The New Westfield Southcenter celebrates its Grand Opening and unveiling of the “My Mosaic Project” on Friday, July 25, 2008.  The mosaic designs were inspired by drawings from third grade classes of Thorndyke Elementary and Tukwila Elementary Schools who visited Northwest Trek Wildlife Park and Point Defiance Zoo.  Each of the students was asked to create an image that most represents their interpretation of their specific project (Northwest or Rainforest).  The drawings were transformed by local artist, Raquel Stanek, into witty and whimsical mosaic murals. 

Westfield Southcenter updates & announcements:
www.westfield.com/southcenter

Mosaic progress:
http://raquelsmosaics.blogspot.com

June 3rd - Congratulations to Alma Villegas our Latino Community Liaison and Supervisor of the Community Liaison program in Tukwila.  Alma was one of 5 recipients to win the SOAR  "Above and Beyond Award" for her work in Tukwila with our Latino community.  SOAR is a community collaborative focused on the success of children and youth, ages birth to eighteen, in King County. Thank you Alma for your hard work, dedication and the incredible parents that you have working in our schools.  

May 20^th-The Latino Night final event of the year was a huge success. The event was held at Showalter Middle School and featured informative announcements such as the one made by Truancy Officer, Butch Estes informing parents about WA State truancy laws and the importance of daily attendance.  Also featured were dance groups Estilo Latino comprised of Students from Showalter Middle School and Orgullo Hispano which is a combination of students from Foster, Showalter and Tukwila Elementary.  During dinner, the crowd was entertained by special musical guests the Mariachi Monarcas, a six piece Mariachi Band consisting of musicians from Mexico, California and Seattle. 

CSC would like to thank everyone for coming out and supporting this event – it wouldn't have been a success without you all.

May 14^th - Latino Community Liaison, Alma Villegas, shows appreciation to the parents of CSC’S Latino Empowerment Project (LEP) by treating them to a Parent’s Day Appreciation Breakfast.  Parents of LEP are trained as “Parent Ambassadors” for the Latino Community and encouraged to participate in the various programs which engage parents to become actively involved in their children’s education.  

   

May 9th - CSC’S Multicultural Action Committee (MAC) at Foster HS hosted the Cultural World’s Fair.  Cultural World's Fair is in celebration of the diverse student population at Foster HS.  The students celebrated their diversity by sharing food, music, dance and poetry.  The Fair started off with a speech from former NFL quarterback, Jack Thompson, who before joining the NFL attended Evergreen High School in Seattle and Washington State University where he was named one of the three most influential players in Washington State football history. Renowned for his nickname as "The Throwing Samoan”,  his speech about the struggle in professional sports for people of color was both inspirational and enlightening.  The Fair also included native dances by Hawaiian, Bosnian, Mexican, Russian, East Indian, Samoan, Ethiopian, Somali and Liberian students and a special performance by the nationally recognized Filipino Youth Activities (FYA) Drill Team.  Other activities included an inflatable obstacle course, face painting, balloon art, cultural tattooing, lei making and a cake walk.   


   

April 29^th - May 2^nd  - CSC staff members traveled to Portland, OR to attend the 10th annual National Community Schools Forum, hosted by the Coalition for Community Schools and the Institute for Education.   The Forum is a learning and professional development experience for schools, districts and non-profit organizations across the country that are implementing community schools. 

 Our staff attended workshops and talks on such topics as:

• Mobilizing local leadership to become champions for community schools 
• Building the capacity to advocate for community schools with national, state and local policy makers
• Capturing and using data to make the case for community schools

We are excited to bring the lessons we learned back to our schools and our community.  

    
      

April 23^{rd -} College recruiters and organizations gathered at Chinook Middle School for a family barbecue and college fair.  Chinook Middle School students and their families enjoyed an outdoor barbecue and participated in workshops geared toward middle school students and their parents.  The workshops were provided in both English and Spanish, and included such topics as, Encouraging Educational Excellence in the Latino Community (Washington State University Representative), College Bound Scholarship (how to apply for and get money for college), and a College Student Panel (University of Washington Office of Minority Affairs).