Our students are capable of exceeding standards—and showing us how they do it. We see this in learning environments like Gibson Ek, a high school in Issaquah. Gibson Ek requires students to document their learning in a “portfolio” that shows their best, most impactful work, and their journey to get there. Students shadow and intern with real companies or organizations, develop problem-solving solutions for their community, and meet standards in all subjects with evidence-based projects. We caught up with a few students (one who is currently working with Lego in Denmark!) to get an inside view of what a portfolio means and how they use it to demonstrate their learning. Check it out on SBE's latest blog post. 

We also interviewed Cal Poly freshman and former Gibson Ek student, Connor, for his post-graduation perspective on performance-based demonstration of work. His video feature is linked below.

In case you missed it, the State Board recently hired two high school students as first-ever communications interns. The SBE Communicators, Indy Hilmes (Selah) and Star Mendoza (Puyallup), are giving SBE valuable perspective on how to engage with their peers.

So far, the two are working on introducing themselves on social media, stories about students, and they have created a TikTok account hoping to engage and relate to more students on behalf of the Board.

Both students are dedicated to translating sometimes dense policy material into relatable content that anyone can engage with and understand. You will see their introduction posts and some of their work on all of SBE's social accounts (linked in our footer below).

We're thankful for the support of the Association of Washington Student Leaders and the communicators' school districts in this new program.