Author: School's Out Washington

Summer Leadership Academy promotes education, entrepreneurship, and empathy

When I arrive at the basement of the Holly Park Community Church where Empowering Youth and Families Outreach (EYFO) runs their Summer Leadership Academy summer camp, I happen upon a rare moment of quiet–all of the campers are across the street enjoying the newly renovated Othello Park. Director and Founder Charlett Shoecraft is still bustling around in preparation for their next activity, tidying the supplies on the sea of tables. When we sit down and start talking about the summer program’s highlights, she pulls out her phone and scrolls through dozens of photos to help her keep track of what all they’ve done. It … [ ]

WAPI Community Services uses hip hop to keep kids safe in summer

The kids file out of the van and into WAPI Community Services’ Federal Way studio. They’ve just arrived from the Seola Gardens site of Neighborhood House, which, like WAPI, is a cohort member of the Best Starts for Kids Out-of-School Time initiative. They sit down in front of iPads, drum pads, and production-quality headphones that absolutely dwarf the middle schoolers, and are barely able to contain their excitement. They’ve here to learn hip hop music production, and within 15 minutes they’re engrossed in the creation of their songs. “Mr. Karrie, listen to this,” they excitedly shout, trying to get WAPI’s Prevention Coordinator and Lead … [ ]

Vietnamese Friendship Association builds on the findings of their “research year” with BSK

Vietnamese Friendship Association (VFA) held its first Pride celebration at the Seattle World School this June. Students had rainbow temporary tattoos all over their faces and looked at posters showing Prides from around the world. The event was an opportunity for the newly-arrived immigrant and refugee middle and high school students served by the organization to have fun with each other and with the staff that they had built relationships with over the last school year. It was the first Pride event for many of them but it was also a first for VFA, who officially started serving middle schoolers … [ ]

A day with King County Executive Dow Constantine—two sites highlight equitable funding models (Part 2)

By School's Out Washington

Last month, School’s Out Washington led a tour of two of our Best Starts for Kids Out-of-School Time grantees to showcase their exemplary programs. Read Part 1. In Renton, at the Highlands Neighborhood Center, kids learned about how environmental pollutants enter our water systems (and enthusiastically spraying “rain” all over the model town), filling a room with giggles as they concocted shimmery slime using a recipe written in Spanish, and racing to construct machines out of items like pipe cleaners, tape, and pennies. A testament to how engrossing their activities were, the kids were largely unconcerned with the gaggle of adults in their … [ ]

A day with King County Executive Dow Constantine—two sites highlight equitable funding models (Part 1)

By School's Out Washington

Last month, School’s Out Washington led a tour of two of our Best Starts for Kids Out-of-School Time grantees to showcase their exemplary programs. In Renton at the Highlands Neighborhood Center, kids were learning about how environmental pollutants enter our water systems (and enthusiastically spraying “rain” all over the model town), filling a room with giggles as they concocted shimmery slime using a recipe written in Spanish, and racing to construct machines out of items like pipe cleaners, tape, and pennies. A testament to how engrossing their activities were, the kids were largely unconcerned with the gaggle of adults in their space. … [ ]

East African Community Services creates by-and-for summer fun

When I ask Fardowsa Ali, the Program Director for East African Community Services (EACS), what kids are most excited about this summer, she pauses. “Well, everything! They get to design it. When the program starts, we survey the kids to determine what they want to do.” This summer, kids are going to places like the Microsoft campus, Cougar Mountain, the Pacific Science Center, and the Woodland Park Zoo for field trips. They’re also having field days in the park and learning from the community partners that drop in to their program space in Seattle’s NewHolly Housing Community. Fellow Best Starts for Kids Out-of-School-Time grantee Geeking … [ ]