Innovation Lab High School students deliver school funding ideas to State Legislators

Months of student learning, research, and collaboration culminated on Feb. 10 with nearly 70 10th-grade students from Innovation Lab High School (ILHS) meeting with state legislators in Olympia with one purpose: provide proposals on how to solve the state’s school funding crisis. 

These problem-solving students saw a need and were ready to do something about it, said sophomores Shanti Varma and Miriam Fawcett.

At ILHS, teachers work with students to connect the learning objectives to content that is meaningful to the students. Students were resolute this fall when teacher Mo Diehl began facilitating this student-driven project – the budget cuts implemented in the Northshore School District have directly impacted the students, and they wanted to take action.

At ILHS, classes complete expedition projects, which incorporate multiple subject areas, so Diehl partnered with finance teacher Anthony Eddy to guide the students as they learned about school budgets while conducting research on the budgets of districts across the state. 

Students worked in small groups to delve into the budgets of 19 school districts from around Washington so they could consider the evidence, reasoning, and claims behind the challenges they faced and identify common issues. This provided a foundation for students to collaborate on creating proposals for legislators’ consideration during the current legislative session, said Diehl.

Varma said what began with emotional responses to district budget reductions led to students harnessing that energy into learning about the issue and generating ideas they hope will make a difference. Fawcett agreed. 

“We realized we need to start paying attention so really good teachers don’t lose their jobs,” Fawcett said.

This project spanned the course of several months, all leading up to the visit to Olympia on Feb. 10. Focusing on local legislators and those who serve on education committees in the Senate and House of Representatives, the students met in small groups with 7 legislators or their staff members to share their ideas.

The result? Productive meetings in which students felt valued.

“I felt like I had a voice,” said Sharma. This has empowered students to continue to advocate.

“I want to do more,” said Fawcett. “I don’t want to just leave it as it is. I feel like now that we’ve started something, I want to keep it going.” 

Innovation Lab High School is a choice high school in the Northshore School District. Serving students in grades 9-12, the school focuses on creating a learning environment focused on tackling real-world problems, that gives students the opportunity to master critical 21st century skills, and that challenges every student to find meaningful ways to demonstrate and apply their learning. Enrollment is now open for the 2025-26 school year. Learn more at innovationlab.nsd.org.