Poet Laureate Ashley McBunch returns to Step and helps us all find our inner poet January 2022

Ashly McBunch

City of Olympia’s Poet Laureate Ashly McBunch joined STEP in June 2021 to read her poetry about intersectionality and share her process of writing poetry. They returned to STEP in January with an amazing workshop that helped us gather our words about Belonging. Ashly walked through a scenario of being in a room of unknown…

Read More

STEP – Sharing Teens and Elders Project, Seeds of Change, Thurston County Juvenile Court’s Youth Development Program

pink dahlia flowers in focus photography

2021 was a year filled with uncertainty and unique challenges. In spite of those circumstances, a powerful partnership has been established between STEP Sharing Teens and Elders Project, the Seeds of Change, and the Thurston County Juvenile Court’s Youth Development Program (YDP). In June 2021 a local gardener donated over 100 dahlia flower bulbs to…

Read More

Donation Letter

person showing both hands with make a change note and coins

Recently STEP had the honor of having Erin Jones as our guest speaker on our Zoom gathering. It was a profoundly moving experience and brought tears to some eyes. She spoke with profound wisdom, honesty and warmth. She encouraged us to be a part of healing racism in our country. It was an extraordinary program.…

Read More

Andrew Liu: What’s it Like to Be a College Freshman in Changing Times

Excerpt from Thurston Talk. Andrew’s impressive accomplishments from high school secured his place in an eight-year program that puts him in medical school after successful completion of his undergraduate degree. “That was a big draw for me,” says Andrew, who would not have to take the traditional MCATS, Medical College Admission Test. Then COVID-19 arrived.…

Read More