Educating the Youth: Seattle Advocates for Education's Work

Formed by a group of current juniors and seniors from Newport High School, Seattle Advocates for Education (SAFE) is a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading educational opportunities for students in the Seattle Area. Ever since its creation in the summer of 2018, the SAFE team has organized book drives, summer camps, and fall classes, which have impacted more than 200 kids in the greater Seattle area and more than 15 high school volunteers.

Aaron Xie, a co-founder on the Seattle Advocates team, says that the goal of SAFE is "to broaden the intellectual opportunities of elementary school and middle school at affordable rates." Adding on, Xie emphasizes that "SAFE's mission is incredibly unique because we create an impact by leveraging the power and abilities of the youth."

Over the 2019 summer, one of the things Seattle Advocates did was organize three successful summer camps in Java, STEM Exploration, and Entrepreneurship. Each camp had over 25 kids and were taught by high school students experienced in the respective subjects.

Currently, the Seattle Advocates team is preparing to launch its second set of fall-winter weekly classes for Seattle youth. The classes offered are more diverse in topic, with classes in creative writing, Science Olympiad, Java, and also drawing.

Having professional connections, SAFE has partnerships with many groups, such as Microsoft, Stream Team, and the city of Renton. Learn more about the group's mission, members, and actions at seattleadvocatesfe.org.

Carolyn Han, member of the Seattle Advocates team and volunteer at its STEM exploration summer camp, says "it's pretty fulfilling to see the kids developing an interest in what we teach and seeing how that interest, paired with their creativity, blossoms into cool creations and them taking the initiative to do more."