Alternative spring break

For UW students involved in the Pipeline Project, spring break means teaching in classrooms across Washington. Take a deep dive into two schools where students serve.

Huskies are serving communities all over the state through the UW Pipeline Project’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program. In 2017, this program received additional funding from our generous sponsors, whose underwriting support of the Be Boundless — For Washington, For the World campaign is expanding student experiences like this one throughout the academic year. Read on to find out how last year’s ASB participants inspired — and were inspired by — students in rural Washington schools.

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Standing in front of the Brewster Middle School sixth grade science class, University of Washington junior Meili Powell poses a question: “What kinds of wildlife do you see in your town?”

“Coyotes!” “Birds!” “Deer!” students exclaim one after another, and Powell writes each answer on the whiteboard behind her. “Great examples! And why should we care about wildlife?” This time the students pause, pondering possible answers. A student seated at a desk in the middle of the room raises her hand: “Because they live here in Brewster, too!”

Powell and three of her peers trade tanning for teaching for a week each March, heading to the small town of Brewster, Washington, as part of the ASB program. Since 2001, more than 700 UW undergraduates have volunteered in schools across Washington state; this year, 60 Huskies spread out among 14 rural and tribal communities from the Olympic Peninsula to Eastern Washington.

In apple country, the pace of life is a little different. At any given time during the day, a few cars roll down Main Street before parking in front of mom-and-pop shops, while children play near the banks of the Columbia River. “Brewster is very rural, and I knew that the students didn’t have a lot of opportunities to leave the community and see the rest of the world,” explains Lupe Ledesma, a former counselor at Brewster High School. “So through ASB, I thought we could bring the world to them.”

So through ASB, I thought we could
bring the world to them.– Lupe Ledesma, former counselor at Brewster High School

Situated at the confluence of the Columbia and Okanogan rivers in north central Washington, Brewster is surrounded by rolling hills and acres of apple orchards.

Many migrant workers moved to the area, and today about 72 percent of the town’s 2,300 residents are Latino. The kids from the migrant families are inquisitive and motivated, with dreams of becoming marine biologists, chefs and veterinarians. And through ASB, the UW students bolster the belief that they can make those dreams a reality.

Utilizing a mix of classroom lessons, small group discussions and outdoor activities (the clear favorite), the UW students spent the week teaching the sixth graders about environmental science. This year, the curriculum was based on the theme “The land we live in,” pertaining to the natural habitat in Brewster.

While the lessons aim to instill an interest in science, their teacher, Susan Varrelman, says that the most meaningful part of the week is the one-on-one interactions between her students and the undergraduates. “They’re very high-achieving kids, who vocalize their interests already,” she says. “Having the UW students here to talk with them is great to help them start thinking about how they can achieve those goals.”

This year, the UW students also served the larger Brewster community by volunteering at the local Boys & Girls Club and helping students’ parents prepare for the U.S. citizenship test. “Coming back here each year and experiencing what’s new, like this citizenship class, is great,” says Powell. “I love getting to build on the community connections I’ve made in past years, while making new connections with our current class. Those are the reasons I keep coming back here with ASB.”

Thirty miles north of Brewster, in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, is the town of Omak, where another group of ASB volunteers work with students at Paschal Sherman Indian School (PSIS). Tucked away in the dry forests overlooking the town, the UW students keep time with the kids.

While the Brewster group curated a science-based curriculum, the UW students at PSIS bring a literacy arts lesson plan. Over the course of the week, they help fourth through eighth graders write, illustrate and bind books along the theme “There’s no place like home.”

For PSIS students, home is the Colville Indian Reservation. Twelve American Indian and Alaska Native tribes — known collectively as the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation — reside on the land, and the school is infused with their culture and traditions, including lessons in Interior Salish, the regional American Indian language.

The week in Omak flies by in a flurry of glue sticks, markers and construction paper, and by Friday, colorful books cover the dorm where the UW students stay. The program culminates in a celebration, where students proudly read their completed books aloud to classmates and teachers.

The books include illustrations of iconic Omak features, from the shores of Omak Lake to scenes of the Omak Stampede, and dedications go out to parents, siblings and close friends. Fifth grade teacher Larry Witt began keeping a “library” of the books over the years, where current and even past students return to re-read their work. “The kids take such pride in their books,” he says. “They fondly remember the project, and hold those books dear.”

Omak was one of the first four towns to host ASB, and Witt — who’s been at PSIS for 42 years, and, incidentally, began his career as a collegiate volunteer — has worked with each UW cohort. From a learning perspective, he’s thrilled by the possibilities ASB creates for each UW volunteer.

“In the course of a week, you watch someone realize that they’re important in a kid’s life, that they’re making an impact in a kid’s life,” he says. “It’s beautiful to watch them be motivated and see the growth that occurs in just a week’s time.”

It’s beautiful to watch them be motivated and see the growth that occurs in just a week’s time.– Larry Witt, PSIS teacher

“I’d never really experienced American Indian culture before,” says UW junior Jennie Cockrel. “Getting to be in this community for a week opened me up to that culture’s strengths.”

Before Cockrel, a social work major, went to Omak with ASB, she’d compared different areas of her field to specialize in. But after spending time with the classes and community members, a door opened: “I started to really consider working with American Indian and Alaska Native populations and child welfare when I graduate,” she says. “This definitely provided an experience to build on from here.”

I’ve seen how powerful the impact has been on both sides.– Christine Stickler, director, Pipeline Project

Over the years, Christine Stickler, director of the Pipeline Project, has heard countless stories of success: There’s the student from Neah Bay who was inspired to become a teacher by ASB volunteers. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the UW, he’s now a second-grade teacher in back in his hometown. There’s the young girl from Harrah, who was told she could go to college for the first time by a UW student. Today, she’s a UW undergraduate, and has been involved with ASB since her freshman year.

Looking to the future, Stickler hopes to expand the ASB curriculum beyond environmental science and literacy arts to include other disciplines. She also plans to extend the program into a year-long experience; UW students would meet with a class at the start of school, keep in touch throughout the year, head back to the class for spring break, and finally bring the young students to the UW campus in June.

Stickler emphasizes that while the program is a tremendous experience for UW students, the heart of ASB is forming meaningful connections across Washington state. “I’ve seen how powerful the impact has been on both sides,” she says. ASB actively changes schools and communities, agrees Ledesma, “and it truly breaks down barriers between different cultures.”

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