AWSP Blog

Become a Principal Partner for Legislators to connect more regularly with a legislator you already have a relationship with or with whom you are interested in developing a better relationship. It’s easy!

When talking to family, friends and students, and interact with coworkers, we know that lots of people around us are dealing with mental health issues. So what can we do? When does a situation become an illness or a crisis? How can we help until professionals can take over? The City of Auburn developed a one hour mental health training so that anyone can be a first responder to mental health needs.

In this episode of AWSP News, Kurt Hatch fills in for Scott Seaman and we discuss the challenges and rewards of the principals job, National and State Principals Month, our Facebook contest to celebrate the month, how much the average principal is working, Principal of the Year and Assistant Principal of the Year nominations, Cameron Grow's Fast Five Video for Creating a Positive Staff Culture, proposals for presenting at the Pave the Way Conference put on by the Washington Student Achievement Council, two OSPI webinars related to student discipline, getting eligible students to vote, Prudentials 24th annual Spirit of Community Awards, and CSTPs 15th birthday.

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.