WA-BLOC partners with the Children’s Defense Fund to deliver a nationally proven, high impact, six-week summer learning program to K-12 scholars in southeast Seattle.
Through Freedom Schools, we provide a transformative educational experience for Black and brown youth to combat the persistent racial inequities within Seattle Public Schools by preventing summer learning loss.
Freedom Schools centers culturally relevant literacy curriculum, social action, and fosters positive identity formation. To learn more about the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools model, click here.
Check out our 2021 Freedom Schools Summer Report!
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Through Restorative Justice, WA-BLOC builds powerful spaces of healing and joy for Black and brown youth while transforming systems and policies in public schools that perpetuate trauma and harm.
We engage school administrators and staff in southeast Seattle in professional development to learn, practice, and implement Restorative Justice school-wide to boost school climate.
We engage students in weekly sessions to train and activate them in Restorative Practices and Circle Keeping to equip them with skills in leading community-building spaces and peer-to-peer conflict resolution. To learn more about the Restorative Justice work that is happening regionally through Best Start for Kids, visit www.liberatedvillage.com.
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WA-BLOC prioritizes Building Leaders of Change by creating spaces to affirm and elevate Black and brown youth. Our annual BLOC Party hosted at Rainier Beach High School operates as a vehicle for youth leadership development and community mobilization through social justice education and creative activism around issues that youth identify.
BLOC Organizing seeks to elevate youth voices and mobilize the Rainier Beach community to build collective power and impact long-term systems change.
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