Program areas at WABS
21st century community learning centers - wabs' 21st century community learning centers (21st cclc) helps elementary school students develop to their full academic, social, and physical potential. With title iv funds, wabs provides high quality after school and summer school opportunities in the marysville school districts to help students meet state and local academic standards in core content areas. This includes homework help and academic support in math and reading. In addition to providing academic and enrichment support, the 21st cclcs provide social emotional learning support for students. Students participate in the program at no-cost and are also provided with meals and transportation. Additionally, wabs provides parents and families demand-driven educational opportunities.
Regional network for king and pierce countieswabs' regional networks helps young people, especially those furthest from opportunity, envision and achieve high opportunity careers in our regional economy by working with partners to build a continuum of career connected learning opportunities. Serving about 100 partners annually, the network provides partnership and technical support for nonprofits and other organizations in applying for state-funded program builder grants to build career connected learning programs serving youth. The regional network also develops partnerships with industry, k-12 districts, postsecondary institutions, and labor to increase broadscale onsite work-based learning experiences (such as worksite tours, job shadows, postsecondary learning lunches, and internships) for k-12 students.
Access stem - accessing career connected experiences for student success (access)stem is a program that provides teachers the opportunity to get direct exposure to stem industries through a summer immersion experience and continued work and learning throughout the school year with industry volunteers and presentations, ultimately resulting in the development of a lesson or unit for students. Teachers learn about industry needs, challenges, and career pathway opportunities that they can bring back into their classrooms to share with their students. The lessons and units are vetted and shared with the regional teaching community. Partnering teachers with stem industries ensures that content brought to the classroom is relevant to real-world careers and enhances student knowledge of career pathways, which is key to developing a strong regional workforce. After-school stem academy - after school stem academy is a hands-on stem after school program for elementary and middle school students facilitated by industry volunteers build students' 21st century skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity) by working directly with industry and community partners for all students, particularly those impacted by systemic racism and those furthest from educational justice.bcs: build cool stuff is a program for middle school students. By exploring student-generated problems, each group meets after school to engage with stem educators and volunteers in the engineering design process. As part of a 6-week session, these experiences provide greater access to career-connected learning for bipoc (black, indigenous, and people of color) and underserved middle school students. In doing so, we will strengthen the diversity of our regional workforce by engaging young learners from underrepresented groups in stem fields.
Worksite tours provide career exposure to students who are furthest from opportunity, including bipoc, low-income, and first generation. Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, over 1200 students from king, pierce, and snohomish counties will participate in these interactive, career-focused learning opportunities. Career launch programs combine meaningful, high-quality, paid on-the-job experience with classroom learning, creating a pathway to careers that provide upward mobility and family-sustaining wages. We know that while 70% of available jobs require a post-secondary credential, only 40% of high school graduates earn such a degree, certificate, or formal training. This means 60% of students are not attaining the post-secondary credentials needed to lead them to economic success. Wabs partners with the healthcare industry leadership table (hilt) to deliver the student experience package. The student experience package (sep) provides healthcare industry-led experiences for bipoc, low-income, and first-generation students. Specifically, students learn from healthcare professionals about high-demand healthcare careers through four healthcare career exploration programs.