AWSP News for September 4, 2019

Welcome back to another year of AWSP News. I’m your host, Scott Seaman. This year, we want you to think about great PR. Of course, you always want good press, but we’re talking about Principal relationships. Relationships always come first, whether we’re talking about students, staffulty, or your community. Leading without relationships is an impossible task and an uphill battle. We know this isn’t rocket science, but it’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day minutiae of running a school. Keep your eye on the big picture this year and make sure you’re building new relationships and growing the existing ones.

Someone who’s done a great job with relationships is Chad Prewitt, principal at Davenport Middle and High School. Chad is one of the winners of this year’s Handy Award, in large part because of his clear and shared vision each and every day:  “Every student matters, every single day!”  Chad believes it and makes sure the vision is shared by every one of his staff members and fellow administrators. If we polled all your staffulty, could each one of them tell us word for word what your mission and/or belief statement is? Make sure that answer is yes.

We’ve got another great year of professional learning events designed just for you, regardless of your role or stage of your career. We’ve got LPL for new and newly-assigned principals, BEL for mid-career principals, we’re hosting a Women in Education Leading and Learning, ASB finance workshops for you and your activities coordinators, AP workshops designed just for your unique roles, and we’re partnering with Scholastic on a Principals of Literacy event for you and your team. Curious about that last one? Let’s check out this short clip for a little more information on that one.

(Principals of Literacy Promo Video Plays)

Interested? Early bird pricing ends September 13th. In addition to all those great single-day and multi-day events, it’s never start looking ahead to Summer Conference 2020. In fact, we’ve got a great vision for it that’s already coming into focus. Tired of the puns already? Have some patience, you know, like optometrists do. Ok. I think we’re done now. I’m getting a cut sign from behind that camera lens.

We know not everyone can get out of their building for in-person events, so we’re excited to bring you another great year of this newscast, AWSP TV (our talk show for principals), and great resources online. For instance, did you happen to catch the video workshops for Next Generation Science Standards and Climate Science produced in partnership with OSPI and the ESD Regional Science Coordinators? Or did you see all the great videos we’re posting to our YouTube channel? Make sure you search for AWSP on YouTube so you can subscribe and never miss a message.

One of the other great ways to be the lead learner in your building is through our revised Networked Improvement Community Grants, which longtime AWSP members might remember as Cluster Grants. We’re getting some money from the Department of Education and OSPI, so we’ve made the application process a little more rigorous and want our grantees to make their learning visible to the whole state when all is said and done. Check out the new application on the website. We have 10 grants to give out per ESD and we expect them to go quickly.

This past session, the Washington State Legislature passed a bill removing the personal and philosophical option to exempt children from the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine required for school and child care entry. It also requires employees and volunteers at child care centers to provide immunization records indicating they received the MMR vaccine, proof of immunity or a medical exemption. Check out Principal Matters for resources from the state Department of Health.

We know how busy you are, so we’re always careful about what surveys we ask you to do. With that in mind, we hear over and over about the need for more mental health supports in schools. The Association of Washington Student Leaders Student Voice and Advocacy Board is working alongside the State Board of Education on a statewide mental health campaign, which includes a database of student-led mental health initiatives so all schools can access mental health resources. The goal of the Mental Health Initiative is to support student leaders in their efforts to help destigmatize mental health in schools. Survey responses will be used to develop this database. Check out the survey in Principal Matters. It’s a jam packed edition and includes some great school safety tips for September that OSPI provided for our blog.  

We’ve also got a great new resource for you busy principals and assistant principals out there. It’s called The Main Idea, and it’s a great book review service by Jenn David-Lang. Jenn chooses books that help school leaders develop a strong repertoire of effective ideas and practices to help teachers improve student performance. More than a book review, each month you’ll get an in-depth summary and resources to help you implement the new ideas with your staff. Learn more in Principal Matters.

Well, that’s it for all of us here at AWSP. We are so excited for your leadership this year. Go big for your kids. See you next time!