Pathway to Excellence Year Four Recruitment
School’s Out Washington (SOWA) is actively recruiting afterschool and youth development programs serving young people ages 5-18 in Spokane, the greater Seattle area, and Pierce County to participate in the Pathway to Excellence Project's Year 4. The Pathway to Excellence (PTE) Project is made available by a grant awarded to School’s Out Washington (SOWA) from the Atlantic Philanthropies. The overarching goal of the project is to plan, implement and evaluate professional development within the field of afterschool and youth development. The Year 4 Content Strand is "Addressing Equity & Diversity in Afterschool and Youth Programs".
Goals and Objectives
In the 2010-2011 academic year, staff from the Equity and Diversity in After School and Youth Programs Initiative will work with Schools Out Washington’s Pathway to Excellence program by providing technical assistance, coaching and training to the organization’s staff and afterschool coaches, as well as on-the-ground practitioners in the state. Our overall goal of this work is to help them create afterschool and youth programs that embrace equity and are truly inclusive to all the youth they serve. Specific objectives include:
- Gaining an understanding of key equity and diversity principles to implement into programs
- Engaging in self-reflection to unearth areas of privilege, oppression and bias in order to better understand our own strengths and challenges in connecting with diverse youth;
- Undergoing a comprehensive process of program assessment to evaluate how programs are or are not addressing the needs of diverse populations;
- Identifying individual and community issues shaping the lives and needs of diverse populations, and assess the program’s capacity to address those needs;
- Creating a peer leaning environment to discuss and share best practices
- Piloting activities to help instill the Bridging Multiple Worlds Competencies into programs; and
- Creating implementation plans to create more inclusive, equitable after school programs.
Training on the "Addressing Equity and Diversity in After School and Youth Programs" Toolkit
Pathway to Excellence participants will be trained to use California Tomorrow’s "Addressing Equity and Diversity in After School and Youth Programs" Toolkit. This toolkit was developed in partnership with afterschool providers, and provides afterschool and youth programs with a wide range of resources for addressing equity and diversity in their work. It includes powerful, easy-to-use activities for personal reflection, staff dialogue, program assessment, and organizational change.The Bridge from School to Afterschool and Back Conference Workshop Sessions for Year Four will use curricula developed by California Tomorrow. California Tomorrow’s mission is to help create a just and inclusive multiracial, multicultural and multilingual society by promoting equal access to social, economic and educational resources and equal participation in major institutions, and by embracing diversity as a great strength.
If you are a program in Spokane, the greater Seattle or Pierce County, and you are interested in applying, we recommend that you read the Year 4 Protocol so that you understand the committment your program leadership will be making if your program is accepted. We have an easy online application form which will provide you with a full copy of your submitted application - just click on the green "Apply Now!" button on this page. You may also download either the pdf or Word document of the application form. Applications will be accepted through August. If you have questions, please email Louie Praseuth or call him at 206.336.6936 or 1.888.419.9300 (toll-free in WA State).