CWU convenes with Limitless Network partners to broaden education access

It has been a year since Central Washington University first joined the Limitless Education Network, a grant-funded collective of 25 statewide partnerships aimed at expanding access to education and career success.

In that time, CWU and our partners in the Yakima School District (YSD), Yakima Valley College (YVC), and the Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center (YV-Tech) have gathered data and listened to student voices as they seek to assess the state of the transition from high school to college for students in the south-central Washington region.

On Wednesday, February 26, the partners gathered at CWU for the first of four planned convenings this year, in order to share data and discuss next steps for the collaboration. CWU President Jim Wohlpart believes the partnership has been enormously successful thus far.

“Collaborating with our regional partners in a deep and intentional way is the key to success that lasts, both for our schools and for the students we serve,” he said. “As we look to the future together, I couldn’t ask for better partners in undertaking the work that will move our region forward, and serve as a national model for collaboration in education.”

The inaugural South-Central Washington Region High School through Postsecondary Convening, hosted by Undergraduate Studies, invited representatives from schools and education-focused organizations across the region to network, discuss the Limitless partnership’s progress, and share their perspectives, in order to ensure that everyone remains on the same page as the work moves forward.

The event also included a panel of first-generation students from the Yakima region, who shared their experiences with the transition from high school to college, as well as insights into the kinds of resources that helped make the process easier for them.

The student panel was followed by a Leadership Reflection and Response session with Wohlpart, YSD Superintendent Trevor Greene, and YVC Interim President Teresa Rich. Both expressed a deep appreciation for the opportunity to collaborate on what may very well end up becoming a model for other regions nationwide.

“In the past, we haven’t seen this kind of alignment of leadership, and it boils down to having the right people in the right positions,” Greene said. “We all have this deep understanding of the importance of coming together and collaborating deeply on making the education system work better for our students. I am excited about the path that we’re on.”

Rich concurred, adding that the groundwork has been successfully laid for lasting positive change.

“What we have now is this incredible commitment between our three entities, as well as numerous other local education leaders, to come together, listen, and move forward,” she said. “Now that we’ve laid a foundation of communication and data, we’ll be able to demonstrate the value of this work to our constituents.”