WY’EAST ACADEMY MAY 2022 NEWSLETTER
LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
With another academic year in the books here at Wy'East Academy, it is hard to believe it is summer again. This is even harder to believe when you see that we still have over a twelve foot base of snow up at Mount Hood in May! It is the beginning of a new semester following the amazing graduation ceremony in BOB & we are excited to see some new faces on campus & are looking forward to many more over the course of the next three months. Campus has been getting transformed into camp & the energy is palpable as everyone prepares for a couple thousand visitors to descend on the woods of Oregon. The staff has an amazing summer planned for all of the students making the most of the Pacific Northwest beginning with time on campus before they move up to the heart of it all in Government Camp in June & wrap it all up in August. There are still some spaces left so make sure to reserve your spot. See you soon!
-Mike Hanley
ACADEMICS
Last semester ended on such a high note! Students exceeded the Wy’East Mountain Academy average GPA goal by earning a 3.54 Average GPA. We also had three students graduate with honors–3.5 Cumulative GPA or better. Additionally, 100% of our graduates got accepted into four-year universities! Congratulations again, Class of 2022! May has been an excellent start to the summer semester. With the smaller class size, Barbara has been able to give amazing one-on-one attention! The first month of summer term has been promising—it looks like it will be another summer to remember at Wy'East.
Congratulations to Joe Medley for being the Student of the Month for May. He has worked hard to be ahead of pace in both of his summer courses. He has aced three chemistry lab reports, finished his first exam with an 88%, and has been applying his Spanish lessons to speak to classmates and teachers. He is always first to volunteer to answer questions and support his peers.
-Kayla Hokenson & Barbara Edwards
Student of the month, Joe Medley
RESIDENTIAL
Hello Families! With the kickoff of summer term here at Wy’East Academy the residential team couldn’t be more excited. For summer term we have some familiar faces; Levi Thompson (vibe coach), Barbara Edwards (teacher/life coach), River Wyatt Marsh (medical coordinator) and Luke Giacopelli (Director of Student Experience). We have planned an exciting summer for students on the residential side of things. Our first weekend we spent exploring the Columbia River Gorge and spending an afternoon in Hood River skating and getting dinner at the local Pizzeria. This past weekend we went indoor skydiving, which was an absolute blast! Looking into this next month we will continue to welcome new students and are excited to have many students from during the school year joining us as well! To stay up to date with student life at Wy’East Academy, follow us on social media @wyeastacademy !
-Netanya Beard, Luke Giacopelli, River Wyatt-Marsh & Levi Thompson
SKATEBOARD
Wy'East Academy is proud to welcome in Brian Johnson as our new Director of Skateboarding! Brian comes to us with over 15 years of experience developing youth skate programs in California and Hawaii. Brian will be working hands-on in the development of the skateboard program, recruiting and working with both athletes and coaches. Brian’s outlook on the program revolves around improving skate ability and marketability.
“I love skateboarding and am so incredibly thankful to the people I’ve met and places it has taken me”, says Brian. “ Working for Wy’East Mountain Academy allows me to not only give back to the skate community but help it grow. The academy is a special and unique place where kids get a holistic look at skateboarding. I want to foster a positive environment for our students to set skate/personal goals and accomplish them. I love that campus is amongst the trees and streams at the base of the Mt. Hood, it is surreal to skate in such an incredible place”.
Welcome to the team, Brian!
FREESKI
Welcome to the 2022 Summer semester! It has been great having some students back in the mix this May. We certainly have seen it all as far as weather goes here on the volcano. We have managed to have a pow day or two, plenty of sun and a hint of rain allowing us to embrace all that campus has to offer. Morning stretching and yoga, followed by daily trampoline sessions prior to the mountain have been super beneficial for each student. Just yesterday we fired up the airbag and had a few breakthroughs on some jump tricks that have plans to be taken to snow ASAP. The terrain park will be moving up higher on the mountain next week giving us access to new terrain ideal for progression. With all the late snow we’ve received this season, the summer snow levels are looking amazing. We are excited for more terrain to open up, and more students to join us for what should be an ALL TIME summer semester!
-Brian McCarthy and Topher Newett
SNOWBOARD
With the first two weeks of training complete, we’ve seen every type of weather imaginable up on the mountain. From sunny spring laps, to rain, to 6’’ of fresh snow and everything in between, it hasn't stopped us from achieving goals and pushing our progression. I’ve implemented a new weekly goal sheet this summer that simplifies the process and narrows the focus for each athlete. We start off each Monday by filling out 6 things to work towards accomplishing during the week, and then evaluate the progress on Friday afternoon. It’s been clear to see when their goals have been on the “easy” side because they can get them done on the first day of training, as opposed to a more difficult goal that takes them all week to achieve. The idea is that this process will help them refine their goal setting strategies while celebrating what we call the “small wins” that happen along the way to achieving their long term goals.
We’ve been working trampoline sessions into our daily training either before or after riding, as well as getting sessions in on the air bag, dry slope rail line, and skating. Having time to train more once we are back on campus has been super productive for reaching those goals that everyone is working towards. Speaking of skating, we’ve had the Tactics skate team on campus for a few days filming a video project with their athletes. A big highlight is that Dane was given a new limited release Tactics skate deck for a kickflip battle that he conquered on the 3-stair in the jungle. It’s been such a cool experience for our kids to hang and skate with them!
We are looking forward to the transition next week from the spring park at Timberline, up to the summer park when the crowds die down and the weather (hopefully) becomes more consistent. The month of June should provide some incredible training opportunities for our team while we are still stationed on campus. Thank you all for your continued support!
-Brandon Sorel
WHISTLER MTB TRIP
“We are stoked to announce our big plans for our summer semester here on the MTB side of the academy. With Whistler only 7 hours away, we plan on enjoying a solid 4 1/2 weeks up in BC in the bike parks, Squamish, and other legendary riding zones around the area. We will be up there from July 2-August 1st, 2022 and will be living in Squamish, BC for our duration of the trip. We have limited the trip to a maximum of 5 kids. We expect this trip to sell out quickly, so secure your spot if interested.”
For more information, visit our website https://wyeastacademy.com/whistler.
-Asa Howe, Mountain Bike Director
USSA SILVER CLUB CERTIFICATION
I am excited to announce that we recently moved from US Ski and Snowboard Bronze Club Certification to Silver. We are joining the top 6% of the country who are in this category. We have our eyes set on Gold and High Performance so we won’t stop there. I want to thank our team including you wonderful parents and students for continuing to believe in us and helping to evolve towards being the premier Academy in the world. Our goal is to help everyone in their progression of School, Athletics and Life regardless of where they are at in their ability level. Let's continue to make the world a better place and start with leading by example!
-Elijah Teter
