What has Wenatchee learned?

Even in a small-town community like Wenatchee, a disconnect between community and school is undeniably felt. One team of Wenatchee School District employees and community leaders have begun the daunting task of bridging that gap.

Starting in 2010, the Wenatchee Learns Connect program aimed to bridge that gap and bring community, schools, and parents together in a beneficial way. However, the current status of Wenatchee Learns has left many wanting more.

“I’m a little disappointed that the district hasn’t continued on with engaging leaders in the community and the public,” Wenatchee World Publisher and Wenatchee Learns community adviser Rufus Woods said. “I think they could’ve done a better job, and it does take some time and energy and resources, but I think it’s also very worthwhile. Where [Wenatchee Learns] goes from here and how much of an impact takes place is an open-ended question to me.”

Woods said that Wenatchee Learns has assembled a “first-rate group of people.” He still thinks the organization can benefit the district, students and teachers. And he applauds the district for taking an outward-facing, public approach.

“Most school districts don’t really engage the community as well as that project did. I learned a lot [as a community adviser]. I felt more engaged with the district, I felt a deeper connection.”

Although revered as a breakthrough idea when first announced, current actions of Wenatchee Learns, including the closure of its downtown office, have left some disappointed.

Others, like WHS science teacher Joyce Block, have requested help that hasn’t been delivered. She requested help from Wenatchee Learns twice before.

“[The request for help was] specifically for my Wenatchee Watershed Project Based Learning that I do with my biology in Sophomore Biology. There were scientists that I wanted that were specialists in fisheries or stream flow, macroinvertebrates,” Block said.

After two unsuccessful attempts for help, Block resorted to directly contacting scientists herself.

“I was surprised because it’s my understanding that [connecting the community to schools] is what the Wenatchee Learns office is providing to teachers to help… and I was a little disappointed because it just means that it’s a lot more work for me to find people on my own, but fortunately I do know a lot of scientists, so I took care of it.”

In August of 2014, the ribbon was finally cut for the brand-new Wenatchee Learns Connect partnership center in downtown Wenatchee. The same doors have shut much sooner than expected, leaving community members and schools alike to wonder about the current status of the program.

“We were hoping to get more traffic [in the partnership center], but we didn’t quite get the kind of involvement we wanted. In moving to the [Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce office space], we’ll have more opportunities, and we’ll be right in the presence of local businesses and in the center of the community,” Superintendent Brian Flones said.

“We were very fortunate to have a sublease opportunity with [the Chamber of Commerce], and the sublease was coming to an end, so we were looking at what would be best for Wenatchee Learns next.  It was great visual marketing, but we’ve evolved now and we needed staff to get into the [schools]. We will now be with the Chamber of Commerce, right in the seat of business so that we can make stronger connections for students and to tap the power of the community,” Wenatchee Learns Coordinator Diana Haglund said.