Stephanie Solien, Center School Representative. Stephanie has been involved with national and local politics for over 20 years, and has been an active leader with nonprofit and civic organizations in Washington State. Her daughter is a freshman at Center High School.

Rebecca Garrity Putnam, Community Representative.

Rebecca has worked for over 23 years as a fund raising and marketing professional. She is currently the Director of Communications for the Frye Art Museum, and proud parent of a McClure 8th grader.

Kari Hanson, John Hay Representative.

Kari moved this year from her longtime teaching position at John Hay to a new position as Head Teacher. Her passion for students and expertise in education make her a great fit for the SSIA Board.

 

 

 

 

The beginning of a new school year is always a hopeful time of year, full of promise and excitement. That is certainly evident at Successful Schools in Action, where we are preparing for our fall debate session, recruiting and training tutors, planning our work experience program, and scheduling collaborative conversations. Our staff has grown over the summer to include: Ann Espo as Director of Development, and Sandy Nielsen as Debate Program Manager. Ann, parent of a John Hay first grader, brings a wealth of nonprofit management experience, while Sandy comes with a great perspective and understanding of the debate program as the parent of two award-winning debaters, fifth grade twins at Catharine Blaine. 

A quick look at what's coming up:

DEBATE - We are extending the length of each session to allow time for a more robust curriculum that includes high school mock debates and more debate practice time. Fall session will start in early October; registration materials are being distributed this week.

 

TUTORING - We have a lot of volunteers interested in tutoring in our schools, and we're thrilled that many of last year's tutors are returning this year. We are hoping to provide enough trained and experienced math tutors to meet the growing number of requests from teachers.

COLLABORATIVE CONVERSATIONS - After hosting six collaborative conversations last year between different staff and parent groups, it's clear this is a very popular program. Based on feedback from past participants, this year we will offer formal training workshops as well as informal opportunities for conversations between teachers and parents who share similar interests and are working toward common goals.
 
WORK EXPERIENCE - SSIA spent the summer carefully evaluating this program that was piloted last year, looking for ways to enhance and strengthen it. With a recent program sponsorship gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, we are working hard preparing materials, meeting with placement hosts, and identifying student participants.