Long before the first math problem is solved or the day’s adventure begins, there’s already something different about DiscoverWorks. Something special.
Students spill through school doors eager to see friends. Teachers greet familiar faces returning for another day of learning. Classrooms buzz with conversation before lessons even begin. Across the Yakima and Puget Sound areas (Educational Service Districts 105 and 121), thousands of students are discovering that summer can be a time to explore new ideas, build confidence, and create memories that last well beyond summer.
That excitement is exactly what DiscoverWorks was designed to create.
This summer, the free, full-day DiscoverWorks Summer Learning Program is bringing together academic instruction, enrichment activities, field trips, nutritious meals, and meaningful relationships with caring adults. The result is something that feels unique compared with traditional summer programming, one that helps students maintain academic momentum while giving them opportunities to explore, connect and grow.
For many students, that difference is immediately noticeable.
“The students are having fun. They want to be here during their summer break,” shared Program Coordinator, Liz Portela, from Tacoma.
That enthusiasm echoes across participating districts.
At East Valley School District, Site Administrator Austin Molner says students arrive each day knowing they’ll strengthen their reading and math skills before diving into afternoons filled with STEM projects, art, physical education and other enrichment activities.
“The feedback that we’ve gotten from both the students and the family is that really that’s why most of them want to come to these programs,” Molner said. “The enrichment, the field trips—the stuff that we don’t always get to do during the typical academic year. That’s a big draw for the families and the kids.”
Those experiences are opening doors to opportunities many students have never had before.
Students have explored museums, built rockets, created 3D-printed designs, visited retreat centers, learned through hands-on STEM activities, and discovered local history at a museum.
At Terrace Heights Elementary School, paraprofessional Angie Sires watched students light up during a visit to the Yakama Nation Museum.
“For a lot of our kiddos, that was the first time they got to experience a museum,” she said. “Getting to find out some of the Yakama’s history—they thought it was pretty cool to see and just felt like they were kind of a part of it.”
Yet sometimes the greatest discoveries are found inside the classroom.
Across DiscoverWorks sites, educators describe students taking academic risks, asking more questions, collaborating with classmates, and developing confidence that carries into every part of the day.
At Ida Nason Aronica Elementary in Ellensburg, Principal Heather Burfeind has watched students embrace learning in new ways.
“Kids don’t come in going, ‘Oh, I have to go to school,'” Burfeind said. “They come in saying, ‘Okay, what are we doing today? Let’s go.'”
That excitement is fueled by learning experiences intentionally designed to make students active participants.
Students solve real-world math problems, dive into engaging novels, build scientific thinking through hands-on investigations, and collaborate with classmates throughout the day. Teachers have the flexibility to meet students where they are while creating lessons that feel fresh, interactive and meaningful.
For fourth grader Margaux, learning has become something to look forward to.
“Math has been a lot of fun,” she said. “We got to play games while also learning math. When it was explained to us, it was easy… and hanging out with my friends is one of my number one favorite things to do.”
That blend of academics and enrichment is intentional. DiscoverWorks was built around the idea that confidence grows when students feel connected, supported and excited about learning, not when those experiences happen separately.
For many educators, some of the most meaningful growth has happened outside traditional academic measures.
Angie Sires described watching one student who typically learns in a self-contained classroom begin seeking out friendships, while classmates actively included him in activities.
“It’s been a really cool thing to watch,” she said. “I’m just really hopeful that it’s going to continue throughout the rest of the program and then come fall, it’s just going to continue to grow and flourish.”
Stacie Clasen, a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) specialist in Ellensburg, shared a similar story.
“Last year we had a student who was really struggling. She was not connecting much with her peers. She was feeling frustrated in learning,” Clasen said. “She has joined our program this summer, and she is flourishing. She is smiling every day. She is super excited to be here, and she just keeps asking when she can come back and do more.”
Those transformations extend beyond students.
Parents say DiscoverWorks provides something invaluable during the summer months: consistency, peace of mind and a place where their children are known and cared for.
East Valley parent Paula Campbell enrolled her twin sons as soon as registration opened.
“It was free, so the cost… it’s just a no-brainer,” she said. “They have a nice schedule during the week. They’re with teachers they’re familiar with. They’re meeting new kids, gaining confidence, and they’re not losing everything they’ve learned during the school year.”
That feeling of care surfaces repeatedly across DiscoverWorks communities.
“It just kind of wraps our arms around our community and really allows them to just breathe while we’re continuing to work with their child,” shared Angie Ellenbecker, Supervisor of Compensatory Programs, at Clover Park.
“The biggest impact that I am seeing personally is that our students have that steady schedule and connection with caring adult figures every day,” added Brianna Wilson, Rising 6th Grade Teacher, also from Clover Park.
Students are making new friends before entering middle or high school. They’re discovering strengths they didn’t know they had. They’re returning to classrooms each morning because they genuinely want to be there.
For Christopher Chase II, Program Manager, the impact of DiscoverWorks reaches beyond the summer months.
“If having them participate this summer gets them excited to come back to school and start as a ninth grader, then I feel like we’ve really won.”
When school doors open again this fall, educators hope students return carrying more than sharpened academic skills. They hope they return with curiosity. With confidence. With friendships. With memories of museums, science projects, water days, novels, math games and teachers who believed in them.
Most of all, they hope students return knowing school is a place where they belong.
And judging by the smiles filling DiscoverWorks classrooms this summer, that journey is already well underway.