SOAR's 6th Annual Putting the Pieces Together professional development and networking conference will be held June 25 from 7:30am-4:30pm at South Seattle Community College. The theme is Building Effective Partnerships for Children, Youth & Families. This event connects and informs SOAR partners and community members working for the success of children and youth from birth to age eighteen. For more information about the conference, click here.

Presenters will explore how can we convene, connect, and catalyze our communities to better support children, youth and families. Workshops will provide practical tools and tips for creating effective and innovative collaborations relevant to those working with young children, school-age children, youth and their families.

We are excited to present a rich assortment of high quality presentations. Click here to view descriptions of the 39 workshops offered at Pieces. Please note, this is a preliminary schedule and may change before the event.

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Session One Workshops: 9:30-10:45am
               
Creating Safety and Inclusion for LGBTQ Youth
This session will include a panel of LGBTQ youth involved in the American Friends Service Committee LGBTQ Youth Program.  This program, in operation since 1988, focuses on issue of safety, self identity and empowerment. Panel presentations allow youth to speak from their own experiences - in their families, in school and with youth serving agencies -  to foster better understanding and eliminate barriers to full participation and inclusion for LGBTQ youth.
Presented by: Tracy Flynn (Private consultant and trainer on behalf of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) GLBTQ Youth Program and the Safe Schools Coalition), 4-5 youth panelists

Nuts and Bolts of Coalitions
Participants will learn about effective coalition and collaboration building. Coalitions and coalition building offers advantages and learn about some of the challenges with this model. The discussion will be interactive and allow participants to walk away with tools that they can use within their own work. Foundation for Early Learning is a leader in helping grassroots communities grow and sustain early learning coalitions across Washington. Program Officer Sarah Borgida has experience working with grassroots, urban, and tribal communities to grow effective collaborations. Erin Okuno, Program Manager, manages a systems level coalition of public libraries and has developed a new collaborative grant making program.
Presented by: Erin Okuno and Sarah Borgida (Foundation for Early Learning)

Leveraging Collaborative Technology to Better Serve Children & Youth
During this session, panelists will discuss practical tools and strategies for using social networking and collaborative technologies.  Panelists will share examples of innovative uses of social media for online collaboration and then break into small discussion groups based on topics of interest to participants. Whether you are considering beginning to use more collaborative technology in your work or if you have many experiences, this session will share new ideas, resources, and networking opportunities.
Presented by: Rachel Scott (SOAR and the King County Youth Development Network), Joel Ballezza (Foundation for Early Learning), Roni Ayalla (Puget SoundOff), Kathy Gill (Master of Communication in Digital Media, UW)

Everybody Belongs- Facilitating Friendships for Children with Disabilities in the Informal Times of School
Every child desires to have friends and be a part of their school community.  For children with disabilities, there can be many barriers that can leave them lonely and isolated.  Come learn how the school community and parents can work together to facilitate friendships so that every child can feel included.
Presented by: Cathy Murahashi (The Arc of King County)

Working Together Successfully - an Overview of Collaborative Negotiations
Everyone negotiates.  It is important for us to become more effective negotiators so that we can manage our difficulties, rather than to avoid them or let them get the better of us.
“Working Together Successfully” is a course to help people learn how to get what they need through collaborative negotiation. It focuses on communication and problem solving. The course is highly interactive and has proven to increase participant’s skill and confidence in working with others, dealing with conflict and getting what they need through collaborative negotiations.
Presented by: Dave Black (Interchange Northwest)

Por Nuestros/as Hijos/as: La Educacion Como Una Meta Para Las Familias Latinas
This workshop will focus on culturally relevant and effective practices to empower Latino families to become involved in their children's education; the benefits of creating informal and non-hierarchical organizations to develop leadership skills of their member; and ways of valuing the cultural assets of Latino families as a base from which new ways of schooling can be conceived.
Presented by: Marisela Sanchez, (Latino Family Group, Olympia), Eunice Torres Santiago, MA (Latino Family Group, Olympia)

Community Schools: Increasing Support for Students through Partnership
A Community School – where hours are extended and a range of programs added so that the school becomes a “community center” – is a valuable resource serving students, families, and neighbors. These schools promote youth development and result in improved student academic outcomes. The Alliance for Education has been working with community partners to envision a Community Schools strategy in Seattle. For this presentation we will provide background information, share the rich array of resources that exist for students and families, and explore how we can collectively build a structure to better connect students and families to services and opportunities. In this session, participants will learn what is happening regionally to explore the Community Schools concept; the vast array of services available to students in Seattle Public Schools; lessons learned from the national field; and how to be part of strengthening partnerships between community based organizations and public schools.
Presented by: Karen Tollenaar Demorest and Solynn McCurdy (Alliance for Education)

Making Meaning Together: Partners, not just Participants
Participants in this session will learn the social, cultural, and academic value of meaningful youth involvement throughout our communities. They will explore the Cycle of Engagement, and how to create programs and environments that support meaningful involvement. Specific issues we will focus on include youth-adult partnerships, adultism, and how to move from talking to action.   
This workshop is the first session of the Meaningful Roles track, coordinated by SOAR’s Meaningful Roles Action Team. For more information about this Action Team, see the end of the program.
Presented by: Adam Fletcher (The Freechild Project & SoundOut)

The Brothers and Sisters Project: Innovative Partnerships That Meet Community Needs
The Brothers and Sisters Project is a collaboration between 3 agencies that trains teens (primarily immigrants and refugees) on providing safe, educational childcare for their young siblings.  It empowers students through career choices and community leadership opportunities. This fun, interactive workshop will highlight the development and implementation of the partnerships that make the Project possible. It will highlight how the vision came to be, how the partnerships were created and maintained over time, the process of co-developing the curriculum, actual implementation and results, partnering on funding strategies and next steps.  It will be appropriate for anyone who has an interest in learning how a good idea and strong partnerships can help make a real difference for both individuals and the larger community.
Presented by: Laurie Bohm (community Schools Collaboration), Angelica Cardenas-Chaisson (Child Care Resources)

Casting a Wide Net through Collaboration
Providing support services to our residents of our affordable housing programs is not just part of our mission, it is the work we do every day.  As a community organization, the only way we have been able to affectively provide the variety of services that we offer at our family housing sites is through working collaboratively and creatively with local providers who share our mission and vision.  Casting a Wide Net through Collaboration will focus on creative methods that have been effective in creating lasting partners for our organization.
Presented by: Katie Parker and Tereasa Palmer (Intercommunity Mercy Housing)

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Session Two Workshops: 11:00am-12:15pm

SOAR 101
Are you curious about SOAR’s Action Agendas, Action Teams and Partnership Council? Interested in finding collaborative opportunities to reach your mission? During this workshop, SOAR Partners will describe SOAR: its mission, structure and opportunities for you to connect your work. Meet other involved with SOAR and hear the benefits they’ve found by being a part of SOAR. If you are looking for ways to connect beyond the Putting the Pieces Together event, please join us at this session!

How Parent Natural Leaders Can Help Build Connections between Families and Educators
Natural/Parent Leaders are warm, open, multicultural individuals that serve as a bridge between educators and families.  They listen to families ideas and implement ways to help children be successful academically and build strong communities. Issues this workshop will focus on include:
1. How to build connections with isolated families
2. Identifying strengths and talents of families
3. Empowering families to help children be successful in school
4. Grassroots solutions that work for families
5. How to make parent leadership work for different communities
The workshop will include examples of exercises from the Natural Leader/Parent Leader training curricula.
Presented by: Sally Telzrow (Seattle School District), Barbara Gurley, (Washington Alliance for Better Schools (WABS)), Vera Yeremeyeva (Parent Natural Leader), Elizabeth Anderson (Parent Leader at Bailey Gatzert Elementary), Aimee Ubinas (Parent Leader at Lowell Elementary), Florencia Ybarra (Parent Leader at Dearborn Park Elementary), Carmen Ziranda, Margarita Arevalo, Anab Mohammed (Parent Leader at Highland Park Elementary)

Getting to Collaborative Leadership through Large Group Facilitations
Collaborative Leadership is about moving from “management by walking about” to “management by talking about”, and engagement at all levels. Open Space and World Café are large group facilitation models that have been in use for the past 25 years. This workshop presents the basic concepts, benefits, and architecture of the two models, and examples of how they can be used. The World Café format will be used to discuss collaborative leadership and how the models could be applied to building relationships between youth and adults, encouraging partnerships within communities, or managing collaboration among service providers.
Presented by: Ellia Ryan (The Potential Center)

Mayor McGinn's Youth and Families Initiative: Lessons Learned
Mayor McGinn’s Youth and Families Initiative successfully pulled together thousands of diverse community members from across Seattle to express their concerns and identify their priorities with regards to the challenges facing youth and families in our city today. It utilized a caucus/delegate structure similar to the one employed by Mayor Rice’s Education Summit in 1990 and was based around facilitated small-group discussions rather than the more traditional town hall model of public engagement. This workshop will show some of the major benefits of this structure as well as address some of its potential challenges.
Presented by: Sol Villarreal (Mayor's Office, City of Seattle)

Assessing and Strengthening Youth Program Quality
Research has found that high quality afterschool programs are related to positive youth outcomes. While many factors contribute to quality, skilled staff is essential to creating safe, engaging, youth-centered programs. The nationally-validated Youth Program Quality Assessment tool can help staff identify program strengths and gaps, and is linked to training modules that address self-identified areas for improvement. Come hear from those involved in a local program quality collaboration about:
- the research behind program quality assessments
- how a collaboration of local youth-serving organizations is using the nationally validated Youth Program Quality Assessment tool to strengthen their programs, and
- what local resources are available to support use of the assessment tool and aligned trainings
Presented by: Jody Rosentswieg (Raikes Foundation), Krista Galloway (School's Out Washington), Erica Mullen (YMCA of Greater Seattle), Rita Alcantara (Powerful Voices), Nate Robinson (City of Tukwila), Molly Pencke (Powerful Voices)

Youth Suicide Prevention: A Community Approach
Preventing youth suicide requires a community-wide approach. The most effective way of protecting young people in crisis is to build a safety net of community partners -- including community leaders, parents, youth, school staff, youth workers, recreational leaders,  mental health professionals -- all knowledgeable about suicidal warning signs and working together to help our youth in need. This workshop will focus on what comprehensive youth suicide prevention efforts look like in a community and how individuals and agencies can start or enhance their work in this area. Participants will explore concrete examples of building and effectively using those community partnerships.
Presented by: Lisa Watson (Youth Suicide Prevention Program)

Integration and Systems Building in an Early Learning Initiative
This workshop will focus on specific issues and tools related to the development of the White Center Early Learning Initiative’s integration and systems building work.  Topics include integration-supporting tools and approaches such as the adoption of a collaborative governance model, ongoing assessment, and partnerships with families. The workshop will address challenges, successes, and lessons learned.
Presented by: Sheila Capestany (Open Arms Prenatal Services), Leilani Dela Cruz (Puget Sound ESD), Lois Schipper (Public Health-Seattle & King County), Caroline Shelton (Child Care Resources)

Navigating Hip Hop
Strategies will be shared on how to build partnerships between the afterschool, youth development, and arts communities. We will explore how to increase positive youth outcomes within these partnerships. There will be performance demonstrations from professional teaching artists and participants will experience how these partnerships can increase child and youth engagement within their afterschool and youth development programs. The King County Youth Development Network Website will be highlighted as a practical tool to connect these two communities.
Presented by: Louie Praseuth (School’s Out Washington), Pele Washington (Associated Recreation Council/Fraggle Rock Crew), Zach Wilson (School’s Out Washington), Markus/Juice (Massive Monkees), Flow Francisco (Massive Monkees/Schools Out Washington), Jason Hulen (Northeast Leadership Foundation/Fab 5)

Youth Perspectives on Meaningful Youth Involvement
This youth panel will explore what meaningful youth involvement looks and feels like from a youth’s perspective. Panelists will share experiences about unique and meaningful roles they’ve held within communities and youth programs. Discussion will include what initially attracted them, what makes their experiences meaningful, what has supported them along the way, and what keeps them engaged.
This workshop is the second session of the Meaningful Roles track, coordinated by SOAR’s Meaningful Roles Action Team. For more information about this Action Team, see the end of the program.
Presented by: Youth panelists

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Session Three Workshops: 1:15-2:45pm

Partnering with Parents: A Success Story
The Community Cafe Collaborative will share how as part of the Strengthening Families Washington initiative partnering with parents has become central to strengthening families for student success.  The Collaborative, with the support of Council for Children & Families and the wisdom of parents, has developed an approach, originally seeded in a Head Start location, that is now in 18 sites in Washington and over 40 locations in the US.  Hear the latest about using a Protective Factor framework (ground zero for the Strengthening Families movement) as a powerful collaborative tool, and experience a Café for yourself as a means of achieving a direct understanding of the possibilities of implementing the Community Cafe approach in your setting.
Presented by: Robin Higa and Gustavo Portaro (Community Cafe Collaborative)

Education Advocacy
How can a volunteer advocate work effectively with the schools? When a child gets suspended from school, what can you do? What is an IEP? This workshop is designed to help caregivers and others who work with children and families-- including those with DCFS involvement, birth parents, adoptive parents from foster care, and youth in the juvenile justice system-- develop an understanding of how to advocate effectively for children's educational needs.
Presented by: Barbara Morey (Treehouse-Education Advocacy Peer Trainer, Chidren's Home Society-Therapeutic Foster Parent, Jefferson County Juvenile Services-Education Advocate)

Working Together: Collaborating Across Organizational Size and Cultural Difference
Collaboration with others can be a dynamic and effective way achieve your mission – and be more successful than going it alone. But what happens when issues of power and access to resources are thrown into the mix? This interactive, thought-provoking workshop will explore the dynamics inherent in collaborations across culture and organizational size, along with the chance to apply that learning to their own collaborative relationships. We will use the results of a recent study funded by the United Way of King County, which focuses on what successful collaboration looks like between small, community-based organizations and large, mainstream organizations.
Presented by: Angela Powell, MA (Imago Organizational Design, LLC)

Effective School-Community Collaboration: Tips for Creating, Maintaining and Evaluating Partnerships
Partnerships between schools and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) strengthen our communities and promote student success.  However, these partnerships are difficult to create, maintain, and successfully evaluate. This panel discussion, which includes local experts on school-community collaboration, will answer questions including:
1. Who are the initial points of contact for creating a partnership with a school or school district?
2. How can school districts, organizations and parents work together to sustain existing partnerships?
3. What barriers exist for successful and long-term partnerships between schools and CBOs?
4.How can schools and CBOs work together to effectively measure success in these partnerships?
Presented by: Diana Garcia (Principal of Bow Lake Elementary School), Bernadette Merikle (Community Engagement Manager for Highline Public Schools), Kathleen Allen (Community Arts Liaison for Seattle Public Schools), Brooke Linefsky (Drama teacher at Rainier Beach High School), Michelle Traverso (Education Director for the Seattle Shakespeare Company), Trise Moore (Family Partnership Advocate for Federal Way Public Schools), Erica Mullen (Associate Executive Director of the Meredith Mathews East Madison YMCA), Liz Frausto (Director of School, Family and Community Partnerships for Puget Sound Educational Service District)

The Children's Domestic Violence Response Team
The Children's Domestic Violence Response Team (CDVRT) is a collaborative model that incorporates children's domestic violence advocates, domestic violence community advocates, and mental health therapists to offer a long term wrap-around service for children and families impacted by domestic violence.  The presentation will discuss the history of the CDVRT, specific modes of collaboration, what the team looks like for families and our ongoing sustainability. We will also talk about our "lessons learned" and how we were able to bring two very different fields of practice together to offer this special program.
Presented by: Susie Winston (Director of Counseling Services, Sound Mental Health), Sile (Community Systems Coordinator and Advocate; Domestic Abuse Women's Network), Jennifer Dieringer (Lead CDVRT Therapist; Sound Mental Health), Kellie Rogers (Program Manager, YWCA Children's Domestic Violence Program)

Building Successful Learning Communities
WSU Building Successful Learning Communities brings the research and best practices of the experiential learning model into youth programs.  It works for youth educators who are looking to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to transform their programs into dynamic, high achieving learning communities. This program works for any program and age level. It results in increased youth engagement and group success. Participants will experience best practices, learn the latest research, understand the theory behind it, and walk away with a new set of tools. Join us for a jam-packed session that is sure to re-ignite your passion for teaching.
Presented by: Scott VanderWey (Washington State University Extension, 4-H Adventure Education), Brian Brandt (Washington State University Extension, Peirce County), Sarah Butzine (Washington State University Extension, King County)

King County Kinship Collaboration
Did you know that 1 in 12 school-aged children live in Kinship care?  During this session, participants will review the unique needs of kinship families and hear the story of one collaboration's efforts to improve outcomes, provide services and build effective partnerships that support kinship families and the children in their care.  Panelists will share lessons learned and during small group work, discuss strategies and activities for effective collaboration.
Presented by: Kristie Lund (Kinship Caregiver/Casey Family Programs), Wendy Fortney (Kinship Caregiver/DSHS), Crystal Lyons (Odessa Brown Children's Clinic), Kerry Beymer (Encompass), Celeste Carey (Community and Family Services Foundation), Barb Wiley (King County Kinship Collaboration)

Creating Community Change: How-To's For Groups with Small Budgets and Busy Schedules
This workshop is about how regular people can work together to promote (or prevent!) desired (or detested!) changes in their community: retaining funding for after-school programs, getting speed bumps for neighborhood streets, fighting school closures, etc. Three major topics will be covered:
1. Essential How-To Information for Community-Groups-On-A-Mission;
2. Change-On-The-Cheap (no lobbyists, lobby days, PR firms, grant writers, big benefit fundraisers necessary); and
3. How Community Groups/Activities Can Be Busy-Family-Friendly to Diverse Families (re: scheduling, child care, training, transportation, translation, and meals).
Presented by: Lisa Arnold (Lisa Arnold Consulting)

Living in Secret in the Heart of our Family and Community
The purpose is to inform the community of a problem  that is present in the midst of our families and communities; to provide tools to initiate a dialogue that can help build bridges to allow the
flow of communication for a better quality of life in the LGBTQ community of color. This workshop will promote understanding and  awareness of the assets and strengths that our LGBT youth posses; and also the challenges they face, including family rejection, discrimination and displacement;  and how those issues result in negative outcomes such as suicide, addictive behavior and mental health challenges.
Presented by: Marcos Martinez (Entre Hermanos), Luis Viquez (Gay City & POCAAN), Virginia Herrera (Proyecto Reconciliador Hispano)

Sustaining Meaningful Youth Involvement & Youth-Led Programs
How can adults support meaningful youth involvement at both the programmatic and organizational levels? How can programs attract, engage, support, and sustain meaningful involvement opportunities without being adult-driven? Panelists will share how they create meaningful youth involvement roles within their organization, how to support youth leadership in designing and directing program activities, and how to sustain programs from year to year. 
This workshop is the third session of the Meaningful Roles track, coordinated by SOAR’s Meaningful Roles Action Team. For more information about this Action Team, see the end of the program.
Panelists include:  Susan Sullivan (Social Venture Kids), Mike Beebe ( Penny Harvest) and others

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Session Four Workshops: 3:00-4:30pm

Simple Conversations to Strengthen Partnerships:  One-Hour Discussions to Build Cultural Competency
Do you want to integrate cultural competence into your collaborative work? Have your past attempts to make cultural competence relevant and meaningful been too time-consuming, expensive, complicated, or intense?  Join our interactive workshop and experience just how simple, easy, and fun (yes, we said simple, easy, and fun) building cultural competence can really be and the benefits it can bring.  Participants learn about and participate in a discussion process that fosters the integration of cultural competence into daily life.  Walk away with an easy, no cost approach that can be implemented right away.
Presented by: Heidi Schillinger and Melissa Ransdell (ReachOut for New Futures)

The Juggling Act-Power Sharing with Youth
In order for adults who work with youth to truly collaborate, they need to have an understanding of how to share power.  Passages Northwest would like to share what we've learned exploring youth "empowerment". We will share language to use about power, discuss ways to set the stage for power sharing, and share best practices for engaging youth.  The conversation will touch on issues such as race, color, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, age, religion, ability, national origin, sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.  This workshop is designed to be broadly applicable for parents, youth workers, supervisors, and educators.
This workshop is the fourth session of the Meaningful Roles track, coordinated by SOAR’s Meaningful Roles Action Team. For more information about this Action Team, see the end of the program.
Presented by: Ileana Ruelas and Erica Nixon Mack (Passages Northwest)

Through the Lens of Partnership
Drawing from new cutting-edge research, participants will embark into an interactive process on how to build and sustain quality programming, through the lens of strong partnerships with schools.  21st Century leaders that engage school-day personnel have greater opportunities for collaborations and practices that support student success.  This workshop will overview newly developed tools designed to leverage the assets of community stakeholders via strong working relationships with school-day leaders.
Presented by: Zach Wilson (School's Out Washington)

Working with Interpreters
When providers and clients work well with a professional interpreter, communication occurs. But when any one of the three parties fails to understand the role of the interpreter, communication breaks down quickly. In this lively and interactive workshop, participants will learn the transparent and effective use of an interpreter's services, and to avoid pitfalls. Discover how effective interpretation allows language differences to be a strength rather than an obstacle. This workshop is relevant to service providers, clients, and aspiring interpreters.
Presented by: Kenneth Barger, Amy Andrews, and Claudia A'Zar (Spanish Interpreters at the Washington State Court Interpreters and Translators Society)

Communities of Practice: Improving our Work through Shared Learning and Peer Support
Communities of Practice are groups of people who share a common interest, concern, or passion for something they do, and who work together to expand their individual and collective capacity to learn how to do it better over time.  We all belong to informal communities of practice; they may be called learning communities, networks, work groups, etc.  Bringing focus and structure to create an intentional community of practice can help with challenges and problem solving, provide access to expertise and resources, and support personal and professional development.
Presented by: Paula Steinke (Child Care Resources), Kerry Beymer (Encompass), Tim Ryan (Ryan Educational Resources)

The Final Session – A Networking Event You Won’t Want To Miss
So here you are, almost at the end of the day. What are you excited about? What action do you want to take? Who can help you? We know how valuable it is to build new relationships. Sadly, most conferences have limited time for networking, and it’s up to delegates to identify the best people to connect with. This year, we are going to ensure that you leave with good quality connections. The last session of the day will be an Open Space networking event facilitated by Ellia Ryan, who is leading a workshop on large group facilitations earlier in the day.
Presented by: Ellia Ryan (The Potential Center)

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VOLUNTEER: If you are interested in volunteering at Pieces, please click here to complete the volunteer form. You may also contact Anna Saradeth (pieces@childrenandyouth.org or 206.336.6931).

DONATE: SOAR is proud to offer the Putting the Pieces Together Conference at no cost to participants each year. However, SOAR incurs significant costs to put on this event. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to SOAR. $25 suggested donation.

CO-SPONSOR: If your organization is interested in co-sponsoring Pieces, please contact Harla Tumbleson (harla@childrenandyouth.org or 206.336.6930).

Thank you to our generous co-sponsors:

Putting the Pieces Together 2010 is a free event. $25 suggested donation. Click here to donate.

Thanks! We look forward to working with you!

For additional information about the event, contact Anna Saradeth at:
206.336.6931 | pieces@childrenandyouth.org | www.childrenandyouth.org