Mason Middle School
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| Principal | Patrice Sulkosky |
| Assistant Principal | Shane Sliva |
| Location | Tacoma, Washington |
| School type | Public |
| School Mascot | Mustang |
The Allen C. Mason Intermediate School was the fifth of six middle schools built in Tacoma, Washington, thanks to funding from the 1923 bond issue and was named after a local pioneer. Mason was a lawyer, former principal, author of a math textbook, real estate dealer, developer of Tacoma's north end, railroad builder, world traveler, and public benefactor. It is located in the Proctor District, and its student body is an important source of income for many businesses in the area.
The building was originally built for 700 students, but overall enrollment grew so rapidly that portables were needed within a few years. Despite adding space in 1952, six portables, a rented gymnasium and two rented classrooms were needed before class facilities were added in 1964 and 1980.
The school was among the first in Pierce County to become eligible to fly a U.S. Treasury Department flag over the building in May, 1943, qualifying to raise the "School-at-War" flag because 90% of the students regularly purchased war stamps and bonds. In 2001, the original building was demolished and classes were held at the old Truman Middle School site for two years. In 2003 Mason students returned to the original site updated with a new building and a state-of-the-art recreation field. The sandstone arches above the main entrances of the old building were preserved. They now adorn the inside of the building, just inside the two main entrances. The original sandstone blocks that bear the original name of the school were placed above the arched windows of the library on Proctor Street. Wood, railings, French art and other things of historical significance from the old Mason were also preserved and put in the new building.
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[edit] Important dates in Mason's history
- 1926 – Opened as Allen C. Mason Intermediate School at 2812 N. Madison St.
- 1928 – Renamed Allen C. Mason Junior High School
- 1952 – “Proctor Annex” addition, extended in 1964 and 1980
- 1988 – Renamed Mason Middle School
- 2001 – Demolition of Mason
- 2003 – New Mason opened
[edit] School year
Mason runs on a traditional American school year, September to June. In the 2005-2006 year, the days were from September 2 to June 15, with weekend and holiday breaks.
[edit] Classrooms
Mason has great state of the art classrooms, with the effect of the 2003 rebuilding. Each classroom now has improved plastic and metal desks and chairs, which are scratch and graffiti resistant. They are also lighter and easier to stack. Every classroom has a TV with a DVD player, VCR and cable TV hookups. The science classrooms have overhead projectors, safety showers and eyewash fountains. Almost all rooms have energy saving motion sensitive lights. If the room is unoccupied for 5 minutes, the lights automatically turn off. The rooms also have extensive fire protection, with at least one smoke detector in each room, a heat detector, and sprinklers. When the sprinklers go off, a message is automatically transmitted to the Proctor Fire Station, which is right down the street. At the front of classrooms are digital clocks with a bi-directional intercom. A traditional clock can also be requested and given to a teacher from the main office.
[edit] Clubs and Sports
Mason has an extensive list of clubs. Drama, Writing, Yearbook, Knitting, and even Homework all have clubs devoted to each subject. The school also has an ASB committee, elected by students in the 6th and 7th grades. The cabinet currently consists of Meghan Johnson as Treasurer, Makayla Batonovich as Secretary, and Joyce Lee as current President. Mason is also a part of the Sparx program, an after school fund run by Metro Parks Tacoma. This organization offers after school activity clubs such as Movies, Video Games and "Girl Talk".
Mason Middle School also offers many sports. The main ones included in the 2005-2006 school year were Football, Volleyball, Soccer, Basketball, Wrestling, Track and Field, Fastpitch and Baseball. The school's volleyball team recently finished 2nd in Tacoma's Middle School District Volleyball Jamboree. At this event, they competed against every middle school in Tacoma, and only lost in the end to Truman Middle School, their rival school. The school also took first in baseball, going undefeated in the 06 season. The school's football games against Truman have become popular as well, and have had record attendance of hundreds. Mason has an excellent track team as well. In the 2006-2007 school year, they finished 1st in the Track Jamboree for Tacoma Public Middle schools.
[edit] Arts
Mason has a very extensive arts program. The school's show choir, currently run by Emily Dail (previously by Bart Kryger), has won two awards at a festival in Anaheim, in which they were the only middle school contender. The orchestra, run by Michael Banet, has been prestigious as well. They have been attending the Washington State TYSA festival since 1985, and have won trophies before. There were also two students that made the junior all-state program in 2006: Sonia Brugger, who plays bass, and Andrew Huo, who plays violin. The band, run by Karl Ronning, also has it's share of awards, and has very high concert attendance.
Mason also has an excellent drama program, run by Robin Strong. They perform a play every spring. The drama program includes a drama club and a drama class. The class is a during school "elective", while the club is an after school program.
School plays:
- 2004: Jolly Roger and the Pirate Queen - The story of a crazy group of pirates and a delicate beauty in a comedic style.
- 2005: Way's End - The story of a girl named Lexi, as she travels through a fairy tale and explores her life.
- 2006: Romeo & Winifred - A spoof of Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet", as told through department store clerks.
- 2007: "Big Bad" - A theatrical trial of the "Big Bad Wolf", from the classic story "The Three Little Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf".
[edit] Library
Mason has a beautiful library with a computer lab, over ten thousand books, magazine subscriptions and an overhead projector for theatre projects and classes. There is also a small lounge area with a table, two comfort chairs and a couch. Here students can read as they please. In the northern area of the library, there are about a dozen tables with four wooden chairs on each side. The library is run by librarian Beth Evans.
[edit] Controversy
Though Mason Middle School is a great place for learning, and is considered one of the best middle schools in the Tacoma Public School District, Mason has had a publicly controversial history, especially in the 2005-2006 school year. Mason was the first middle school to start a uniform dress code in the city of Tacoma, due to much gang activity and gang-related clothing. Many students continue to protest the dress code, which gives infractions for such things as logos on polo shirts. In 2005, Language Arts teacher Nelson Hanton was arrested after being accused of having sexual relations with a 14 year old student. The following school year, Sarah Conn took his place. There was also an occurrence of an adult male entering the girls' locker room to solicit sex from a minor. With the exception of these few incidents, Mason remains one of the safest and most prominent public middle schools in the city of Tacoma.
[edit] Teachers
6th Grade:
- Carl Brandt, Math and Science
- Carleen Dolack, Social Studies (also 7th grade science)
- Patricia Doughton, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Reading
- Carol Eckert, Science
- Kelley Goodman, Science
- Thomas Harper, Math
- Dolores Keller, Reading
- Ericka Lynch, Language Arts
- Mary Phibbs, Science and Math
- Patricia Senner, Reading and Language Arts
- Wendy Stricherz, Social Studies Language Arts and Reading
7th Grade:
- Susan Ashpole, Language Arts
- Susan Bishop, Social Studies
- Brian Bream, Math
- Bernice Bruce, Language Arts
- Judith Jones, Science
- Suk Ho Lee, Math (teaches one 8th grade algebra class as well)
- Justin McCallister, Social Studies (also teaches 8th grade)
- Marilyn O' Malley-Hicks, Social Studies
- Diana Nordlund, Science
8th Grade:
- Brent Beckstead, Science
- Catherine Calvary, Social Studies
- Teri Campbell, Language Arts
- Sarah Conn, Language Arts and Social Studies
- Jennifer Cook, Math and Algebra
- Mavourneen Demas, Social Studies
- Becky Krebs, Math and Algebra
- Robin Strong, Language Arts and Drama (Drama can be taken by 7th and 8th graders)
- John Valentine, Science
- Justin McCallister, Social Studies
Other staff and administration:
- Michael Banet, Orchestra
- Emily Dail, Choir
- Jackie Deleon, Office Admin
- Allison Duesterbeck, Security
- Beth Evans, Librarian
- Cheryl Farrington, Physical Education
- Al Fern, 6th and 7th grade Counselor
- Charles Forseth, Physical Education
- Judy Halstead, French
- Merle Jamerson, 7th and 8th grade Counselor
- Gregory Janzen, Computers and Electronics
- Christine Johnson, Art
- Greg McDaniel, Physical Education
- Carol Pruitt, Office and Detention
- Robbie Rennie, Attendance
- Karl Ronning, Band
- Shane Sliva, Assistant Principal
- Patrice Sulkosky, Principal
- Kim Swain, Special Education
- Anne Tumbusch, Spanish
- Tatyana Turlak, ESL
- Carly Wehmeyer, Special Education
[edit] Location and communication
3901 North 28th Street
Tacoma, WA 98407
Telephone: (253) 571-2256
Fax: (253) 571-2295
