Area 3 Blog

6 days left

3/11/2019

WHAT UP PIERCE COUNTY?

Can you believe that we’ll be coming together at WACA in just one week? Holy moly! This is one of the highlights of my year (not to mention the best professional development and networking I could imagine!). I can’t wait to descend upon the Tri-Cities and see all of your beautiful faces.

Conference Details: You should have received an email from Norm Sanford with an invitation to Sched. This is our online program where you can see all the wonderful presentations available to you next week! I always like to pick my sessions early in order to maximize my time at the conference. HUGE thanks to everyone in our area who is presenting! This conference doesn’t happen without your time and talents.

Goodie Baskets: We always have great giveaways in our area meetings, and this year will be no exception! We will create two types of baskets: a chocolate basket and a sweet/savory basket. If you would like to participate, please bring your favorite snack or treat. You are not obligated to contribute, but if you do, you get a chance to be the big winner! It is always a fun way for us to celebrate one another.

Dress: As you pack, you should know that WACA is a very casual conference. Jeans and t-shirts are great! Temperatures in the conference center rooms can vary, so you may want to dress in layers.
We also have a couple of Spirit Week-style dress suggestions - completely optional, but I always have fun participating
Wednesday: Welcome to WACA - come in whatever you would like!
Thursday evening: For the Hall of Fame Banquet, some like to dress up a little nicer. I usually try to put together something fun/dressy that I wouldn’t necessarily wear to school.
Friday: Represent your school with spirit gear!

See you so soon! Perhaps we can create a 10-step handshake together. Embrace the day!

three weeks to waca

2/22/2019

What's up, Pierce County? We are just three weeks away from the Greatest Show On Earth, our 2019 state WACA conference! I just have two quick points for you today:

1) It is not too late to sign up for the conference. You won't regret it! www.wacaonline.org

2) We are looking for about 15 more people to present 10-minute "Meet the Pros" sessions. This is a low-key opportunity to present a lesson that you do or an activity you want to highlight. You sit around a table with people who want to hear about your project. I'm sure every one of you has something rad happening at your school that you could share! Here is the link to sign up: http://www.wacaonline.org/presenter-application.html

That's it for now - hope all is well! Enjoy your Friday! Hope to see you soon.

Winter Wonderland

12/17/2018

WHAT UP PIERCE COUNTY!
I ho-ho-hope your last days before Winter Break are going well. We are just under 3 months away from the WACA Conference, which means it’s time to get paperwork, registration and hotel rooms in order!

WACA Conference: March 13 – 15, 2019 @ Three Rivers Convention Center in the Tri-Cities. The theme is: Come One, Come All, to the Greatest Show on Earth! Click here to register.

The Purpose of WACA: Our focus at WACA is threefold:
1. Personal growth 2. Project management 3. Culture building
As activities directors, leadership advisors, leadership teachers, administrators, counselors, class and club advisors, coaches, counselors, success support staff, and all-around "big elephants," we all have strong roles and identities that lead us to work within those three categories.

Therefore, we believe this conference should be helpful and reaffirming of your own purpose, goals and actions. There is a place for everyone at WACA, and we would love to see you there!

Presenting at WACA: This is the "greatest show on Earth," but we can't open the three-ring circus without some performers! Learning from each other is the best part of WACA (besides just being together, of course), so please share your knowledge with us. If you’re stuck on what to present on, consider those three areas of focus for brainstorming: (1) personal growth, (2) project management, and (3) building culture.

You can sign up for a 50-minute session, or a "Meet the Pros" where you present a 10-minute session four times in succession.
-      If you need ideas, go here to see past year’s presentations.
-      To apply to present, please click here!

The Benefits of WACA:
I know to a certain extent, I'm preaching to the choir here. But for those who may not have attended the conference in the past, I know that it can sound intimidating to take three days off of school right in the middle of the semester! But, it really is worth it.
-      You get to be with the people who "get it"; those who want to serve kids, schools and adults, and want to be in a supportive, positive environment.
-      You get to learn and hear new perspectives from people from all over the state and beyond. You will come back with a toolbox full of ideas - some that you'll be ready to implement as soon as you return!
-      You get a break from the routine in the middle of March when we need it most.
-      You have a built-in support network of people who are in similar positions as you, so they naturally understand.
-      The ability to network with advisors, administrators and more from across the whole state
-      Some good ol’ fun. We all need more fun! We do our best to create it for our students, yet we don’t take the time for ourselves. Let's take the time.
-      Self-care. Take care of yourself and development so that you can effectively take care of others.
-      This is the only activities-based professional development conference in Washington state. So take advantage and use it for your evaluation :)

How to pay for WACA:
If you’re worried about how to pay for WACA, here are a few ways that may work for you (if you’re not worried, awesome! Just skip past this section):
-      ASB funds: It is totally acceptable to use ASB funds for your registration and lodging. When you seek student approval, it can lead to a great conversation about lifelong learning and being current on best practices to best help serve your school
-      Principal’s funds: When I attended WACA the first time, I talked to my principal about the value of the conference and he agreed to cover the costs for me. If your administrator needs to see the value, you can show them the principal's framework and they can see how your professional development to help with school culture is a part of their framework.
-      Professional development funds: Based on your district’s contract, you may have funds to use. Remember, this is the only conference for activities/student leadership in the state!
-      ASB secretary: Talk to your ASB Secretary about other funds that may be available. Some districts have specific advisor pools of money for professional development.
-      Department funds: If you’re lucky enough to have a department fund for activities or leadership, use that.
-      Your local school foundation, union, booster club, and/or parent organization: Ask for a scholarship. It directly supports kids and their development, so this is a perfect use.

Phew! Thank you so for your time during what is a busy week for us all. If you have any questions about anything or need help, please don’t hesitate to reach out. And over the next few weeks, whatever you celebrate, I hope it's amazing!
Season's greetings - happy holidays - and we'll see you in the Tri-Cities in 2019!

FAll Update

10/10/2018

WHAT UP PIERCE COUNTY?
It may be a little late for “welcome back to school,” but I hope you and your students have been off to a great start this year! Also, I hope this note finds you happy and healthy. We’re in the thick of it now, aren’t we? I know a number of us are already through assemblies, Homecoming seasons, back-to-school nights, and more! If I haven’t had the chance to meet you yet, my name is Caleb Knox, and I teach at Sumner High School. I am your Area 3 rep, which means I represent Pierce County on the WACA Board (Washington Activities Coordinators Association).

As usual, my first task at the beginning of the year is to ask, “Am I talking to the right person?” Are you an activities/ASB/student leadership adviser in your building? Are you someone in your building who is working with some aspect of school culture (leadership class, kindness club, link crew, etc)? If so, great! If not, could you please forward to me contact info for the correct people? And if you know someone (at your school or otherwise) who should be getting this email but isn't, I’d love some help with their contact info as well. Thanks!

As you may know, we had our WACA Fall Board Meeting in Spokane a few weeks ago, and we covered a lot of material. I have four updates for you:

1) The Board uses the Fall Meeting to check out possible sites for our conference. Since there have been recent changes in Spokane, we decided it was time to visit again. We have to find a site that will accommodate our break-out sessions, full-group sessions, large vendor area, and housing for ~350 people, while remaining fiscally responsible. Well, we found ourselves involved in a “Three Bears” situation at our fall meeting. Many places were too small, without enough meeting or vendor space. Some were “too big”; they had the space, but we can’t meet room and banquet minimums needed to offset conference costs. So... unfortunately, Spokane isn’t the answer at this time, but we continue to look for new venues that are juuust right! At this point, the Three Rivers Convention Center in Tri-Cities is “just right” for the size of our group. I will hope to see you there this March!

2) Each March at the conference, we present our Hall of Fame awards and Advisers of the Year. In order to give these awards, we need some input from you! Who are your colleagues who are doing great work? Who has made a lasting impact on student leadership programs in our state? Full details are on the website, and the deadline is December 1st.

3) Don’t forget that WACA sponsors an Adviser Certification program. Details may be found on our website, wacaonline.org. The application is being simplified for this year. If you haven’t already applied, I would highly recommend it! All you have to do is list the things you’re already involved in as an adviser. I earned my certification last year, and was surprised at how many things I was able to list on that form. You can always submit an application, but the deadline to apply for certification at this year’s conference is February 1st.

4) It's not too early to register for our Spring conference! Wild, right? We'll be getting together March 13-15 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick. You can register right here!

Okay, that’s enough for now. I’ll have another message out to you soon. Until then, enjoy your fall season! Hope to talk to you soon. If you have any questions / comments or just want to say hi, feel free to send a note my way. Keep doing the amazing work that you do! You ROCK!

Conference

3/19/2018

Today's the day! I'm so excited to see you all. About half of you have checked in already, and I'm sure the rest are on the way! I just wanted to share a couple "fine detail"-type things with you that will be useful throughout the conference: I'll mention these briefly at our Area Meeting this evening, but I figured it'd be easier to shoot you an email than pause to spell everything out :)

The wifi network to use is called Three Rivers Convention Center, and the password is WeAreEvents!2
The hashtag to use on social media is #WACA18. We have an official twitter account @WACAofficial.
The online schedule program is at WACA2018.sched.com.
Our area idea share is at https://tinyurl.com/Area3IdeaShare
We have a "book fair" set up with Barnes & Noble for the conference; the ID is 12325999, and will be open from tomorrow until 3/20. You can use the code online or in the store to take advantage of our special conference pricing!

March 10th, 2018

3/10/2018

February 14th, 2018

2/14/2018

WHAT UP AREA 3? Hope all is well in your corner of Pierce County! I have three quick conference items for you:

Barnes and Noble is managing our Resource Room this year! That means they will provide the books and supplies for us. One of the advantages of using them, is that they are available during the conference, and beyond. They set up a special code for us (bookfair ID is 12325999) that will be active from March 15-20. So if you don’t pick up an item during the conference, you can go to the local B & N store or online and get that item for the conference price (but only from March 15-20). Rad!
Our conference theme this year is “Tune in to Leadership,” and we want to have great music flowing throughout the convention center all week! If you have any requests for our DJs, fill out the brief Google Form here: https://tinyurl.com/WACArequests
Finally, we still have spots to fill for our Meet the Pros sessions at the conference. Meet the Pros is really nice, because it is just a 10 minute chat around a table. I know you have something cool at your school, so bring it! If you've never presented before, this is a great place to start! A thematic example: this year we sent out a Google Form to all our students for song requests. Then, we loaded those songs into a playlist on an ASB-owned device so we can play them through a bluetooth speaker at lunch on Fridays. We’ve had amazing success, and it’s a lot of fun. This is the kind of thing that can be great for Meet the Pros! So…
- Do you have a novel way to recognize/celebrate students (monthly birthday calendar? Their face in a cut-out star taped to the cafeteria wall?)
- Do you have a cool alternative to decorating with butcher paper?
- What cool technology are you using in class? Do you have an app or tech tip you use for ASB?
- Do you hold a leadership retreat or lock-in? What does that look like?
- Do you have a great MLK/Black History month assembly?

You may be saying, “C’mon, Knox! That’s old stuff. At my school, we do…” Exactly. However you finish that sentence, that could be your Meet The Pros presentation! Area 3 always represents well - I know Pierce County is full of rock stars making amazing things happen in schools. If you’re ready to dive in, the presenter application is right here! http://www.wacaonline.org/presenters.html
Okay! Happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow (I know some schools work with their choir to deliver “val-o-grams” and sing through the hallways. It’s really cool, creates a wonderful climate, and highlights the music program. Hey… that sounds like a Meet the Pros topic!), and I'll look forward to talking to you soon!
Embrace the day, people! And as always, please let me know if you have any questions (especially about presenting!). Talk to you soon!

--
Caleb Knox
NBCT, Leadership and Freshman English
Sumner High School

hotels

1/29/2018

WHAT UP, AREA 3? Hope all is well. We just finished finals week here at SHS - now, it’s all over but the grading :) Anyway! I rarely email multiple times a week, but this is some time-sensitive info for you.
Our WACA President, Laurel Robillard, just sent out the following update regarding our conference hotels. Looks like there are some rooms left for reserving! The phone numbers are listed here, but you can also find them online. Please note the address of the Red Lion; there are two of them in the Kennewick area.
Springhill Suites (this is the hotel attached to the conference center) (509) 820-3026

$139/night
8 rooms just opened up

Hilton Garden Inn (509) 735-4600

$129/night
11 rooms left

Red Lion (509) 396-9979
602 N Young St

$129/night
22 rooms left

Remember that all reservations should be in the name of the persons actually attending the conference; by 2/1, any reservations in our block that are not matched up with conference registrations will be released. By 2/9, rooms not reserved will released to the public. That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to book there if they have openings, but it does mean that the rooms will not be available at the WACA group rate.
A couple more quick items for you on this fine Saturday evening:
· Clock Hours: 10 clock hours are available for attending the instructional sessions of the conference. These are FREE (oh yeah!), and they are available at the end of the conference after the closing session. We have to maintain the integrity of our offerings, so they will not be available before the closing of the conference. As you make arrangements for your exit after the conference, please keep that timing in mind (tip: flying from SeaTac to Kennewick is slick). However, please note that we’re planning ahead, too; as a board, we recognize that things were slow last year, so we are planning to streamline the process by offering multiple pick-up stations.
· WACA Board: Everyone knows that I lead a glamorous life as a WACA Board member! Seriously, I work with 20 wonderful, creative, funny, warm people, and I get a lot of satisfaction from my work on the Board. If you’d like to join the ensemble, we have elections this year for President-Elect, Middle-Level Rep, and Secretary. We also have an appointed position up for selection this year: Partner Coordinator. If you are interested in any of these positions, check out the info (and application) on our website or drop me a note; I’d be happy to chat with you.

That’s it for now - more soon! Embrace the weeknd.

Happy Newest year

1/29/2018

WHAT UP AREA 3? Happy New Year!

It's not too late to say Happy New Year, is it? Either way, I hope it's not scary cold in your corner of Pierce County. We're wrapping up our first semester here at Sumner High School, and that always means that WACA will be here before we know it!

We had our winter board meeting last weekend at the convention center in Kennewick, and we’re tuning up for another great conference. I have quite a few items to share with you… probably too many to put into a single email. So, I’ll send a few things at a time. Today, I have seven items for you. Here we go!

1) What's up?: If we haven't had the pleasure of meeting, let me offer a hearty "HELLO!" I represent Pierce County on the Washington Activity Coordinators Association board. If you work with ASB/student leadership in any capacity at your school, this message is for you! If not, please let me know so I can take you off the list and replace you with the person who does.

2) Registration: If you haven’t yet registered for the conference, please do so! We have a great lineup of speakers and events. Of course, all that you need to know is outlined on our website at wacaonline.org. The conference registration form is there.
Note: There is a spot on the registration form to make special meal requests. Be sure to fill out this section, and the banquet folks will try to accommodate those needs as much as possible.

3) Lodging: If you haven’t registered for a hotel room, that info is also on the website. We're hearing that the rooms are filling up pretty quickly, which means that we should have a big, rockin' conference this year! Get those reservations soon, as well.
Note: If you have registered for a hotel room but haven’t yet registered for the conference, please do that this week! After February 1st, we need to have conference registrations matched with each room registration. If not, they will start contacting people and releasing those rooms to other delegates who need them (this happened to some folks last year, too).
ALSO: If your room(s) have been reserved by a bookkeeper, secretary, or someone else who was reserving several rooms for a group, be sure that the names of the actual attendees are on the room. For example, at SHS, Jess will reserve rooms for Brandon, Jeff, and Jordan. If “Jess” is the only name on the registration, that could be an issue. If she adds each of those names, that will verify that there are three people attending the conference, each with a conference registration and hotel registration.

4) Presenters: This conference doesn't happen without sharing the cool things happening in our schools. We have a killer area full of rock stars, so I'd like to personally challenge you to think about signing up!
We have two presentation formats: Meet the Pros (a short 10-minute presentation that you repeat several times as delegates “rotate” to you), or a longer, 50-minute presentation that you would present once.
We are always looking for presenters on any topic related to student leadership, but here are some suggestions that delegates have asked about recently to get your creative juices flowing: ASB law; tips for bookkeepers; how to transition from summer leadership camp to home school; how to partner with administrators to promote school culture; how to plan fun and meaningful leadership lock-ins; how to address privilege and culture in the leadership classroom; mentorship for younger students; helpful technology/apps that you use daily; or any other specific, powerful leadership class lessons that you may have.
I know you can do this! We all take ideas and put our own spin on them. We may not think much of it at the time, but those tweaks are what make those ideas so valuable and so important to share.
Grab the mic and apply to present right here!

5) Adviser Certification: On the website, notice that there is an advisor certification menu. Please consider applying! We had 37 advisors apply last year, and have added more than a dozen this year so far. You can apply any time, but if you complete your application by February 1st, you'll be recognized at the conference and your name will be printed in the program. The certification can be awfully nice when working with TPEP, National Board certification, or just being recognized for the amazing work that you do!

6) Partners: Our partner coordinator Jen Durham (shout out to Area 3! Key Peninsula Middle School represent) is always looking for conference partners. If you have a local vendor that you really like or a product that you use frequently, let me know and I’ll pass the info on to Jen. She will contact that person/s, and see if they’re interested in being one of our Partners.

7) Servus Conference: On a non-WACA note (but still a student leadership note), consider yourselves invited to bring your students to the 12th annual Servus Conference at the Showare Center in Kent! Servus is on March 7, and it is an opportunity to be inspired by some heavy-hitters as they speak on the subject of servant leadership. This year, the lineup boasts Noemi Ban, Luis Ortega, John PUSH Gaines, Houston Kraft, and Davey Muise! For more information, check the website at servusconference.com. If you have questions, don't hesitate to email me or John Norlin.

Okay! That’s it for now, but don't worry - there's more on the way, especially as we get closer to the conference. Enjoy your week, and I'll be excited to talk to you soon!

Welcome Back

9/26/2017

WHAT UP AREA 3? Welcome back to school, and to another exciting year of student leadership! I hope you had a fun and restful summer, and are ready to rock this year!

First things first… I’m Caleb Knox, your Area 3 Rep for the Washington Activity Coordinators Association (WACA). I teach leadership and freshman English at Sumner High School, and I am excited to be embarking on my 7th year of involvement with student activities!

I represent Pierce County on the WACA Board, and I can’t wait to get to know each of you. Throughout the year, I’ll be sending you updates about what’s happening in the activities world at the state level. Am I talking to the right person? If so, great! If you’re not involved in leadership / ASB / activities at your school or if someone else should be added to my list, please let me know so I can update my contacts. Thanks!

We just held our fall WACA Board meeting in Wenatchee last weekend. Why Wenatchee? We’re always keeping our eyes open for possible conference venues. There are several items from the board meeting that I’d like to share:

1: It’s never too early to think about the WACA Conference! We’ll be getting together March 14-16, 2018, at the Tri-Cities Convention Center in Kennewick. Our theme this year is Tune Into Leadership, and it promises to be rockin’! A few things I’d like to highlight:

The Pre-Conference session topics are listed on the website, if you’d like a little advance peek at some highlights of the first day of the conference. The rough outline for the entire conference is online as well.
Registration will open during the first week of October - mark your calendars! I’ll send you a quick reminder when it is live.
There will be conference hotel information available in early October as well.
It’s not too early to think about sharing your expertise and creativity by presenting a session at the conference. Think about all the great things you do in your building and take a look at the presenter application on the website…Area 3 has so many rock stars; let’s show our stuff!

2: Don’t forget that you can apply for the official Washington State Advisor Certification through WACA. We started the program earlier this year, and have about 30 certified advisors at this time. If you’re interested, please refer to the application online at wacaonline.org (it’s the third menu tab on the left side of the home page). Application deadline is February 1, 2018. If you have questions, feel free to shoot me an email.

3: The state high school student leadership conference (AWSL) is coming fast, October 13-15, in Yakima. Registration deadline is this week. Check out the latest “In the Loop” message if you receive that, or find the registration form at their website.

4: Speaking of conferences, the NCSA (National Conference on Student Activities) is being held in Spokane this year! It’s a great conference, and a cool opportunity to discover how other states approach activities. The conference convenes on December 1-3, 2017, and there is a link to the conference site at the bottom of our homepage (wacaonline.org). Check it out!

5: And finally, the WACA Hall of Fame: If you would like to nominate someone for the WACA Hall of Fame, the deadline is December 1, 2017. Again, check the menu bar on the left hand side of our homepage to access the Hall of Fame info and application.

Okay, this is long enough! It's early in the year, but things are already kicking into high gear. Please let me know if you have any questions! Keep on rockin’, and I’ll be excited to touch base with you soon!