Tell us about you,  your family and your connection to Coupeville School District - you and Morgan are "institutions" from my perspective!

I have been incredibly fortunate to call Coupeville “home” for 19 of my 39 years. My family moved to Whidbey Island in 1991, when my dad Rock White, took the job of principal for the Coupeville High School. Needless to say – the school system was a very important part of my family life growing up. Between sports, academics, and extracurricular clubs/programs – my family was at (or around) the school for most of my childhood.

In 1998 I graduated from CHS and was excited to get out and explore the world a bit. I was gone for nearly a decade between my time in college & a stint in the U.S. Air Force.
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Morgan and I had landed in Colorado Springs when our first child, Cole, was born. It didn’t take us long to figure out that we were ready to head back to the Pacific Northwest. In 2007, we found ourselves packing up our bags and our tiny little toddler to head back to the island. We spent a few years working with a youth ministry organization called Youth Dynamics, and in 2008 our beautiful daughter Riley was born. By 2009 I was working as a firefighter and spending a lot of time chasing two busy kids around. They got involved with a local co-op preschool, and youth sports, and we really never looked back.

As our kids have grown, Morgan and I have been fortunate to spend countless hours volunteering in school classrooms, on field trips, coaching soccer, basketball, wrestling, and anything else that our kids happened to be interested in. We’ve put our mini-van to the test hauling kids back and forth to camps, clinics, dance recitals, piano lessons, swimming lessons, etc. Throughout the years – we have felt the love and support of so many Coupeville families who work to raise up a generation of healthy, competent, and caring kids. We feel so fortunate to be able to walk through the hallways of the school and know the teachers, the administrative staff, the counselors, coaches, and other parents who are around and involved. We feel deeply connected to the Coupeville School System and feel blessed to be able to help support their staff team.

You both got involved with Circumnavigate Whidbey last year - tell us about the experience and what is it about the adventure that makes you say "I want to do this!"

Last year I was approached to participate in the Circumnavigate Whidbey adventure. I love fitness, and a good challenge. I’m always hungry for an adventure, and nothing motivates me to do some training like the thought of not being able to finish… I don’t swim much, I had never run more than a half marathon, or ridden my bike more than 30 miles. But I value the school, and thought “if I’m going to raise money for something – this was it.” So I pumped up my tires, bought some new running shoes, and dug out the goggles. Some how, I was able to convince my lungs and legs to keep moving for two long days. I had such a blast hanging out, running, riding, swimming, and kayaking. I was blown away when it was all over and I heard what a successful fundraising campaign it had been. The adventure was fantastic, the fitness was unbelievable, the island was beautiful as always, but the money that was raised for the school was really amazing.

Are there any examples you can give of how the amazing Coupeville School District Teachers and Staff have made a difference for your families life?  Why is raising money to support schools so impactful?

I have several memories of specific teachers who reached out and invested personally in me over the years. There were conversations with teachers and coaches that helped direct and shape me as a teenager. They influenced my decisions and gave me confidence as I was trying to figure out who I was, where I was headed, and what type of man I was going to grow up to be. I remember being challenged by Mrs. Ballard, amazed by the knowledge of Dr. Whitaker, and inspired by Mr. Bagby, Mr. Smith, and Mr. King. The men who coached me probably spent more hours with my teammates and me than they did with their own families (at least during the season). They were a huge reason why I believe it is so important to be involved in extracurricular activities and athletics, and why I spend so much of my time coaching at the middle school these days.

Is there anything else that you would want our huge contingent of followers to know about?

I hope you all know the value that our families, and our school system can play in the lives of Coupeville children. As parents, we need to pour our lives into these kids. Help us…get involved! Invest your time, your money, and your energy into making Coupeville the kind of school district where kids can be known, encouraged, challenged, inspired, and cared for. We want this to be a place where educators feel supported, where parents participate, where community members can support, and where kids build a foundation that will last a lifetime. Thanks for believing in this community, this school, and this adventure of ours!