The end of the school year is always a time for celebrations
and transitions. This week, I witnessed a lot of both. The highlight had to be
the TechStart Expo on
Saturday. Our elementary and middle school students blew me away with their use of
brain power, creative energy and robots.
Congratulations to the 4-6th grade team
from Beverly Park Elementary, who took home the Lego trophy this year! (
click here to see pictures and details)
I also experienced one incredible intersection of TAF's past
with the bright future for one of our TAF Academy students.
It's been quite a while since Jan Rizzuti was a volunteer for TAF. She moved away to take a position at prestigious
Bard College in Massachusetts.
There
she made a valuable connection with Mary Marcy, Provost of
Bard College at Simon's Rock.
In January 2007, Mary Marcy visited TAF to talk about their plan to launch a new
Early College Fellows program
for high school juniors, and in
her opinion, TAF kids were perfect candidates. Our students are bright,
dedicated, motivated for success and largely underserved by the local school
system. They need an opportunity like this to open doors.
If selected, students
would be invited to finish their last two years of high school in a real college
environment, doing intensive, college-level work. After graduation, they would
have the option to enter Bard College.
At the time, we were in our last year of the Technical Teens
Internship Program (TTIP). The timing didn't seem right.
But we did sign on as an
official partner of Bard College at
Simon's Rock knowing the time would come when we could send students.
This year, the timing was perfect. We have our first class
of TAF Academy 10th graders. The college's Director of Admissions returned to Seattle to
present the Simon's Rock program.
I am
thrilled (and more than a little sad) to announce that Nila Griffin has been
awarded an Early College Fellowship. She will be leaving TAF Academy, but I
am unbelievably excited for the journey ahead of her.
I wish more students
like Nila had the opportunities that we're trying to bring together at
TAF Academy. One student, one program
and one school at a time, we're getting there.
Also at TAF Academy, we learned that our inaugural principal,
Laura Davis-Brown, has chosen to leave to focus on being a middle school principal.
She has done an outstanding job these last two years launching
TAF Academy @ Federal Way. At times, the challenge of building a school that operated inside,
outside and beyond the traditional school system seemed like an impossible task,
but Laura helped make it happen. We wish her well and extend our eternal gratitude for
making the dream of TAF Academy a reality.
(By the way - further testament to Ms. Brown's contribution -
our middle school program is among the most desirable in Federal Way. Classes
are full and the waiting lists are long!)TAF and the Federal Way School District have chosen Mike
Conrath as the interim principal. Mr.
Conrath was an Assistant Principal at Federal Way High School and has
graciously agreed to help us move the TAF Academy academic program forward with
our teacher leaders. In October we will
start a nationwide search for a new principal for the 2011-2012 school year.
Look forward to more celebrations and transitions in the coming months!
