Seattle Seahawks Delta Community Captain
Delta Community Captain
The Seahawks and Delta Air Lines have teamed up to launch a program that recognizes those making a difference in the Seattle community. By naming these individuals or organizations as our honorary Delta Community Captains, we're able to spotlight their aligned values in Education, Military, Social Justice, or the Environment.
Captains In Social Justice
Yaoyao Liu
Yaoyao Liu, Seattle Art Museum's Manager of School & Educator Programs, has been recognized with a Delta Community Captain award in honor of her work creating a brand-new school and workshop curriculum for K-12 students and educators. Her resulting program, entitled Eyes on Asia, provides creative learning opportunities that ignite curiosity, foster critical thinking, and support social and emotional skill development through exploration of SAM's Asian art collection. She now leads and manages K-12 school and educator activities across all three respective museum sites. Yaoyao's key focus is to build Title l relationships within the Seattle Public Schools and Highline Public Schools districts, creating opportunities for educators to participate in ongoing professional development, providing customized workshops in partnership with teaching artists, and supporting SAM's commitment to provide high-quality learning experiences for diverse and lower-income students in the Greater Seattle region. In March, Seahawks and Delta employees volunteered at the Seattle Art Museum, helping to restore SAM's largest art lab and donated $5,000 towards art supplies to SAM to support Yaoyao's honorable work.
Captains In Education
Luke Michener
Introducing our newest Delta Community Captain, Luke Michener a social studies teacher at Bellevue High School and Educator Ambassador for the Institute for Common Power. In his 18-year teaching career Luke has taught US History, Government and Civics, and Ethnic Studies. In 2017 Luke and his teaching partner Terry Jess were recognized by the National Education Association as finalists for the Social Justice Activists of the Year award for their work in curriculum development and supporting student activism. Luke has also joined the Seattle Seahawks on two Truth & Purpose learning tours with the Institute for Common Power; a profound journey through the American South focusing on understanding historical roots to combat injustice. As a member of the Institute's Educators for Democracy team, Luke has created continued education programs and hosted convenings to further the learning of educators across the country. In honor of Luke's work, Delta Air Lines has donated $5,000 to Institute of Common Power to sponsor two more local teachers to attend the next Truth & Purpose learning tour with the Seattle Seahawks.
Dr. Quinton Morris
Seahawks and Delta employees surprised Dr. Quinton Morris with the Delta Community Captain award while he was giving a violin lesson at his Key to Change program in Renton. Over the past 5 years, Dr. Morris and the Seattle Symphony have developed a Community Partnership for Youth Education to support Key to Change. Under the leadership of Dr. Morris, students in the South King County region are receiving violin lessons in an environment that supports holistic growth as students and individuals. In honor of his award, Seahawks and Delta volunteered to prepare student registration packets and were able to receive some impromptu violin lessons and experience first-hand Dr. Morris' skills as a violin teacher.
Captains In Military Community
Scooter Lewis
Seahawks and Delta employees surprised Scooter Lewis with the Delta Community Captain award while he was volunteering at the Seahawks 2024 Military Family Day hosted at Lumen Field. For over 10 years, Scooter has worked with Permission to Start Dreaming to provide programs for veterans and first responders to access long-term solutions that transform Post-Traumatic Stress into Post-Traumatic Growth.
Combining his passion for serving with his dedication to supporting the military community, Scooter also serves as Permission to Start Dreaming Foundation's representative with the Seattle Seahawks Task Force 12. In honor of his award, Seahawks and Delta volunteered to host veterans for a day of fun with their families.
Captains In Environment
Crystal Dixon
Crystal Dixon, the Director of Strategic Impact for the Pike Place Market Foundation, has been recognized with a Delta Community Captain award for being a leader in the Food Access and Sustainable Food Systems within the Market community - ensuring affordable healthy food is available and accessible to all. Crystal designs and leads programs that help people in need access the healthy abundance of farm-fresh foods in the Market. She also works with programs that support the sustainability of local family farms, creating a vibrant, prosperous, and diverse sustainable food economy. Through partnership, funding and support she also contributes to the reduction of food waste across businesses at Pike Place Market by donating day-old and imperfect produce, pastries, and prepared foods to the Pike Market Food Bank. Crystal's impact on food access, Pacific Northwest farms, and local food systems, can be felt from the produce stalls in the Market to the food bank, Senior Center, Preschool and community resource center. Her leadership has resulted in donations of 137,688 meals; 93,836 shopping trips; $337,900 to offset supply costs for Market farmers through our Seed and Bulb Program in just the last year alone. She is truly a champion for sustainability and food access here at Pike Place Market.