BEST Alumni Page

Click names to go to that alumnus' page:

Erin Whittington, class of 2003

Erin sent us this message: "Looking back on my experience at BEST I recall that some of the students were not so aware of the opportunities that were available to them. Unfortunately, a lot of people believe that attending an alternative school closes opportunities to kids, but that is so not true! I feel I owe a lot to BEST High School. I wasn't even planning on going to college before I began going to BEST and, in fact, if I had not been able to attend BEST I can pretty much assure you that I would not have completed high school.

Also let me know if you need any help with graduation this year!"

Other alumni have written in with comments:

I am a former student of BEST High School.  I am writing to thank you and the faculty for providing me with the foundation to achieve academic success.  When every other door was closed to me, BEST welcomed me into its community.  I was a student from 1997-1998.

I am currently an attorney, practicing criminal defense.  After leaving BEST, I attended community college and eventually transferred to Western Washington University.  I graduated cum laude from Gonzaga Law School and have been practicing for just under a year.  I was just admitted to the University of Washington School of Law to earn an advanced law degree in taxation.

I want to extend my sincere gratitude for the service that BEST is providing to this community and for what my education at BEST has enabled me to personally achieve.  Thank you very much. 

If there are any volunteer opportunities at BEST, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,
Justin Alt
J.D.

"Like many people who go to BEST I didn’t expect to finish High School. The summer before my enrollment, aged 15, I dropped out of High School and got my GED. I enrolled in BEST because a gut feeling told me to finish school and to try for further education. I spent one whole year taking classes at BEST and another year as a full-time Running Start student at Seattle Central Community College. BEST was a great place to have this kind of arrangement because the onus is put on the student to drive their own educational destiny.

After I graduated from college, I was compelled to move out and find work for myself. I started temping in offices using solely the computing and business skills I learned in Gayle’s class and made a little bit of a “career” out of it for several years. However, the noncommittal world of temping and the economic slump of the early 2000’s made this arrangement financially challenging. After a few years of less than savory office work, I finally landed my current position at the UW Dept of Radiology assisting the Vice Chair of the department, where I have been for three years, with a couple promotions.

Since I’ve been a full-time worker for so long I’ve had to attend night school (a slow and drawn out process of one class per quarter), and this made completing a degree an unlikely venture. However, since I’ve been able to curry some favor at the UW, I’ve negotiated a part-time work schedule and am now a full time student. This allowed me to finally finish my AA at the community college. I was recently admitted to the UW as a transfer student and am now a full time student there.

Despite the fact that I am 4 years older than most of the traditional students in my classes, I don’t regret taking the path I did. Working and getting professional experience gave me a definite advantage over my peers, and being independent has allowed me to travel, explore various hobbies and side jobs (I’ve been a DJ, an antique shop clerk, art teacher, an illustrator, a party organizer, a photographer’s assistant, and and office jockey). This time away from academe has also helped me to realize that while I want to make the fine arts a part of my life—I don’t want to make them my career. However, I’ve been exposed to enough professional and part-time artists that I have a better understanding of the demands of an artist. I also understand how I can grow as an artist without going to formal art school.

If anything, I would have gone to BEST earlier, and started Running Start in my Junior year instead of my Senior. Students that can graduate with both a High School diploma and an AA degree have a definite advantage – often times they are the people going for their PhD’s in their mid 20s!

I think that I was in too much of a rush to find my career and decide what I was going to do in my life. In reality, it is only now, that I am approaching 25, that I have to make those kinds of decisions. People in their teens and early 20s have a rare opportunity to try many things, fail at some, make lots of mistakes (I definitely did) and then decide what they really want to spend their time on. Those 7 or 8 years should be used to try different jobs, travel, meet new people, take some risks, try things you never thought you could do, etc. I also encourage kids to get out the Eastside occasionally and check out things in Seattle—that was a big eye opener for me in terms of culture and finding interesting things to be a part of."

Marianne Golden, Class of 2000

"To the entire staff at BEST: We just needed to say thank you for all you have done for us! I am finishing my first year in college and my fiancé is starting his in the fall. We got engaged at Christmas and will not say 'I do' until we both have our degrees. Just wanted you guys to know how much you really help troubled teens!"

"First of all, I want to say how proud I am of being a past student of BEST. I graduated in 97 and I know that I would have never made it through without BEST. I think about high school every day and miss it dearly. I was a teen parent and I know from experience that I, along with a lot of others, would have been drop outs if it wasn't for BEST. I just want to say thank you for being there in the time of need for all of these kids!"

"Hello, I am a BEST graduate.  Most of you will know who I am, and some of you I just met along the way, but you are on this list because within the last five years you have either helped me in life or made a great impression on me.  
      This letter is intended to be a very big thank you to everyone that has helped me academically, personally and professionally.  I finally graduated from Washington State University a few weeks ago, and started my first "real" job on January 4, 2007.  I will be working at LDM Worldwide, which is a company that assembles video crews for entertainment events.    
      The road has been very fun and a little bumpy, but I couldn't have achieved the success that I have if it were not for your help and support.  I appreciate everything that has come to me, and I wanted to make sure that you were all acknowledged."

Kyle Lawrence, Class of 1999

"I'm not sure if you remember me...but then again...how could you forget me! Well, I'm doing really really well! I've been clean for a little over a year now, and doing amazing! I went to the AVEDA institute in St. Pete, FL to get my Cosmetology License, and I'm now working at an salon that specializes in Extensions! $$$$ I'm also working with photo shoots, and I've had the opportunity to do a little bit on runway. So it's all very exciting! I just thought that I'd drop a line and say thanks for putting up with so much of my garbage. It really means a lot to me."

Sonia Spil

"I attended BEST High School from 1987 to 1988, when I graduated. I loved the program, and was thrilled to see the school now has a web site. Either BEST is in a new building or the old one had been extensively remodeled. I was wondering if you had ever considered adding an alumni page to your web site. Lake Washington High School, which I attended prior to BEST has one, but all the people from High School that I want to stay in touch with went to BEST. Are there any possible plans fro such an addition in the future?"

"I ran across your web page and it looks great. I attended BEST in the mid 1970's approx 1974-76. The site consisted of a portable on a chunk of district property, and a small greenhouse. Benn Henry was the head teacher as well as a few other staff whom I have forgotten their names (Rosalind and Dave?) but not their faces. It made such a difference to me to have the support of the staff and students during a tumultuous time of my life. The attention given to me at BEST went a long way towards changing my mind about myself and education. I have many fond memories of my time and the people there. Keep up the good work!"