Bill Minter

Gig Harbor High senior excels in several areas, is founder of first women’s rugby team in Gig Harbor

Bill Minter has excelled in several areas while in high school: academics, athletics, music and community service. He has maintained a 3.993 grade-point average while taking 16 advanced-placement and honors courses and keeping a busy extracurricular schedule.

Minter is a talented rugby player whose team, the Harbour Hurricanes Youth Rugby Club, was a 2007 state and Pacific Northwest champion. He was selected for the Youth Rugby Pacific Northwest All-Star team that traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia, where it defeated the Canadian All-Star team.

Another major accomplishment was being selected among the top 115 youth players in the country for a highly competitive invitational camp.

When Minter saw a void in the area — a lack of a women’s rugby team — he decided to make it his senior project. Founding and coaching the Gig Harbour Storm was his highest achievement to date, he said.

“Coaching has been very gratifying,” he said. “There are 30 girls on the team, and they’re doing awesome.”

Minter not only organized the team, he is making sure it will be successful after he leaves for college, arranging for a coach to lead the team next year.

Rugby is a good stress-management outlet for him.

“It helps me focus and deal with the stress I have at school,” he said.

In addition to his athletic involvements, Minter is an accomplished trumpet player and also plays the piano. He has been a band player for about eight years and received various solo awards in competitions for his trumpet prowess.

Among his community service activities are volunteering in the emergency room at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and refereeing youth soccer.

He said his secret to maintaining good grades while keeping a busy schedule is avoiding procrastination — something he had to learn once he started high school.

“If you put a little work in to get ahead of the game, it’s not hard to get good grades,” he said.

Minter plans to spend part of the summer in Argentina, learning the culture and attending a language school. While he is not set in his career plans yet, he said he’s considering studying biology and entering the medical field.

“It’s very satisfying,” he said. “The more you learn about it, the more you want to learn.”

Minter’s teachers say he has a drive to apply classroom concepts to the outside world.

“Although Gig Harbor High School perennially produces exceptional students, Bill has stood out among that talented group because of his intellectual aptitude, drive and determination, his amiable personality and his fantastic sense of humor,” said Dennis Johnson, science teacher at GHHS. “ ... He has earned the respect and admiration of each of the teachers lucky enough to have Bill in class.”

Bill Minter

Education: Senior, Gig Harbor High School

GPA: 3.993

Parents: Tom and Susan Minter

Activities/achievements: Sixteen AP and honors courses, Harbor Soccer Club captain, GHHS cross country and track and field teams, Harbour Hurricanes Youth Rugby Club, Youth Rugby Pacific Northwest All-Star Team, AP Scholar, National Honor Society, WSU Crimson Regents Scholar, youth soccer referee, volunteer at St. Joseph ER, founder and coach of women’s rugby club, speech and debate, jazz and pep band, attended National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C.

Favorite teacher: Dennis Johnson, because he “takes a genuine interest in the intellectual growth of his students and works passionately to ensure that they meet their potential.”

Best thing about high school: “Gig Harbor High School provides an environment that fosters intellectual achievement as well as excellent teachers who take pride in their work.”