(upbeat music) - Welcome to Crosscut Now.

In today's episode, we're celebrating Black History Month.

The founder of a Seattle public speaking program taps into the spirit of social justice, a tradition fortified by black civil rights leaders to help students harness their voice.

Coming up, you'll learn how the curriculum is giving Seattle students the tools to empower them in their education and in their lives.

We'll also look at how a class assignment for a group of Kirkland High School students has become a bill in the legislature to protect other students against the opioid crisis.

And Lunar New Year is here.

Get ready for the year of the Dragon Celebrations.

I'm Paris Jackson.

In today's top story, a Seattle public speaking program is bridging the engagement gap by working to reach every child that is silent in the classroom in hopes they will become leaders in the front will explain how their championing inspiration from the resiliency of past generations.

A Seattle public speaking program for youth is breaking traditional teaching methods to empower students to harness their own point of view and their education and lives.

Speak With Purpose also known as SWP was founded in 2012.

The program fosters a creative and inclusive learning space for students to deconstruct dominant narratives by using public speaking to uplift their culture, identity, and communities.

- You feel that moment being judged for what you believe, being judged because of your faith.

- All people see is the color of our skin.

It needs to stop.

- The program is in five Title one Seattle Public Schools with students in fourth through 12th grades.

The program's executive director Toyia Taylor says their goal is to reimagine the classroom learning experience by collaborating with teachers and students to guide their education.

Speak With Purpose says it is the only community-based public speaking program in classrooms across King County Public Schools in Washington.

I sat down with Speak With Purpose founder and executive director Toyia Taylor to hear why it's critical for students to find their voice and be in control of their narratives.

Welcome Toyia, thank you for joining us.

- Thank you for having me at Cascade PBS, - We are gonna get into it because you are the founder of Speak With Purpose and your curriculum is unique.

You teach students about concepts like social justice, counter narrative storytelling.

Why is it important to teach students about those things?

- It's important that students learn about the counter narrative storytelling because when I was growing up, I felt like in my classroom I was being taught at and not taught to.

I remember being in classrooms and there were posters and images that didn't reflect my culture, my history.

And I remember just feeling that it wasn't a place that reflected who I was or who I wanted to be.

So when we talk about counter narrative storytelling, it is those stories that are not traditionally told in the educational system, but are very much a part of our history, our existence, and deserve to be acknowledged and celebrated.

So we give our scholars an opportunity to do that, tell their stories and reflect their history, to be able to learn about, you know, their history, Benjamin Banneker or Frederick Douglas.

Sojourner Truth, Shirley Chisholm, to see themselves in these great leaders and then to be able to write their own original speeches that reflect how they see themselves, the world, and the community is powerful.

- And you bring students into the classroom in terms of letting them be instrumental in how they're learning as opposed to putting information at them.

And you essentially articulated that.

Why is that type of approach so important?

- Oh my goodness.

First of all, history is happening every day.

And so we want to, in real time talk about the things that scholars are going through, how they see the world and get their opinion about it.

So this is learning that we are both doing together.

So I might be addressing or putting out what's going on in history today or what happened yesterday year or yesterday, but the scholar is telling me how it's making them feel, what they see to be solutions, and that's how we're able to have these conversations together and then empower them to speak up and speak out about how they want things, solutions, or what they see to be challenges within their schools or their communities or the world.

- And that's powerful.

And when we talk about almost harnessing that power, what are some ways that you can share for whether it's an educator or it's a parent and they want their child or students to tap into that, what would you offer them?

- The same thing that I want for myself, same thing I would've wanted for my 12-year-old self is as parents and community members, affirmations for our students, telling them they are brilliant.

Telling them that they are curious.

When they have a lot of energy, helping them hone and guide that energy.

It's so amazing to me that I can go into a classroom and the minute I tell a student oh my goodness, what book are you reading?

That's amazing.

Oh wow, tell me about your culture.

This is so extraordinary.

I want to know more.

All of a sudden I see little hands go up.

I wanna tell you about where I'm from.

I wanna tell you who I am.

Did you know that my grandparents are first generation here?

That is amazing.

You are incredible.

The things that we've been able to accomplish in our communities, in our culture deserve to be acknowledged and celebrated in the classroom.

And that is where we build our confidence and we begin to really see how powerful we are.

- That is a perfect segue to tell us about this oratory competition that you put on annually.

It's happening again, but also it's at a different location.

Why are you so excited about that?

- It came to me in a dream 10 years ago that our scholars, it was great that we've had the opportunity to be the only public speaking program that's offered in public schools as a part of the day school.

But imagine if we could bring our entire community in places and spaces to listen and celebrate our scholars and their culture and their history in their self-authored identities.

And at that moment, I knew Rising Voices Oratory Showcase would be born, and that was 10 years ago.

Every year we've done this showcase where over all of our kids, we serve over 750 scholars throughout King County public schools during the school day.

Any of those students can take these original pieces that they write, that we call passion pieces, and they can stand up in front of their community and recite these pieces at the Rising Voices Oratory Showcase.

In the past, it's been hosted at one of our partnering schools.

They have always opened their doors, but now we have another exciting opportunity, which is now it will be in community at the world class Benaroya Hall.

So we are super excited that our kids get to show their talents, their leadership, talk about themselves, tell their stories on a world class stage where they've always, where they deserve to be.

So we're really excited about that.

That is Sunday, Father's Day, June 16th, and the whole community is encouraged to come out and celebrate these scholars.

- Thank you so much for joining us, Toyia.

- Thank you, Paris.

- It's been a pleasure.

If you want to learn more or support Speak with Purpose, go to SpeakWithPurpose.org.

(upbeat music) Fentanyl is a hundred times more potent than morphine.

We'll tell you about the high school seniors who inspired legislation to put a lifesaving opioid reversal medication in all Washington K through 12 public schools.

Some Washington High School students are pushing for the legislature to make sure Narcan is available in every school in the state to protect students amid the state's growing opioid epidemic.

This bill actually started in a Lake Washington High school AP government class last year when seniors were tasked with creating a bill to give students hands-on experience with the state legislative process.

State Senator Patty Kuderer, a Democrat from Bellevue, heard the student's presentation and said she felt compelled to move forward with the idea as a result of their deep research.

Senator Kuderer is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 5804 that would put the lifesaving opioid reversal medication in all Washington K through 12 public, charter, and state tribal education compact schools.

As for why Narcan would be needed in elementary and middle schools, Kuderer says all schools should have it in the event of an accidental overdose.

The bill passed the Senate by unanimous vote February 1st and moves on to the house for consideration.

This year is the year of the dragon.

If you're interested in celebrating Lunar New Year, coming up, we'll tell you about two big spring festivals in Seattle and Tacoma.

Millions of people around the world are celebrating the Lunar New Year.

In our region, the same rings true for the Asian American Pacific Islander community and beyond.

This year, Lunar New Year landed on Saturday February 10th, and celebrations began the night before and extend for up to 15 days.

There are two big spring festivals happening on February 24th in Seattle and Tacoma.

From 11 in the morning to 4:00 PM, the Chinatown International District Business Improvement Area will host its annual Lunar New Year event at Seattle's Hing Hay Park featuring dance performances and music on their main stage.

Vendors along South King Street and over 40 food walk destinations.

In the South zone, also on the 24th, the Asia Pacific Cultural Center will commemorate the annual Asia Pacific New Year celebration from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall.

The event is free and attendees can expect more than 20 performances, cultural demonstrations in martial arts, authentic cuisine, and a plethora of vendors.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching Crosscut Now, your destination for non-profit Northwest News.

Go to crosscut.com for more.