Career exploration included "teaching as a career path." Students joined social justice educators at the Martinez Foundation Luncheon, Bellevue, WA October 2013.
Middle College High School, a Seattle Public School in collaboration with Seattle University, celebrated its first anniversary in Loyola Hall this winter. One of the year's highlights is the number of collaborations between Seattle University faculty and students and the high school. A report from MCHS's winter newsletter
Through the College of Education (COE) and the Center for Service & Community Engagement (CSCE), MCHS students have received continuous college access support. In collaboration with her Student Development Administration graduate students, Dr. Erica Yamamura, Associate Professor in the College of Education, developed a college pathways workshop series for MCHS students during the 2012-13 Academic Year. The college pathways series included various college student panels, admissions information sessions, and residence/campus life presentations and tours.
Dr. Laurie Stevahn and MCHS students explore equity issues in a student-led research project investigating perceptions of freedom 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Duron Jones, CSCE student leader, worked with Sally Haber, Associate Director in the Center for Service and Community Engagement, to develop a College Access Course specially tailored to the MCHS students’ interests and needs. The students can earn credits toward their high school diploma and prepare for post-secondary education simultaneously. These cross-campus partnership activities are designed to develop the students’ college readiness and help them articulate goals and an action plan for their lives after high school. Ensuring comprehensive college access support, students from the COE Student Development Administration program were also available to MCHS as trainers and mentors, giving MCHS students additional individual guidance and support.
A significant highlight of our first year is the development and delivery of academic courses by the College of Education, Law School and Center for Service and Community Engagement. Faculty and students across campus engaged MCHS students in a range of educational experiences to authentically engage students and deepen learning. During Winter Quarter 2013, Dr. Margit McGuire, professor and program director of the Master in Teaching Program, co-taught a social studies course with MCHS humanities teacher, Beth Brunton. The unit of study was entitled, "The Civil Rights Movement: Freedom Summer Storypath." The high school students imagined themselves as civil rights workers traveling to and living in Jackson, Mississippi in the summer of 1964. They delved into primary documents that featured the events of the summer including voter registration forms, security bulletins, the FBI poster of the disappearance of three civil rights workers, and firsthand accounts of civil rights workers. Other courses included: “Financial Literacy & Street Law" by Seattle Law School faculty and students, “Cognition Training & Attention Development” by Dr. Amy Eva, College of Education, and “Introduction to Service Learning (with Master in Teaching students)” by Dr. Mark Roddy and Dr. Bethany Plett, College of Education.
Banner Magazine 2013
December 10, 2012
On June 12th, 2012, Marah Williams, a graduate of Middle College High School, died at age 19 after a long struggle with chemical dependency and depression. To honor her memory, her parents, Penny LeGate and Mike Williams, and sister Molly established The Marah Project to help others achieve their life goals. The Marah Project's mission is to offer underserved teens a transformational learning opportunity through paid internships in community service. Two students at the Middle College High School at Seattle University will be selected to receive internships through Teens in Public Service (TIPS). Evening Magazine’s story about the partnership aired on December 10, 2012. Penny was a long-time host of the popular television program.
Seattle University Magazine, Spring/Summer 2013
By Annie Beckmann
…It’s a dynamic collaboration between SU’s College of Education and Seattle Public Schools (SPS) that has been many years in the making, according to Charisse Cowan Pitre, associate professor in SU’s Master in Teaching program and the Middle College partnership director. SU faculty and students contribute advice, advocacy, resources and support for the school in exchange for real-life learning opportunities.
“The students here have just as much promise as any other young person with hopes for a bright future, but they may not have had the opportunity to succeed academically,” says Cowan Pitre. “This partnership provides the opportunity for students to reach their academic goals and prepare for college and a career.”
Spring/Summer 2013, page 27
How Middle College High School found its way to Seattle involves alumna Julie Hungar.
A 1982 graduate of the College of Education’s Educational Leadership Doctorate program, Julie Hungar was a vice chancellor for Seattle Community Colleges when she first began to explore ways to encourage collaborations among educational institutions with a goal of improving the number of transfer students…
“As an alum, I’m proud that my institution has taken on this commitment to make a significant difference in the lives of individual students and the quality of education in Seattle as a whole,” she says. “As a believer in this genuinely revolutionary innovation for educating high school students, I’m excited at the way SU is expanding the concept and multiplying its power.”
Read the entire story in Seattle University Magazine, Spring/Summer 2013, page 31.