Great finds while visiting our high schools

When you cover high-school sports, visiting a campus is like going into someone's home — you're automatically curious about what you might see.

In October, I covered a football game at the plush new Eastside Catholic campus on the Sammamish Plateau and what struck me was the size of a huge cross on the property.

It is 99 feet tall and was built from two cedar trees on the site.

The cross was the latest memorable thing I'd seen at a school in a span of about four years around the state. I decided on the spot it was time to trot out my other "finds."

• The coats of arms for football lettermen hanging in the weight room at Kamiak High School where the school nickname is Knights.

Kamiak opened in 1993 and there are now about 330 of the coats of arms. Each is 2-by-2 ½ feet. Assistant coach Ron Hadley has headed the project but has help, sometimes from injured players who cut out material.

"This is a tradition that all of our kids take pride in," said coach Dan Mack. "Many alumni come back every year to proudly view their coat of arms hanging in the weight room. This custom has tied together every class and connected every Fightin' Knight football letterman."

If you letter as a sophomore or junior at Kamiak, you can take your coat of arms to an area behind the bench at home games.

• The plaques in the locker room at South Kitsap with the names of each year's senior football players and coaches. The one exception is 1994 when every player on the team is listed and for good reason — that was the year the Wolves won the state AAA (now 4A) championship. The tradition started in the 1920s.

• The memorial to all branches of the armed services inside the new Oak Harbor Stadium.

The well-lit memorial, designed by Carlos Sierra of Sierra-Martin Architects, has the seals of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard and is topped by a ship's bell as a special tribute to active Navy personnel stationed at Naval Air Station-Whidbey Island.

Junior naval ROTC students from Oak Harbor High School ring the bell six times every time the Wildcats score a touchdown and one more time when the extra point is added.

• The entire campus at Union High School east of Vancouver, Wash.

Union, which is in the Evergreen School District, opened in the fall of 2007 and architects had plenty of land with which to work.

When you drive up, you think you've arrived at a community college.

• The memorial to Bainbridge war dead on the high-school campus. You get a mini-history lesson just by stepping out a classroom door. Veterans groups on the island conduct ceremonies at the memorial, and it reinforces the strong school-community connection you find at island schools and other schools with distinct boundaries.

• The mini Peace Arch at Blaine High School. It was built by the Class of 1976. It is on campus, about a mile from the actual Peace Arch. The "mini" arch is a popular place for team photos. By the way, Blaine's nickname is "Borderites," which is one of the most apt nicknames in the state.

In 2004, I did columns on "coolest things" I'd seen to that point in high schools around the state. Here is what I consider "best in show" from that year:

• The mural at Olympia High School depicting student life. It shows everything from dancing at the senior prom to sports, music and academics. The mural was painted by Terry Furchgott as part of an Art in Public Places program with the Olympia School District.

• The huge painting of a B-17 bomber on the north outside wall of Art Dawald Gymnasium on the Richland High School campus. The plane depicted was purchased by "day's pay" donations of thousands of employees working on the atomic bomb project at Hanford during World War II. The plane flew more than 60 missions in Europe before returning to the U.S.

• The rockets at Castle Rock High School in Southwest Washington. There is a large red rocket outside the school and another near the football team. The team nickname: "Rockets."

• The cartoon of the fighting potato of the "Ridgefield Spudders" in the gym of the Southwest Washington school. It cracks me up every time I think about it.

• The quotations at the main intersection of hallways at Wenatchee High School.

One is Henry David Thoreau's observation: "The world would be very silent if no birds sang except those who sang the best."

The other, attributed to "Anonymous" advises: "Think deeply, speak gently, love much, laugh often, work hard, give freely and be kind."

Have a question about high-school sports? Craig Smith will find the answer every Tuesday in The Times. Ask your question in one of the following ways: Voice mail (206-464-8279), snail mail (Craig Smith, Seattle Times Sports, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111) or e-mail csmith@seattletimes.com