Huge news in the early learning/childcare space here in Snohomish County! Last week, I visited the Pathfinder Kindergarten Center in Mukilteo. Pathfinder is participating in a pilot program that we launched through Sno-Isle Tech that sends high school students who are interested in early childhood education to work with the children who attend Pathfinder. The program is already getting praise from the students who are participating as well as the staff from Pathfinder for being a great way to get students hands-on experience in early childhood education through a combination of curriculum and interactive learning with students. We are currently working with Sno-Isle Tech and other interested school districts to expand the program next year and recruit more students. We are really excited to be leading this charge with Sno-Isle.
County Council Committee hearings are currently on hold while the Council undergoes budget deliberations. We are tentatively scheduled to pass a budget in early November. We are working through a collaborative process with the Executive’s Office as well as departments to implement a budget that is equitable, sustainable, and serves the needs of our community. I will plan to send out a newsletter in December with highlights of the 2024 budget.
Last month, Councilmember Nate Nehring and I hosted our third Building Bridges event of the year in Lynnwood. We have been hosting conversations around the county on how to bridge the political divide and overcome polarization to serve our communities better. In this work, we have been prioritizing facilitating conversations among community members with prompted questions among groups and a share out of responses and ideas. We have received a lot of positive feedback from these events and will plan to host more conversations like this in the future. I want to thank anyone who has attended one of these events or expressed interest in this idea, it truly takes our whole community to make a change this profound.
We are currently in the process of planning our second annual Civic Education Day on the Snohomish County campus. Last year, we hosted 130 high school kids from high schools around the county to learn about their local county government and meet their local leaders. We were really impressed with the amount of interest we received from the schools in our area, and we had a lot of positive feedback from staff and students who were excited about the opportunity. We look forward to the second year and to welcome students to the campus.
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