Participants will learn basic design principles for a youth garden. Examples will be shared as well as time to plan what your next steps will be for your garden. Master Gardeners will also be on hand to support your planning. This is the feature workshop for the Youth and School Garden Coalition. Please come network and learn among side passionate youth garden enthusiasts. We do it all for our youth to have powerful experiences and learning in the garden. 

Looking forward to seeing friends old and new for networking, mingling, resource sharing, and FREE FOOD @ the WSU Pierce Extension Office.

Click Here to Register!

Click Here to Register! 

Read this article about one of our AYPC affiliates the Pierce County Library wining the 2013 Nation Medal for Museum and Library Service. It takes of all of us to make a difference in this county and together we are winning.

Post by Steve Maynard / The News Tribune on April 23, 2013

The Pierce County Library System is one of 10 winners of the nation’s highest honor awarded to museums and libraries for service to the community.

The library system was named today as a recipient of the national medal for museum and library service. The award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services recognizes outreach to the community.

“I am honored and humbled,” said Neel Parikh, executive director of the library system.

“Our communities, staff and partners – together, we are the award winner,” Parikh said in a statement. “With our partners, we are a valued community asset that is making a difference one person at a time.”

Medal winners were chosen from nationwide nominations of institutions that demonstrate innovative approaches to public service, exceeding expected levels of community outreach.

The library system of was one 33 finalists for the honor from the institute, the primary source of federal funding for the nation’s museums and libraries. The national medal will be presented May 8 in Washington, D.C.

The library system operates 18 libraries and serves the majority of Pierce County’s readers and other library users in Pierce County. It serves the whole county except Tacoma, Puyallup and Roy, which have their own city libraries.

The institute singled out the Pierce County Library System for supporting a diverse community that includes Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a growing population of children, job seekers and small business owners, and older adults.

The library system was praised for leveraging community resources and delivering high-value services. It implemented one of the state’s first non-Dewey Decimal libraries to increase usability. It worked with community partners to provide caregivers with tools and training, helping children prepare for school.

This year’s honorees include a science center, museums for children, music, art and culture, and libraries from seven states.

The other winner’s of this year’s national medal are:

• Boston Children’s Museum.
• Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio.
• Delta Blues Museum, Clarksdale, Miss.
• Discovery Science Center, Santa Ana, Calif.
• Marshalltown Public Library, Marshalltown, Iowa.
• National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
• Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.
• Rancho Cucamonga Public Library, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
• Waukegan Public Library, Waukegan Ill.
Read more here: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/street/2013/04/23/pierce-county-library-system-wins-top-national-honor/#storylink=cpy

ACE takes place at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma from June 25-27, 2013. They anticipate 400 students representing the high school graduating class of 2014 from the Tacoma, Seattle, Highline and Yakima school districts. Your institution will have the opportunity to connect with a diverse group of students who are eager to find the right college for them.

MIH takes place at Central Washington University in Ellensburg from July 9-12, 2013. They anticipate 40 youth currently in foster care representing the high school graduating classes of 2014 and 2015 from schools throughout Washington state. They will all be learning about the vast financial aid resources available to attend college and will be working to identify the college that is right for them.

For more details about these events, please visit our website.

Each event will feature a college fair and we are looking for professionals to represent their institution or organization at each event. The College Success Foundation is also looking for representatives to facilitate a number of workshops.

If you are interested in representing your institution at either of these events, please click here to learn more and to register.

If you have any questions please contact:
ACE: Sophia Fong, sfong@collegesuccessfoundation.org
MIH: Aubrey Mathwig, MIH@collegesuccessfoundation.org

All activities are open to young people age 13 up to 25 who have experienced foster care, out of home placement or homelessness:

• Tacoma area Mockingbird chapter meeting- April 24^th 3-5pm at Pierce County Alliance in the IL workshop room. They will be discussing ideas for improving foster care and the advocacy agenda for the next year.
• Tacoma area Mockingbird Chapter Meeting- May 8^th at Pierce County Alliance. They will be finalizing what topic to advocate for
• Tacoma area Mockingbird Chapter Meeting- June 12^th at Pierce County Alliance. They will be creating a presentation on the foster care reform topic to be presented at the Leadership Summit.
• Foster Youth and Alumni Leadership Summit – June 24^th to 26^th at Seattle University. The Summit is free.   Application  deadline has been extended to   May 10^th.  Apply on line at their website. Here is the application overview and the outreach letter.
• They are also always looking for people interested in writing for the Mockingbird Times or for their on line content.
• Happy to help youth with their applications to the Leadership Summit or with submitting writing to be published.

For more information check out their website or contact:

Click Here to go to tacoma.uw.edu/ClosingTheGap for more information.

This program provides financial assistance to young adults (18 to 24 years) for skills training and/or community college certification. Recent data shows that unemployment rates are highest for youth aged 18 to 24 years old.  For this group, unemployment rates fall between 17 and 29 percent.  The Cash to Careers program will address this problem.

Applications must be received by June 15, 2013 to assist youth between 18 and 24 years old living in Pierce County who want to get started on a path to gaining occupational skills to help them get and keep a livable wage job. Participants can receive up to $3000 to help with tuition, supplies, books, fees and limited living expenses.

Participants should be doing one of the following:

• Getting a GED
• Participating in a Running Start or Fresh Start program
• Participating in an apprenticeship program
• Not yet in a post-secondary program

Certain income restrictions apply.  To qualify for funding participants must be one of the following:

• Low income – at or above 175% of the poverty level
• Currently receiving public assistance (or within the last 6 months)
• Have exhausted their Unemployment Insurance benefits

Final eligibility will be determined by WorkForce Central staff, and documentation that the above criteria are met will be required.

For more information and an application go to:  www.cashtocareers.org