Scott Seaman [00:00:09] Hey welcome to another edition of AWSP TV. [00:00:12] We are so excited to have a special guest in our studio today, Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil from the Washington Student Achievement Council. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:00:20] Hello! [00:00:21] Thank you for having me. Scott Seaman [00:00:22] My gosh we were just pumped to have you here today. [00:00:24] So we have a whole audience of principals and other school leaders watching this and I'm hoping that by the end of this episode they'll have a clear understanding what the Washington Student Achievement Council is and all the incredible programs within your organization. [00:00:41] So coming from the high school principalship myself, I think I'm going to start with just a basic question which is: Who are you and what is the Washington Student Achievement Council? [00:00:53] If you don't mind just starting there. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:00:55] Absolutely. [00:00:55] So first I'm Yokiko and I have been working in higher education for the last 10 years. [00:01:00] I currently work doing communications and outreach for the College Bound Scholarship but I love working for the Student Achievement Council and the Student Achievement Council really is sort of, I like to think of it as a place where students get transition support. [00:01:11] So once they're leaving their high school experience transitioning into post-secondary so whether that's pursuing a two year degree or a four year degree, we have adult returning students, really essentially supporting students as they get ready to pay for and go through their post-secondary options, and we we do state financial aid, we do policy work and really try to think about how we can better support students in Washington accessing higher education. Scott Seaman [00:01:34] So you're kind of like that organization that sits between the K12 sector and higher ed. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:01:41] Yeah we're trying to link the two. [00:01:42] I kind of like to explain it is where OSPI sort of hands them off, we sort of kind of help them support as they go through either to the independent colleges or Washington the two year colleges or even some of our public colleges. Scott Seaman [00:01:52] Awesome. [00:01:53] Did you happen to bring any money today to help my son get through the last three years of school? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:01:57] Oh I would love to hand you a personal check but I didn't bring a checkbook. [00:02:00] I don't use those anymore. [00:02:02] I would love to help find more opportunities to help him. Scott Seaman [00:02:05] Thank you. [00:02:06] And you and I were chatting beforehand. [00:02:08] I have to just throw this plug in. [00:02:09] You're an Olympia High School, GO BEARS grad. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:02:12] That's right. [00:02:12] 2005, quite a while ago. Scott Seaman [00:02:15] Yeah I was not quite a 2005 grad but I was a bear grad. [00:02:19] We'll just keep the grad year…. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:02:21] …silent. [00:02:22] I also live right by my old high school. [00:02:24] I can hear the bell ring from my back yard. [00:02:26] It's pretty great. Scott Seaman [00:02:27] Well right on. [00:02:28] Yeah. [00:02:29] So let's jump in. [00:02:31] Let's start by talking about the Washington College Grant. [00:02:33] If you don't mind. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:02:34] Absolutely. [00:02:35] So I'm really excited to talk about the Washington College grant because it is an expansion of state financial aid. [00:02:39] It's a new opportunity. [00:02:40] It's a real investment from the state into Washington state students. [00:02:43] So it's expanded who can receive grant aid in Washington, and it's now guaranteed. [00:02:49] So before when we would have the conversation about when students are coming in and they're trying to apply for college admission they're thinking about well how do I get there, and then how do I pay. [00:02:58] The conversation was you've got to hurry up, it's first come first serve, we have more students that have need than we have the ability to pay for. [00:03:04] And with Washington College grant that's no longer the case. [00:03:06] So students now have the ability to apply for financial aid without worrying about those priority deadlines. [00:03:12] It's not first come first serve and we can serve more of our middle income families to be able to have access to grant aid instead of just loan opportunities. [00:03:19] So it's a really awesome investment from the state to our students and we're really excited to see the class of 2020 be our first class to be in this fully funded program. Scott Seaman [00:03:29] So how are you getting information besides being here today into that K12 space. [00:03:35] I mean what are some of the roadblocks or barriers that you're seeing that we can help with? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:03:40] So I think something that's really important is just knowing that the Washington College Grant exists, getting more students to access financial aid, we see that a lot of students talk about financial aid or have someone who mentions it to them but they don't necessarily know what the process looks like or what resources currently exist. [00:03:55] And in our office we have the 12th year campaign which has been in existence for quite a few years but this is a great resource. [00:04:00] It's just have students be talked to and have opportunities to do different sort of program pieces they can connect through their counselors they can talk to their principals about if I want to apply what do I need to do. [00:04:14] And if you didn't know before we have everything ready already established through our 21th your campaign and our aim higher initiative. Scott Seaman [00:04:21] So if you had your perfect world when would you love to see the K12 space you know engaging kids in these conversations around there Washington College Grant? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:04:32] As soon as possible. [00:04:33] We talk about the college bound scholarship in middle school and I like to think of the Washington College Grant is sort of the supplemental component for students who maybe didn't access college bound in middle school. [00:04:42] We can talk about the Washington College grant. [00:04:45] So starting earlier rather than later when we're really just talking about how do we access higher education and how do we pay for it no longer making it a scary topic but making it a comfortable and accessible topic about when you apply for college you're going to have to pay for it. [00:04:57] How do you pay for it? [00:04:58] There's so many different ways you can do it, and first step is to apply for financial aid with the FAFSA or the WASFA. [00:05:04] If you're here in Washington State. Scott Seaman [00:05:06] Right. [00:05:07] Anything else on the Washington College Grant? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:05:09] Outside of please get your students to apply for financial aid. [00:05:12] We can't do it without people who are working in a school directly with students to get the message out. Scott Seaman [00:05:17] You hear that principals? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:05:19] Yes please have them file a financial aid application. Scott Seaman [00:05:23] Awesome. [00:05:24] So why don’t you talk about Aim Higher and financial aid application completion? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:05:29] So Aim Higher is our initiative it's sort of a big picture overhaul of how do we get more students to access financial aid applications to get into the process and to kind of inform it from a larger perspective. [00:05:40] We have been doing the 12th your campaign we have been doing outreach, but now with the Washington College Grant we've enhanced what this looks like. [00:05:47] We want to get more students to complete a financial aid application either the FAFSA which is the federal form or the WASFA which is for our undocumented students. [00:05:54] And so aim higher is really this big project that we're embarking on for the Class of 2020 and beyond and encouraging those students to apply for financial aid. [00:06:03] So that's sort of the terminology that we're using. [00:06:05] We're doing workshops training the trainers we are engaging with individual outreach to school sites and to folks in our communities to help get the word out about how to get students to apply for financial aid in terms of financial aid completion. [00:06:18] We have a really comprehensive program that's available to students but we don't have enough students applying for financial aid. [00:06:24] So our goal is to increase the number of students who access aid by applying for it. [00:06:29] I always say you don't get financial aid if you don't apply for it and you don't know what you're eligible for unless you apply for it. [00:06:35] So you can't get the Washington College grant without applying for financial aid. [00:06:39] So these two things work hand-in-hand and we want students to access it. [00:06:42] But first they have to do the application. Scott Seaman [00:06:44] So where does Washington sit in the country on FAFSA completion? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:06:49] Not very high. [00:06:50] So I would say that last year were ranked at 48 among you know 51 entities. [00:06:57] So we could be a little bit better and we're on a trajectory to have more students apply or more students complete and move us up and our ultimate goal is not necessarily about number rankings about making us number one but it's about having students access the opportunity. [00:07:11] And if more students apply for financial aid and that happens to coincide with us moving up in the rankings we'd love that. [00:07:17] But we don't want to necessarily see students not take advantage of opportunities. [00:07:21] So it's crucial for us to be able to have students engage in financial aid work being informed and having our school staff our principals know how important it is. Scott Seaman [00:07:31] Have you seen any great examples out there of high schools or districts doing some pretty creative or innovative things around FAFSA? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:07:40] Absolutely. [00:07:41] We have. Scott Seaman [00:07:41] Just in case some is watching this and I want to call up a principal and say hey I saw this video and your name was mentioned your school is mentionned, what are you guys doing and how do you do that. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:07:49] Yeah I would say actually one region that we've really been fortunate enough to see the good work that they've been doing and it has informed some of the best practices that we use which is in the peninsula area. [00:07:59] So around Kitsap County. [00:08:01] They've done some really great stuff training up their folks and they call them FAFSA or financial aid navigators, so they had their sort of grassroots work around supporting and getting people prepared and trained to support their students and so they sort of came up with that term navigator and we really liked that and we want to give them sort of recognition because they gave us the idea to think about how we could expand capacity by providing train trainers and getting more people as financially navigators. [00:08:26] So they're doing really great work and across the state we're seeing a handful of districts that are just exceeding because they have large populations that they're supporting or that they have a good number of their students in their senior class completing a financial aid application. Scott Seaman [00:08:39] Yeah I've seen high school principals really taking on like a FAFSA nights or FAFSA weeks or a whole month long theme. [00:08:50] So other district names you to throw out there that people could look up or? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:08:56] I can't think of a specific specific one off the top of my head but I know that I was looking at our financial aid dashboard so we have an interactive dashboard. [00:09:05] And I saw yesterday some of our schools that are doing better from year over year. [00:09:08] I saw Seattle is doing really well. [00:09:11] I saw that in the Spokane area they're doing pretty well so I kind of took a quick peek at who is in the green. Scott Seaman [00:09:17] Anybody get on that dashboard and look? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:09:18] Absolutely. Scott Seaman [00:09:18] If I’m a principal and I'm curious, what's my own school's completion rate look my or my district or my neighboring high schools? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:09:26] Yeah. [00:09:26] So we have this really great interactive dashboard that you can go on and we have it sort of displayed, it's displayed out in a few different ways. [00:09:33] So you can see it in a sort of heat map based so it tells you, green means good right, so green the darker the green the better the completion rates are and you can see it based on it the education service district so we have them listed by ESD, we have it listed by district itself. [00:09:47] And so you could click on your ESD region, you could click on your individual school district and compare yourself to different components in your specific region. Scott Seaman [00:09:55] That is awesome and just in case I was technology challenged, where would I go to just find that dashboard? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:10:02] It's on our WSAC web page. [00:10:04] So we have if you were to go to our main WSAC web page you can see there's actually a little snippet of our map. [00:10:08] Click on that and it'll take you right to the dashboard itself and it’s really great, easy and intuitive resource because it allows you and makes you want to click on the button to say like why is this green or why is this yellow or why is it's not a color at all. Scott Seaman [00:10:20] That's awesome and I'm assuming yours is as easy as ours, awsp.org. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:10:25] Yes I would agree with that. Scott Seaman [00:10:28] Awesome. [00:10:29] So you've got this other tool out there a resource called Otterbot. [00:10:35] I love Otterbot. [00:10:36] Well I was thing about Otter Pops. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:10:37] Oh yeah. Scott Seaman [00:10:39] But that's not what we're talking about. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:10:40] No no. [00:10:41] So Otterbot is really a great resource that we started this last November. [00:10:44] I actually remember because it was November 13th and I'm the person who sent out the very first batch of text messages, so I'll never forget. [00:10:51] But Otterbot is a really great texting campaign or texting resource, I should say, that we have available. [00:10:57] We started with our college bound seniors so we had a good pool of about nine thousand five hundred students that we texted, but it has the capability to do text messaging with students 24/7 and it's artificial intelligence. [00:11:09] So it's this bot that we've talked to and trained about how to ask or answer students questions around financial aid. [00:11:15] So it kind of allows the student to engage through a tool or a medium that they're really comfortable with which is their phone, doing text messages, and they can ask any question under the sun about financial aid, it has information about the different types of application, so it has information about the FAFSA and the WASFA, it also talks about college bound, how to prepare students or what documents they need when they apply for financial aid. [00:11:37] And what's really great is that sometimes students feel more comfortable engaging with their phone than asking an adult that they know because they're unsure of what does this answer mean or maybe I feel more safe using my phone and just doing it after school. [00:11:50] But then they can go follow up with their counselor their principal when they go to school. [00:11:54] So it's nice to just have this additional layer of resources so then it can help lighten the load for your school staff. Scott Seaman [00:12:00] So again if I'm a high school principal and I'm watching this, and I want to get all my juniors engaged in that, what do I do? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:12:09] Wait until next year. [00:12:10] So we have this sort of targeted for our high school senior so the class of 2020 is where we're starting, we're going to get ready to transition into the class of 2021 in the near future. [00:12:19] Students can text into the service so we do have a website, the college bound excuse me the Washington Students Achievement Council website has an Otterbot website where you can go and you can see what some of the messages may look like, you can see what our flyer is and you can see the phone number that you can text into to get into the Otterbot itself. [00:12:36] But at this point we're working with seniors, it could expand later, but we'd like to support the financial aid process as they're going through it. Scott Seaman [00:12:43] Wow that's great. [00:12:44] That's an exciting modern day tool that shoul make a huge difference. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:12:49] I'm really excited about it just because it's through a medium in which we know that students are actually going to engage in you know it's hard enough to get adults to read their email. [00:12:57] So it's really kind of an ridiculous expectation that our high school seniors would want to read an email from our office we'd think that they'd like to text to a bot better. Scott Seaman [00:13:05] Yeah that's awesome. [00:13:08] Tell me about the College Board. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:13:10] So the College Bound Scholarship is the program that I work for and I think what's really important about college bound is that it has been in existence since 2007. [00:13:19] It's that early commitment of state financial aid to students who apply in middle school and it has been sort of this college going culture building piece. [00:13:26] We have it starting in the middle schools, we're having those conversations with students and their families. Scott Seaman [00:13:31] You said middle school? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:13:32] Mm hmm yeah. [00:13:33] And so I think what's important is that college bound starts in middle school and then before we used to say that that was guaranteed for students. [00:13:40] And then when we get into high school we remind them about what the College Bound Scholarship is. [00:13:46] And before it would say that the real thing that we wanted to encourage students to do is apply in middle school and access that aid early because we couldn't guarantee that the state grant was available but with the Washington College Grant it's now kind of filled in that gap where students couldn't get served before. [00:14:01] So I like to think of it as college bound is still a vital resource for our students in Washington state. [00:14:05] It starts that conversation earlier and then for a student who may be come into Washington after ninth grade or after 10th grade but still want to access state financial aid the Washington College Grant is their resource and it provides a little bit more opportunity for students to be able to have flexibility in what their award could look like and they don't necessarily miss out on anything they still have something available to them. Scott Seaman [00:14:27] So if you were to say something specific to my middle level principals out there, who may not have all the information or want more information, what would you say to them? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:14:38] Reach out to me. [00:14:39] I'm the college bound person. [00:14:40] So if you want to get more information about what your college bound sign up rates are what your financial aid access is for your students who may be starting your school or looking forward to kind of how you have the college bound conversation, please reach out. [00:14:52] I'd be happy to do anything that you need. Scott Seaman [00:14:54] And are you seeing, as you look at statewide data, districts that have higher rates of students landing in this category or? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:15:04] Yeah so every year we send out a report in January and we actually, we call them college bound Gold Star schools, so our schools that are above the average rate of college bound sign ups, we send them a award, because we want to recognize the hard work that's happening at the school. [00:15:19] So those come and plaques that we send out directly to our folks that do really well because we want to recognize the hard work. [00:15:26] Just like financial aid it doesn't happen on its own, it's dedicated folks who are in the school working with students every single day who make it happen, and so any way in which we can recognize what's happening we want to. [00:15:37] And so each year in January we send out the reports to give you an update as to what's going on, we send out to superintendents, we send out to schools to see sign up rates and we include financial aid information as well, and then we send out another set of data at a point in time, financial aid data in the spring. Scott Seaman [00:15:54] So is there an interactive space that they could also get on and look just like with FAFSA? [00:15:58] If they’re poking around and say how's my school doing? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:16:00] Yeah. [00:16:01] So we definitely have the college bound portal so that's where you can go in and you can see that. [00:16:05] Yeah. [00:16:05] And it's really important for us to have data sharing agreements turned in. [00:16:09] So if I could put in a plug for a financial aid dashboard to get more detailed information you can go through the portal so you can identify individual students who haven't completed an application or who have completed with errors. [00:16:20] So for financial aid it's a really powerful tool and then for college bound you can track where the application is where it was started when it was completed and all of the information in there. [00:16:30] So that's really pivotal to your counselors or to anybody who is doing the college bound completion work and financial aid work to turn in those DSA. [00:16:37] So if you haven't done it you still can. Scott Seaman [00:16:40] Now are you bird dogging two hundred ninety five districts for those data sharing agreements or are you having to work individually with schools within districts? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:16:48] It could be a little bit of both. [00:16:49] So it could be that the DSA is shared through the district and then we give individual folks access to it. [00:16:54] So we have a list and we're trying to reach out to people and kind of connect with them to get those data sharing agreements signed. [00:17:00] But if you have questions about that please reach out to me because I'd be happy to kind of connect you to our our data person and we can get you setup. Scott Seaman [00:17:07] Awesome, I think your inbox is going to be really busy. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:17:11] I'm OK with that. Scott Seaman [00:17:12] Anything else that we haven't hit that you see as a great resource that principals need to hear about before I put you on the spot with my favorite? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:17:20] Oh you know what I just, I have already plugged the 12th year campaign but I wanted to plug it one more time the 12th your campaign is essentially our efforts to be a part of the American College Application campaign which encourages students to apply for college admission and then College Bound Washington which is encouraging students to apply for financial aid. [00:17:39] So if you're a part of the 12th year campaign, you're getting our resources for free, we have workbooks, we have handouts, we have everything you could possibly need, already developed and printed and we will happily send it to your school. [00:17:51] And we can send it to every single senior you have in your school. [00:17:54] We are happy to do that. [00:17:56] We don't want you to work harder by recreating the wheel, we want you to work smarter. [00:17:59] So I think overall the 12th year campaign is a fantastic resource and we see results. [00:18:04] When a site is a 12th year site, their financially completion rates are higher on average and that's because they have the support and they have the resources. [00:18:14] The other thing that we can offer through 12th year we can do air repair. [00:18:17] So we've had the ability to have Christina Winstead who is a part of the 12th year program connect directly with schools to help them identify the students that have errors that they can fix which can increase financial aid completion for your school but also help those students access financial aid. Scott Seaman [00:18:32] I love your energy on this. [00:18:35] So. [00:18:36] If you could build your perfect world around helping all kids make it into college or their post-secondary dreams, what would you do? [00:18:46] I mean what's your biggest frustration I guess in the system right now that if you could just wave your magic wand to fix it what would it be? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:18:53] Removing the stigma I think. [00:18:54] I've worked in admissions where I talked to students about how to access higher education and there are some times where I know you're working with students on a day to day basis and the conversation about, have you thought about what you're going to do, we really focus in on what are you going to do. [00:19:07] What are you going to do in the area they want to study and some students don't fit into that trajectory so that college can mean so much more than just a traditional four year college degree pathway. [00:19:18] It could be so many different things. [00:19:19] It could be going on to get a certificate. [00:19:22] It could be that a student starts at a two year college and then transfer to a four year college to get their bachelor's degree, or they take some time off after they graduate. [00:19:29] Just giving students options to be informed because if they're not informed they don't have any options. [00:19:34] So in my ideal world students would have that high school and beyond plan have it fully fleshed out have it be kind of varied in from the beginning and then have someone to connect with along the way and then just allow them to make that smooth transition to when they're talking to that admissions counselor or they're talking to the campus about leaving home and I'm trying something different they feel that same sort of level of support. Scott Seaman [00:19:56] Awesome. [00:19:58] Well I have one last question for you. [00:20:00] And most people don't get out of the studio without answering this question you're obviously sitting in the AWSP TV studio, the principal’s association. [00:20:11] We love our principals, so I just want you to reflect back on your time in that K12 experience. [00:20:17] You have a favorite principal that you remember and what it was a principal that stands out for you? Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:20:24] My favorite principal was my Reeve's middle school principal. [00:20:28] She was so kind and very sweet and I felt really supported by her and so from my personal experience with principals she's definitely the first one that I think of when I think of my favorite principal. [00:20:38] But my other favorite principal was my grandfather who was a principal back in I think the 70s and he was a principal up in that Clover Park district. [00:20:49] And so he's actually probably my favorite but it's really nice to have that personal connection for me I come from a long line of educators, my dad was a teacher, my husband is a teacher, my uncle is a teacher… my grandfather was also a teacher, my grandmother. [00:21:01] So for me they're all sort of the Pal in principals. [00:21:04] Like a big part of who I am. Scott Seaman [00:21:06] Oh my gosh that is the sound bite of the century right there. [00:21:11] in principle. [00:21:13] You Bet. [00:21:13] Well you know we can't thank you enough for being here today. [00:21:16] I really appreciate and admire your advocacy for all kids and really transforming the whole system so it's awesome. [00:21:24] You have given our members, hopefully, some new resources and some ideas and some next steps for them and their kids in their school. [00:21:33] So if you haven't caught all that, Yokiko over at the Washington Student Achievement Council, pretty sure that's a pretty easy website to find. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:21:42] Yeah. Scott Seaman [00:21:42] And it sounds like they have a ton of resources waiting for you. [00:21:46] So Yokiko, thanks for being here. [00:21:49] Yeah. [00:21:49] Thanks for your time. Yokiko Hayashi-Saguil [00:21:50] Thank you for having me. Scott Seaman [00:21:51] And all of you, thanks for tuning in to another episode of AWSP TV. [00:21:54] We'll see you next time.