Washington Alliance For Better Schools

21st century community learning centers - wabs' 21st century community learning centers (21st cclc) help elementary school students develop to their full academic, social, and physical potential. With title iv funds, wabs provides high-quality after-school and summer opportunities at 4 elementary schools in marysville school district to help students meet state and local academic standards in core content areas. Program activities include homework help and academic support in math and reading, as well as a variety of enrichment opportunities to support stem, literacy, and other learning. In addition to providing academic and enrichment support, the 21st cclcs provide social-emotional learning support for students. Students participate in the program at no cost and are also provided with meals and transportation. Additionally, 21st cclcs provide parents and families with demand-driven educational and community-building opportunities.

Teach2connect educator program is a six month long educator professional development program that brings together employer mentors and educators to strengthen student learning experiences through authentic and relevant workplace connections. Partnering teachers with industry mentors ensure that content brought to the classroom is relevant to real-world careers and enhances student knowledge of career pathways. Teachers visit their industry mentors' work-site and engage in conversations and activities over the course of the program to learn about industry needs, trends, challenges and career pathway information that they bring back into the classroom to share with their students. Educators take their classroom on a field trip to an industry employer to help students better understand the relevance of classroom learning to the world of work. Throughout the program, teachers integrate career connected learning (ccl) into interactions with students and course curricula while ensuring inclusive, equity-centered design and implementation.equitable family engagement is about creating a welcoming and inclusive environment where all families feel valued and empowered to participate in their children's education, regardless of their background or circumstances. An equitable approach to family engagement programming is not merely about inviting families to participate in pre-determined activities. It's about recognizing and valuing families as essential partners in the educational process, and actively involving them in shaping the very programs designed to support them and their children. Furthermore, we embrace an asset-based approach to family engagement, recognizing families' inherent wisdom, knowledge, and cultural strengths. Our programming surfaces these assets, creating opportunities for families to share their expertise and become resources for one another, enriching the learning environment and fostering a stronger, more supportive community.after-school stem academy - after school stem academy is a hands-on stem after school program for elementary and middle school students facilitated by industry volunteers build students' 21st century skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity) by working directly with industry and community partners for all students, particularly those impacted by systemic racism and those furthest from educational justice.bcs: build cool stuff is a program for middle school students. By exploring student-generated problems, each group meets after school to engage with stem educators and volunteers in the engineering design process. As part of a 6-week session, these experiences provide greater access to career-connected learning for bipoc (black, indigenous, and people of color) and underserved middle school students. In doing so, we will strengthen the diversity of our regional workforce by engaging young learners from underrepresented groups in stem fields.

Career connect washington regional network for king and pierce counties. Led by washington alliance for better schools, the king-pierce regional network helps young people, especially those furthest from opportunity, envision and achieve high opportunity careers by leading the region's strategy to build out career connected learning programs leading to high demand careers. Serving about 100 partners annually, the network provides partnership and technical support for nonprofits and other organizations in applying for state-funded program builder grants to build career connected learning programs serving youth. The regional network also develops partnerships with industry, k-12 districts, postsecondary institutions, and labor to increase broadscale onsite work-based learning experiences (such as worksite tours, job shadows, postsecondary learning lunches, and internships) for k-12 students.