Author: School’s Out Washington

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2026 Juneteenth Events Across Washington

Jun 11, 2026

Communities across Washington state are celebrating Juneteenth with parades, festivals, commemorations, and more! Check out a curated list below to find an event in your area. Want to add your event? Email lsavotsky@schoolsoutwashington.org with details. Friday, June 12 Tacoma Juneteenth Market Black Night Market5:00 PM-10:00 PMTacoma ArmoryLearn more Saturday, June 13 Bellevue Juneteenth Community Celebration Eton School11:00 AM-5:30 PMCrossroads ParkLearn more Kirkland Juneteenth Celebration Eastside For All12:00 PM-4:00 PMJuanita High SchoolLearn more Seattle Skyway Juneteenth Celebration and Festival Skyway Coalition3:00 PM-7:00 PMCampbell Hill Elementary SchoolLearn more Yakima Day in the Park Yakima County NAACP12:00 PM-6:00 PMMartin Luther King Jr. ParkLearn … [ ]

Building Crucial Connections through Convenings

Jun 09, 2026

Convening with peers in the youth development field is one of the many benefits grantees in the Best Starts for Kids (BSK) Expanded Learning Initiative have. This voter-funded initiative administered by School’s Out Washington (SOWA) provides youth organizations in King County with funding, quality improvement, and professional development supports. Due to resource constraints such as time and funding, youth providers often find themselves isolated, making it easy to forget that so many other providers are grappling with similar questions and challenges. Additionally, building partnerships requires significant time, effort, and interconnectedness that many programs don’t have capacity for—making convenings like BSK Learning Community Meetings (LCMs) an invaluable opportunity for grantees. LCMs are designed to give BSK grantees that rare chance to connect, share, and learn from and with each other. While SOWA hosts smaller cohort-based LCMs throughout the year, the annual spring All-BSK LCM brings … [ ]

Solicitud de Calificaciones: Grupo de Revisión del Entrenamiento en Línea y Autodirigido sobre Fundamentos de la Edad Escolar

Mar 30, 2026

School’s Out Washington (SOWA) está buscando de 3 a 5 evaluadores/as para formar un Grupo de Revisión del Entrenamiento En Línea y Autodirigido sobre Fundamentos de la Edad Escolar. El propósito de este grupo de trabajo será proporcionar observaciones y comentarios sobre la versión en español de la capacitación SAB en línea y autodirigida. Este proceso de revisión incluirá la evaluación de la funcionalidad de la plataforma, la accesibilidad, la precisión, la consistencia y la pertinencia cultural. La Especialista en Contenido Bilingüe de SOWA, la Directora Asociada de Aprendizaje Profesional y la persona que lidera el Contenido de Capacitación, apoyarán … [ ]

Advocating at the Capitol: Recap of 2026 Advocacy Day

Feb 23, 2026

We know that high-quality youth development programs transform lives and build stronger communities—but Washington still hasn’t caught up with the 26 other states already allocating centralized state funding for youth development. Washington has secured small funding wins across state agency budgets, but this approach leaves funding vulnerable and makes it difficult to track the true extent of cuts across budgets. One of the ways that School’s Out Washington (SOWA) supports our state’s youth development field is by serving as the backbone of the Youth Development Strategy Table (YDST), a statewide coalition of public, non-profit, and community stakeholders working together to … [ ]

Investing in Rural Youth: The Impact of School-Community Partnerships

Feb 09, 2026

Corey Belser knows firsthand how activities outside of the classroom can open doors of possibility for young people. His career as a professional basketball player and coach took him around the world—but he never forgot his roots: Spanaway, Washington, where he jumpstarted his basketball career during his time as a student in the Bethel School District. When he later returned to Washington to raise his family, Corey was determined to give back. He founded D.R.E.A.M. Basketball, a non-profit organization that offers basketball camps, clinics, and individual and group training for young people in an enriching, educational, enjoyable environment—something his hometown … [ ]

Spotlight: Dylan Jude Harrell Community Center

Feb 09, 2026

In 2021, Claire Bruncke helped found the Dylan Jude Harrell Community Center (DJHCC) to address a severe lack of access to afterschool programs in her rural community of Pacific County, Washington. The DJHCC has since become a key touchpoint for families and children in the county, serving roughly 65% of K-12 youth in the district last year. But, like many youth providers across the state and rural programs in particular, the DJHCC has had to navigate a glaring gap: funding. While 26 states dedicate funding for afterschool programming, Washington does not. As the executive director of the only youth program … [ ]

Author: School's Out Washington