel business and selling real estate for Bay Properties, and hopes to teach one day a week in a job-sharing arrangement with another teacher who wants a four-day week.

People planning on joining the Wrights at Bill’s retirement party need to RSVP by June 1. For more information call Sandy Kuttel at 332-5213.

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