BPS parent Michelle Bloomquist’s design highlights One Schoolhouse spirit, chosen for new district spirit wear

The design concept and artistic talent of Michelle Bloomquist, a parent of two students in Bellingham Public Schools, will soon be featured on spirit wear throughout the district.  

A t-shirt design contest was opened to all students, staff, families and community members in May 2025. A judging panel of staff and students reviewed nearly 70 entries and put forth three finalist designs for a communitywide vote.  

More than 1,700 votes were cast with Bloomquist’s crossword design emerging with the most votes. 

A pop-up online store is now open for anyone to order short sleeve t-shirts, long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts featuring the design.  

The pop-up store will close on Sunday, Oct. 19. Ordering is completely optional, and is a personal purchase. 

Bloomquist shared the winning design was actually her second idea. Her first idea included a sketch of each school in a circular design, but after beginning the design it became apparent that the number of schools within BPS would prove to be too many to sketch within a single design.  

After putting the first idea aside, Bloomquist turned to the crossword concept. She had done similar designs with her family members’ names in the past. After looking up all the school names, she put pencil to paper and submitted the concept.  

The Bellingham Promise, the strategic plan in BPS, includes a core belief that “Together we achieve more.” A key strategy of The Promise is a One Schoolhouse approach, in the sense that our schools are part of a larger One Schoolhouse, and we focus on taking care of each other. We provide an equitable distribution of resources and services to ensure excellence for all students.  

Design entries were asked to incorporate a One Schoolhouse theme, which was wonderfully illustrated by the crossword connections in Bloomquist’s design. The belief that BPS is a group of individual schools part of one big educational family is a concept important to her as a BPS parent. 

“Aside from all schools being one, BPS is all working together towards the same Bellingham Promise goal,” Bloomquist said. “It’s important for our children and it important for me as a parent to stand behind and support my daughters to uphold those qualities.”