Squalicum Link Crew visits Transportation Department, Central Kitchen to share gratitude

Photo album: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCE7hw  

A Squalicum High School Link Crew class took the spirit of November as a month of gratitude to heart – and action – with a visit to the Bellingham Public Schools Transportation and Central Kitchen facilities to deliver personalized thank you notes to all the employees.  

The Link Crew class taught by Michelle Campbell, with the help of Squalicum’s Big Blue mascot, took a trip to both locations on Friday, November 21 to share the notes along with in-person appreciation. 

“We wanted to thank them for all that they do for us and recognize their hard work,” senior and Link Crew member Jayla Dunston said. 

Squalicum’s Link Crew is a peer-mentoring initiative in which older students (link leader) support ninth graders with the transition to high school. Over the course of the year, students in the class gain mentoring experience by partnering with Natylee Nelson's ninth grade AVID class for "Fun Friday" activities, support students during Lunch with Link, and engage in other leadership and community building activities at Squalicum. 

While the visit’s primary purpose was to share appreciation and thanks, the trip was mutually beneficial as Squalicum students visited with several staff members at each location and received facility tours. 

The Transportation and Central Kitchen provide many essential services all over Bellingham Public Schools, often behind the scenes. 

The BPS Transportation Department, located on Meador Avenue, maintains a fleet of 74 buses with nine new buses on order. The team transports approximately 3,500 students daily over 93 square miles and takes students to and from field trips as well as extracurricular activities and athletics. The transportation team drove a total of 903,306 miles during the 2024-25 school year.  

The Central Kitchen, located on Alpine Way, is the heartbeat of food services all over the district. As a large facility with ovens, refrigerators and other equipment to improve the efficiency of meal preparation, the centralized model helps all schools provide scratch-made food without each school needing its own prep and cooking facilities.  

“We got to see all the effort that is put into our food,” senior and Link Crew member Brycen Vereen said. “It was like walking into a giant Costco refrigerator. Everyone was so nice.”