The 2013-14 school year saw the Center's greatest growth in our 18 years of existence. The Philosophers in the Schools program expanded significantly, with faculty, students and volunteers working with the Center to lead philosophy sessions in over 25 different K-12 classrooms, including four elementary, two middle, and three high schools. Media pieces in the Seattle Times and on Seattle NPR Station KPLU highlighted this work.
Our first philosopher-in-residence program in the Seattle Public Schools, made available through by a three-year grant from the Squire Family Foundation, began at John Muir Elementary School. Philosopher Karen Emmerman (PhD in Philosophy, UW 2012) was the John Muir philosopher-in-residence, and will return to this position next year. We were thrilled with the success of our first High School Ethics Bowl. The second Washington State High School Ethics Bowl will be held at UW on Saturday, January 31, 2015. Finally, we're very excited about our increasing connection with University of Washington's College of Education, made possible in part by our new graduate fellowship program. The growth of our work came home to us this past spring when our annual summer workshop filled up within weeks. Thirty elementary, middle and high school teachers joined us in June to learn more about how to bring philosophical inquiry into K-12 classrooms.
The Center's work is made possible by the donations of private donors - we hope you will consider supporting our work. We really appreciate your gifts - thank you very much!