On June 3, College Possible Washington hosted LAUNCH into College!, a virtual celebration to celebrate our high school seniors. It was a chance to give a BIG thanks to our students’ dedication and hard work, and get together with coaches and friends.
The event included guest speakers such as our host Dennis Denman, director of student leadership programs at Seattle Central College, who did a wonderful job hyping up our students throughout the event. Students also got to hear from King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, who spoke about his experiences as a first-generation student in Seattle and discussed the importance of education.
In addition to celebrating all of our graduates, we also gave out a few special awards. AmeriCorps coaches submitted nominations for their students and the LAUNCH committee voted and then announced winners at the event:
The Best Self-Advocate was awarded to a high school senior who demonstrated noticeably strong self-advocacy skills this year and who will be proactive in bringing these skills to their college experience.
This year’s award went to Krizzia, who plans to attend the University of Washington this fall. Despite difficulties during the application process, she constantly worked toward her goals and demonstrated true skill utilizing resources. Krizzia also worked part-time to support and care for her mother and sister.
Krizzia has worked so hard this year, and through sheer force of will and scholarships, she’s not going to have to take out loans this year and has over $1,000 more than the cost of attendance at UW-Seattle. ” –CM Manchester, high school senior coach
The Growth Award was given to the student who has grown significantly throughout the course of the year. Growth areas include: academic growth, leadership skills, organizational skills, personal growth, self-advocacy, etc.
This year’s growth award was given to Mitsy. While college wasn’t something she had always planned, Mitsy has made incredible strides and improved in many areas on her path to college.
At the start of the year, Mitsy was nervous about her ability to get into college and uncertain about how to approach the higher education system overall. Now, she calls financial aid offices and advisors on her own, asking questions and requesting the information she needs to make the best decisions for her future.” –Talya Holenstein, high school senior coach
A big thank you to our LAUNCH working group (Kayoko, Sierra, Anders, Josh and Kelly) for putting together this wonderful event and to the students and community members who joined us.
If you missed the event, you can watch the recording here!
Congratulations, Class of 2021!
