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Hellooooooo, Pierce County!
As we draw ever-closer to tip-off for WACA 2016, I've attached the full conference program and the list of what will be available in the store for your planning. I've also attached a short conference-specific packing checklist - of course, all this stuff is optional, but I would encourage you to dive in! Area 3 is full of all-stars :) So soon! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions in these last couple of days leading up to the conference. Drive safely, and we'll see you in Kennewick! Caleb Knox Leadership and Freshman English Teacher Sumner High School What up Area 3?
Can you believe that we’ll be coming together at WACA next 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: The conference schedule is live on wacaonline.org! Any day now, the program will be complete and uploaded to the website as well. I always like to pick my sessions early in order to maximize my time at the conference. Registration: It is not too late to register for the conference, lodging, or to present. We are still especially in need of people to present for Meet the Pros and Book the Pros! These short sit-down sessions are a great way to dip your toes into the waters of presenting at WACA. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the rookie of the year! 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. Spirit T-shirts: Do you have a super-cool school or team t-shirt design to share? Bring one to our area meetings, and we’ll create a gallery that we can take pictures of and glean inspiration from! (then at the end of the week, if you would like to exchange shirts, that is up to you!) Speaking of clothing: During the conference, we often try and dress to the theme (it’s our opportunity for an advisers-only Spirit Week!) Wednesday: Welcome to WACA - come in whatever you would like! Thursday: Wear a team jersey or any sort of sports attire for our theme: “For the Love of the Game”. Thursday evening: For the Hall of Fame Banquet, some like to dress up a little nicer. Feel free to just spiff up your sports attire if you'd like! Friday: Represent your school with spirit gear! ALSO! To complement the theme we are doing a fun “Throwback Thursday” activity. Feel free to bring any sports pics from your younger years as an athlete or fan that we can put on display. We will have cardstock templates to attach your photos to and a place to write a little something for other delegates to enjoy. If you’d like to complete this ahead of time and bring it along with you, I’ve attached the Publisher template. If you would rather, you could also bring a digital copy that we can post on our digital tagboard during the conference. I’ll go first :) I went to Glencoe High School in Hillsboro, Oregon. We were the Crimson Tide, so here’s a picture of me as our mascot, Captain Crimson: CHECK YOU OUT! We have about 45 people registered so far! Wow! Check out the schools that are already represented. If you someone is missing, please give them a nudge toward registration - it’s not too late!
Last but, not least Remember, if you know someone that should be receiving this email but is not, please let me know! I would love to add them. Or, if you no longer want to receive these emails, let me know that too! See you so soon! Perhaps we can create an 10-step handshake together. Happy Valentine’s Day and Presidents' Day weekend, Pierce County!
I love that we’ll be getting together in less than a month. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from me soon, but I just have a couple of quick items for you today as we get closer to the conference: Registration If you have not yet registered for the conference, there is still time! Follow this link to register. Thanks to all who have registered so far - we are looking forward to seeing you! We hit 200 registrations on January 27th, which was the earliest we’d had that many registered in quite a few years. All of the info about the conference is available at our website, wacaonline.org, but please let me know if you have additional questions. Don’t forget to secure your lodging as well! WACA Store Each year at WACA, we have a number of resources available for purchase. Since “Book the Pros” is back, we have tried especially to secure most (if not all) of the titles that presenters will be sharing in their sessions. Attached to this email, you will find two documents - one is a one-sheet promo for the WACA Store, and the other is a current list of what will be available (it may grow as we hear from more potential presenters!). Potential presenters I am excited about the number of presenters we already have registered from Area 3, but we are still looking for people to present either a 50-minute session or a 10-minute “Meet the Pros”/”Book the Pros” session! Click here to access the presenter application. Remember that if you are planning on presenting a “Book the Pros” session, you’ll just sign up in the “Meet the Pros” category. Just indicate in your response that you’re planning to present a book. That’s it for now - in the spirit of Presidents' Day, here are a couple of quotes attributed to those we celebrate tomorrow: “Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called ‘conscience’”. - George Washington “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” - Abraham Lincoln Enjoy your day, and we’ll see you soon! WHAT UP PIERCE COUNTY?
Holy moly! There are only 41 days until the 2016 WACA conference in Kennewick! Can you believe it?! There is quite a bit of information to roll out as we get closer, so I will apologize in advance for the novel I am about to bestow upon you :) First of all! If you have not yet registered for the conference, we would love to have you! Follow this link to register. All the info about the conference is available at our website, wacaonline.org, but please let me know if you have additional questions. Conference Details! Lodging: There was some confusion with the Springhill Suites (the hotel attached to the convention center); they thought they filled up faster than they truly did. There are some rooms left, so call ASAP! For the Hilton, you have until Feb 9th to secure the WACA rate if there are still rooms. We have secured rooms at the Red Lion on Young St. (also fairly close), so this is another option if necessary. All of the accommodation options (including the new Red Lion option) is listed here on the WACA site. Attire: During the conference, we often try and dress to the theme (it’s our opportunity for an advisers-only Spirit Week!) Wednesday: Come in whatever you would like! Thursday: Wear a team jersey or any sort of sports attire for our theme: “For the Love of the Game”. Thursday evening: For the Hall of Fame Banquet, some like to dress up a little nicer. Feel free to wear your spiff up your sports attire as well! Friday: Rep your school spirit gear! ALSO! To complement the conference's sports theme, we are doing a fun “Throwback Thursday” activity. Feel free to bring any old sports pics from your younger years as an athlete or fan that we can put on display. We will have cardstock templates to attach your photos to and a place to write a little something for other delegates to enjoy. Alternately, you can also come prepared with a digital copy that you can post to our tagboard during the conference. Keynote speakers! Stu Cabe and Anthony Robles will be with us, sharing some great stories and lessons that we can connect to. Anthony is also an author, so we will have his book available for purchase in our WACA store, along with tons of other great resources. Potential presenters: We are still looking for people to present either a 50-minute session or a 10-minute “Meet the Pros” session! Click here to view the presenter application if you are thinking that way. We have so much talent and so many great programs here in Pierce County - let’s celebrate your knowledge! In addition to Meet the Pros, we are adding a “Book the Pros” session this year! This is another awesome rotation that offers ideas on what great resources are available to us in the form of a book. If you use a book in your class to teach from, have students read, or lead initiatives out of, let us know! This is a short 10-minute session where you would share some ideas, lesson plans, or tips about using the book you have to share. If you have never presented before at WACA, this is a great place to start! Important!! When you see the application, you will not find an option for Book the Pros. It is classified under Meet the Pros, but do specify in your application that you intend to present during the Book the Pros Session. WACA constitutional change/activity coordinator certification: At the opening session on the first day of the conference, you will hear about a motion to make a constitutional amendment. This is regarding an addition to the executive board to have an adviser added to the WACA board to lead the certification process. After the details are presented, you will have an opportunity to vote in our first area meeting. At the conference, you will hear more about the updates to the certification process as well. Last but not least! Goodie Baskets: We always have great giveaways in our area meetings, so I want to get you thinking about them now! We have done movie baskets, chocolate baskets, coffee baskets and more. Some have also suggested a school supplies basket and a “ropes in a bucket”-type basket with materials that could be useful for initiatives/team-building activities. I would be happy to supply baskets for any and all ideas, so please feel free to let me know if you have preferences, or other great ideas we can try. Again, you are not obligated to contribute, but if you do, you get another chance to be the big winner! It is always a fun way for us to celebrate one another :) Final requests: Remember, if you know someone that should be receiving this email, but is not, please let me know! I would love to add them. Or, if you no longer want to receive these emails, let me know that too! FINALLY: If you wanna check out that sweet trailer for the conference and get pumped up again, here it is. I always want to run through a brick wall after watching that! Happy beginning of 2nd semester! Thank you so much for all that you do. I can't wait to meet you or reconnect soon! And in the spirit of the conference - Go Pirates! Go Ducks! Go Spartans! Good afternoon, Pierce County!
I just wanted to send out a friendly reminder that registration is open for WACA 2016. Check out the trailer at wacaonline.org! We are going to have a fantastic time as we come together in March. Also: we are still looking for presenters and would love for you to consider doing so! We are in need of both 50-minute sessions and 10-minute "Meet the Pros" sessions. Area 3 has traditionally been very well-represented in our presenters, and for good reason! In my short time with WACA, I have loved learning how incredibly talented you all are, so please consider sharing that expertise with others. These sessions are some of the most powerful things I've experienced at WACA, and it's all because you have the enthusiasm for our vital work and you know the magic that can happen in our schools. If you are interested, please go to http://www.wacaonline.org/presenter-application.html and submit a description of your workshop. We already have 6 or 7 signed up from Pierce County (last I heard), and we would love to have more! As I've already mentioned, I know there's a ton of talent in our Area, and I'd love to see it on display this spring! Finally: Have a wonderful holiday season! I know you have busy times happening in your schools with your programming, as well as your own holiday preparations, but I hope you can slow down and enjoy the season with friends and loved ones. I spoke with my students today about the line in Jingle Bells that mentions "making spirits bright" - what a great opportunity it is to be able to make spirits bright in our buildings every day. Enjoy this opportunity to recharge through rest Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and see you next year in the Tri-Cities! Good afternoon, Pierce County!
As I mentioned in the previous area email, Puyallup High School is hosting our AWSL Fall Leadership Conference (formerly known as WASC) this coming October 9-11. It is so cool to have it right here in Area 3, but we are desperately seeking homestays for the students who will be coming from all over the state to sharpen their skills. These are some of the best kids in Washington, and at this point, some of them will need to be turned away because we don't have enough places for them to stay :( Here's a brief overview of what you'd be expected to do over that weekend as a host. If you can possibly host or share this info with a friend or neighbor who might be able to, it would be so greatly appreciated. Friday Oct. 9 · Pick up 3 or more students (however many you register for) at Puyallup HS at5:00 PM · Feed them dinner · Do something with them (bowling, corn maze, pumpkin patch, etc), or let them hang out and play games or watch a movie at your house. (Idea - If a couple of you host together, you might want to plan to do something together with your guests and you’d get to hang out with a buddy, too!) · Give them a place to sleep. They can bring sleeping bags, and it is perfectly okay to just give them a floor to sleep on, slumber-party style. In fact, most of them would probably love it. Saturday Oct 10 · Provide something for breakfast (this could be grab and go) · Drop students off at Puyallup HS by 8:55 AM · Pick students up at Rogers HS at 9:30 PM and let them sleep at your place one more night. Sunday Oct. 11 · Deliver students to Puyallup HS at approximately 8:30 AM. No need to feed them as the local Kiwanis group will be feeding the students breakfast that morning. AWSL and PHS are working very hard, but at this point, we’re going to have to turn schools away. Any help you could provide would be awesome! You can fill out the required information sheet on paper (attached) or do it electronically at http://www.awsleaders.org/hostfamily I’ve also attached an overview letter and a required contract. Please spread the word! If you could help by hosting and/or passing the message on to any other friends, relatives, camp buddies, family members, colleagues, baristas, or any other great people who might be willing to host, that would be fantastic! This is really a great program for our kids in Washington, and it would be a shame to turn any away. Thanks so much for any help you can provide. Let's make it a great weekend! Good morning, Pierce County! It is a beautiful day in Area 3.
First of all, I want to say WELCOME to the 2015-2016 school year! Whether you’re starting your first year in student leadership or your 30th, I’m sure you are feeling that nervous excitement that always comes at the beginning of the year. Just like there probably are in your building, there are a lot of new faces on this email list. Welcome to all the new ASB advisers, leadership teachers, class advisers, and administrators who will be working in student leadership this year! We are so glad to have you helping students to make their schools places where students want to come to school instead of have to come to school. Of course, if if there is someone in your building who is isn’t receiving these emails and should be, please let me know their name and position and I’ll be happy to add them to the list! Additionally, if you would like to be removed from the mailing list, I can do that for you as well. A couple of quick announcements for you: Our conference this year will be back at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick from March 9th - 11th. Mark your calendars! Our theme this year is “For the Love of the Game”.
A couple of great opportunities are coming up for your students to network with others around the state and develop those “leadership muscles”:
That's the question for all of us in student leadership, isn't it? Thank you all for being the "marigolds" and sharing that positive energy with our new staff members, our returning staff members, and our students! It's going to be a great year. Let's celebrate! --Caleb Knox If you know that you won't be filling the ASB/Leadership/Activities role in your building next year, and know who will be, please let me know. :-)
Let me start out by congratulating Caleb Knox, our new Area 3 Representative! Caleb currently teaches English and Leadership at Stahl Junior High in Puyallup School District. He is also a new father! You may hear from Caleb before the end of the year, but he'll definitely be in touch in the Fall. :-) Area 3's Becky Latham is the 2016 President! She revealed her theme "For the Love of the Game" and that next year's conference will be back at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick. They were very good to us last year for the 2014 conference. Springhill Suites is currently being built--maybe even done by now--and is connected to the convention center. Caleb will keep you posted about online booking when it's available (book early and stay that much closer to the venue next year!). You all may be budgeting soon, so please consider budgeting for WACA. We will be at the lovely Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, WA and our own Becky Latham will be in her president year! Okay, I think this is my official sign-off as Area 3 rep! I hope you all know how much I've enjoyed serving as your area rep, and I know that the role is in excellent hands. Best wishes to you all, and feel free to keep in touch if you have questions or need leadership resources. :-) Kari Thanks to the schools that attended the conference this year, back in March: Aylen JH Clover Park HS Cougar Mountain MS Curtis JH Eatonville MS Eatonville HS First Creek MS Giaudrone MS Gig Harbor HS Glacier View JH Gray MS Harrison Prep Keithley MS Key Peninsula MS Lincoln MS Lochburn MS Mt View MS Orting MS Rogers HS Stadium HS Stahl JH Stewart MS Sumner HS Washington HS White River HS **If there's a school in your district not represented here, let's fix that for next year!** From our Idea Share posters... Cheap Student Incentives: Bracelets Smarties Dum Dums (don't be a Dum Dum) Principal Popcorn TA for a Class Period 5-10 minute early release to bus Front of the Lunchline pass Free Dress Day Cookies Favorite Leadership Book, App, Website: 365 Days of Wonder The Amazing Law of Influence book by King Duncan 20 Things That Matter book by Hal Urban Daring Greatly book by Brene Brown Leaders Eat Last book by Simon Sinek The Servant by James Hunter The World's Most Powerful Leadership Principal by James C Hunter Mindset by Dweck Quiet: The Power of the Introvert by Cain Say Anything by Kincaid Pete Carroll's book on Leadership Kid President (vids and book) Remind - Texting app Character Strong - app Ted Ed 7 Habits 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens Soul Pancake (videos) Smart Girls Kick It (Twitter and Instagram account) Lolly Daskal (Twitter account) Sevenly (Twitter and Instagram) Websites: Teaching Tolerance, Edutopia, CASL, CADA Inclusive Spirit Days: Add a color to each spirit day so those without the "costume" can still dress up (Hollywood Day, or wear red day) Crazy Socks Day Camo Day Where's Waldo Wednesday Bright Out (neon) Color Wars (just assign each grade or teams of classes one color; class v. class v. staff) Pink Out (or Red out, Yellow out, etc.) Black Out (secret agent day) Local Service Projects: Benefit Night/Talet Show MLK Day "On" (service projects around school) Work with local Senior Center - Bake and decorate cookies Free Community Dinner (X-mas time)--meal, decorations, performances, gifts for kids Caring for Kids (Started by CPSD bus driver, gets clothing/books/lunches for local students) Socktober (sock collection in October, donate to local shelter/clothing bank) United Way (bonus: varsity service letter) Honor Flight Fundraising and Mail Call Tie-blankets project TOP (Teen Outreach Program through Planned Parenthood) FISH Food Banks Getting Building Buy-in (working with admin and staff): Staffulty of the Month Homecoming (crowned by most inspirational Staffulty) Students always make the requests, invites, etc. and include (student + admin relationship) "Ram-azing Race" (1st meeting of the year teams competed in Amazing Race activities to get to know each other) Assessments tied to all school incentives Always ask, don't tell Always say thank you Positive Referrals Big teacher thank you notes (up all year by door) Teacher "Red Robin" style b-days Continually recognize staff/teachers for the little things. Respect their time. When taking their seat time away, make sure activity is about quality. Staff fun: Brackets during March Madness, dares/bets during fundraising, Friday Feast (lunchtime potluck) Favorite Local Vendor: T-shirts: Brandstand Promotions (contact: Molly Susee) T-shirts: The Line-Up, Spanaway (Dusty or Dan Carmandi) T-shirts: Winning Seasons (ask for Duane) T-shirts: Cruiser Creations (Jill Pollak) T-shirts: Harbor Graphics DJ: Coley V DJ: Harrison Prep AV Club DJ: Party Medic Puget Sound Entertainment - Cory K Favorite Leadership Lesson/Quick Activity: Uh/Um Game (public speaking practice) Lateral Thinking Puzzles I Like My Neighbor Who... Chat Pack cards Triangle Tag Circle Dance Blind Find (students are blindfolded then led by reliable or unreliable student to find an object) Minefield What would you like to see next year (2016 conference)? 253 Bob's Band Houston Kraft Bruce Brown Don Bartell (Leadership and Athletics) Topic: The Power of the Introvert Topic: Vulnerability Topic: Sympathy v. Empathy Themes for events (retreats, lock-ins, etc.) Hello everyone! The conference is ONE WEEK AWAY. How is that possible? How is it March? How excited am I for next week!?
Ordinary Heroes Conference It's actually not too late to register, if you're still interested in attending. Visit the registration link and make your plans here: http://www.wacaonline.org/conference.html The Red Lion still has rooms available, and for our conference rate. Since we have a "hero" theme this year, we would like to invite you all to wear your Superhero Swag on Thursday, March 12th. As always, this is optional, but you will see others in capes and other superhero-y paraphernalia. ;-) Plan on wearing your school spirit gear on Friday. Remember that we'll do a chocolate basket and snack basket for giveaways in our area. To participate, bring chocolate for the chocolate basket, and/or a favorite snack (packaged--salty, sweet, chips, cookies, crackers, etc.)! We'll have a number of drawings during our area meeting time. :-) Check out the conference program (the button is right there on the front page of the website): http://www.wacaonline.org/ Thank You, Presenters! John Norlin Amy Stapleton Jason Simonson Jen Durham Tira Hancock Did you see the AWSL newsletter? Finally, check out Joe Fenbert's latest AWSL newsletter! There's tons of info, including LEADERSHIP CAMP registration info (reserve your spots early!) and the latest Project Unify season updates. Articles of Note & Book Kid President has a new book! I haven't gotten to peruse it myself, but if you've loved KP's videos, you might want to pick up his book, Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome! I started following Lolly Daskal of Inc. on social media, thanks to John Norlin. In addition to be featured online often, she's also President and CEO of Lead From Within. She regularly posts these thoughtful, succinct articles/blog posts about successful people and leaders. You can have students read closely and make connections to their lives, or brainstorm their own lists and see how they stack up to what the author has provided, etc. Let me know if you use any, and how! --> 10 Things Likable People Do Consistently: http://www.inc.com/lolly-daskal/10-things-that-likeable-people-do-consistently.html --> 7 Secrets for Building Unstoppable Confidence: http://www.inc.com/lolly-daskal/unstoppable-confidence-learn-how-to-become-super-confident.html --> Communication Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs: http://www.inc.com/lolly-daskal/common-communication-mistakes-to-avoid.html --> 10 Tips to Prevent Distractions and Sharpen Your Focus: http://www.inc.com/lolly-daskal/10-smart-tips-to-prevent-distractions-and-sharpen-your-focus.html?cid=sf01001 --> Traits and Behaviors of Great Leaders: http://www.inc.com/lolly-daskal/great-leadership-matters-in-any-business.html --> Why You Should Stop Being a Boss and Start Being a Leader: http://www.inc.com/lolly-daskal/the-choice-is-yours-boss-or-leader-pick-one.html 8 Recipes for Awesome Customer Service (not from Lolly): http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/8-recipes-for-awesome-customer-service-with-sprinkles.html Jeff Yalden in WA in April! One of our past keynotes will be in the area, soon--check out what he had to say (on our WACA page on FB): Hey my friends . . . Just wanted to let you know the week of April 13-17, 2015 - I am scheduled to be in Washington State. I am scheduled to speak at Sumner High School on April 17th. Oak Harbor Youth Commission is bringing me to Oak Harbor High School on the 15th. As of right now, I have the 13th, 14th, and 16th available. I'd love to visit with you and see if you'd be interested in me coming to your school/community. I only make two visits to Washington State a year. The fall and the spring. Here is what I am doing: I am always doing my 1.20 hour middle and high school assemblies. Lots of fun and inspirational. I'm also doing a lot of Mental Health, Teen Depression, Teen Suicide, Suicide Prevention Training for teachers, students, and community members. Also, my evening program for parents and community members has been an awesome turnout. Let's see how we can make this work. If you are interested, please give me a call. -Jeff Yalden |
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WACA is a non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers who serve in student activities around the State of Washington.