Sequim High School Interact Club students pose in front of Seattle’s SIFF Cinema Downtown before a screening of “The Boys in the Boat” on Thursday.

Sequim High School Interact Club students pose in front of Seattle’s SIFF Cinema Downtown before a screening of “The Boys in the Boat” on Thursday.

Sequim students attend Seattle screening of “The Boys in the Boat’

SEATTLE — Forty-five members of the Sequim High School Interact Club attended a screening of “The Boys in the Boat” in Seattle on Thursday.

“The movie was absolutely amazing. It was very well done,” said Colleen Robinson, advisor for the students and liaison to the Sequim Sunrise Rotary Club, which has created a fundraiser around the film.

Also attending from Sequim were teacher Chelsea Rechimar, also an advisor, Principal Erin Fox, Superintendent Regan Nickels and members of the Sequim School Board, Robinson said.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The film, directed by George Clooney, was screened in Port Angeles on Friday evening as part of A Tribute to Joe Rantz, who is central to the film. The tribute, which included the screening followed by a gala at the Sequim Museum & Arts, raised funds for the Joe Rantz Rotary Youth Fund.

The Sequim Sunrise Rotary Club aims to raise $750,000 to build a home for homeless teens, so they can have stability in safe living quarters to finish high school. For more about the project, see https://joerantzrotaryyouthfund.org.

The film, based on the book by Daniel James Brown, tells of the University of Washington rowing team’s capture of the Gold Medal while representing the United States at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

Joe Rantz attended Sequim High School while struggling with homelessness after he was abandoned by his father and stepmother. He eventually moved to Seattle, graduated from Roosevelt High and earned an engineering degree at UW. He was among those who won at the Olympics.

The Sequim High School Interact Club and Rotarians connected with Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures production partner Grant Heslov online, and they and school officials have been working on logistics for the screening for months.

Students also created a video earlier this year about the project and lobbied for a screening of the film locally to aid the fundraiser for homeless teens.

Thursday’s screening also was attended by Brown, Gov. Jay Inslee, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy among other notables, according to The Seattle Times.

The film is distributed by Amazon MGM Studios, which provided the rotary club with a courtesy screening of “The Boys in the Boat” in response to requests from Sequim High School students. It specified that “neither MGM, its affiliates, nor anyone connected with the film is involved in any of the Joe Rantz Rotary Club’s fundraising efforts.”

The Joe Rantz Rotary Youth House would house 12 teens with room for three emergency drop-ins. A social agency would manage it, according to the Rotary website, and teens would have counseling, mentoring and internships.

More in News

Parker Brocious, 6, from Cedar Hills, Utah, studies tubs containing plankton, krill and other small ocean creatures used by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center for education purposes while on a road trip with his family on Tuesday at Fort Worden State Park. Parker’s father Tyler is at left. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Science education

Parker Brocious, 6, from Cedar Hills, Utah, studies tubs containing plankton, krill… Continue reading

Port Angeles approves lodging tax fund requests

Vacancy on committee brings legal questions

OMC hires family medicine physician

Dr. Calvin Kuo will join hospital in August

Colton Dufour, left, and his mom Cherie Tachell. (Cherie Tachell)
Boy seriously injured following hit-and-run

Condition is stable, but more testing underway for Sequim teenager

Applications open for Forks council seat

The Forks City Council is accepting applications to fill a… Continue reading

Bridge inspections set on Hood Canal

Bridge preservation engineers from the state Department of Transportation will… Continue reading

Port Townsend Farmers Market opens Saturday

Farm-fresh eggs, mexican pastries and smoked fish available

Adella Banning, 6, of Port Angeles pretends to take to the road on a all-terrain vehicle maintained by Clallam County Search and Rescue during Saturday’s Kiwanis Kids Fest at Vern Burton Community Center and a section of adjoining Fourth Street. The event featured numerous public safety displays as well as other youth activities hosted by area community service agencies. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Kids Fest

Adella Banning, 6, of Port Angeles pretends to take to the road… Continue reading

Clallam letter details Trump administration impacts

Clallam cites economy, tourism, healthcare

Rhonda Kromm is the new Port Angeles School District assistant superintendent. She replaces Michelle Olsen, the newly hired superintendent.
First bonds issued for develop plans for PAHS, Franklin Elementary

Construction at new Stevens Middle School to start in May

UPS Store closing Port Angeles location

UPS is closing its UPS Customer Center at 3216… Continue reading

Single-lane traffic near Kalaloch Campground

Erosion near Kalaloch Campground has caused a temporary lane closure… Continue reading