Connections Week 2026 Recap

Connections Week (April 21-24) was a weeklong experiential and interdisciplinary immersive learning experience here at Northwest. 

Students got to choose from a range of courses and experiences that reflected learning outcomes and were rooted in our school's core values: social justice, environmental sustainability and stewardship, and global perspective.

From paddling in the San Juan islands, climbing at Smith Rock, removing invasive plant species, learning sustainable cooking skills, and exploring how music and technology can be leveraged for community wellbeing.

Scroll down to see a handful of all the amazing learning events that were part of Connections Week!

Filming Social Justice

Students partnered with the Furniture Repair Bank in Seattle (a local nonprofit) to learn and practice the art of documentary filmmaking and create a short film promoting its mission and impact. They spent time at the , while also reflecting on essential questions connected to documentary filmmaking: purpose, ethical implications of documenting other peoples’ work and experiences, and the filmmaker’s responsibility with regard to the film's subject. Along the way, they learned and picked up film techniques, including: camera work, editing, lightning, documentary interviewing, and more. Take a few minutes to watch their amazing final project!

Paddling in the San Juans

Students spent the week in the gorgeous San Juan Islands, exploring the coast, kayaking, and camping. They learned about sea navigation, tides, water levels, currents, surviving outside, paddling techniques, and the history of the coast Salish people.

Beauty of Chinese Culture: Mu Dan

Beauty, Belonging & Resistance: Lessons from Japan

A follow-up to the recent Japan trip earlier this year, students were challenged to articulate the significance of what they learned and experienced on their trip, including how to: think about and value the personal connections that they built on the Japan trip; thoughtfully represent cultures that are not their own in writing and visual art; and bring their travel perspectives back home in a meaningful and significant way. They made local trips to visit sites and communities that underscore the relevance and impact of the global perspective gained from the Japan trip.

Upcycling for Community Connection

The perfect course for students who have an interest in creativity and crafting, that intersected with environmental sustainability and reducing waste. Students transformed discarded textiles into gorgeous new items using basic sewing techniques. They visited local organizations who work with textile waste, investigated how overproduction contributes to landfills, and the connections to a culture of overconsumption. Their projects will eventually be donated to a community in need.

What students are saying about their Connections experiences:

• This week was the most excited I've been to come to school in years!

• It was incredible and it was one of the best weeks I’ve ever had!

• I loved the creativity of the whole class, and how we all worked together on the final project.

• My least favorite part of connections week was the end of Friday... because it means that it was all over.

My favorite part of Connections Week was:

• Dancing with the seniors at the Lake City Senior Center!

• Hands on volunteering.

• Finding animals at the beach.

• Meeting new people and learning new things.

• Hands-on activities that really taught me skills outside of the textbook.

• Getting to choose my own project.

Tiny Haus

This group partnered with SoundFoundationsNW to help build tiny homes for Seattle’s unhoused community. They learned how to use power tools, got demos firsthand from experienced builders, and learned how hands-on work can support real solutions—one tiny house at a time.

Like to Hike

Combining a love of the outdoors with good stewardship of local trail systems, this course took students exploring in Seattle and to nearby locales on foot: the Arboretum, Discovery Park, Cougar Mountain, Mount Si, and even city blocks. Along the way, they also learned about the history of each location, as well as how to protect these delicate and important ecosystems.

Intertidal Ecosystems

In this course, students waded into the intertidal zone – the ever-changing world between the high tide and low tide. They explored the history, sociology and biology of the intertidal zone through hands-on learning, documenting their discoveries and the impact of invasive species on the intertidal world in the Salish Sea. This included the importance of intertidal resources to the Salish people, how local tribes have fought to retain their harvesting rights, the ongoing efforts to ensure these resources are sustained for the future, and how we can support these efforts.

Create, Glaze, and Amaze: Empty Bowls

This course was all about making art that matters! Students created their own unique bowls, glazed them with beautiful designs, and eventually donated them to Empty Bowls, a grassroots movement by artists and crafts people in cities and towns around the world to raise money for food related charities to care for and feed the hungry in their communities.

MakerSpace: Designing for Good

In this hands-on course, students partnered with local organizations to use human-centered design, create rapid prototypes, and later presented their solutions at the University of Washington's CoMotion Labs. This process involved empathy interviews to understand experiences and needs, and then immersing themselves in the complete design process—from need-finding and brainstorming to rapid prototyping and iterative testing—using the MakerSpace right here on campus as their creative lab.

Urban Gardening and Food Systems

This course helped students explore and participate in urban gardening practices and how they promote equitable food systems. They learned about historical and contemporary challenges to accessing fresh and healthy food in urban areas, and visited local farms that are working to address these issues. They then brought some of these practices, strategies, and techniques to our very own campus garden.