I arrived early to our partner school, Summit Sierra, located in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District for an appointment with Deshika Venezio-Perera, Seneca Washington’s school based Lead Clinician. As I checked in, I was led to Deshika’s office, where I promptly settled into a cushy armchair, picked up a fidget toy, and enjoyed the pictures, plants, and grinning faces on the staff bios posted in the office window. In the first 5 minutes with the light on and the door open, I was visited by a teacher who popped in to tell Deshika about her weekend, another staff member who wanted to share about a recent success with a student after consulting with Deshika, and a youth who was set to meet our clinical intern for the first time. They were surprised to see me sitting in the office and shared that they had come by because they were feeling nervous and were hoping Deshika could walk them to the neighboring therapy room; I assured them that while I wasn’t Deshika, we worked very closely together. At this, their shoulders relaxed and they said, “Well, if you're Deshika’s friend…” as we walked to the appointment together.
All it takes is a few minutes to observe the warmth and trust fostered in the relationships at Summit Sierra, which isn’t to say that the school hasn’t seen their fair share of challenges posed by the pandemic and the mental/behavioral health needs thematic across our high schools in WA state. Recognized by the Washington School Recognition Program in 2020 for growth and excellence in student achievement, Sierra students spend their days solving real-world problems and building the skills of self-direction, collaboration and reflection.
As Deshika has begun her second year at Sierra, she has celebrated a number of firsts with her school community:
Our partnership with Sierra continues to be a shining example of the innovation and heart that can inspire impactful change; which is wholly due to the individuals committed each and every day to this work. Thank you Deshika and Sierra for your service!
All it takes is a few minutes to observe the warmth and trust fostered in the relationships at Summit Sierra, which isn’t to say that the school hasn’t seen their fair share of challenges posed by the pandemic and the mental/behavioral health needs thematic across our high schools in WA state. Recognized by the Washington School Recognition Program in 2020 for growth and excellence in student achievement, Sierra students spend their days solving real-world problems and building the skills of self-direction, collaboration and reflection.
As Deshika has begun her second year at Sierra, she has celebrated a number of firsts with her school community:
- Deshika has successfully piloted services delivered by Seneca Washington’s first school based clinical intern, paving the way for future programming.
- Alongside Sierra’s Expeditions model, Deshika co-designed and piloted a socio-emotional curriculum called Leaders in Wellness, where students adapted SEL lessons to bring back to and teach in their own classrooms.
- She represented both Seneca and Sierra communities as a speaker during the 2023 WA Charter Schools Conference.
- In addition to her visionary work listed above, Deshika built out a full client caseload for the first time in Seneca’s partnership with Sierra, which speaks to Deshika and Sierra’s collaboration to identify and equitably serve youth.
Our partnership with Sierra continues to be a shining example of the innovation and heart that can inspire impactful change; which is wholly due to the individuals committed each and every day to this work. Thank you Deshika and Sierra for your service!
Blog post written by: Katrina Carleton, Director of School Partnerships
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