Zach Santos Ufkes '11

Zach and the The Zach Santos Band released a new album, Portraits in the Rain, in February 2021. Learn more, listen, and support Zach Santos Band here.

Sawyer Best '14

Sawyer Best '14 has a passion for preserving history and is keeping Seattle’s rare theater organs alive. Discover how this dedicated individual’s labor of love is helping maintain a piece of musical history, ensuring the legacy of these magnificent instruments continues for generations to come. 

Read more about Sawyer's work in this area>>

Ruby Pope '14

Ruby Pope '14 started her own streetwear line Ruby Laine Apparel last year at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (her junior year of high school). She is currently running this business as a senior with a lot of success! You can shop online, check them out on Facebook, or visit the brick and mortar shop in Ballard.

Nina Hartman, '03

   "After attending Bertschi School, I went to middle and high school at Seattle Academy. During my       senior year, my art teachers urged me to apply to Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), so I did, and miraculously, I got in. I think a lot of my passion for art was discovered during my art classes at Bertschi. I went to RISD for four years, completing my BFA in Jewelry & Metalsmithing and Concentration in Nature, Culture, and Sustainability Studies. Now I'm back in Seattle setting up my own jewelry studio, submitting my work to galleries all over the world, and working for a jewelry supply company and an art jeweler on the side. My recent work can be seen at nina-raizel.com."

Annika Weber '15

From Bertschi School green team member to award-winning environmental activist! Annika was as 2022 recipient of the Brower Youth Awards in recognition of her efforts to organize and advocate for carbon neutrality.

Read more about Annika's project and work in this area>>

 

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Audrey Western, ‘07

Audrey graduated from University Prep and shared the Bertschi experience with her sister Vivienne. In her years since Bertschi School, Audrey has become a champion in the race to save our city's honeybees. "I got interested in beekeeping when I read an article in National Geographic about colony collapse disorder and how important bees are to our food supply," says Audrey. "I wanted to do my part to help, plus I like honey."

At age 13, Audrey began attending Puget Sound Beekeepers classes. Working with her local mentor, Corky Luster of Ballard Bee Co., Audrey got her family involved in her project; her grandfather helped build two hives while her mother helped paint them. "I think my interest goes back to Bertschi kindergarten when I had Anne as a teacher and we had chicks, a highlight of my school years and something I will always remember," says Audrey.

Today, Audrey keeps two hives. She sells a few jars of honey at Volunteer Park Cafe, and donates the proceeds to Pollinator Pathways, a group that works to make Seattle more green.

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Louisa Gaylord, 1992-96

Louisa lives and works in Seattle. She studied English and Journalism at Clark University in Worcester, MA, and has experience writing, editing, and photographing for newspapers, magazines, blogs, and private companies. She is interested in most things that fall under the "sustainable" umbrella: recycling, green architecture and engineering, new uses for plastics, ocean preservation, among other things. Check out her blog post on the certification of Bertschi's Living Building Science Wing.

Lily Wong, '14

Lily Wong '14 is confronting Anti-Asian Hate through dance. We applaud Lily for embodying one of the most important lessons at Bertschi School: the lesson of being an upstander instead of a bystander when witnessing a wrong against any member of our community. Bertschi stands in solidarity with Lily and our AAPI families and their children.

 

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Naomi Fina '15 & Cal Phinney '16

Naomi Fina '15 and Cal Phinney '16 started their Ultimate frisbee career at Bertschi, and it recently took them all the way to the Ultimate Frisbee world championship. Both graduates of The Northwest School in Seattle, Naomi and Cal were on the U20 Junior Women's and Open teams who won Gold at the World Junior Ultimate Championships this summer in Poland. We are so proud of our Ultimate alumni!

Pictured top left: Naomi and dad, Steve

Pictured bottom left: Cal at the team (he's top center, just to the right of the trophy).

Emma Grossman, ‘13

Emma enjoyed SAAS immensely and pursued her interest in dance through the SAAS Dance Project and All That Dance. She kept a busy schedule, taking classes five days a week while keeping up her straight A status, making new friends at SAAS, and staying connected with Bertschi friends.

Barbara Blackburn, 1978-1982

"I am one of the early Bertschi Kids; I attended in the 1970s along with my two step-sisters who still live in the Seattle area.

Today, I am an attorney practicing employment law in California. I still frequently visit my family in Seattle and have never forgotten my time at the school. I remember how amazing Brigitte and the other staff and educators were at Bertschi. Please say 'hi' for me!"

Ben Sanders ‘12

Ben is an actor, dancer, and singer. He trained at the KidStage Institute at the Village Theatre in Issaquah, All That Dance dancing studio in Seattle, Redmond Academy of Performing Arts in Redmond, and Seattle Talent in Seattle. In January 2013, Ben's performances as a stand-up comic and as a "Gangnam" dancer were very well received at the Showcase of the International Presentation of Performers (IPOP!) at the Hyatt Regency in Los Angeles. While performing is his passion, Ben also rock climbs, has a black belt in Kung Fu, and plays ultimate Frisbee and baseball. Click here to watch his stand up performance at the Hyatt Regency in Los Angeles in front of a crowd of 1,500 people.

Julia Laurence, ‘05

Julia graduated from Lakeside School where she studied Spanish, wrote and drew comics for the school newspaper, and enjoyed a month-long canoe and backpack trip through Canyonlands, Utah as part of an English elective. Her Varsity Girls Lacrosse team became 2013 Washington State Champions! Currently, Julia is enrolled as an undergraduate at Stanford University. She says, "I am part of the a cappella group, The Stanford Harmonics, and I am planning on joining the club lacrosse team here. I am currently taking classes in Arabic, theater, politics, and education policy. I am also interested in economics and human rights issues. I can't wait to catch up with my fellow Bertschi classmates in the future!"

Anna Tupper-Bridges, 1998-2002

Anna graduated Wellesley College, studying Political Science and Religion. She recently returned from the University of Oxford, where she studied for a year. At Wellesley, she ran for the Varsity Cross-Country and Track teams, and was the head copy editor for the Wellesley News. To this day, she credits Bertschi with giving her a strong academic foundation and confidence to excel academically.