Bethel High School is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

located in

Spanaway, Washington Spanaway is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 35,476 at the 2020 census, up from 27,227 in 2010. Spanaway is an unincorporated area near Tacoma, and is often identified together with ...

. It is one of four high schools in the Bethel School District, is the district's oldest, having been founded in 1952.

Academics

Bethel High School offers a variety of AP courses in

math Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

the sciences ''The Sciences'' was a magazine published from 1961 to 2001 by the New York Academy of Sciences. Each issue contained articles that discussed science issues with cultural relevance, illustrated with fine art and an occasional cartoon. The perio ...

English studies English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries. This is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is a dis ...

, and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

. English * AP Language * AP Literature History & Social Science * AP Human Geography *

AP Psychology Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology (also known as AP Psych) and its corresponding exam are part of the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. This course is tailored for students interested in the field of psychology and as an opportunity t ...

* AP US History Math & Computer Science *

AP Precalculus Advanced Placement (AP) Precalculus (also known as AP Precalc) is an Advanced Placement precalculus course and examination, offered by the College Board, in development since 2021 and announced in May 2022. The course debuted in the fall of 2023 ...

AP Calculus AB Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus (also known as AP Calc, Calc AB / BC, AB / BC Calc or simply AB / BC) is a set of two distinct Advanced Placement calculus courses and exams offered by the American nonprofit organization College Board. AP Calculu ...

AP Computer Science Principles Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles (also known as AP CSP) is an AP Computer Science course and examination offered by the College Board under the Advanced Placement program. The course is designed as an equivalent to a first-sem ...

Sciences *

AP Biology Advanced Placement (AP) Biology (also known as AP Bio) is an Advanced Placement biology course and exam offered by the College Board in the United States. For the 2012–2013 school year, the College Board unveiled a new curriculum with a greater ...

AP Environmental Science Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Science (also known as APES, AP Enviro, AP Environmental, AP Environment, or AP EnviroSci) is a course and exam offered by the American College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program to high school ...

AP Chemistry Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry (also known as AP Chem) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as a part of the Advanced Placement Program to give American and Canadian high school students the opportunity to demonstrate thei ...

Athletics

Bethel is part of the Bethel School District along with Spanaway Lake High School and Graham-Kapowsin High School. Bethel competes in the South Puget Sound League (SPSL) 4A in Washington's West Central District.

History

During the 1983 elections for

student council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

, student Matthew Fraser delivered a sexually suggestive speech while nominating a classmate for student council

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

. Fraser was suspended from Bethel High School for three days, but filed a lawsuit against the school board, alleging that the suspension violated his

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

right to

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

. The case was ultimately granted ''

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of a prerogative writ in England, issued by a superior court to direct that the recor ...

'' by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

, which held in the landmark decision '' Bethel School District v. Fraser'' (1986) that it does not violate the First Amendment for public schools to punish students for lewd or indecent speech.

Notable alumni

* Corey Belser,

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an player, 2006 CI NCAA Defensive POY * Mike Blowers,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player 1989–1999, broadcaster *

Ezra Cleveland Ezra Cleveland (born May 8, 1998) is an American professional football guard for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boise State Broncos and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in th ...

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

player for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

Derrike Cope Derrike Wayne Cope (born November 3, 1958) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He is best known for his surprise win in the 1990 Daytona 500. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Chevrolet ...

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Driver, winner of the

1990 Daytona 500 The 1990 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 32nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 18, 1990, in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a ...

* Morgan Hicks, 2004 Olympian and rifle coach at University of Nebraska *

KC Montero Casey Wyatt Miller (born June 17, 1978), known professionally as KC Montero, is a Filipino-American radio DJ and actor currently based in the Philippines. He is currently the Vice President of Marketing and Head of Content at Kumu. Personal li ...

, Filipino-American actor and television personality *

Caesar Rayford Caesar Rayford (born March 4, 1986) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the BC Lions, Spokane Shock, Utah Blaze, Jacksonville Sharks, Calgary Stamped ...

, NFL and CFL player *

Rick Story Rick Story (born August 28, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2007 to 2018, he last competed for the Professional Fighters League, but is better known for his 19-fight tenure with the UFC. Background Story ...

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

fighter and wrestler

References

High schools in Pierce County, Washington South Puget Sound League Public high schools in Washington (state) 1952 establishments in Washington (state) Educational institutions established in 1952 {{Washington-school-stub