Student leaders visit Olympia

Student leaders visit with legislators

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, the School Board legislative representative, Steve Wolcott, and West Valley Superintendent, Dr. Peter Finch, took a group of students to Olympia to visit with our state legislators. In addition, in the afternoon on Feb. 5, one of our student leaders, Maya Amos, and Dr. Finch testified in support of HB 1557 which would scale-up the Guaranteed Admission Program for all students in Washington State.

Students who attended the field trip were:

-Maya Amos, High School

-Katie Champie, High School

-Zachary Farina, High School

-Pete Kegley, High School

-Cody Floren, Innovation Center

-Emiliano Jimenez, Innovation Center

Students visited with the following legislators from our legislative district (15^th District):

-Senator Nikki Torres

-Representative Jeremie Dufault

-Representative Chris Corry

Students also visited with the following legislators:

-Representative Deb Manjarrez

-Senator Drew Hansen

For the visit with Representative Dufault and Representative Corry, our students were able to visit the floor of the House of Representatives which is very unusual. The state photographer took a photo of our students and our legislators together on the House floor.

The visit on Feb. 5 was scheduled in conjunction with the Washington Communities for Children. The West Valley School District is a member of the local regional coalition for early learning which is called the Investing in Children Coalition. Staff members from West Valley have learned about many innovative programs through our membership on the regional coalition. For example, we learned about “Play and Learn” through our membership with the regional coalition. “Play and Learn” is our program to invite families with young children to each of our elementary schools on Fridays during the school day. In addition, we have a “Play and Learn” session after school on Thursdays at the Innovation Center.

At Olympia, our students were able to meet-up with other coalition members from Yakima and we took a group photo in front of the Capitol Building.

The meetings with legislators were a great experience for our students to learn about the legislative process and for our legislators to learn from our students about innovative work in West Valley, such as our extensive “College-in-the-High-School” program at West Valley High School and our Career Pathway program at the West Valley Innovation Center.

In addition, students were able to attend the House Committee on Post-Secondary Education and Workforce where one of our high school students, Maya Amos, testified in support of HB 1557 regarding the Guaranteed Admissions Program.

West Valley has participated in a voluntary pilot of the Guaranteed Admissions Program since the program began four years ago. Through this program, seniors in high school receive an email in October if they have a 3.0 GPA and they have completed the college entrance requirements for the CADR – the College Academic Distribution Requirements. The email informs them that they have guaranteed admission to all Washington State, public, four-year colleges and universities, except the University of Washington. However, the program does include the University of Washington – Tacoma. Students must still apply to the colleges or universities of their choice. The email informs them that if they do apply to the public college or university, they are guaranteed admission.

In his testimony, Dr. Finch shared that he often has concerns about unfunded mandates; however, with this program, there is minimal staff time required. The only requirement is to submit a data sharing agreement with the Washington Student Achievement Council and provide an upload of information from our student records system regarding our seniors. West Valley High School senior, Maya Amos, shared that this program helps students to expand their horizons and make them aware of opportunities that they might not have considered.

Her testimony included the following statement:

"My name is Maya Amos. I am a senior at West Valley High School. I will be attending Yakima Valley College next year. Recently, I spoke with a classmate who plans to attend one of our state universities from the Guaranteed Admissions Program. She shared how this program significantly broadened her horizons as she might not have considered pursuing higher education without it. When she received the email notifying her of automatic admission it gave her a sense of comfort and reassurance knowing that she already had a pathway into college. This program provided her with an invaluable opportunity for a future education she may not have gotten otherwise."

Overall, the trip to Olympia on Feb. 5 was a great experience for our student leaders from West Valley.