AWSP Blog

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 5th legislative district, which includes Issaquah, North Bend, and the surrounding areas.

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.

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

The 5th Annual School Safety Summit was held on June 12 of this year. Annual Summits are designed to be participatory. Over the years, we have had targeted presentations on specific funding issues, safety topics, and studies mandated by the legislature. Some excellent recommendations have come out of the Summits, and some notable legislation has been proposed – and passed.

To assist school and district leaders with specific, evidence-informed guidance and operating procedures for keeping school communities healthy during school reopenings, a number of nationally recognized and trusted school health organizations have come together to develop a playbook for school reopening — “Planning for the Next Normal at School: Keeping students, staff, and families safe and healthy.”

After a crazy sprint to wrap up the school year amidst all the change due to COVID-19, including putting on our first-ever virtual conference, we're going to shut our doors for a few days to relax, recharge, and rest up. Some of us will still be checking email periodically, but we'll be officially closed until Wednesday, July 8th. In the meantime, you can email each of us or our webmaster account and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.

How about a fun, rewarding safety activity for students this summer? Washington Operation Lifesaver (WAOL) is a non-profit organization consisting of public and private entities whose purpose is to educate the public about safe practices at highway-rail grade crossings and other locations along railroad tracks.

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss one of the craziest school years ever and the impact of your incredible leadership, OSPI's weekly updates, our virtual Summer Conference, learning opportunities for all members, AWSL's Summer Leadership Days, our AWSL Fall Conference, our Learning Centers now open for business, our online change of status form, and nominating a fellow colleague for Principal and/or Assistant Principal of the Year.

In this episode of episode of AWSP News, we discuss focusing on what is within the realm of your responsibilities, what school will look like next Fall, our AWSP/WASA Summer Conference, the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession (CSTP), TikTok and a number of enhancements to safety policies, AWSL bringing our leader development programs to your campus, our AWSL Fall Conference, Juneteenth and the significance of this date in history for african americans in our country, and your self-care as a top priority.

One popular app, TikTok, recently launched a number of enhancements to safety policies, controls, and educational resources that will help keep kids safe. The National PTA -- along with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Family Online Safety Institute and ConnectSafely -- are partnering with TikTok to help inform parents of the new parental controls, like its Family Pairing feature, which gives parents the ability to guide their child's online experience while also educating them about online safety and digital citizenship.