Steve Bertrand by Nadiya Radion
Steve Bertrand (Class of 1974)
Back in the early 70’s, Cascade High School opened its doors for the first time, but only to grades 10-12. Steve Bertrand, part of the class of 1974, was part of the first freshman class the school had seen. When he was a student there, he was incredibly involved in the athletics department; 42 years later, he’s helped thousands of students become the athletes, students, and people they strive to be.
Originally, we had junior highs, but then they made a decision to change to middle schools and so they were going to bump the freshmen up to the high school for the very first time; this was in 1970. So we were part of the very first freshman class to come to Cascade High School in 1970. Up until that time when the school opened in 1962, I'd been at in a three-year high school with sophomores, juniors, and seniors so we were the very first freshman class to come to the high school.
Because of that, Cascade was growing in population. We were becoming a bigger school. We had just come out of the 60’s and there was a little bit of carry-over; we had a lot of different situations. I remember different groups at Cascade here and a lot of people involved in athletics and things like that; a lot of people were involved in the arts. Like I said, it was kind of a fun time. Cascade was kind of the “hub of the wheel;” in other words, the school was kind of the focal point of the community, so a lot of the activities that people would be involved in at that time took place through the high school rather than seeking interests and whatnot elsewhere. At that time, the high school was the center of the community, and a lot of people got involved with things socially, politically, athletically, academically, artistically, which all took place within the context of the high school.
For me personally, it was going to school, being a student, and being really involved athletically. I was a distance runner, cross country track and field athlete, things like that at the time; real involved with that, and then we were "Mary Maggers" over at Saint Mary Magdalen. We were raised as pretty staunch Catholics and so a lot of our side activities were spent over there and whatnot.
Of course, however, there were obviously some big events that happened at the time. The Watergate scandal was pretty significant, but Richard Nixon resigning from office was huge. I still remember it; every summer for the four years that I was in high school, we did a bike trip. We went up the Olympic peninsula to Victoria, and we would bike down through the San Juan Islands. My girlfriend in high school was from Friday Harbor; I remember it was our summer bike trip and we were camping out in their backyard in Friday Harbor up in the San Juan Islands. We were in their living room and Mr. Nash was sitting in his E-Z chair with his TV set on; he called us all in, and Richard Nixon was delivering his resignation speech. We all just kind of stood there and couldn't believe it; the President of the United States is resigning office. And so, the major reaction was that it was kind of a surprise to us. The thing is, though, that we tended to focus on our own things, what with all the great talent and students that were going here at the time.
It’s been really interesting because in 1962, there was no Mariner or Kamiak - so you had people with Mukilteo addresses that were going to Cascade High School in the 60’s. Of course, that was the Vietnam War era, so you had a lot of people at that time that were going off to fight in the Vietnam War and things like that; that was a time of growth. Then Mariner opens in the late 60’s, so we lost those kids. I came back in the late ’70s, to start coaching here and then eventually teaching, so we just continued to grow. We really hit our peak, our golden age, in the 1990’s when it was over 2,500 students here at Cascade. Of course at that time, there was no Jackson High School, no Arch Bishop Murphy, no Glacier Peak; so all of those kids were coming to Cascade High School, and we were very talented. Academically, athletically, artistically, we kind of reached our peak in the late ‘90s. Then other schools opened and it kind of had the same impact on Cascade High School that Kamiak did, when it opened. When Jackson opened, it had an impact on us here just like how Glacier Peak had an impact on Snohomish High School. So anytime you take a large population and divide it half, it changes the climate in the school. In terms of this ebb and flow, it’s been interesting over the years too because classes take on their own identity. We've had years where people make a huge difference within a class and we just had some marvelous years with the leaders that we've had here at Cascade High School. I mean, look what we're doing with the food drive. Then, there’s what we've done from an artistic standpoint, like with our band. And look what’s gone on with our sports teams over the years, look at the incredible artists and people we've turned out to have that have gone on to marvelous careers in acting and things like that. So some really neat things come out of this school and some great traditions have been established. It’s been fun, and, from 1970 to going into 2012, seeing basically 42 years of growth here at the school has been kind of fun.
Things have changed constantly through these years that I’ve been here. For example, when I was here in the early 70’s, what I remember stepping in here as a freshman, was that you never questioned authority. I mean, that's just the way we were raised; you were told to do something and you just did it. I remember the very first cross country practice I ever came out to. The coach said,” I want you to go run 4 miles as a warm up before we stretch and then we'll do the workout.” And so we went out and we ran 4 miles, and then we stretched and then he said,” Alright, I want you to run twice around Silver Lake and then come back and we’ll do some wind sprints, then go in to the weight room.” Well, we ended up running 12 miles that day. Nobody questioned it; everybody just did it. I have people now where if I tell them to just go jog one lap around the track for me, some of them will just tell you flat out they’re not doing it.
We kind of laugh about it, where we were back in the early 70’s versus where we are now on things. However, a lot of good things came out of that, as well. You see, there was a big emphasis at the time on fitness. Finding some sort of balance in one's life mentally, physically, emotionally, academically, artistically, athletically, is a good thing that I think we moved away from, and I think we need to get back to where people have a balance in their lives and they are not just students but they're also working their bodies, their hearts, and minds as well; I think we've gotten a little bit out of kilter from that standpoint and so I would hope that we could find some balance that way. I’ve learned a lot of these concepts throughout the years from fellow teachers and coaches back when I was a student and even now.
When I was in high school I was probably like everybody else, I wanted to be liked, I wanted to achieve success, and I wanted to do great things. When I got out into college, I still continued my running, but it was about coming and giving back to the community, and that's why I came back to Cascade.
You see, when I was first here, I was very lucky that I had a coach in high school whose name was Marv Gray; he went on to be a counselor here, and he was just a good man. We had a lot of fun and worked very hard, and that became a philosophy. I am more interested in working with people and making sports something that they'll pursue a lifetime. Obviously, we want to develop athletes as best we can but it's really rewarding for coach Hull and I to see people continue in the sport as a lifelong venture so that fitness is always part of their lives, that, personally. So finding a balance between working hard and having fun things is good, and making a commitment to work your mind, body, and your spirit every day are very important. Another thing that I learned was just the importance of showing that you care about people. You don't have to know everything about teaching or coaching or whatever, but if you have ability to convey to people that you care about them as a person, you can get through to people that way. You got to be careful not to take advantage of that, but I think it's important people realize that whether it’s teaching coaching, or whatnot, you are there for the kids and it is not about you. You are there to be in service of other people and to help them on their journey through navigating the waters of high school and you're just part of the team of people helping them grow. So, that's going to become my philosophy and my attitude teaching here, is we're servants to the students.
It’s not all about trophies and winning, either. Obviously, everybody talks about the 90’s as our golden age. Well, we were a big high school, and if you were to take Jackson High School and combine it with Cascade now, we’d be right back their again. But the bottom line is, a lot of times, if you look around at different communities that are experiencing success, and it's a situation where they might be one high school district and they’ve got two or three middle schools feeding that one school. Things change and the demographics and socio-economics of the community changed here, but you know what? In a way, I'm kind of glad it did. We had been successful here and you begin to think you're quite the hot shot as a coach and you experience the kind of success that we had, but then things turn and we weren't being so successful; many coaches moved on to greener pastures. Mr. Hull and I stayed here, and we've been coaching together for 25 years. We had to take a really good look and have talks about why are we here. Why are we still involved in extra-curricular things like coaching? We discovered that winning is nice and fun and you want that for everybody and for yourself too, but that isn't really the main reason you're here. The main reason we're here is to help people. Other opportunities came up to go somewhere else, but yet here we remain. We’ll retire from here, and we're just working with kids, doing the things we love. A lot of times we joke about the fact that we get to go out and do things that we would do anyway. Like go for a run, teach martial arts classes, guitar, and things like that which are things I am already personally passionate about; but to get to work with people that are passionate about those things as well is very rewarding. Honestly, Mr. Hull and I talk about the fact that there isn't a day we don't come here excited about being in school. That’s the positive.
On the negative side of things, if we're going to use that term, I wish more people at this school would get involved extra-curricularly. I want people to find something from the time the bell rings at two o’clock until dinner that's positive. Academically, athletically, artistically, whatever it is, you pick something good to do. Commit to it, work the best you can and to the best of your abilities, be positive, see things due to completion, and you'll be successful regardless of the outcome of things. I'm not going to tell them what to do. We've got so many good things at Cascade to do and too much of our talent walks off campus at 2 o’clock when that bell rings rather than finding something within the school to get involved in that's good. Talking about life in general, I would just hope that everybody can find something. I think that we're all born with a gift and we're all born with a challenge and I think working that out with your high school years is a good thing, with whatever you choose to get involved in.
Back in the early 70’s, Cascade High School opened its doors for the first time, but only to grades 10-12. Steve Bertrand, part of the class of 1974, was part of the first freshman class the school had seen. When he was a student there, he was incredibly involved in the athletics department; 42 years later, he’s helped thousands of students become the athletes, students, and people they strive to be.
Originally, we had junior highs, but then they made a decision to change to middle schools and so they were going to bump the freshmen up to the high school for the very first time; this was in 1970. So we were part of the very first freshman class to come to Cascade High School in 1970. Up until that time when the school opened in 1962, I'd been at in a three-year high school with sophomores, juniors, and seniors so we were the very first freshman class to come to the high school.
Because of that, Cascade was growing in population. We were becoming a bigger school. We had just come out of the 60’s and there was a little bit of carry-over; we had a lot of different situations. I remember different groups at Cascade here and a lot of people involved in athletics and things like that; a lot of people were involved in the arts. Like I said, it was kind of a fun time. Cascade was kind of the “hub of the wheel;” in other words, the school was kind of the focal point of the community, so a lot of the activities that people would be involved in at that time took place through the high school rather than seeking interests and whatnot elsewhere. At that time, the high school was the center of the community, and a lot of people got involved with things socially, politically, athletically, academically, artistically, which all took place within the context of the high school.
For me personally, it was going to school, being a student, and being really involved athletically. I was a distance runner, cross country track and field athlete, things like that at the time; real involved with that, and then we were "Mary Maggers" over at Saint Mary Magdalen. We were raised as pretty staunch Catholics and so a lot of our side activities were spent over there and whatnot.
Of course, however, there were obviously some big events that happened at the time. The Watergate scandal was pretty significant, but Richard Nixon resigning from office was huge. I still remember it; every summer for the four years that I was in high school, we did a bike trip. We went up the Olympic peninsula to Victoria, and we would bike down through the San Juan Islands. My girlfriend in high school was from Friday Harbor; I remember it was our summer bike trip and we were camping out in their backyard in Friday Harbor up in the San Juan Islands. We were in their living room and Mr. Nash was sitting in his E-Z chair with his TV set on; he called us all in, and Richard Nixon was delivering his resignation speech. We all just kind of stood there and couldn't believe it; the President of the United States is resigning office. And so, the major reaction was that it was kind of a surprise to us. The thing is, though, that we tended to focus on our own things, what with all the great talent and students that were going here at the time.
It’s been really interesting because in 1962, there was no Mariner or Kamiak - so you had people with Mukilteo addresses that were going to Cascade High School in the 60’s. Of course, that was the Vietnam War era, so you had a lot of people at that time that were going off to fight in the Vietnam War and things like that; that was a time of growth. Then Mariner opens in the late 60’s, so we lost those kids. I came back in the late ’70s, to start coaching here and then eventually teaching, so we just continued to grow. We really hit our peak, our golden age, in the 1990’s when it was over 2,500 students here at Cascade. Of course at that time, there was no Jackson High School, no Arch Bishop Murphy, no Glacier Peak; so all of those kids were coming to Cascade High School, and we were very talented. Academically, athletically, artistically, we kind of reached our peak in the late ‘90s. Then other schools opened and it kind of had the same impact on Cascade High School that Kamiak did, when it opened. When Jackson opened, it had an impact on us here just like how Glacier Peak had an impact on Snohomish High School. So anytime you take a large population and divide it half, it changes the climate in the school. In terms of this ebb and flow, it’s been interesting over the years too because classes take on their own identity. We've had years where people make a huge difference within a class and we just had some marvelous years with the leaders that we've had here at Cascade High School. I mean, look what we're doing with the food drive. Then, there’s what we've done from an artistic standpoint, like with our band. And look what’s gone on with our sports teams over the years, look at the incredible artists and people we've turned out to have that have gone on to marvelous careers in acting and things like that. So some really neat things come out of this school and some great traditions have been established. It’s been fun, and, from 1970 to going into 2012, seeing basically 42 years of growth here at the school has been kind of fun.
Things have changed constantly through these years that I’ve been here. For example, when I was here in the early 70’s, what I remember stepping in here as a freshman, was that you never questioned authority. I mean, that's just the way we were raised; you were told to do something and you just did it. I remember the very first cross country practice I ever came out to. The coach said,” I want you to go run 4 miles as a warm up before we stretch and then we'll do the workout.” And so we went out and we ran 4 miles, and then we stretched and then he said,” Alright, I want you to run twice around Silver Lake and then come back and we’ll do some wind sprints, then go in to the weight room.” Well, we ended up running 12 miles that day. Nobody questioned it; everybody just did it. I have people now where if I tell them to just go jog one lap around the track for me, some of them will just tell you flat out they’re not doing it.
We kind of laugh about it, where we were back in the early 70’s versus where we are now on things. However, a lot of good things came out of that, as well. You see, there was a big emphasis at the time on fitness. Finding some sort of balance in one's life mentally, physically, emotionally, academically, artistically, athletically, is a good thing that I think we moved away from, and I think we need to get back to where people have a balance in their lives and they are not just students but they're also working their bodies, their hearts, and minds as well; I think we've gotten a little bit out of kilter from that standpoint and so I would hope that we could find some balance that way. I’ve learned a lot of these concepts throughout the years from fellow teachers and coaches back when I was a student and even now.
When I was in high school I was probably like everybody else, I wanted to be liked, I wanted to achieve success, and I wanted to do great things. When I got out into college, I still continued my running, but it was about coming and giving back to the community, and that's why I came back to Cascade.
You see, when I was first here, I was very lucky that I had a coach in high school whose name was Marv Gray; he went on to be a counselor here, and he was just a good man. We had a lot of fun and worked very hard, and that became a philosophy. I am more interested in working with people and making sports something that they'll pursue a lifetime. Obviously, we want to develop athletes as best we can but it's really rewarding for coach Hull and I to see people continue in the sport as a lifelong venture so that fitness is always part of their lives, that, personally. So finding a balance between working hard and having fun things is good, and making a commitment to work your mind, body, and your spirit every day are very important. Another thing that I learned was just the importance of showing that you care about people. You don't have to know everything about teaching or coaching or whatever, but if you have ability to convey to people that you care about them as a person, you can get through to people that way. You got to be careful not to take advantage of that, but I think it's important people realize that whether it’s teaching coaching, or whatnot, you are there for the kids and it is not about you. You are there to be in service of other people and to help them on their journey through navigating the waters of high school and you're just part of the team of people helping them grow. So, that's going to become my philosophy and my attitude teaching here, is we're servants to the students.
It’s not all about trophies and winning, either. Obviously, everybody talks about the 90’s as our golden age. Well, we were a big high school, and if you were to take Jackson High School and combine it with Cascade now, we’d be right back their again. But the bottom line is, a lot of times, if you look around at different communities that are experiencing success, and it's a situation where they might be one high school district and they’ve got two or three middle schools feeding that one school. Things change and the demographics and socio-economics of the community changed here, but you know what? In a way, I'm kind of glad it did. We had been successful here and you begin to think you're quite the hot shot as a coach and you experience the kind of success that we had, but then things turn and we weren't being so successful; many coaches moved on to greener pastures. Mr. Hull and I stayed here, and we've been coaching together for 25 years. We had to take a really good look and have talks about why are we here. Why are we still involved in extra-curricular things like coaching? We discovered that winning is nice and fun and you want that for everybody and for yourself too, but that isn't really the main reason you're here. The main reason we're here is to help people. Other opportunities came up to go somewhere else, but yet here we remain. We’ll retire from here, and we're just working with kids, doing the things we love. A lot of times we joke about the fact that we get to go out and do things that we would do anyway. Like go for a run, teach martial arts classes, guitar, and things like that which are things I am already personally passionate about; but to get to work with people that are passionate about those things as well is very rewarding. Honestly, Mr. Hull and I talk about the fact that there isn't a day we don't come here excited about being in school. That’s the positive.
On the negative side of things, if we're going to use that term, I wish more people at this school would get involved extra-curricularly. I want people to find something from the time the bell rings at two o’clock until dinner that's positive. Academically, athletically, artistically, whatever it is, you pick something good to do. Commit to it, work the best you can and to the best of your abilities, be positive, see things due to completion, and you'll be successful regardless of the outcome of things. I'm not going to tell them what to do. We've got so many good things at Cascade to do and too much of our talent walks off campus at 2 o’clock when that bell rings rather than finding something within the school to get involved in that's good. Talking about life in general, I would just hope that everybody can find something. I think that we're all born with a gift and we're all born with a challenge and I think working that out with your high school years is a good thing, with whatever you choose to get involved in.