FEATURES

RAINIER BEACH HIGH - TRIVIA!

Rainier Beach High School was originally planned to be named Gompers High School.

When RB opened in 1960, it was both a junior and senior high school (grades 7-12). Yearbooks around the early 60s show a rather "crowded" atmosphere, with the gym bleachers packed during assemblies... After all, there were more than 1000 students at the time!

RB had two television programs: Beachline (1980s) and RBTV (1990s). RBTV evolved into a live broadcast, and at times featured special guests, including Boy George, George Siegal from KOMO, John Keister, then-mayor Norm Rice, and then-county executive Gary Locke.

In 1995, the room called the BeachHut was renamed "The Viking Zone."

Mr. Collins, chemistry/physics teacher, taught at RB from the time the school opened in 1960 to the late 1990s. His "Lamer, Lamer, Lamer" exclamation earned him the #1 faculty quote in an RBTV Top 10 list in 1995, and he personally showed up to say it again in the live episode. (We may post this clip soon!)

In 1993, Brad Smith took charge of the RB music department, which had been non-existant since the late 1970s. His "Join the Band!" RBTV campaign took the school by storm.

In Spring 1995, there was an uproar over items being stolen in the men's locker room during P.E. A locker room attendant was hired to keep watch. But a student returned to the locker room only to find the attendant wearing his shoes. Immediately, the attendant was fired, and the story became a frontpage headliner in the Shield. Also, according to an RBTV Top 10 list, the #2 way you know that you're in RB is "The locker room attendant is the one stealing your shoes."




If you have any more trivia items that you would like to add, let us know!



Below are some of the activities we are featuring to help Rainier Beach.

****If you are interested in donating to Rainier Beach please click here.****



Calculators Needed

Hello RBHS Parents, PTSA Members, Community, Alumni and Friends,

We are excited about all the energy the staff is putting into preparing our students to take the WASL test this past April. As many may know students have to pass the WASL test in order to graduate from high school. This is a major burden considering many students come into high school with elementary and early middle school skills and it becomes the high schools responsibility to get that student caught up to grade level by the time the student is required to take the WASL test in the 10th grade. They are required to do this without any extra resources.

Despite it all the staff at RBHS has been working diligently with students in the classroom to help prepare them for the WASL test and provide students with the social support that they need to build confidence and the self esteem that will push them to show up and do their best for such a challenging test.

Proudly last school year we were the only school to increase our WASL scores by 10% in three areas- Meaning that the hard work last year paid off and this year we hope for the same or better results; But WE NEED PARENTS, COMMUNITY, ALUMNI & FRIENDS HELP in reaching our goal this year.

We are trying to obtain about at least 75 scientific calculators that we can keep and use for testing at our school and also for teachers to check out for use in their classrooms. The total cost of 75 scientific calculators will be (roughly) $1000 they run on average of $15 each depending on where the calculators are purchased.

Would you consider helping us with our mission to collect at least 75 scientific calculators?

  • You could purchase 1 or more calculator and drop it off at the school
  • You could send a check or money order to RBHS for any amount (please make checks payable to the RBHS Foundation and write calculator in the memo- attach the below stub or the attached stub to your gift). We will use the money to purchase the calculator for you.
  • Encourage someone else to donate a calculator or two RBHS using one of the two methods above.
Remember contribution to RB Foundation are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. If you know that you will want to give a calculator or some a check for a calculator please e-mail me back so I can see where we are at with reaching our goal of 75 calculators.