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  • Ashley Barker, Inclusionary Projects Director, AWSP
    Jan 17, 2024
    North Pines Middle School is a beautiful, state-of-the-art building located in the heart of Spokane Valley. When you enter the facilities, it seems like any middle school in Washington State. It is abuzz with students and typical boisterous middle school activity - staff greeting students at the door, students greeting one another, and staff urging students to get to class. Then, the bell and quiet set in, and the learning starts. There are so many layers to the work happening in our schools across the state to set the learning conditions for our students. North Pines is one of the most diverse schools in the Central Valley School district, and they have taken their job to provide equitable, rigorous learning opportunities for their students seriously.
  • Roz Thompson, Governmental Relations & Advocacy Director, AWSP
    Jan 12, 2024
    The 2024 Legislative Session kicked off this week, and it will be a 60-day sprint to the finish. Hundreds of new bills were pre-filed, hundreds of bills are still in play from last year, and hundreds of new bills are being introduced, which makes for lots of reading and a massive bill tracking list. The first cut-off of the session is January 31, when bills must pass off the floor of their house of origin, so this list will be much shorter in just a few weeks. Whew.
  • Fred Yancey, The Nexus Group LLC
    Jan 11, 2024
    The second year of the 68th Washington State Biennial Legislature has begun. Given that this will be a ‘short’ session, the pace will be brisk (an understatement). Numerous bills have been and will continue to be introduced. Some are good ideas; others are not, and some are just plain silly. Hearings have started. A caveat: There are always more bills proposed that will survive the entire process. (Thank goodness!) With that in mind, below is a report and comments on selected bills that may or may not remain as the session unfolds. The point is that until hearings on selected bills are scheduled, most are just titles and text with no explanations or fiscal notes. As these become available, more detail will be presented in this report.
  • Roz Thompson, Governmental Relations & Advocacy Director, AWSP
    Jan 9, 2024
    The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) announces that high school students Ms. Gianna Patrice Frank and Ms. Mahika Kavya Malladi will join Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell in representing Washington during the 62nd annual USSYP Washington Week, to be held March 2 — 9, 2024. Gianna Frank of Marysville and Mahika Malladi of Redmond were selected from among the state’s top student leaders to be part of the 104 national student delegation. Each delegate will also receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study.
  • Julie Woods, Community & Member Relations Coordinator, AWSP
    Jan 8, 2024
    As we embrace the new year, it's important we take a moment to reflect and report on our AWSP Principals’ Fall Forum that took place in November - a testament to the resilience and collaborative spirit of Washington's school leaders. The virtual gathering provided a unique opportunity for regional connections, idea sharing, and the reaffirmation that, in our shared journey, no school leader stands alone.

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We're always looking for guest contributions. If you have a passion to write and things to share, email David about a guest post or a role as a recurring guest blogger.