Around CampusBush News
Trail Blazer Spotlight: Upper School Students Win Awards and Present at Conference
Upper School students have been blazing trails in several fields throughout the spring, and we are excited to share incredible news about several students winning national and international awards for class projects and presenting at conferences.
Upper School students Mia E. ’26, Caroline H. ’26, and Denise C. ’26 produced a creative and thoughtful film in Upper School Science Faculty Laura LeBlanc’s Environmental Science course that won Honorable Mention in the Wetlands category of the World of 8 Billion international student video contest. You can check out theirs (and others) films here.
Mia, Caroline, and Denise shared information about their project and their inspiration with the film contest organization. Mia looked to the future, sharing that she hopes to “work in fields that support marginalized communities and advocate for the health of our planet in support of environmental justice.”
The film contest is sponsored by Population Education, a program of the nonprofit Population Connection. The contest invites young people to explore the challenges of population growth and propose sustainable solutions. More than 3,275 videos were created this year by students around the world. Participants chose one of three pressing global topics—Economics, Energy, or Wetlands—and created a 1-minute video that included at least one idea for a sustainable solution to the challenge.
Now in its fifteenth year, the World of 8 Billion contest has engaged more than 35,000 students from all U.S. states and over 100 countries. Each year, topics are updated to reflect current global trends and challenges. The 2026 judging panel included fifty-sevent experts from around the world. More than $10,000 in prizes is awarded annually to student filmmakers in recognition of their outstanding effort and achievement.
As part of the Upper School Cascade Creature Feature: Horror in the Real World, a Cascade that fuses literary and scientific elements, students created zines that explored the myth and realities of popular monsters in media, incorporating art, inquiry, and creativity into their final project. This week it was announced that Liz C. ’29 won a Washington State Zine Contest award in the grades seven through nine category for her Zine C. Inanis: Studies of the Void Squid.
This award is presented through the Washington Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center, administered by the Washington State Library.
Liz’s physical zine will be added to the collections at the Washington State Library, King County Library System, The Seattle Public Library, and the Timberland Regional Library and will be digitized to share with audiences near and far.
Upper School student Nyomi B. ’26 and Director of College Counseling and Student Success Melissa Lanctot recently presented at the Pacific Northwest Association for College Admission Counseling (PNACAC) Annual Conference in Tacoma, Washington. Their session, Better Together: School & Community-Based Organization (CBO) College Counselors Supporting Student Success, highlighted how intentional and lasting partnerships between CBO and school counselors strengthen college access and outcomes. During the session, panelists shared best practices for early-year check-ins, aligned college counseling platforms, synced calendars, joint meetings, summer opportunities planning, fly-in programs, and financial aid collaboration.
Nyomi provided insight as a current senior who worked closely with both Bush and CBO counselors and shared a candid, student-centered perspective on navigating the college search and application process in 2026. Nyomi and Melissa presented alongside Tremaine Stanley, Director of College Counseling at Rainier Scholars, and Derek Rogers, Associate Director of College Advising at Seattle Academy (Former Director of College Counseling at Rainier Scholars).
Melissa shares, "It was an absolute honor to present at last week's PNACAC Conference alongside my colleagues Tremaine and Derek. The true highlight of our session, however, was the words of wisdom shared by Bush's own Nyomi B., Bush Class of 2026, Rainier Scholars Cohort 18, and Emory University Class of 2030! During our panel, Better Together: School & Community Based Organization College Counselors Supporting Student Success, our team highlighted how intentional and lasting partnerships between CBO and school counselors strengthen college access and outcomes."
Congratulations, Blazers!
The Bush School is an independent day school located in Seattle, WA enrolling 745 students in grades K–12. The mission of The Bush School is to spark in students of diverse backgrounds and talents a passion for learning, accomplishment, and contribution to their communities
3400 East Harrison Street, Seattle WA 98112 (206) 322-7978
The Bush School does not discriminate in matters of employment, recruitment, admissions, or administration of any of its programs on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation. In addition, The Bush School does not discriminate in matters of employment on the basis of age or marital status