Cameron Grow, principal at Lincoln Middle School in the Pullman School District, gives five great tips (and a bonus) for creating a great staff culture.

Senator Lisa Wellman is the winner of AWSP’s 2018 Torch of Leadership Award. Senator Wellman is a Democrat representing the 41st Legislative District which serves Mercer Island, Bellevue, Newcastle and parts of Issaquah.

In this edition of AWSP News, we discuss post-strike and post-bargaining focus on culture, the closing gap between teacher and principal pay and what we're doing about it, including our recent survey, participating with us and our #AskAWSP segment, Robert Hand, our new state Teacher of the Year, nominating a great colleague for Principal of the Year, Senator Wellman, our 2018 Torch of Leadership winner, great resources for you to communicate with parents on the GearUp website, taking the lead on learning in your building, and using student voice to keep students engaged and motivated.

Partnering with equity-focused committees and agencies is one way AWSP focuses on educational justice for historically underserved populations. On Tuesday, Director of Government Relations, Roz Thompson and I traveled to Renton for a meeting of the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversite and Accountability Committee (EOGOAC). A highly influential group of decision-makers, the EOGOAC’s mission is to address the opportunity gap in Washington state.

We know many of you are in unchartered territory. The start of the school year always brings excitement and stress, but the changes the Legislature made to the way we fund schools have also brought confusion, chaos, anger, frustration, and uncertainty. It's not been a good summer for bargaining, and we know many of you across the state are still dealing with the anxiety and challenges created by a work stoppage, or the very real threat of one.

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss teacher strikes across the state, the shrinking gap between principal and teacher pay, some great ideas for starting the year off right, our interview with Washington comedian and actor Joel McHale, some safety and vaping resources from OSPI, another OSPI budget survey, your goals for the year, our goals for the year and two new staff to support the east side of the state, our new #AskAWSP segment, and a great quote about principal leadership from former Governor Christine Gregoire.

I stumbled across this article on non-standard ideas for teachers about going back to school. I liked it, so I thought I would share. Read Nancy Flanagan's EdWeek blog post. Read Nancy Flanagan's EdWeek blog post.

I’m in trouble...I’m not in trouble...am I in trouble? Confused? After two years of writing and revising, OSPI finally adopted new state rules (WACs) for student discipline. The rules describe how school administrators discipline students, communicate with parents, and provide guidance and due process expectations for suspended or expelled students.

I've heard of vaping, but "juuling" is new to me. If you're now sure what "juuling" is, it's basically a form of vaping often difficult to detect. We've heard from principals about the many challenges vaping presents in schools, one of the main ones being, you have no clue what's being vaporized and ingested.

For the third year in a row, TVW's Inside Olympia interviewed Washington's Teacher of the Year and one of our Principals of the Year. This year, the teacher also happened to be the National Teacher of the Year, Mandy Manning. Our Middle Level Principal of the Year, Marc Gallaway, represented principals.

Dear Principals, This year’s Basic Education Funding Bill has given your school an unprecedented opportunity to update a significant capital resource: your library. Substitute Senate Bill 6362designated for library materials in the Basic Education Funding bill created a $20/FTE line item for libraries.

Welcome to our last AWSP News for the 2017-18 school year, where we discuss feedback for the AWSP Leadership Framework rubric language, examining your cultural competence and racial identity to become the best leader you can be, updates from OSPI, the State Board of Education, and bills from this last session, mental health first responders, more high five goodness, updating your info with us, and Scott says thanks.

Our mission is to support principals and the principalship in the education of all students. Part of supporting the education of all students is our core responsibility as educators to fearlessly shield children from traumatic events, ensure their safety and advocate for the health and well-being of all children, particularly those most vulnerable. The statements below from the national associations were all issued before President Trump signed an executive order ending the forcible separation. Here's a good explainer from CNN on what the order actually does from CNN.

Fred Yancey, a retired principal and superintendent, represents AWSP on issues related to health care and retirement. Check out his summer conference update linked here with updates about the School Employee Benefit Board (SEBB), the Public Employee Benefit Board (PEBB), and pensions. Fred can be reached at fyancey@comcast.net if you have questions.

There are two ways to view jobs on AWSP now. If you’re a member, you have to log in. If you know your password, everything should be simple and straightforward. Sadly, our programmers are still trying to sort out some issues with our web platform and our member management database. More on this in a minute. If you’re not a member, you can sign up for one year of free access to view our job postings.

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss our new website, the Healthy Youth Survey, joining a Networked Improvement Community with a clip from Jason Smith, the Gender Odyssey Conference, cultural items for tribal students during graduation, a tip from Dr. Roz, UW's Leadership for Learning program, and high five and hug data.

In this episode of AWSP News, we're coming to you from our remodeled studio to discuss Principal Appreciation Night with the Tacoma Rainiers, two great new additions expanding our reach across the state, the Retreat at the Peak Summit at Chewelah Peak, the latest Golden Apple Moment from PEMCO, increasing student voice, our coaching and mentoring efforts, and the PESB's grants for micro credentialing.

We've done more than just slap a fresh coat of paint on our website; we've torn it down to the studs and built from the ground up. One of the easiest ways to make the most of the new site is to log in and fill out your profile. When you do that, you'll start to see blog posts and events on the homepage tailored just for you.

In an effort to provide all Bellingham School District high school students with opportunities for remediation, exploration, and acceleration within the school day, the district drastically changed the high school schedule for each comprehensive high school across the entire district. They even moved start times back based on current research. With students, teachers, and building- and district-level administrators all working together, they came up with a system they believe will provide a better experience for all their students.

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss National Assistant Principals Week, FINAO's Educator Advisory Board, the Governor's Arts and Heritage Awards, a pair of equity conferences, the NASSP Digital Principal of the Year nominations, some tips from "Dr. Roz," and two great and inspirational ideas (one of them will make your eyes water from our favorite episode ever).