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Spokane Public Schools launches engageIRL campaign to bolster activities, distract from phones

At Yasahura Middle School on Wednesday, LaunchNW Executive Director Ben Small, right, recognizes the five newly hired engagement navigators in Spokane Public Schools, each assigned to a different high school feeder pattern to help families get their students involved in activities. From left, Aaliyah Ashley-Meek, assigned to schools that matriculate to Shadle Park High School; Pat Donahue for North Central schools; Austin Johnson, who works at Rogers High School; Andrew Gardner, for Ferris schools; and Crystal Medina at Lewis and Clark High School. (Elena Perry)
By Elena Perry elenap@spokesman.com(509) 459-5270
At Yasahura Middle School on Wednesday, LaunchNW Executive Director Ben Small, right, recognizes the five newly hired engagement navigators in Spokane Public Schools, each assigned to a different high school feeder pattern to help families get their students involved in activities. From left, Aaliyah Ashley-Meek, assigned to schools that matriculate to Shadle Park High School; Pat Donahue for North Central schools; Austin Johnson, who works at Rogers High School; Andrew Gardner, for Ferris schools; and Crystal Medina at Lewis and Clark High School. (Elena Perry)

As Spokane Public Schools implements restrictions on student cellphone usage, it’s also working to boost participation in programs after school.

The school district, in partnership with a number of organizations and local government agencies, unveiled the details of their EngageIRL campaign at a news conference Wednesday. The program seeks to get “every kid, every day” participating in an afterschool activity like a club or sport. IRL is slang for “in real life.”

To aid in their endeavors, the Innovia Foundation sponsored the school district’s hiring of five new staff members called engagement navigators. They represent each of the district’s five high school feeder patterns and are tasked with addressing barriers that inhibit students from pursuing activities.

“Sometimes it’s a financial barrier, sometimes it’s a transportation barrier, sometimes it’s just navigating the registration process and some of the things that are needed for that,” Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Adam Swinyard said. “These engagement coordinators will really provide that connective tissue to make sure that kids are able to access the opportunity that’s going to be of highest interest to them.”

Another piece the district is implementing in partnership with Innovia and local organizations is the launching of a website, engageirl.com, that houses every activity offered around the community. Acting as a “community directory,” families sort activities by location, age, area of interest or price to find the perfect fit to suit their kids’ interests.

“Imagine with me a future when a young family new to Spokane is met by one of our navigators, they’re linked to resources such as our cultural centers, schools, health care providers, neighborhood groups and community centers,” said Ben Small, executive director of Innovia offshoot LaunchNW. Small is the former superintendent of Central Valley School District.

While the website lists school-sponsored sports and clubs available to students, Small urged local organizations to submit their activity offerings to engageirl.com to be included on the database. Swinyard hopes it will be a “one-stop shop” for families looking to get their students involved.

To prime students for a year ahead full of involvement and absent of phones in classrooms, each of the nearly 30,000 Spokane pupils is this year completing an “IRL plan” at conferences with their parents and educators before school starts. The online survey asks students which of their school’s clubs they hope to join and sports they may pursue. They’re also asked which activities they’re interested in that their school doesn’t offer. Student suggestions are how many school clubs are born.

“We really want to set that goal as a community that every kid, every day, has something to do in real life after school,” Swinyard said. “And maybe for some kids, that could be a board game club, it could be a knitting club. I mean, it’s amazing the different things that kids are interested in doing.”