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!
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!