Hello and welcome to another episode of AWSP News.
Wow, another week has flown by as we all continue to provide for our students today and at the same time, make plans for the future.
As we mentioned in last week’s newscast, your AWSP Grade-Level Leadership Teams are hard at work discussing various options for what school might look like in the fall and how it will all come together. We are examining the possibilities from about every angle imaginable. If you are interested in listening in or would like to get involved, just reach out to us. Principal voice is super important as plans are considered at the state policy level.
We are on the cusp of releasing a brand new resource called the Principal Contract Guide. The guide is designed to help you and your colleagues work with your district to make sure your contract is current and sustainable. The research is clear, principal leadership matters, and your contract needs to reflect that. Stay tuned and don’t be shy in reaching out to our team for support.
Along the same lines, it’s that time of year when conversations might be happening around your own evaluation. How have you captured the impact of your leadership? What data have you collected to support your case? What format are you using to defend the impact of your leadership? We’ve got tools and resources to help you in any evaluation-related conversations. The impact of your leadership easily spreads across the entire AWSP Leadership Framework. We can help you illustrate your impact.
If you haven’t already registered for our Virtual Summer Conference, the time is now. We’ll bring the conference right to you with a great blend of live and on-demand keynotes, breakout sessions, and pre-conference sessions. There is only ONE week left to register you and your team for our Pre-Conference Sessions. We have sessions covering inclusive practices, MTSS, and Increasing Teacher Effectiveness – all led by state and national leaders. You can use district TPEP iGrants 664 funds to register for these great sessions, some of which are partially or fully funded by OSPI.
Aside from some pretty amazing pre-cons, we are so excited to bring you an amazing lineup of keynotes, including TED talk sensation and the world-renowned skateboarding principal, Hamish Brewer. We just checked in with him and you’re going to love his message and his energy. We’re also excited to see entire district leadership teams attending with those TPEP funds we talked about. Check out the AWSP website for all Summer Conference information, and remember to register for your pre-conference sessions by June 4!
As you already know, the Association of Washington Student Leaders runs some of the best student leadership programs in the country (hence the shirt I’m wearing today!). Although we were crushed to learn we wouldn’t be able to run our traditional programs at Cispus, Chewelah, and Cheer Leadership this summer, we didn’t waste time crying about it. Instead, our incredible AWSL program staff quickly pivoted to bring those great programs to you. We’ll travel far and wide this summer to make sure your student leaders are equipped to lead, regardless of what school looks like in the fall. For more information, reach out to AWSL Director Greg Barker, or visit the AWSL website.
Speaking of camps and youth programming, there’s new guidance from the Department of Health. Look for that link in Principal Matters, but here are a few important things to note. Any day camp that includes sports-related activities must also follow forthcoming guidance for youth sports. This round of guidance doesn’t cover overnight camps, youth sports, and activities included as part of basic education or special education programs. As a reminder, schools are closed through June 19th, and any day camp or youth programming included in the guidance may begin on or after June 20th. This Safe Start plan for reopening the state doesn’t address childcare (which can continue to operate) or education, but we know your schools are used by many youth and community groups over the summer.
Thanks to all of you who’ve joined our AWSP Friday afternoon Office Hours. We’ve been holding them at 2 pm every Friday, but we know for many of you, that time doesn’t work or you’re wiped out by the end of the week. So we’re going to try something new and change them to 7 am coffee chats. We’ll try that for a few Fridays and see if that time works better for more of you. So we’ll take this Friday off and hopefully see you next Friday, June 5th, at 7 am.
And, one final note, thank you to all of you who continue to share the amazing leadership moves you are making to continue to foster relationships with kids in your school. The more you share with us, the more we can share these great strategies with other school leaders across the state. Keep it up! I’d be happy to send Amazon Gift Cards every day to those who keep reaching out to us.
Well, that’s it from all of us here at AWSP. As always, keep up the great work for kids and we'll see you next week!