Bryce Court goes Above and Beyond

RITZVILLE – Bryce Court, Social Studies teacher and golf team coach at Lind-Ritzville High School, was recognized by high school principal Kevin Terris for going "above and beyond his call of duty as a teacher."

"Bryce has been instrumental in our high school's shift to creating a school with high demands with high levels of support," Terris said. "He has been open-minded, resourceful, and creative in creating a unique way to teach and learn in our building."

Court came to Lind-Ritzville School District last year, after teaching 10 years in Idaho and six in Oregon.

"I came from a school half the size of Ritzville, and I wanted a larger school for my kids; one more like Liberty Bell (in Winthrop), where I went," Court said. "I looked up 2B schools to see who had a job, and it worked out great. God always has a plan."

His wife Shannon is a fourth-grade teacher in Lind this year, after teaching physical education and art there last year. Their son Demetri is a freshman in college in New York, and daughter Amelia attends Lind-Ritzville High School as a junior.

"I took the job site-unseen. I didn't know you could be in Washington and not see mountains. I know that now," Court laughs.

Court said when he was hired, he was told he would be the first "college in the high school" teacher.

"And a bunch of teachers are following suit, so we're excited to be offering that in high school," Court said. "I'm also attempting to become an expert in standards-based grading. A lot of elementary schools have already done it. Standards-based grades and letter grades don't 'talk to each other' very much, but I'm trying to make it so they have basically the same meaning."

Court said the grading style was a little more familiar in elementary schools.

"In elementary school, you can ask a student, 'Can you do this specific task?' I'm trying to bring that into high school, where a student could be asked, 'Here is the concept; do you know it?'"

Court recently made a presentation on standards-based grading for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, so when he was asked by Terris to make the presentation at the last school board meeting, he thought nothing of it.

Terris, however, had an ulterior motive.

"This person thinks he's here to give a presentation to the board, so he's probably a little surprised that I'm giving him this," Terris announced during the "Above and Beyond" segment of the Sept. 23 school board Zoom meeting.

Terris said since joining the school district, Court had "done a number of things to bring a new kind of energy to our building."

"This year alone, he stepped up and did a number of presentations on behalf of our school district," Terris said. "I thought he was worthy of being recognized tonight."

"I was honored to win," Court said, adding staff at LRSD has been very open to a new teacher.

"Bringing together two unique communities into one school has it's own challenges," Court said. "I've been really impressed with the sports. The organization of five schools to make one sports team is pretty amazing, and providing kids opportunities."

Court is also an assistant coach on the football team.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Lindfield College, a Master's in History from Washington State University and a Master's in Teaching from the University of Portland.