Seattle Schools Community Forum

From Jet City Mom: The Native Youth Enrichment program at the UW , is looking for middle school aged youth in Seattle, to participate in a 4 week ( non-consecutive) AWESOME camp that will include lots of STEAM curriculum and field trips. It is FREE and starts next week on the Monday, July 6th. The program is aimed at empowering Native youth in self advocacy & encouraging STEAM( science, technology, engineering, art & math) education & career goals.

That leader is Trish Millines Dziko who started Technology Access Foundation and is truly a great thinker on how to push the needle forward for students of color using STEM-based curriculum with project-based learning. Trish has written a series on her thoughts about ed reform (she's frustrated) and we think - intentionally - about the work of educating children on a school level. Time to Transform Public Schools: Part 1- Brown v Board, An Incomplete Journey Time to Transform Public Schools:Part 2 - A Vision for a Great School Time to Transform Public Schools: Part 3 - Don't Drink the Milk (complete with a charming Little Rascals video to prove her point) I believe in what Dziko is doing (and saying) for several reasons.

First, I thought Dr. Royal's speech in Philadelphia to TFAers had been taken down at YouTube but apparently not.  This inspired Trish Millines Dziko, noted educator and head of Technology Access Foundation and the TAF Academy in Tacoma, to weigh in.  She, like Dr. Royal, is an outspoken advocate for children and public education.  She is strong and fearless.  Here's what she had to say in reference to Dr. Royal's speech: Pacific NW Education Reformers Pay Attention to This! Our public education system needs a lot of work in order to provide the type of education our children need to succeed. However, those leading the education reform movement (particular ly here in the PNW) have pushed their toes on the line of paternalism and are heading toward colonialism. Dr. Camika Royal (an African American woman who is also a former Teach for America member) really laid it out in a way that you should all take seriously and make the necessary adjustments. She ...

One of the perks of doing this work and getting out there in the community is meeting people who don't just talk - they act.  Trish Millines Dziko is such a person.  Trish and her partner, Jill Hull Dziko, started providing STEM programs for students of color back in 1996.  They then founded Technology Access Foundation which now has two programs: TechStart and TAF Academy.  TechStart is an after-school program (middle school) and school-day program (elementary) for STEM, to help them learn about it and be prepared for classes in it. TAF Academy, in the Federal Way school district, is a 6-12th grade model for STEM.  So when I heard Trish giving testimony at a recent state senate committee meeting about TAF, I contacted her and thanked her for her work.  I also asked her about charters because TAF has done tremendous work in creating their programs and doing the tough work to create partnerships to support their work. So, it seems like TAF might ...