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From the Executive Director
As many of you are all too aware, our cluster is currently facing a lack of capacity, most immediately in our elementary schools. The SSIA Board of Directors has agreed that with this and other issues that inevitably arise and impact our public schools, the most beneficial role for SSIA is to help bring all the affected parties to the table for constructive dialog. Although we'll weigh each situation individually, we will not advocate for a specific solution unless there is one that is clearly supported by a consensus in our cluster, and that we feel is in the best interest of all students. Additionally, as a small non-profit, we have very limited resources and our priority is always to direct those resources to programs that directly serve students.
-Lisa Moore, Executive Director |
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Tutor Program
In the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving season I'd like to say thanks for the outpouring of commitment to our students we have already experienced this fall! This is year four of SSIA's Tutor program and students will be benefiting from the biggest year yet of community volunteer tutors, many who are returning from last year. Our tutors tend to be a modest crew, but you know who you are: Susan, Chris, Howard, Mascha, Sherry, Phyllis, Ben. Thirty tutors spending 58 volunteer hours each week working with students. And the list continues to grow.
I'd also like to mention our appreciation for the ongoing relationship SSIA has with Seattle Pacific University (SPU), especially the School of Education and Dr. Sharon Hartnett. SPU students continue to choose our SSIA partner schools as their service learning sites and this fall will provide over 200 volunteer hours to our students.
-Flo Minnehan, Tutor Program Manager |
 Debate Club
Preparing for the SSIA Fall Debate Club, which runs from October to mid-January, entails lots of planning and administrative tasks. Finding excellent Debate Club coaches and recruiting student participants were two major efforts. Thankfully, two coaches who have participated with Debate Club in prior years opted to return, Ceci Chiu at Lawton and John Hay, and Josh Anderson at Coe. Our third coach, Aaron Fishbone, at Blaine, is currently a graduate student at the UW and brings extensive experience both as a debater and coach. Student recruitment included classroom visits and having principals and teachers encourage students to give it a try. The result? Over 90 students at four schools are participating!
 A few weeks into the session, the kids have learned the terms 'claim' and 'warrant', and are working on concepts such as the meaning of proof for an argument, types of statistics, best ways to project your voice, and team building. Soon, they'll be tackling the evidence for this session's topic, which is "Resolved: That the Seattle School District should increase recess time for all public elementary school students."
In its fourth year, Debate Club continues to provide 4th and 5th grade students a strong foundation of critical thinking, public speaking, and debate experience.
-Sandy Nielsen, Debate Program Manager |
Collaboration
My sister, who lives in Oakland, California, is president of her daughter's elementary school PTA this year. We talk a lot about school issues; many are the same, and I'm sure are echoed everywhere: class sizes, funding, support of neighborhood schools. But when I talk with her about our capacity issues, she expresses amazement at the fact that we are working together as a cluster to find solutions that will benefit all our students. The collaborative model is at the heart of SSIA's work. From seven school principals discussing programs together at our board meetings, to our Collaborative Conversations for teachers and parents, collaboration is something that SSIA actively supports and facilitates.
This year we plan to offer many different Collaborative Conversations - opportunities for teachers, staff, and parents from different schools to meet, share ideas and resources, and work together as partners. We will offer workshops and trainings for teachers; informal get-togethers for grade level teams; and opportunities for staff to work together on curriculum and expectations across grade levels. Parents have told us they would be interested in conversations about Green Schools, fundraising, arts education, struggling readers, and middle school. We look forward to continuing to work together as a coalition committed to strong public education for all our students!
-Lisa Moore, Executive Director |
Welcome New Staff and Board Members!
SSIA welcomes new staff member Christine Segat, who is joining us as our Work Experience Program Manager. Christine has over 16 years of program management and fundraising experience with various non-profit organizations. She is the proud parent of two students at Blaine where she has been very involved in their education.
Our Board of Directors also welcomes additional members. Daphne Guericke joins us as the McClure representative. Daphne is the parent of two boys; a 6th grader at McClure and a 3rd grader at John Hay. She has been active in the schools and the neighborhood for many years and is a long-time supporter of public education and SSIA. And filling our last Board seat, Dick Lee joins the SSIA board as a community representative. Dick, the Director of Seattle Public Schools' Office of School Partnerships, has raised funds and built community partnerships that have benefited the students of the Seattle Public Schools for nearly 15 years. He is also the parent of a Kindergarten student at Lawton.
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