Tahoma 100 Cafe Recap

On Thursday, March 2, about 200 stakeholders including students, parents, grandparents, staff and community partners gathered at Summit Trail Middle School for the Tahoma 100 Cafe. Participants engaged in round table discussions about the essential skills, mindsets and experiences that EVERY student needs to be Future Ready. Below is a quick recap of the event and the key outcomes, which will support our district in planning for the start of our second century under the “Tahoma” name.

Absolutely Essential Skills & Mindsets Identified by the Cafe Participants


Participants gathered in groups based on grade level (elementary, middle, high). Each group identified which skills and mindsets they felt were most important for students to acquire, and those were digitally compiled to see which bubbled to the surface. At all three levels, EMPATHY stood out as the top skill, with 113 related responses. There were 143 total skills and mindsets that were identified across the approx. 200 participants. Here’s a look at the top-5:


Key Experiences for EVERY student


In addition to the skills and mindsets that students need, participants engaged in thinking about the experiences that we want for students at every level. Some themes that stood out include: community engagement, multidisciplinary learning, hands-on real world opportunities, and collaboration. Take a look for yourself!


What our stakeholders are feeling and wanting


The evening ended with a chance for participants to share what they are feeling, and what they are wanting moving forward. Words that surfaced for how participants were feeling included: motivated, inspired, optimistic, heard, positive, intrigued, and hope.


Under the “I want…” prompt, over one-third of respondents identified a desire for more conversations and opportunities for their voices to be heard. Additionally, respondents said they want to see action taken based on the input that the district has asked for. See the responses here!


We are so grateful to all our amazing partners who gave up their time to engage in this critical conversation to support our students and community! We look forward to additional community engagement opportunities on our Tahoma 100 journey.