We were proud to see our conference theme, Together We Rise, resonate through every keynote, workshop, and conversation as hundreds of changemakers from across Washington gathered to celebrate and lean into collective resilience, empowerment, and shared success.
Read more about Lights On Afterschool events held in Washington in 2025, including 5 events sponsored by SOWA.
To ensure refugee children are equipped to thrive in Kindergarten, World Relief Western Washington (WRWW) offers Kinders Camp, a 4-week program. While the program also aims to build foundational academic skills, it is primarily focused on supporting children’s social and emotional growth—a critical component, especially as many of these young people are preparing for their first experience in a formal educational setting. A Structured, Fun, and Supportive Environment Held four days a week, the program begins with a warm-up activity—often child-led and creative, such as playing with playdough—that helps students ease into the day. After a morning circle with the … [ ]
On the morning of March 14, 2025, the School’s Out Washington (SOWA) training room buzzed with a deep sense of community and the hum of simultaneous conversations as representatives from nearly all 55 of SOWA’s Best Starts for Kids grantee agencies came together for their second annual Best Starts for Kids Learning Community Meeting (LCM). LCMs are an opportunity for members of a Quality Cohort—a group of youth program providers who come together to engage in a continuous improvement process—to strengthen their programs and youth program quality work through peer learning. After setting the tone for the event with an … [ ]
We were proud to witness our theme of “Moments to Movements” in action as both a foundation for the conference and an invitation to imagine more expansive movements rooted in the moments that change us bit by bit every day—and how we can utilize these invaluable moments with youth to foster long-lasting positive change.
As an intermediary in Washington, mobilizing, convening, and advocating to fund the youth development field were fundamental objectives in 2023. Upon hiring our strategy and partnerships director, Fahren Johnson, she restructured the Youth Development Strategy Table (YDST), and SOWA became the formal backbone for the coalition. Fahren also focused on uplifting the coalition voices. The YDST, a coalition of public, nonprofit, and community stakeholders, now had an organized leadership team. “We now have a co-chair model, and it really pulls from the depth of knowledge of the field,” said Fahren. “I think this will be strategic and key to keeping … [ ]