May Newsletter
Dear Community,
As we turn the corner from spring into summer, we're filled with gratitude reflecting on an incredible school year at WA-BLOC—one marked by new school partnerships, the growth of our youth circle keepers, and countless restorative circles with students, educators, and principals. As the academic year winds down, our excitement is building for a major milestone: our 10th summer of Freedom Schools! Can you believe it? A whole decade of joyful, transformative education and youth-led social action for Black and brown youth and young adults in South Seattle. We can’t wait to share more in upcoming newsletters about what’s ahead—and how you can join us in supporting and celebrating this powerful 10-year legacy. Go Freedom Schools!
In this newsletter you will find:
Circle Up Event Recap and Invitation to SPL exhibit!
Meet our Freedom Schools Educators!
Spring Campaign - Help us continue raising funds for bus transportation this summer
Circle Up! Event Recap and Invitation to SPL Exhibit!
Thank you so much for joining us for the kickoff of our Oral Histories Exhibit “Circle Up! Listen to the Moment” on April 26th at El Centro de la Raza! At WA-BLOC, we believe storytelling is a powerful tool for liberation.
Circle Up! uses oral history to help us reflect on a pivotal moment in time, seen through the eyes of Black Restorative Practitioners who helped embed Restorative Practices in South End Seattle schools over a decade ago. WA-BLOC is deeply grateful to each of you who came through to honor the power of our stories, nurture intergenerational connection, and celebrate the brilliance of our community.
Together, we:
Gathered to play, connect, and reflect
Listened deeply at the oral history listening stations
Honored our youth and elder narrators with love and recognition
Enjoyed delicious food from our favorite local spots and a photo booth from Shot with Love
This is just the beginning of this exciting and important work and we are excited to invite you to participate in next steps:
Visit the installation at the Seattle Public Library 8th floor now through July 31st!
Check out our online Zine created by Eboni Wyatt and inspired by oral histories centering Black educators and organizers who brought Restorative Justice to South End Seattle Public Schools.
Listen to the audio composition at home + read along with the transcript
Nominate a narrator to be featured in future oral histories: Narrator Recommendation Form
Support this work by donating to WA-BLOC.
More about Oral History:
Check out and support Wa Na Wari’s Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute—the community classroom that trained Sierra Parsons and Ricky Reyes and equipped them to create and activate the Circle Up! project.
Curious about the ethics and practice of oral history? Explore Voice of Witness:
As we wind down our school year work—energized by the Restorative Justice movement captured in Circle Up!—we are gearing up for our 10th Freedom Schools summer. Freedom Schools catalyzed WA-BLOC’s founding and remain the ultimate expression of Restorative Practices. Freedom Schools are inherently healing-centered and joyful, transforming students’ and young educators’ relationships with learning, literacy, and liberation through hope, education, and social action.
Thank you for showing up, listening with care, and holding space with us. We can’t wait to build with you again soon!
Introducing our Freedom Schools summer staff! These brilliant people will lead K-5th grade classrooms, guide our (new!) Middle School internship program, and much more at Emerson Elementary this summer.
We are ecstatic to have such an amazing group of young adults who are passionate about transformative education and revolutionary grassroots social action. We can’t wait to see all the ways they grow as individuals and nurture the leadership of our Freedom Schools scholars!
Noah Collier, he/him - Educator
Noah was born and raised in Kent, Washington. He is a recent graduate of Morehouse College and just received his Bachelors in Africana Studies and Historical Preservation. He is extremely passionate music, cartoons, Black art, and culture. After a year of working in education in Seattle, he plans to attend graduate school and start a career in educational leadership and curriculum building for public schools.
Yobach Frazier, She/Her - Educator
Yobach is an educator, creative, and nurturer entering her 10th summer with the program. She is a recent graduate from Pacific Lutheran University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. A proud alum of Rainier Beach High School, she has a long and loving history with this community. Her work and advocacy are rooted in community, justice, and care, with a deep love for the brilliance of youth. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys learning, traveling, and intentional solitude, and encourages others to find strength in being with themselves too.
Thank you to our community for Giving Big this May 6th and 7th for summer bus transportation!
Thanks to supporters like you, on GIVE BIG, we raised $1,000 towards our total cost of transportation!
We still need your help to get scholars on the bus! Our campaign will continue until July 1st, make a donation today to get us closer to our goal.
This summer, the total cost of daily bus transportation is $20,500.
Free, reliable transportation for every scholar makes our Freedom Schools summer program accessible to the young people who need it most.
You can make a difference with a donation as small as $12 USD:
$12 = Give a scholar a ride for a day!
$60 = Give a scholar a ride for 5 days!
$120 = Give a scholar a ride for 10 days!
$300 = Give a scholar a ride for the summer!
Together, let’s get every scholar on the bus.
With your support, we can remove one of the biggest barriers to summer learning—and make sure all of our scholars have the opportunity to learn, lead, and grow in community.
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