Every fall, the Association of Washington Student Leaders holds a Fall Leadership Conference. With obvious travel restrictions and complexities at the beginning of the school year, we decided to shift our conference course.

Following the lead of AWSP/WASA, we decided to transition to a virtual conference for the safety with shifting a conference to virtual; this also allowed us to realign the conference with our mission and vision. The AWSL Fall Conference will take place October 30^th  – 31^st.

Our previous charge was to “Train and empower student leaders.”

With our equity focus and a change in intention, we now seek to “Train and empower students to lead.” This charge is rooted in seeing all students as leaders and recognizing that there is no one way or one type of person who can be a ‘leader.’

With a price of $250 per building, all Middle-Level and High School buildings can send as many students and adults as they want! We hope that buildings will send school leaders from Athletics, ASB, Leadership, Visual and Performing Arts, WEB, Link Crew, Multicultural Clubs, Class Representatives, Clubs, and Activities… or any interested student! 

With a focus on equity, the belief that all students can lead, and the paradigm of ‘becoming while doing,’ this dynamic conference experience is shaping up to be a highlight for students and adults! 

As of today (a week into registration), we have over 20 schools and 1200 students slated to attend! Based on projected forecasts, this conference is looking to break records in attendance! We hope you can join us!

Registration is open through October 29^th! You can visit our AWSL Virtual Fall Conference Page, for more information! 

Keynote speeches, adult professional learning, idea shares, and on-demand workshops make the AWSL Fall Conference the perfect way to empower students, create hope, and to have some fun. We hope you can join us!

More Information

Picture it: The buses roll into the learning center and kids begin to pile out of the buses with luggage in hand. Surrounded by trees and fresh air, each student knows they are about to take on the outdoors. They're in a place where no one has an advantage, only a fresh start to explore what everyone has to offer. Accelerated learning is about to take place. The classroom is not dictated by the bell, but rather meals, trail hikes, hands-on insect gathering, water exploration, stinky socks, newfound friendship, stories whispered at night when you should be asleep, and so much more. It is often looked at as a right of passage or a coming of age. What is really taking place? A stronger connection, a resilient understanding of oneself, and a bigger leap into social emotional learning that cannot happen in a normal classroom setting. This is the magic of AWSP's learning centers, and the reason why outdoor learning is so crucial. To book a focused accelerated learning opportunity in the outdoors visit www.cispus.org. 

For a broader understanding and resource, check out the Grow Outside website. 

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss:

• National Principals Month,
• a brand-new workshop on inclusion absolutely FREE to AWSP members,
• our “Lead Out Loud” series for Assistant Principals,
• our WELL Summit,
• our Stay Smart Network,
• AWSL’s Fall Conference,
• a message from former Governor Christine Gregoire,
• our brand new AWSP Leadership Framework Version 3.0,
• OSPI’s Safety Guidance for updates on leading during COVID,
• our Cispus Forever campaign,
• and our Principals Month prompts.

Prefer to read the news? Check out the script.

I recently caught up with my former teacher-librarian colleague and Washington’s 2014 Teacher of the Year, Mark Ray. Mark spent several years as Vancouver Public School’s Director of Instructional Technology and Library Services and now works for Future Ready Schools as a Lead Advisor. 

Mark shared a new resource for librarians to use as a checklist for how to engage with their administrators. He says, “This step-by-step guide is designed to help librarians start and sustain strategic conversations with school and district leaders. This guide was designed before the pandemic, but the opportunity for librarians to strategically partner and collaborate with building and district leaders has never been more critical.”

Check out this new resource, share it with your teacher-librarian, and begin a conversation about how you can work as a team to impact student learning: Let's Talk: A Conversation Starter to Help Future Ready Librarians Build Collaborative Relationships.

October is Disability History month. Washington public schools are required to conduct or promote educational activities that provide instruction, awareness, and understanding of disability history and people with disabilities. The activities may include, but not be limited to, school assemblies or guest speaker presentations.

Websites

OSPI SWIFT Ci3t CAST

Movies

Including Samuel

Other Dan Habib films

SWIFT Center Videos

Articles

The Curb Cut Effect

Disability Justice Articles

Disability Visibility Project

Changing the Framework: Disability Justice

Teaching Resources

Governor’s Office of Education

Great teaching resources to access and not just for disability history month!

 
When we talk about comprehensive school safety and safety planning, we consider the four main areas of threats and hazards: natural, technological, biological and human/man-made. It feels like we are experiencing all four of these threat and hazard areas at the same time right now. Here are some resources to help you work through these challenging days.

1. National Bullying Prevention Month:  Kick off the year and make a special effort to engage your entire school community in bullying prevention and intervention this month!

   Wed. October 21 is Unity Day – Wear orange on Unity Day!

   For more bullying prevention resources, check these links:

   • Stopbullying.gov
   • Pacer.org Videos (Great for classroom use)
   • Cyberbullying Research Center
   • A Student Created Anti-Bullying Video
   • Hazing Prevention.org
   
   
2. The Great Washington ShakeOut: October 15^th at 10:15 am. An earthquake drill is required by law, and the Great ShakeOut is the perfect opportunity to practice ‘drop, cover, and hold on’. Even if staff and students “drop, cover and hold on” on a different day or in a different location outside of school, that’s OK! Be sure to register.

    

   Here are some excellent resources to share with staff, students and families:

   • Washington Emergency Management Division
   • Student Activities
   • Reader Grade K-2
   • Reader Grade 3-6
   • Ready Kids
   • Build a Kit

      

3. Hazing:  HIB RCW 28A.600.477 now specifically calls out hazing within the context of HIB. Hazing is defined as any action taken or any situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule and risks emotional and/or physical harm to members of a group or team, whether new or not, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate. More information here.

    

4. School Resource Officer (SRO) Program: Not all district or school safety and security personnel are the same. Not all are SROs. SROs are commissioned law enforcement officers. HB 1216 defines SROs for the state of WA, and identifies specific requirements to be met before placing SROs in schools. Visit our SRO Program page to learn more about those requirements which go into effect this current 20-21 school year.

    

5. Behavioral Threat Assessments: HB 1216 and RCW 28A.320.123 require districts to have School-Based Threat Assessment Programs and teams in place by the 20-21 school year. To assist in this work, Regional School Safety Centers have been established in the nine ESDs to provide training and technical assistance for the implementation of these programs. For more information, check the OSPI Threat Assessment page or check with your regional ESD.

Tomorrow, Oct. 1, marks the beginning of National Principals Month. That’s right, an entire month devoted to showcasing the life-changing work of school principals and assistant principals. Building leaders play one of the most important roles in our education system. In fact, we would argue that principals play the most important role. Former Governor Gregoire said it best to me one day when she said, “Scott, show me a great principal and I’ll show you a great school. Show me a great school and I’ll show you a great principal.”

Well, she was right then, and her statement holds true now. For schools to be successful they must have a highly effective leader who commits long-term to the establishment of a positive school culture, equitable systems for all students, and ongoing reflective learning practices for everyone in the system. School change takes time and the visionary leadership of a principal. A principal sets the culture, builds the systems to support that culture, and leads the learning for everyone. It all starts with the principal.

Some of the greatest examples of highly effective schools we see across the state and country can be directly attributed to the leadership of the school principal. We can’t say it enough, but your leadership matters. Your passion, energy, enthusiasm, vision, commitment, and unconditional love for each and every student matters. 

You are a beacon of hope for your entire school community. And, if there has ever been a time in our history where hope is essential, it is now. Don’t ever underestimate the power and influence of your leadership, nor the hope that you can breathe into the lives of both your students and your staffulty.

As your professional association, you can count on us to continue shining a bright light on the life-changing work of principals and assistant principals throughout and beyond this October’s National Principals Month. The world needs to know about your incredibly hard, yet amazingly rewarding work. AWSP will sing it from the mountain tops!

Thank you for making a difference. Thank you for changing lives. Thank you for continuing to lead hope in our state.

In this edition of AWSP News, we discuss:

• National Principals Month,
• our great professional learning opportunities,
• our Lead Out Loud Assistant Professional Learning series,
• this week’s board meeting,
• your brand new AWSP Leadership Framework Version 3.0,
• a message from our board president, Cameron Grow,
• the passing of Ruth Anderson,
• and our Cispus Forever campaign.

Prefer to read the news? Check out the script.

Eatonville School District students and teachers were met with multiple challenges on the first day of digital instruction as we launched a new school year in a Distance Learning model. Multiple power outages were noted district-wide due to strong winds, powerful fires created unhealthy smoke, and technology issues raged on. In spite of the variety of challenges, all Eatonville School District students, staff, and parents persevered and overcame these issues.

We spotted parents getting creative and driving their students to school parking lots due to power outages in their homes as they did not allow any obstacle to prevent their children from participating. The district's IT team worked tirelessly to assist with troubleshooting needs. Our teachers are our heroes as they have truly redesigned education and have worked countless hours to implement lessons in a digital fashion that has not been done before.

From parents creating learning corners in their homes to food service workers going the extra mile to provide heating directions on packed grab-and-go meals, everyone pulled together to make the start of this unusual year the best it could be!


Allison Shew
Principal, Elementary Virtual Academy
Columbia Crest A-S.T.E.M. Academy

Many thoughts ran through my mind when we found out this summer that our kids would be starting school virtually. How would we break the news to our super-social kindergartener who was looking forward to her very first year of "real" school? How would we keep our extra-wiggly second-grader focused with in-home distractions all around? What did we need to make, do, or purchase to ensure their virtual school experience was successful? While it didn't feel like we had control over much of the situation, we had control over one thing in particular - the space in which they would learn.

We decided to turn our family room into a makeshift classroom. We moved a lot of things out and a lot of things in. We quickly set about finding tiny work desks, bookshelves, storage drawers, and even wall decor to make it feel like the "real deal." 

I took to Facebook and saw many other families doing exactly what we were doing. Local community groups started threads of photos and comments of people sharing how they were making space for virtual learning wherever their kids were going to engage in school this year. Some had whole rooms to work with, some had small corners of a larger office, some had a section of a table, some were collaborating with daycare providers and grandparents to figure it all out. 

Making space. It's something that each and every one of us who has any role or part in education has had to do in the midst of the pandemic. Making space, both physically and mentally, is exactly what school leaders have been doing these past several months. We saw school and district staff make space in their summer schedules to take on the planning of a whole new school system. We've seen teachers making space in their own homes to teach when classrooms aren't an option. We see leaders making space in their minds to learn the ins and outs of parent apps, Google Classroom, and document sharing programs in spite of everything else that must be on their minds right now. And most importantly, we see you making space for hope that this will all work out and that things will get easier for everyone soon. 

From the perspective of a mom (and two kids) on a virtual learning path this fall, we see you showing up each day and hitting it out of the park. And trust me, it makes all the difference to a couple of kiddos who haven't been sure what to expect or what to do each day for the past six months.

Thank you for making time, making plans, making changes, and making space. You're rockin' it!

We all try so much to follow state and district procedures, laws and policies when it comes to the expenditure of public funds and public meetings. And it is a challenge when we are in person, let alone over the internet video conferencing. So many of our rules and procedures have been thrown out or shelved…you are not alone. 

Working with the state auditor’s office, we know we get questions on the daily for things like how do we get student approval? How do we have officers if we didn’t hold elections? How can we record student signatures? Can meeting be held virtually? Are video meetings even acceptable? How do you have student sign off on the bills and invoices? Can we change ASB card prices? What if we don’t charge for ASB cards? What about our budgets? What can we do with remaining class of 2020 funds? How can we fundraise this year? And the list goes on.

Again, we are here to listen to your questions and find best practices in a world that none of us expected. There are solutions that can work for your building, your team, and your students. Let us assist in helping you talk through those.

In fact, we are holding our ASB Practice in a Virtual World webinar at the end of the month and beginning of October (with additional sessions added as needed). We have also created online, asynchronous parts of the course for all those other things you need to know/need to consider/train others. If you would like to join us, register at our new AWSL Portal.

"Where do we even start?"

At AWSL, we have received this question from buildings throughout the state as they enter the fall in a myriad of different learning environments. 

Creating a culture and engaging the school community has been woven into student activity programs for years. Kick-off assemblies, freshman orientation, homecoming, fundraisers, and creating a sense of belonging amongst students and adults have created unique opportunities across the board for schools. 

Finding a starting place is often the most challenging task. As it is easy to begin a thought process of, "we can't do this... we can't do that.." due to our current environmental challenges. 

I believe 2020 is the year where we can live in a world where "what if..." becomes a starting place for optimism, hope, and opportunity!

The Association of Washington Student Leaders has created a tool to help buildings organize and start the process of creating:

Shift - Stay - Shelve - Start. 

Shift: What are the things that you can continue to do with some slight modifications and adjustments?

Stay: What are the non-negotiables and are important to your building and, thus, need to stay as they are?

Shelve: What can be put on the back burner due to current environmental conditions and environments?

Start: What can you start doing within the current conditions and environments?

As we recontextualize challenges for opportunities, we can begin to organize our thoughts, continue investing in creating a culture, and engage the community.

Join Us in October!

Quick, informative, and just in time - AWSP’s brand-new Lead Out Loud Series for assistant principals will help you amplify your voice on the leadership team. In this four-part workshop series, we’ll cover self care, student voice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and conversations about participant-selected hot topics. All sessions will be held virtually.

Session 1 | Oct. 13
Finding your voice on the leadership team and caring for yourself

Session 2 | Oct. 15
Strategies to elevate student voice and engagement in your school

Session 3 | Oct. 20
How to lead diversity, equity and inclusion in your school

Session 4 | Oct. 22
Ed Camp: We want to hear YOUR voice (participant selected topics)

Register Today!

Series Details

• Time: 7:45 – 9:00 a.m.
• Clock Hours: 5 clock hours for the series
• Cost: $125 members, $250 non-members

Questions? Email Macy Bruhy.

Upcoming Attendance Meetings:

Attendance Clerks: Peer to Peer Discussion
When: Monday Sept. 21, 3 to 4pm

Register

Principal Attendance Office Hours: Listen & Learn
When: Thurs. Sept. 24, 3 to 4pm

Register

Both meetings will include a brief presentation from district on pressing topic(s), a Q&A and breakout rooms to discuss questions and approaches with your peers.

A lot must be considered when teaching indoors safely this year. If the concern is a constant strain, mix it up. Get outside on a nice day you see in the forecast; tell the students a change in scenery is in store for them. Plan and prepare to do a lesson outside. Deep breathes, sunshine, and shade will at first be something to get used to, but as time goes on it will normalize.

If you are teaching remotely, talk to your administration about a field day. Something the students can gravitate to and be attentive on-line to get rewarded with seeing classmates in person outside. 

For helpful planning and guidance, click here.

In this edition of AWSP News, we discuss:

• our upcoming Building Effective Leadership series,
• our new “Smart Series”,
• our “Lead Out Loud” series,
• AWSL’s Fall Programs,
• our annual ASB Finance Practices workshop,
• some OSPI resources for suicide prevention and to help support the mental health of students,
• a chance to talk about the realities of principaling during COVID, and
• our Save Cispus campaign.

Prefer to read the news? Check out the script.

The 2020 Washington Great ShakeOut is coming soon!

We are all experiencing what happens in times of a statewide threat to our schools. Even in times of COVID, that means: “Drop, Cover, Hold on!”

The official date and time is October 15 at 10:15 am, but any date that works for you and your school community is fine. Make sure you involve your families!

Just be sure to register your school.

EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS RESOURCES

Here’s a starter list to use and share:

Great Washington ShakeOut

• Registration and more
• Why Drop, Cover, Hold on
• School preparedness

EMD Earthquake Resource Page

• Kids’ videos
• Student Activities
• Reader - Grades K–2
• Reader – Grades 3–6

Ready.gov

• (Not) Just for Kids
• Build a kit

US Geological Service (USGS) Page

• EQs for Kids

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           

An advocate for strong communities, mental health, and equitable systems

OLYMPIA –– Each year, AWSP’s Advocacy Advisory Council has the opportunity to select a state-level public servant who has demonstrated support of principals and the principalship in the education of all students. For 2020, the Council selected Representative Lisa Callan as AWSP’s 2020 Torch of Leadership Award winner. Representative Callan is a Democrat representing the 5^th legislative district, which includes Issaquah, North Bend, and the surrounding areas. 

Prior to serving in the Legislature, Representative Callan worked as a Boeing engineer and project manager and in software development consulting. She is a former Issaquah School District School Board member and was actively involved with her son’s PTSA. 

Representative Callan serves on the House Education Committee and is Vice-Chair of both the House Capital Budget Committee and the House Human Services & Early Learning Committee. She is also a member of the Office of Homeless Youth Advisory Committee and the Early Learning Advisory Council. 

She is hoping to assume the role of co-chair for the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Work Group (CYBHWG) this fall and successfully ran the authorizing bill for this group (2SHB 2737) in the last legislative session. This bill continues years of work by the Children’s Mental Health Work Group. It also establishes an advisory group focused on school-based behavioral health and suicide prevention to advise the CYBHWG on creating and maintaining an integrated system of care through a tiered support framework for K-12 school systems. 

Representative Callan also sponsored ESHB 2116, which established a task force on Improving Institutional Education Programs and Outcomes. She leads this work as well.

In her work as a legislator, she demonstrates incredible systems-level thinking in her approach to mental health needs for children. Representative Callan puts the needs of students first in her work as a policymaker and she communicates well with stakeholders as she makes decisions. She is committed to building strong communities and an education system that equitably supports each and every child. 

In her own words, she writes, “I am a big believer in making sure our principals and teachers and all education staff have the tools and systems they need to meet every child where they are, meeting their learning and social-emotional needs, so each and every student has their very best chance to thrive.”                            

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Download Release

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss:

• one of the strangest experiences in education history ever,
• our brand new membership portal,
• virtual school-wide programs for your school,
• our ASB Practices in a Virtual World,
• a survey about the realities of principaling during COVID,
• our SMART START professional learning series,
• the AWSP Leadership Framework Version 3.0,
• the Inclusionary Practices Project 2020–21 Grant Funding Application,
• our 2020 Torch of Leadership Award Winner Representative Lisa Callan, and
• our Save Cispus Campaign.

Prefer to read the news? Check out the script.