Wow! What a year! Hard to believe what just happened in 2020, so we don’t say this lightly when we say thank you for your unwavering leadership this past year. Regardless of the role you play in the system, your leadership has mattered. And, it’s been the collective leadership of everyone coming together to work through the challenges presented to us this past year.

In our final AWSP News episode for 2020, we discuss some of those emails you’ve been getting from us about Cispus, impacting your kids with a powerful MLK experience in January, our partnership with world-renowned educator, YouTube video sensation and TED talker Shelley Moore for two Leading For Inclusion events, some professional advice for you during your Winter Break, and our holiday office closure.

Chances are you’ve participated in or at least heard of a white elephant gift exchange. Each year before we close the office for the holidays, the AWSP staff holds a white elephant gift exchange, typically at our office or a restaurant. We gather around a table and one by one, choose, open, and steal gifts. We’ve had people bring old mix tapes, creepy bird paintings, and even a full-size family wall portrait. Many people leave the exchange with something cute or fun – silly socks, tasty treats, or new bowls for their kitchen. But undoubtedly someone leaves with something they never expected, never wanted, and aren’t sure what to do with now. They take the gift home awkwardly, vowing to save it and pawn it off on someone at next year’s exchange.  When you think about it, 2020 has been a white elephant year of sorts. We certainly weren’t expecting it, most of us had no idea what to do with it, and I’m pretty sure we’ve all thought more than once that we wish we could send it back. (Sorry! Leaving unwanted gifts behind at the restaurant is not allowed.) Being stuck with it, we’ve had to learn to make the most of it.

Each year, the staff at AWSP signs up to sponsor two or three families for the holidays through the Tumwater Lions Club. it's a tradition we look forward to annually as each year draws to a close. We started our staff tradition about 10 years ago. It used to be that we bought gifts for each other. We'd draw names for a secret Santa exchange, then purchase a surprise gift for the person whose name we chose based on their list of hobbies and interests. While the internal gift exchange was fun, we all agreed that none of us actually needed those gifts, and that the money would be better used shopping for families in need.

In a recent article published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), author Mica Pollock addresses the topic of hateful speech in schools. She writes, “hate-filled speech has been on the rise as students (and adults) emulate divisive and derogatory language heard in national rhetoric and policy.” So how might educators respond to hateful speech?

Need support during COVID-19? Here is a new resource called Washington Listens provided by several partnering agencies in our state. Washington Listens is a support line that provides non-clinical support to people who feel sad, anxious, or stressed due to COVID-19. Washington Listens is free and anonymous.

The refreshed version of the AWSP Leadership Framework is the perfect tool for your professional growth!  School leaders across Washington state now have access to incredible resources to support their work in each of the eight criteria. On December 1, AWSP launched our Leadership Framework Criterion Resource pages. These pages are housed on our AWSP website and contain everything from current article and blog posts to book recommendations and AWSP video content specific to each criterion.

High school principals have a lot on their minds this month as they work to support teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning and sharing experiences with other principals is valuable while they navigate similar challenges, such as grading, attendance, and planning for graduation. The Chief Education Officer (CEO) Network – a partnership between the Association of Washington Principals (AWSP), Partnership for Learning, Washington Roundtable and Challenge Seattle – brings principals together this school year for monthly virtual workshops and offers access to online curriculum developed by AWSP.

The Grammarist notes that “hindsight is 20/20 is usually said in answer to an admonishment that [someone] should have known something would happen”, or that we might/could/should have made different decisions earlier on. In hindsight, 2020 has been one tumultuous year! Along with the first US COVID case here in WA last January, we have experienced social, political, economic, and, often, personal disruption during the entirety of 2020.

Science says that COVID19 cases are on the rise and spiking across the country. Science also says we should go back into lockdowns and social isolation. Science also says we are close to the release of a new vaccine that might finally bring us some relief. That same science says that we should get kids back in school as soon as humanly possible. But doesn’t that sound like conflicting science? Well, it’s not. After countless studies conducted throughout the country studying COVID cases, transmission rates, and symptoms among youth, on top of safe procedures for reopening our schools, the evidence seems to be overwhelming that we need to get our students out of isolation and back into our schools. Schools, like always, are proving to be one the safest places for our kids.

Outdoor school, the big camping trip - those 6th graders are going to embark on a weeklong adventure in the outdoors. Each student, no matter what social standing, is headed to the great equalizer: the wilderness. Yet, this is not happening for all. As a matter of fact, it is not happening - yet. A lot of talk has been placed on the social emotional learning of a child and the equity platform in education. While wonderful programs are being created and the buzz is in the air, we have to stop and consider something. The picture cannot be painted if you don’t have a canvas to lay down the work. What did our leaders receive that made them the wonderful people they are today? What canvas in the late 90’s and before were priority then and not today? The truth is, some things in education we had right and turned away from - one of which was the camp experience.

How are you going to speak about the year 2020? There has been so much that has occurred this year. It can be challenging to synthesize how to articulate our feelings, thoughts, and moments from this year. As I begin to reflect, I wanted to recontextualize the year and provide some opportunities for us to talk a moment to reflect and dig into our realizations. If we speak our realizations, we can learn and grow from them.

Here are some fun days in December and ways to use them with your students, staff, and families.

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss: Work-life balance for school leaders, joining a group of new/newly assigned Digital/Virtual On-line School Leaders, connecting with a network of colleagues during this time of distance-leading, our “How to be All In as an Inclusive Leader” series with Dan Habib, a successful strategy implemented to address high failure rates in Yelm, a special MLK Day Presentation for your school, and La Chispa, an engaging and dynamic bilingual (English-Spanish) program for secondary Latinx students.

In this edition of AWSP News, we discuss the Washington State Principals of the Year, reaching out to the AWSP team about the realities of principaling right now, the new COVID restrictions, incredible professional learning for you and your admin teams, the alarming failure rates happening across the state and at all levels, the AWSL Adviser of the Year, our popular ASB Finance workshop, the National Conference on Student Activities, Giving Tuesday (Dec 1), helping us save Cispus, and a great leadership example.

The 2020 AWSL Virtual Fall Conference was a smashing success with over 5,000 attendees. Yes, we can celebrate the number of participants, but the success of this conference lies in who was able to attend. With the need to switch to a virtual format, we invited and encouraged schools to bring as many students as they wanted. Focusing on equity, becoming while doing, and the belief that all students can lead, we hoped that students who had never attended a conference of any kind, especially a 'leadership' conference who could learn, grow, connect, and see the leadership abilities within them.

Here are some fun days in November and ways to use them with your students, staff, and families.

November! We have crossed another threshold. Moving into November, we made it through our first ever COVID Great ShakeOut, and Halloween, had a blue moon, fell back to standard time, and are anxiously (nervously?) awaiting the results of the Presidential election. We will close out the month with a well-deserved long Thanksgiving weekend. So much is happening!

The 59th anniversary of the United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) will take place in March of 2021. For the past 59 years, two students per state have been selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship and attend a weeklong program in Washington D.C., funded by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. To apply for consideration in our state this year, a student must be a junior or senior and must hold an elected position in student council or school government. If students are unable to hold leadership positions this year due to the pandemic, they can submit the position they held during the 2019-2020 academic year.

AWSP is thrilled to offer its second annual Women in Education Leading and Learning (WELL) Summit. Our WELL Summit for the 2020-21 school year will be a series that is offered in the fall and the spring. Our goals for the summit are to create professional networks for female leaders in education, increase our knowledge of successful leadership qualities and experiences, discuss ways to remove barriers to leadership, and focus on self-care.