It's the calm before the storm – the large gym at TAF@Saghlie is lined with tables from colleges -- UW Tacoma, Central Washington University, and WSU, to companies sharing future careers, like Delta Dental, to community-based entrepreneurs like Lamont Styles. All wait quietly, awaiting the flood of middle school and high school...
Co-founders Trish Millines Dziko and Jill Hull Dziko pose in front of a timeline showcasing TAF's major milestones since the organizations founding in 1996.Walking into the room, you could feel it. Thirty years of work, thirty years of students, educators, and partners, all gathered in one place. TAF's 30th Anniversary was...
Jackie (L)and Genitee (R) work with 2nd graders at Roosevelt Elementary School in Tacoma through the editing process. Students were tasked with writing about careers they would like to have and how they would use their job to give back to their community. It's not just writing, math, and science....
TAF@Saghalie 6th graders pose for a photo op before heading to lunch. Jumpstart provides an opportunity for students to work together with their new classmates, and familiarize themselves with the TAF project-based learning model (PBL)Summer might mean a break from the regular academic routine for other schools, but at TAF@Saghalie, the joy of learning doesn’t stop. From June...
Creating Change: How to Grow Community Action Through Relational Learning Brigadoon Elementary School Fifth Graders plant their herb starts in the TAF@Saghalie community garden, which will be part of a larger, school wide farm-to-table program for TAF@Saghalie.June 16th, 2026What happens when you give students the freedom to create, paired with...
April 30, 2026At TAF, we know the best kind of learning happens when students are centered, and every person in the education ecosystem moves with that understanding. This is one of the main drivers at the heart of TAF@Saghalie’s STEM Expo – a Science Fair and gallery walk where students from neighboring schools, volunteers, and community partners to...
Students team up against their teachers in a tug-of-war competition during the second assembly of the year, put on by Student Ambassadors. "I see school climate and culture as the base for getting to the academic work." Alana McCorkle, Vice Principal, TAF@Saghalie Feb 26, 2026 Transforming schools takes time. Truly...
Vy Nofua, operations manager at Northwest Furniture gives feedback and review on a First Creek student's cardboard prototype. At TAF, we see social-emotional learning (SEL) competency as part of the bigger picture of setting students up for success in the world. SEL cultivates intentional citizens that work together to solve...
December 2025 Across Washington state, there is a stark disparity between the demographics of students and the educators who serve them. Many students go through their K-12 school experience without being taught by someone who shares or understands their racial, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds. Why does this matter? Research and lived...
November 2025: Olympic View students learn the power of their voice by advocating for new extracurricular activities.
Boze Elementary Students work together through a math worksheet. In a project-based learning environment, students are encouraged to lean on one another and find their own way of learning and absorbing information. The definition of pedagogy is the practice of teaching, and the methodology used to influence children’s learning and...
Aria, center, a student at TAF@Saghalie in Federal Way, tests the structural stability of her cardboard prototype with teacher Purity Kamau. Students taught by one Black teacher by third grade are more likely to graduate and consider college, making representation in the classroom imperative for success of students of color,...
Martinez Fellows gather at The University of Washington - Tacoma campus, ready to attend the first seminar of the year. Introduction: It Starts with CommunityIt’s an early Saturday morning at the University of Washington Tacoma campus -- educators, and aspiring educators slowly trickle into the bright and welcoming conference room...
T-Mobile hosts TAF@Saghalie students at the T-Mobile 5G Tech Hub. Students toured tech labs, learned about the research T-Mobile conducts daily, and learned from a panel of experts in different professions within the tech space. Overview The T-Mobile 5G Hub is a maker space built to encourage the next generation...
Jaclyn Smith, TransformED Coach and Sarah Wilkes, Grant Writer at TAF participate in the longest paper chain STEM challenge at the Roosevelt Elementary School presentation of learning. The school day has ended and the hallways of Roosevelt Elementary are empty of students – but there is a buzz of anticipation...
Last month, TAF's TransformED school, Beverly Park, hosted its Literacy Night which also included student exhibitions. A wide range of community partners showed up in support of the evening, ready to meet students and answer questions.Students kicked off their evening with a passport, their goal was to fill it with...
With dozens of applications from early-career and future educators coming in from Martinez Fellowship hopefuls, let's take a minute to focus on what the fellowship offers. A good example of two of the benefits of the fellowship were on display earlier this month at Martinez Seminar #4 on Western Washington...
For TAF's 2024 Varsity Luncheon: Courage to Act back in February, we highlighted TAF@Saghalie Humanities teacher and Martinez Fellow Jennifer Giuffre. What we didn't get to highlight, however, was how her teaching inspires her students. "You instruct less and put them in the driver's seat. You might be the navigator,...
During last month's innovative STEM Expo, volunteers engaged with student presentations and prototypes both as an audience and as judges. Then, earlier this month, the students who scored the highest had the opportunity to spend a day at Microsoft's campus! It was a day completely curated for TAF@Saghalie students. 🎮🕹️🎮The day...
On February 23rd and 24th 2024, over 200 BIPOC educators and educational leaders came together for the Convening: two days to recommit to the work of educational equity and liberation. During the weekend educators collectively discussed problems in the education system. Then, they collaborated on ways to restructure classrooms and...
