Social Equity in Education

In every culture, storytelling is the first step toward literacy. Young children who engage in conversation with parents, siblings and other family members are more prepared to learn when they enter kindergarten. That’s why our early-learning programs include wordless picture books that give multilingual families of any culture a way to engage with their preschool children at home through playful and imaginative storytelling that will build background knowledge, increase vocabulary, and teach language structure. We also promote family literacy using wordless books.

Young people who want to succeed and thrive in an increasingly technological world must complete some type of postsecondary education. Whether they are pursuing an apprenticeship, a technical certification, or a 2-to-4-year academic degree, our programs prepare students to take advantage of opportunities to master the skills of collaboration, critical thinking and communication.

We believe America will be best served when we recognize the value of literacy and fluency in more than one world language. By identifying and supporting students who grow up in bilingual households and by helping them become fluent and literate in both languages, we are building future generations of skilled and globally-minded journalists, medical providers, lawyers, social service providers, teachers, translators and opinion leaders who are compelling, confident and multicultural communicators.

Washington State is currently a net importer of bachelor and graduate degree holders for the most desirable jobs in science, technology, engineering and math. We intend to change that. Over the past two decades, we have shown that students from all economic levels who are living in traditionally underserved rural communities throughout Washington can be prepared to compete for and succeed at these high-caliber jobs.

We believe that the ability to read with confidence and comprehension is the key to learning. And learning is the key to success. Our thriving and successful literacy initiatives continue to pave the way for promising young learners to make lasting contributions to their communities and the world at large.

The world we live in has become multi-lingual and multicultural. We celebrate that trend with programs that prepare students to thrive in a complex and rapidly expanding global environment that encourages and rewards educated and motivated young people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds.