As any basketball fan knows, magic happens in March, and our community’s magic happened a little early this year.
Two weeks ago, Everett High’s boys and girls basketball teams qualified for the state tournament for the first time in 43 years, and today, our girls travel to the Tacoma Dome for the first time since 1996 to take on Lincoln High School at 12:15 p.m.
This historic occasion is most obviously due to boys coach Bobby Thompson and girls coach Darrell McNeal, and the incredible athletes on these teams.
But this success owes credit to something else, too. Attending games has unfortunately become not only about the amount of school spirit in the students’ hearts, but also about the amount of money in their wallets. District games cost $9 to $12 for students and Wednesday’s game at the Tacoma Dome will cost about $20 for each student. This would be beyond the means of most of our students.
Our story would end with a tiny but enthusiastic student section at the state game if we were a different community. But we are Everett, and the magic of Everett is that we remember where we came from, and once you are a part of this community, you understand how unique it is. Years ago, a quote on the back of an EHS Cross Country T-shirt said, “Just some blue collar kids from a blue collar part of town,” and while our students are from the full spectrum of socioeconomic backgrounds, their grit and resilience comes from a town who knows what it is to overcome adversity and help each other do so along the way.
This is Everett.
And as a result, generous donations from our Blue and Gold Booster Group, alumni, parents, community members and staff are enabling us to send three rooter buses from Everett High to the Tacoma Dome, and to pay for every student on those buses to be a part of the magic. At Everett High, it turns out, it actually is just about how much school spirit is in a student’s heart, but this is only possible due to the magic of you, our Everett community, making it possible.
We hope to see many Everett fans in Tacoma, but if not, I invite you to join us anyway; dust off your letterman’s jacket, fly your Everett flag, and proudly wear your blue and gold today.
It is magic the teams made it so far. It is magic to stand with our community beside them.
Thank you.
Kelly Shepherd
Everett High principal
Megan Adams
ASB adviser
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