Ari Robin McKenna

South End fifth graders Christian “The Spider” Dobbins and Dre’Vonn “Deuce the Truth” Kelley Jr. have taken local amateur boxing by storm. Champions of their respective weight classes in the Northwest region in early 2024 and ranked third and second in the nation, respectively, they are just getting started. Their meteoric rise in the sport nicknamed the “sweet science” has everything to do with talent, focus, and parental support.

by Ari Robin McKenna At Beacon Hill International Elementary School (BHIS), Helin (Helîn) Taskesen and fellow mentor Helina Takele lead an icebreaker in late 2023 on the first day of MENA-X, a much-anticipated afters-chool mentoring and enrichment program with a 15-person waitlist. A first grader calls out, “Who can do a handstand?” A nearby fifth grader responds, “Me!” And they huddle together in case they can help each other with any unchecked squares on their bingo cards.

by Ari Robin McKenna Yesterday evening, in a resounding show of solidarity, 95% of the Seattle Education Association (SEA) teachers who were present at a Special Representative Assembly cast votes of no confidence in Seattle Public Schools (SPS) Superintendent Denise Juneau, Chief Human Resources Officer and Lead Negotiator Clover Codd, and Chief Financial Officer and Chief Negotiator JoLynn Berge for, “attempting to unilaterally impose new working conditions upon SEA members without...