Hello everyone!
 
I hope your week is off to a great start!
 
We had our Winter Board meeting last weekend at the Convention Center in Kennewick, and we’re gearing up for another great conference.  I have several items to share with you… too many to put into a single email.  So I’ll send just a few items for now and get more info out later!
 
REGISTRATION: If you haven’t yet registered for the conference, please do so!  We have a great line-up of speakers and events.  Of course, all that you need to know is outlined on our website: wacaonline.org.  The conference registration 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 help out as much as possible.
 
HOTEL ROOMS: If you haven’t registered for a hotel room, that info is also on the website.  The rooms are filling up pretty quickly (we’re hearing reports), which means that we should have a big conference this year!  Yeah!
·         Note:  If you have registered for a hotel room, but haven’t yet registered for the conference, please do that soon.  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 last year too.)
 
ADVISOR 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 anytime, but if you want your certification recognized at the conference, you’ll need to complete the application by February 1st.  The certification sure is nice when working with TPEP, National Board certification, or just being recognized for the amazing work that you do!
 
PARTNERS: Our partner coordinator Jen Durham 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.
 
PRESENTERS: Hey, Area 4, how about presenting a session at the conference?  Could you present an idea at our Meet the Pros session (a short/10-minute presentation that you repeat several times as delegates “rotate” to you)?  Do you have a longer presentation that could occupy a 50 minute session?  Please, please consider presenting.  We are always looking for presenters for ASB Law and sessions focused on our bookkeepers.  But delegates have been asking about topics like:  how to transition from summer leadership camp to home school; how to partner with administrators to promote school culture, how to creatively repeat programs like Character Strong. The application to present will be found on wacaonline.org!
 
Okay, that’s enough for now! Please let me know if you have questions and, as always, please let me know if you are no longer involved with activities and whose name I should add in your place.
 
Have a wonderful week!​


Becky Cruz
Mythology/Leadership
ASB Co-Advisor/Senior Class Co-Advisor
Evergreen High School

I hope your school year has gotten off to a great start! While you’ve hopefully enjoyed a well-deserved restful weekend, your WACA board had a chance to meet and work on planning our 2017 conference!


If you haven’t heard the great news yet, WACA 2017 is being held right here in our own neck of the woods in Vancouver, WA! I am so excited to showcase our awesome region and hope to have GREAT representation from Area 4! If you ever felt that Eastern Washington was just too far away, then this is the conference for you.


Details and Registration for WACA 2017:
Dates: March 15-17, 2017


Location: Vancouver Convention Center at the Hilton in downtown Vancouver


Registration: online at wacaonline.org and will be open on October 3rd


This year the registration form will include meal options for vegetarian, gluten-free, and lactose-free. Please mark your selection accurately as you will be provided with the meals you selected at the conference.


PRE-CON:
Don’t forget to sign up for pre-con! For just a small additional registration cost ($45) you will have the opportunity to attend one of four amazing pre-con sessions. Lunch will also be provided. Options are:
SESSION 1:
ASB Finance "Up Close," Presented by Marty Fortin, AWSP
Marty Fortin is considered one of the foremost experts on ASB law at best practices for schools in the State of Washington. He will bring his extensive knowledge and experience to this pre-conference offering. Click on the link on the WACA website for a brief synopsis of the topics to be covered.
 
SESSION 2:
Leadership Class Lessons & Resources, Presented by Susan Fortin, AWSP & Joe Fenbert, AWSP
Participate in hands-on activities and lessons that focus on leadership skills for life. Add these lessons to your leadership toolkit to use in class, retreats, after-school programs, advisory programs and more.
 
SESSION 3:
Character Strong, Presented By John Norlin - Director of Student Leadership and Community Involvement K-12 Sumner School District
This session will take you through an example year long plan to intentionally build character and a positive climate throughout your student body, staff, and community! Learn about instructional content, resources, activities, and strategies to make this happen. Bring your calendars, computers, and ideas of what you are doing at your school!
 
Presenters: We need you!
We are always looking for people to share their ideas! So many of you have great ideas; now I encourage you to share them through a 10 minute meet the pro’s session or a 50 minute presentation.
This year we are especially hoping to add presentations that might be of interest to administrators and secretaries. If you are interested in presenting, but aren’t sure about a topic, please contact me!


Hall of Fame and Advisor of the Year Nominations:
Hall of Fame and Advisor of the Year nominations are available online now at wacaonline.org! Remember that we count on you for these nominations, so be sure to get yours in by December 1st.
 
If you are no longer working with leadership please let me know who I should be sending these emails to. Or if there is someone who should be added to my email contacts, please let me know.


Thanks for sticking with me through this long email and have a wonderful day! 

​Welcome back to reality, Area 4!

 
I hope you all had as much fun at WACA as I did. And, as always, I learned so much! I’m excited to start implementing all of these great ideas at my school. There are some things I would like to follow-up on from our conference.
 
First, now is the time to take the WACA survey (if you haven’t already)! When the conference is fresh in your mind, we’d like some feedback. Please let us know what we can do to make our conference even better next year! You can find the survey link below. Thank you for taking the time to complete this!


http://www.wacaonline.org/
Washington activity coordinators association - Home
www.wacaonline.org
Members of WACA (Washington Activity Coordinators Association) include representatives from middle, junior and high schools from a variety of activity areas from all ...
 
Next, I would like to thank you all for attending the conference this year. I love seeing the enthusiasm from our Area and I’m looking forward to seeing our attendance grow in the next few years! The more people we have from our area, the better our idea sharing is. And it’s so nice to actually see all of you in person!
 
Also, I would like to share with you the things you put up on the posters during our idea share. We talked about a few different things: team-building activities, resources, favorite vendors. I’m including a list of those here:
 
Team-Builders (10-15 min):
Take a Stand
Fruit Basket
I Have Friends Who…
Screaming Ninjas
Red Elbow
Princess, Knight, Horse
L-R-L
Musical Train
GLI’s (Group Led Initiatives)
Webbing Loops
That’s Me
2 Truths and a Lie
Finger Math Game
Sentence Game
 
Team-Builders (30+ min):
Lunar Landing
Coney Island
Ropes in a Bucket
4 Corners
Musical Hula Hoop
Turtle Crossing
My Spot
 
Leadership Resources:
Upworthy
Soul Pancake
Butterfly Circus video
Wacaonline.org
Pinterest
 
Favorite Vendors:
TC Span America
Starbucks (very good w/donations)
Menchies (off 192nd in Vancouver)
GIDI Promotions
On-Broadway Photography (Vancouver)
Dutch Bros
                                      
And finally I’d like to encourage you to save the dates for next year’s conference, “Gone Fishing for Ideas,”March 15-17, 2017 right here in Vancouver!
 
Thanks, Area 4. Have a great weekend!

I hope you all had a wonderful and restful summer!   AWSL (the conference formerly known as WASC) is coming up on October 10-12 at Capital High School in Olympia. I wanted to remind you that early bird registration sign-ups end TODAY! (September 15th). Registration forms received after today will be accepted on a space-available basis until September 26th. Hopefully your students are all signed up and ready to go. I look forward to seeing everybody there!

Also, I was hoping that we could all work together to support our students from Area 4. If your school has a student or students who will be presenting a workshop at AWSL this year, please let me know their names and the title or subject of the workshop. I would like to be able to provide a list of Area 4 presenters to our whole group so that we can come out to support and encourage each other!   There is more information about AWSL on this page: http://www.awsp.org/wascconference  

I will be trying to locate ALL Area 4 advisors at AWSL to remind you to sign up for WACA... and to provide a little treat for those who need it. :)   Have a GREAT start to the school year, and I will see you all soon!

Hello!
For those of you who I haven't met, my name is Becky Cruz and I am your WACA Area 4 rep for the next two years. I'm an English and Leadership teacher at Evergreen High School in Vancouver.

Well, some of us have ended the school year and others are just finishing up. As we head into the summer and prepare for some well-deserved rest, I wanted to remind you of a couple of things.

First, the Association of Washington Student Leaders conference (formerly known as WASC) will be held October 10-12 at Capital High School in Olympia. This conference is such a wonderful opportunity for our students to share and learn from each other! When my students talk about their experiences at WASC they say things like, "It had a huge impact on me," or "I was inspired to make a difference in my school and community." Registration is already open, and if you haven't filled out your travel request and authorization, now is a good time to do that! I have attached the registration packet for your convenience.

Second, WACA 2015 will be held in Yakima from March 11-13, 2015! The theme is "Ordinary Heroes." This year's conference was awesome, and I know there are great things in the works for next year! Mark your calendars now and don't miss out! I will be sure to let you know when registration is available and I hope to see ALL of you there! Did you know that there is a WACA website? Here is the link! http://www.wacaonline.org/ If you look under "more" you will find a link to the Area 4 page. I will copy any updates I send to you onto the website, but there is a lot of other good information there too. Be sure to check it out when you have a few minutes!

And finally, I just want to wish you a fun and restful summer. Even if your students don't tell you on a regular basis, remember that what you do is important. You are changing lives and teaching these kids what leadership truly is. Thank you for all you do and enjoy your summer. Much love to you, Area 4!

*If you are no longer involved with ASB at your school, please let me know so that I can update my list. And if you know the name of your successor, that would be much appreciated, too!

Becky Cruz