AWSP Blog

One unforeseen consequence of a statewide closure has been the massive forced push for all of us to engage in the virtual meeting space. We might have dabbled before in Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Teams, but now we are all exceeding standard. AWSP is offering weekly Office Hours for members to engage with with the AWSP Executive Team and K-12 principals from all over the state. This is a wide open session of give and take, but more importantly, to hear our members (principals, assistant principals and other school leaders) share challenges, successes, and barriers they are facing as newly assigned digital leaders. It is so incredible to watch these natural and organic conversations take off each week that I find myself thinking, "Why didn't we do this sooner?"

I had always been appreciative of the love and support of other caring teaching mentors and leaders in my system. They looked out for me, mentored my blossoming teacher leadership skills, and encouraged me to pursue school leadership and my passion for supporting students and families in my community. This support and encouragement put me on a path to school leadership and eventually, an AWSP-trained principal mentor in my district.

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss establishing some new boundaries around your time, accessibility, priorities, and work-life balance, some great icebreakers and team builders for virtual meetings from AWSL, planning and preparing for virtual senior year-end events, innovative ways to educate each and every student, guidance from OSPI about grading, subscribing to our blog, the 2020 NASSP Advocacy Champion of the Year, Ready WA’s hashtag PlanYourPathWa student voice video contest, and a feel-good story.

AWSP supports OSPI’s and their workgroup’s guidance for grading. The guidelines are the right thing at the right time. They give districts a clear framework while maintaining the flexibility for districts to find the right solution for their students and community. The guidance was developed with input from a huge array of stakeholders, including our own Associate Directors Kurt Hatch, Gina Yonts, and Scott Friedman. The key message from OSPI and the guiding workgroup: do no harm.

Seniors across the state of Washington have been left without the opportunity to participate in many traditional celebrations including graduation. Our time during this webinar will focus on how we can collectively create create celebrations that students and families will remember.