2026 Bridge Conference

Family engagement is often viewed as a compliance requirement—but what if it became a catalyst for equity, belonging, and student success? In this interactive session, the Directors of Equity, Family & Community Partnerships and Multilingual Education & Student Supports will share how cross-departmental collaboration is transforming family engagement in a mid-sized, diverse school district. Through examples from Dual Language Education, Title I Parent and Family Engagement, and Refugee Family Engagement programming, participants will explore strategies for building family leadership, sharing decision-making, and creating family-driven Open to a 1/2 hour slot opportunities that reflect community strengths and needs. Grounded in Dr. Karen Mapp’s Dual Capacity-Building Framework, this session is most relevant for professionals serving K–12 youth and families.

What becomes possible when adults and young people share leadership instead of simply sharing space? This interactive workshop explores how meaningful youth-adult partnerships strengthen belonging, engagement, and resilience for young people while helping organizations adapt and grow through change. Drawing from experiences in schools, student leadership programs, and statewide youth initiatives, participants will examine what current research and practice tell us about adolescent development, agency, and connection. Together, we will identify practical strategies for creating environments where youth and adults learn, lead, and make decisions together. Designed for professionals working with middle and high schoolaged youth, this session offers tools that can be adapted across schools, expanded learning programs, and community organizations.

Practitioners are often asked to collect data for funders rather than to build
knowledge for their own practice. This session reframes that relationship, treating every measure
as a mutually cultivated choice about what matters. We trace those choices across four phases of
the cycle of inquiry, each grounded in a current program: a community co-designed wage pilot for
engagement and co-design, a holistic measurement effort for data collection, a postsecondary
access program for mixed methods and learning cycles, and a housing pilot for storytelling.
Together, these examples surface what it takes to build data practices that hold rigor and humanity
at once. Rather than offering a finished framework, this session treats the room as a working
group: practitioners will discuss these examples, name what has strengthened trust and belonging
for the youth they serve, and contribute approaches worth exploring. Participants leave with
practical strategies and open questions to carry back into their own programs.

Whether you're writing a grant proposal or sharing a social media post, stories are one of the most effective ways to demonstrate your organization's mission and impact—but not all stories are created equal. While some stories inspire audiences to think or act differently, others leave audiences unsatisfied, unmoved, or unsure of what to do next. In this workshop, we'll go through a step-by-step process for creating stories that resonate, build trust, and compel your audience to act. Participants will define their own storytelling goals and opportunities, explore ethical considerations, and practice using the 3 C's of storytelling (Challenge, Choice, Change) to craft stories with purpose.

Lay the foundation for creating a safe, healthy, and respectful environment. Utilize proactive group management strategies to set students up for successful group behavior, focusing on building rapport, attention getters and signals, rules and consequences and more. Playworks supports K-5 students at recess. This session is directed toward recess staff, and out of school time staff who support play at their site.

In this workshop presented by the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC), we will discuss Washington state financial aid programs, statewide efforts, and how to support students applying for state financial aid. We will give you a sneak peek into the new Washington Application for State Financial Aid (WASFA). In addition, we will explore systemic
barriers to financial aid equity and present strategies for facilitating student access. Participants will leave with free customizable resources they can use to develop their own financial aid access strategies.

Young people thrive when organizations, families, schools, and community partners work together with shared purpose. Building authentic partnerships requires trust, shared leadership, and practical strategies for navigating change.

Drawing on 12+ years of coalition-building at the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC), this interactive workshop uses Coalition Clinics—small-group problem-solving sessions based on real partnership challenges. Participants will explore scenarios focused on building trust, sharing power, sustaining engagement, navigating conflict, and aligning diverse partners around common goals.

Using practical coalition-building tools, they will map stakeholders, examine power dynamics, and develop strategies to strengthen collaboration. Participants will leave with adaptable frameworks for building resilient, equitable partnerships that center youth, families, and community voice.

Strong student engagement does not happen by accident. It is built through intentional relationships, equitable access, meaningful opportunities, and strong school-community partnerships. This session will showcase Spokane Public Schools' approach to increasing engagement by connecting students with extracurricular activities, clubs, athletics, leadership experiences, and community organizations through the EngageIRL initiative. Participants will explore how student voice, engagement data, and cross-sector partnerships guide programming that increases belonging while reducing barriers for historically underrepresented students.

Want to take advantage of this rare opportunity to connect with fellow Bridge attendees around critical topics impacting the Washington Expanded Learning community?

Participants will have the chance to do just that during Table Talks, a 45-minute, unfacilitated group discussions for those seeking connection around a specific topic of interest. Topics will be determined by Bridge attendees through an online voting process.

Table Talks is an opportunity to share ideas, successes, challenges, and connect with others across the state who may be navigating similar experiences.

Not quite ready to dive into a group conversation? Consider joining one of the 30-minute sessions happening from 9:45 - 10:15 AM instead.

In June, 2026, Extended Education researchers, policy-makers and practitioners from at least 15 countries convened at the Global Extended Learning and Youth Development (GELYDA) International Conference in Seoul, South Korea to discuss projects, activities, and experiences focused on democracy and civil engagement in the out-of-school hours. In this session, I will share some of the key insights from this convening, as well as links to the research and other resources that were shared.

Children and youth behavioral health needs continue to grow in complexity, requiring coordinated, cross-system responses that extend beyond the school setting. This session highlights how Kids Mental Health Pierce County is leading a community-driven approach to strengthen school behavioral health through strategic partnerships.
Participants will explore how schools, healthcare providers, community-based organizations, and other key partners can move from siloed efforts to aligned, system-wide collaboration. Using realworld examples, this session will illustrate practical strategies for building relationships, improving access to services, and advancing a “no wrong door” approach for youth and families.

Kaiser Permanente has been supporting community and school-based interventions to respond to food access and nutrition needs, in the places people need them. Through $1.78 million school-community partnership grants between 2022 and 2025, more than 50,000 food-insecure youth and families had improved access to out of school-time food, directly in their school communities.

Seattle Public Schools joined forces with FamilyWorks to implement a new family resource center model, providing tailored resource navigation and a mobile food bank at convenient locations throughout the district’s footprint. Bethel School District worked with Feeding Feasible Feasts to offer food through free school-based care closets and launch a school food recovery program allowing students to take healthy food home for at-home meals. FEED 7 Generations collaborated with Muckleshoot Tribal School to implement a Tend, Gather, Grow Curriculum focused on food sovereignty principles. And The Farm at Franklin Pierce Schools operationalized free farm produce distribution through district fridges, school meals, and summer meal sites.

The collaboration between school districts and trusted local community-based organizations built an infrastructure designed to ensure access to nutritious food for years to come. Incorporating youth and family voices into these food access solutions helped reduce stigma and increase feelings of belonging. These partnerships also supported families with enrollment in the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program and connection to other resources that improve purchasing power to buy healthy food.

This workshop is designed to share insights from these pilot projects, and a resulting toolkit that Kaiser Permanente has assembled, to support replication of school-community partnerships that improve youth and family food security in other communities. Insights are applicable to community-based organizations, school districts, funders, and systems stakeholders.

Affordable housing is a platform for education, equity, and community resilience. Mercy Scholars is a place-based program that works alongside families and youth by providing resources and support that will help students succeed. An essential piece of our work is in collaboration with schools and community partners; building a web of support that allows students to explore their identities and passions. This empowers youth to shape their own futures, allowing for generational transformation.

In this session, we will cover three Mercy Scholars program areas, including student support, parent engagement, and community partnerships.

Student Support: How to create a historically responsive lesson plan

Parent Engagement: How to incorporate and celebrate family brilliance

Community Partnerships: How to leverage the experts around you