Recognizing the work of parents and grandparents to care for the young people in our community

Rod Dembowski and son Evan who is a
senior in high school

Part of a newsletter from Rod Dembowski 

King County Councilmember for north King county

I also want to take time to recognize the incredible work that parents, grandparents, relatives and guardians of all kinds have undertaken in recent weeks to care for the young people in our community. 

Closed schools have had a tremendously adverse impact on the educational advancement of children and youth and put their caregivers to new tests. 

For those of us with seniors in high school, there has been an additional and added element of sadness that many of the traditional rites of passage have been canceled or delayed. 

I am including some resources below for those of you caring for children. I wanted to share a photo memory of a happier time with my older son, Evan, who graduates from high school this year. 

I am looking forward to a return of open schools, sunny days, and a Husky victory at their next Rose Bowl appearance. With dedicated efforts from everyone to combat this virus (and some good recruiting work at the UW), we will get there.

Additional Resources for Parents

Like all parents, we are taking this new challenge of our two high school boys being home for the remainder of the school year day by day, while working to ensure they keep up with their studies. It’s an added challenge considering parents are still expected to manage their own daily workload. 

As we all work to juggle the many hats this crisis has forced us to wear, I’ve found the resources compiled by the Road Map Project to be a particularly helpful tool for parents.

Additionally, our local school districts including, Lake Washington, Northshore, Seattle, and Shoreline continue to be great resources.

I am also grateful that local organizations including the Seattle Zoo and its Zoo to You program, the Seattle Pacific Science Center and the Seattle Aquarium are providing free virtual resources for parents and their kids.