AWSP Blog

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!