Greetings Area 3 Friends-
We made it over the pass without incident to the Winter Board meeting and I returned pretty excited about what we are putting together for 2014.
Check out the WACA Website - for ideas, videos/resources, and of course to register for the conference! If you go to the video section - Ryan has compiled a pretty comprehensive list of amazing resources. I refer to this at least once a month for a mini-lesson or inspirational start to a week.
So - most of the info I need to pass along is about the conference. Save this for future reference:
The WACA Conference, WACA 2014 – Help! (Beatles theme) is just around the corner! I love that each year, we evaluate the conference and try to add new elements to make it stronger.
For example, this year, the WACA conference will have a yearbook! Seriously, every delegate will receive a “yearbook” of our conference. One of our vendors, Balfour Yearbooks (Kerri Smead, out of Renton), is offering the service. Balfour will take photos of each delegate, and candids of the various activities, and they’ll create a yearbook. Then they will deliver a yearbook to each delegate (no charge!) soon after the conference ends. Way cool!
If you’ve checked out the website, then you know that we’re offering an extra Pre-Conference session this year. Since we’re headed to the Tri-Cities, President Tim Turner thought it would be great to offer a Hanford site tour! So he arranged for a tour of the historic B-Reactor. The tour starts early – Wednesday morning at around 8am; we’ll ride out to the site and have a grand tour, and have lunch on the return trip… about 4 hours all in all. It’s at the regular pre-conference fee. What a cool opportunity, especially if you plan to drive over on Tuesday. One condition though – the tour is based on a minimum number of attendees (but has a maximum of 40). So, if you’re interested, be sure to sign up. The deadline for reserving your spot is February 15th.
The WACA Social: In past years, at the end of the awards banquet, we’ve had some entertainment prior to the official start of the social. Well, this year we have a special speaker – Mr. Robert Fulghum. If you’re familiar with the name, you’re already jumping up and down. If you’re not sure, he’s the author of the book All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten (He has a number of books to his name, all great reads, all filled with inspiration, humor, and down-home wisdom.) So be prepared for an hour of warmth and laughter after dinner on Thursday.
Additional Housekeeping details:
Meals: If you’re doing a pre-con, lunch on Wednesday is included. Dinner on Wednesday is “on your own” - but we've moved the keynote earlier and left the rest of the evening open for dinner so you don't have to stress about making it back in time for the presentation. (The predominant feedback on conference evaluations suggested that people wanted Wednesday night to touch base with friends. If you want suggestions for dining in the area, check out the ”conference location” bullet on the conference 2014 menu of the website). Thursday, all of your meals are taken care of. On Friday, breakfast is provided, and we’ll close the conference and send you off with a “box lunch."
In our Area Meetings, we always have give-aways/drawings. This year, I'm asking for your participation in 3 things:
Chocolate Basket - bring your favorite chocolate and receive a ticket to enter the raffle for the basket(s) I usually make several out of the donations.
Salty/Sweet Basket - bring your favorite salty or sweet (non-chocolate) snack. Same concept as the chocolate basket.
Spirit Gear/Event Shirt Idea Exchange - Bring samples of some of your favorite tshirt designs from events at your school (or the ASB/Leadership general shirt, etc.) At the second meeting, we will set them up around the room so people can take pictures of the designs. At the end of the conference, if you want to swap, you can, but you don't have to. This way, you go home with lots of ideas instead of just one new tshirt that might not fit:)
Finally - we need presenters (borderline begging now) Shout out to Alicia Hall from Stewart MS for being the first Area 3er to sign up to present. *cough, cough* no pressure, but she has infant twins, and she is finding a way to present. In all seriousness, we are such a strong area, and I know I call on you to present, but we have a wealth of knowledge in Pierce Co, and why not let everyone benefit from our efforts? I appreciate every one of you willing to take the time to present a 50 min session or a Meet the Pros. Email me with questions about this, or if you need help choosing a topic.
I will sign off with a quote Joe Fenbert included in the MLR curriculum for this year. It is an MLK Jr quote I had not heard before.
"People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other."
How grateful I am to be in a position where I have an excuse to initiate conversation. I'm a better teacher, advisor and person because of my communication with those of you I have met through WACA. I hope to meet more of you at the conference or in the future. I know I always have more to learn.
Thanks
We made it over the pass without incident to the Winter Board meeting and I returned pretty excited about what we are putting together for 2014.
Check out the WACA Website - for ideas, videos/resources, and of course to register for the conference! If you go to the video section - Ryan has compiled a pretty comprehensive list of amazing resources. I refer to this at least once a month for a mini-lesson or inspirational start to a week.
So - most of the info I need to pass along is about the conference. Save this for future reference:
The WACA Conference, WACA 2014 – Help! (Beatles theme) is just around the corner! I love that each year, we evaluate the conference and try to add new elements to make it stronger.
For example, this year, the WACA conference will have a yearbook! Seriously, every delegate will receive a “yearbook” of our conference. One of our vendors, Balfour Yearbooks (Kerri Smead, out of Renton), is offering the service. Balfour will take photos of each delegate, and candids of the various activities, and they’ll create a yearbook. Then they will deliver a yearbook to each delegate (no charge!) soon after the conference ends. Way cool!
If you’ve checked out the website, then you know that we’re offering an extra Pre-Conference session this year. Since we’re headed to the Tri-Cities, President Tim Turner thought it would be great to offer a Hanford site tour! So he arranged for a tour of the historic B-Reactor. The tour starts early – Wednesday morning at around 8am; we’ll ride out to the site and have a grand tour, and have lunch on the return trip… about 4 hours all in all. It’s at the regular pre-conference fee. What a cool opportunity, especially if you plan to drive over on Tuesday. One condition though – the tour is based on a minimum number of attendees (but has a maximum of 40). So, if you’re interested, be sure to sign up. The deadline for reserving your spot is February 15th.
The WACA Social: In past years, at the end of the awards banquet, we’ve had some entertainment prior to the official start of the social. Well, this year we have a special speaker – Mr. Robert Fulghum. If you’re familiar with the name, you’re already jumping up and down. If you’re not sure, he’s the author of the book All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten (He has a number of books to his name, all great reads, all filled with inspiration, humor, and down-home wisdom.) So be prepared for an hour of warmth and laughter after dinner on Thursday.
Additional Housekeeping details:
Meals: If you’re doing a pre-con, lunch on Wednesday is included. Dinner on Wednesday is “on your own” - but we've moved the keynote earlier and left the rest of the evening open for dinner so you don't have to stress about making it back in time for the presentation. (The predominant feedback on conference evaluations suggested that people wanted Wednesday night to touch base with friends. If you want suggestions for dining in the area, check out the ”conference location” bullet on the conference 2014 menu of the website). Thursday, all of your meals are taken care of. On Friday, breakfast is provided, and we’ll close the conference and send you off with a “box lunch."
- Lodging: The Hilton Garden is already full, but the Red Lion has lots of room. And there are several other hotels in the immediate area. Check out the website for a list, and for contact information.
- Attire: Casual attire is the conference norm. Some folks dress up a bit for the Awards Banquet on Thursday. And everyone wears school colors on Friday (wear your favorite school shirt/sweatshirt).
- Don’t forget that part of the conference involves elections. President-Elect, the Middle-Level Representative, and even Area Representatives are all up for election. In addition, we’ll take applications for two appointed positions, the Program Coordinator and the Treasurer. Check out the website for position descriptions, or chat with me – I’ll be happy to share ideas/info with you.Those applications will be due Thursday afternoon.
- Past-President Kari Bradley is organizing the Resource Table this year. She wants me to remind you that she will have lots of books and other items to peruse/purchase this year. So file those POs, warm up those P-cards, dust off those checkbooks, and get ready to haul away some great resources.
In our Area Meetings, we always have give-aways/drawings. This year, I'm asking for your participation in 3 things:
Chocolate Basket - bring your favorite chocolate and receive a ticket to enter the raffle for the basket(s) I usually make several out of the donations.
Salty/Sweet Basket - bring your favorite salty or sweet (non-chocolate) snack. Same concept as the chocolate basket.
Spirit Gear/Event Shirt Idea Exchange - Bring samples of some of your favorite tshirt designs from events at your school (or the ASB/Leadership general shirt, etc.) At the second meeting, we will set them up around the room so people can take pictures of the designs. At the end of the conference, if you want to swap, you can, but you don't have to. This way, you go home with lots of ideas instead of just one new tshirt that might not fit:)
Finally - we need presenters (borderline begging now) Shout out to Alicia Hall from Stewart MS for being the first Area 3er to sign up to present. *cough, cough* no pressure, but she has infant twins, and she is finding a way to present. In all seriousness, we are such a strong area, and I know I call on you to present, but we have a wealth of knowledge in Pierce Co, and why not let everyone benefit from our efforts? I appreciate every one of you willing to take the time to present a 50 min session or a Meet the Pros. Email me with questions about this, or if you need help choosing a topic.
I will sign off with a quote Joe Fenbert included in the MLR curriculum for this year. It is an MLK Jr quote I had not heard before.
"People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other."
How grateful I am to be in a position where I have an excuse to initiate conversation. I'm a better teacher, advisor and person because of my communication with those of you I have met through WACA. I hope to meet more of you at the conference or in the future. I know I always have more to learn.
Thanks