News of Interest

The Children's Film Festival Seattle starts this Thursday, Jan. 24th and continues through Feb. 3.

Overview of Festival.  This includes a pajama party with Caspar Babypants one night, a pancake breakfast and short films the next morning, and a 1924 film version of Captain January.

Info for teachers/educators. 

We have added three extra weeks of weekday morning screenings for groups – so tell a teacher or childcare provider!

From the Times, a story about College Bound, the state program that help pay for college for low-income students, which is a great success story. 

In its first year of paying for college, the program, called College Bound, did much better than expected.

In fact, so many low-income students were admitted to four-year schools through the program that it will soon be out of money, using up in one year the $12 million lawmakers set aside for it in 2007 — a sum that was supposed to last two years.

Now, 118,000 low-income students across the state who signed up for College Bound are eligible to receive scholarship money in the next five years, and the Legislature must find millions of dollars this biennium to keep the program going.

Real kids, real outcomes.

The program made all the difference to Charles Armstead, who was flailing in his 10th-grade year at Cleveland High School until college-prep adviser Logan Reichert told him that if he could improve his grades, College Bound would pay for a lot of his schooling.

Armstead, 18, only vaguely remembered signing up for the program in middle school. But once he realized it could be his ticket to college, “my whole life changed,” he said. 

Craves believes College Bound is going to reap another benefit that’s almost as important as getting kids into college — motivating them to at least finish high school.  

Some schools have created a College Bound club. In other communities, a low-income housing authority or a nonprofit like the YMCA has publicized the program and helped students apply for financial aid.

State Rep. Larry Seaquist, who chairs the House Higher Education Committee, would like to find money to hire more counselors in middle school, high school and college to help students stay on track. 

“To me, College Bound — with full counseling — is the core of what we have to do as a state” to improve educational achievement, the Gig Harbor Democrat said.

One issue, though, is money.  This program is almost too popular.  And, some in the Legislature already want to get rid of the GET tuition program for families and boy the comments in the Comment section really let them have it.  

Year Up Puget Sound is still taking applications for the March class.

Year Up Puget Sound is a one-year, intensive training program that provides low-income young adults, ages 18-24, with a combination of hands-on skill development, college credits, and corporate internships.

Also, FYI parents and teachers, the UW Computer Science and Engineering Department has a plethora of outreach activities including those for deaf/hard of hearing and girls interest in STEM.  You can also take a tour of their very cool building at UW.  

Comments

Anonymous said…
All that outreach but not enough spaces. What is the point?

HP
Well, the point is that, once again, if our Legislature adequately funded education, including higher ed, they could create more spaces. But UW isn't the only university in the US that offers computer science.
Anonymous said…
That is true. I know of many kids filling up Western for Engineering degrees because they couldn't get into the UW Eng program. There is also WSU and Central. But it is harder and harder for Seattle kids to get into the UW Eng and if you can't afford to live away from home it can be a problem.

HP
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Anonymous said…
I am at a loss for words. I am incredibly saddened by the reports I'm hearing about tallying of options for capacity management. Pushing for a 6th grade academy, the most expensive and most disruptive option, is nothing short of selfish. Money spent is money taken away from all communities - north, south, east and west. What a sad state of affairs. The reality is that the communities pitted against each other could some day end up in the same building. All the cries about inequity could mean that APP is used to balance the enrollment at new middle schools. It's the district's MO.
Anonymous said…
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/22/16640946-study-high-school-grad-rate-highest-since-76?lite

Highest High School Grad rate since 1976

HP
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