On June 9, our Arts Education team welcomed over 40 community members and stakeholders to celebrate The Creative Advantage as we close the 2024-25 school year.

A great turnout of Seattle Public School educators, teaching artists, community-based arts organizations, and fellow funders were treated to live music from The Rhapsody Project Songsters and a short program spotlighting the expansive arts learning work that occurred this year. Updates about The Creative Advantage were shared, including the recent formation of a new Youth Arts Council. School leaders shared stories of how incremental change over time has resulted in arts education being prioritized within the district. Cadence Miller from the Laird Norton Family Foundation spoke as both a parent who has seen a transformation in her Washington MS student through music and as a long-time supporter of The Creative Advantage’s work.

“We should all be ambassadors for this special collective impact project [like The Creative Advantage] and the power of arts education.”  

Cadence Miller, Laird Norton Family Foundation

We also heard from students directly about their experiences in the arts and the impact partnerships have had on their schools. High School Senior and drumline captain at Rainier Beach, DeAndre Wright, thanked attendees for their support of music programs in Seattle Public Schools. He spoke about how his participation in music has made him more confident and added that he felt a responsibility to advocate for more students being able to access what the arts can offer. 

Alan T. Sugiyama High School student, Marie Akaragwe, recited poetry they had written in a Creative Advantage residency with Seattle Arts + Lectures Writers in the Schools program. The evening was a joyful way to end another creative year. 

A segment of Moments in Time
By Marie Akaragwe

The world outside moves fast, leaving some of us in harshness, unspoken struggles hide behind masked faces

           In life most difficult moments we often search for hand but often find only shadows in a seemingly cruel land 
school days blend together a haze of stress and pain parents who struggle - their own demons at stake 

               Teachers overwhelmed - classmates who suffer
 In life’s most difficult moments we find our strength a beautiful struggle that shapes our character and length 

Difficulties shape us, but relationships define us - through laughter and tears we pulled through
                 our teachers and parents guidance a constant source of light helping us navigate life's darkest parts
Through every up and down we learn, and we grow - with loved ones by our sides – our hearts continue to glow