Along with the other changes brewing about Liberty High School is the establishment of a reflective green rectangle—a rectangle that took almost as much work to put up as our new school and as much passion to imagine as the overwhelming wave of Patriot Pride that hit students the first week back. Although the bigger changes are more tangible when we all tread through lakes and piles of cardboard to get to our classes and lose our voices for days after home football games, this reflective green rectangle has had just as much impact.

If you haven’t noticed yet, the directions to get to school have changed. Go ahead; look it up on Google Maps. The last turn you take is no longer on 168th Ave SE; it’s Patriot Way SE.

Establishing Patriot Way was not just putting new words on a sign; it was a sign of accomplishment for our school. None of it would have been possible without the dedication of the ASB leaders. Led last year by (now) senior Megan Larson and the Patriot Way committee, the leaders committed to a year’s worth of work.

With the help of Michelle Munson, Dave Montalvo, and Josh Almy, the students went through the same lengthy democratic process of changing a street name that people use to get laws changed; they exercised their civil liberties, appealing to the King County Council many times, facing both support and opposition to their work.

The long process was one not many would be willing to take on. Our ASB shows us constantly how we can seriously impact our community and school, whether that is with spirited homecomings, successful canned food drives, attracting national attention with last year’s Red Out for Heart week, or going through the process to get us on the map. These leaders go above and beyond to make a positive difference in our community, in ways we may not realize impact us so much.

We’ve all heard the complaints that Liberty is the middle child of the school district, but with accomplishments like this, it is hard to back up that statement. We are on the map. Now, when you are speeding down SE 128th Street, it’s easy to spot the beacon that is Patriot Way that leads the groggy student straight to our school every morning. Issaquah High School and Skyline High School may have had street names of their own before, but student leaders here put our school on the map. Thanks to them, we are now united on our own street, and that’s pretty cool.

Thank you, Patriot leaders for taking time to make a true difference in our community and committing yourselves to establishing a legacy and standard for new Patriot generations to come. You really show us how to live the patriot way.