Welcome to the most unique edition of AWSP News we’ve ever recorded. Yeah, it even beats the episode where we put in the Bolivian traffic Zebras. We know things are crazy in your schools and communities now. I think we all have more questions than answers at this point. Let’s talk quickly about some of the impacts COVID-19 is having on AWSP.
We posted some information on our blog this past Friday the 13th to update our members on what’s changing, what’s not, what resources are available, and what’s being canceled or postponed. Let’s go over a few of those details.
First of all, like many other organizations that are able to, we are closing our office and working from home. Fortunately, you shouldn’t notice too many disruptions. Our phone system will work remotely, so don’t be surprised if you hear a dog barking or kids running around in the background.
There might be a hiccup or two as we transfer calls around, be we expect our availability to remain unchanged. We’ve also put direct lines for our directors on our webpage, so if you need to reach one of them, you can call them directly. Of course, we’ll be responding to email and voicemail as quickly as we can. Our finance staff will still come in once or twice a week to make sure we’re paying the bills and depositing checks.
Our in-person board meetings and grade level leadership committee meetings have been canceled as in person events. We’ll be in touch about remote meeting options as we get that figured out. If you’re part of a professional learning event, we’ll reach out to you directly with cancelation notices or any other updates.
At this time, we’re still crossing our fingers and keeping hope the massive action and sacrifices people are taking across the state will be effective and the Equity Conference and Summer Conference will still be a go. The Equity Conference is scheduled for May 20 and put on with our friends from WASA and WSSDA. We’ll send out updates as soon as they’re available. The AWSP/WASA Summer Conference is at the end of June, so that buys us more time. We are hopeful that we will all be able to gather in Spokane at the end of June to celebrate each other and this once-in-a-lifetime school year.
When the dust settles, if you want to work on your own professional learning, we’ve got tons of great content on our YouTube channel, on our podcast, and the back issues of Washington Principal which are all online. We’re also doing our best to gather and share feedback from districts across the state.
With being told about all of the cancellations, let’s focus on what is NOT being cancelled.
REMEMBER
Conversations will not be cancelled
Relationships will not be cancelled
Love will not be cancelled
Songs will not be cancelled
Reading will not be cancelled
Self-Care will not be cancelled
Hope will not be cancelled.
For now, let’s all LEAN INTO the good stuff that remains.
In the meantime, stay safe, keep practicing social distancing as best you can, wash your hands, take care of yourself and your loved ones, and keep hopeful. When the storm settles, you’re going to work the magic that you do to bring everything back together for your students, staff, and your community. From all of us here at AWSP, we wish you nothing but the best during these strange and stressful times.