Hello WACA Area 6 friends!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  With the end of the school year in sight, I wanted to reach out one last time and say thanks for all you do to make a difference in your school and our world.

Special shout out to Lori Benoit from Eisenhower High School.  She received the crystal apple award for excellence in teaching in the Yakima School District.  Way to go!

If you haven't already liked our Area 6 Facebook page, here is the link.  https://www.facebook.com/waca6/ On this space we can share ideas, speaker events and more.  Feel free to join in on the conversation.


Thank you for all you do for your schools, students, and communities! 
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
 
Check this out if you have a few extra minutes this week:  https://youtu.be/RN3iLeq1828
Enjoy the rest of your school year!

​Dear WACA Area 6,

Thanks so much for attending the conference in Kennewick last week.  It was GREAT to see you all.  Please fill out the survey if you haven't already.  Your feedback really does helps us improve.  Here is the link.  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WACA18  

Mark your calendars now for WACA 2019.  It will be March 13th-15th at the Kennewick Convention Center again.  We love that nearby location.  Next year, I am going to invite some of my administrators to attend.  Think about who you could invite to join us next year.

Fun tip: Recently a student at my school made a fun presentation using the program titled biteable.com  Feel free to check it out and see if you might be able to use it for an assignment.  It's really fun and user friendly and free.

It is my pleasure to represent Area 6 for WACA.  If you haven't already, please like our Facebook page to keep updated on events and speakers in our area.  The title of the FB page is "Area 6 Washington State Activity Coordinator's Association." If you don't want to receive these group email anymore, please let me know.  Also, if there is someone in your building who would benefit from these emails, also, let me know.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or any events that the area should know about.  Have a great week!

Hello all,


Well, we are less than a week away from the WACA conference.  The schedule is in place, the speakers are ready, the entertainment has been arranged, and the class sessions are full.  I’m looking forward to seeing you all.  
 
Some final details to your conference planning:
 
#1:  Attire -  The conference is very casual; jeans and a t-shirt usually work very well.  Since our theme is Tune in to Leadership, how about bringing a concert/music shirt to wear on Thursday.  And Friday, we try to show off our school colors, so find some spirit gear from your school.  Some people like to dress a bit nicer for the Thursday evening awards banquet, but that is very optional.
 
#2:  Clock Hours -  Recall that 10 clock hours are available at the close of the conference.  The sign-in will be quick, but please plan for a few minutes to complete that task.
 
#3:  Area Meetings -  I am looking to having a chance to see everyone, hang out and share resources and ideas at our area meetings.  Looking forward to some great networking!
 
All right, that should do until we see each other next Wednesday.  Please let me know what questions you have.
Have a great week!


Susie Bennett
Leadership Teacher/District Culture Coordinator
Selah Middle School
Cultivating Life-Long Learners

​Hello Area 6,

The countdown is on.  Only 15 days until the WACA conference.  It is not too late to sign up.  Go to wacaonline.org to register.

We are going to have a bunch of fabulous presentations.  Some from our own Area 6 leadership teachers and ASB advisors.  We do need just one more person to present at Meet the Pros.  This is a ten minute presentation to a small group of people sitting around a table.  Please consider presenting one of the favorite things you do at your school.  Special thanks to Lori Benoit and Melissa Walker for recently signing up to present at Meet the Pros.  The deadline to sign-up to present is tomorrow (Wednesday) night by 8:00 p.m.

One final item . . . Stu Cabe is going to Eastmont on April 17th and he will be here in Selah on April 19th.  Are there any other schools in the area who would like to book him on April 18th?  He would love to stay in the area for a three day run.  We are having him work with our 7th grade class to prepare them to take over the leadership of the school for next year.  Let me know if you are interested.

That's all for now.  I will be in touch before the WACA conference with more details.  It's getting really close!  Looking forward to seeing you soon.

​Hello Area 6...WACA is only a month away!  I hope you are as excited as I am for this year's conference.


I have three quick conference items for you:
First, Barnes and Noble is managing our Resource Room this year.  That means that 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 have set up a special code for us (bookfair ID is 12325999), that is 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 same price as during the conference (but only from March 15-20).  
Second, we still have a couple of spots to fill for our conference Meet the Pros session.  Meet the Pros is really nice, because it is just a 10 minute chat (actually less, when you consider discussion and questions!)  You have something cool at your school… so present it!  All delegates that present at Meet the Pros get a copy of all Meet the Pro presenter handouts!!  Wow!    So… 
Have you got a novel way to celebrate students (birthday calendar each month?  Their face in a cut-out star that is 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 hold a leadership retreat?
Do you have a great MLK/Black History month assembly?
​
Share one of the amazing things that is happening at your school!
The presenter application is really easy to find on the website (wacaonline.org). 
Get your application in TODAY!  
Last thing...our conference theme is "Tune into Leadership."  Along that vein, you have the opportunity to request songs to be played at the conference.  Follow think link to make your requests. 
https://tinyurl.com/WACArequests 


Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Happy New Semester Area 6!
Are you ready for a March break?  Don't forget to register for WACA 2018...Tune into Leadership!
Just a quick note:
Laurel Robillard, WACA Board President, sent out the following update regarding our conference hotels.  Looks like there a some rooms left for reserving!  I’ve added the contact phone numbers, if that is how you want to contact them.  But you can also find them online.  Please note the address of the Red Lion; there are two of them in the Kennewick area.
February 9th is the reservation deadline...after that rooms not reserved (with names) will be released to the public...we are getting the group rate...
Springhill Suites        (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

A couple more quick items for you:

•  Clock Hours:  10 clock hours are available for attending the instructional sessions of the conference.  These are FREE (yep!), and they are available at the end of the conference AFTER THE CLOSING SESSION.  No, I’m not using all caps to “yell” at you.  I’m using them to emphasize when they are available – we have to maintain the integrity of our offerings, so they are not available before the closing of the conference.  So please, plan for this time.  We too are planning; we know that things were a bit slow last year, and we are planning on streamlining the process and offering MULTIPLE pick-up stations.
• WACA Board:  We have elections this year for the following positions:  President-Elect, Middle-Level Rep, Secretary, and Even # Area Reps (Areas 2, 4, 6, and 8). We also have an appointed position up for selection this year:  the Partner Coordinator.  If you are interested in any of these positions, check out the info (and application) on the website.
• Lastly, please consider presenting.  You are the secret sauce for this conference.  What you do really does help other people improve their programs.  Go to wacaonline.org to sign up to present.  Thanks!

​
Please let me know what questions you have!
Enjoy the sunshine!

​Hello Area 6!


I hope you are all well on this fine Friday!  Ready to enjoy a nice weekend?
 
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 lots of items to share with you… too many to put into a single email.  So I’ll send just a few items at a time, hopefully all well-timed.  Here goes!
 
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.
• 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.
• Also note:  If your room was reserved by a bookkeeper or secretary or someone else who was reserving several rooms for a group, be sure that there is more than the just the bookkeeper’s name on each room.  For example, at RHS, Kari will reserve rooms for Tim, John, and Jim.  If “Kari” is the only name on the registration, that would be bad (see above note).  If she adds each of our names, that will verify that there are three people attending the conference, each with a conference registration and hotel registration.  Make sense?  Let me know if you need clarification.

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!
 
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 6, 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.  One of our area delegates is looking for a session on curriculum instruction/leadership lessons.  Can you help?  And remember:  we all take ideas, and “tweak” them.  We don’t think much of it, but those tweaks are what make them so valuable, and so important to share with others.  And hey, that application to present will be found on… yep, you guessed it, wacaonline.org!
 
Okay, that’s enough for now!  Read this email, complete a couple of the tasks, then relax and have a great weekend!
 
See you soon!

Hello Everybody!
Welcome back to another school year, and another exciting year of activities.
 
First things first… I’m Susie Bennett, your WACA Area #6 Representative and Selah Middle School Leadership teacher.  Am I talking to the right person?  ;-)  If so, great.  If you’re not the activities person at your school, or if someone else should be added to my list, would you please reply to this email right away?  Then I can update my contact list.  Thanks!
 
We just held our fall WACA Board meeting in Wenatchee last weekend.  We went to Wenatchee to check out their convention center and hotels.  We’re always keeping our eyes open for possible venues for our conference.
 
There were several items from the board meeting that I thought I should pass on to you:
#1.  Don’t forget that you can apply for Washington State Advisor Certification.  We started the program earlier this year, and have thirty or so certified advisors at this time.  If you’re interested, please refer to the application on line 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.
 
#2.  The high school state student leadership conference (AWSL) is coming fast, October 13-15, in Yakima.  Check out the latest “In the Loop” if you receive that, or google “AWSL” for info and forms.
 
#3.  Speaking of conferences, the NCSA (National Conference on Student Activities) is being held in Spokane this year!  It’s going to be a great conference.  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!
 
#4.  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.
 
#5.  And finally, it’s not too early to think about the WACA Conference, March 14-16, 2018, at the Tri-Cities Convention Center in Kennewick.  And yep, you guessed it!  There’s information about the conference on our website.  

Okay, this email is long enough.  So that’ enough info for now.  Please do contact me with concerns or questions.  And please do contact me to help me update this mailing list for our area.

Have a great week!

​​Welcome back Area 6! I hope you all had a wonderful summer.

High School folks, this note is for you:

I wanted to send out a quick reminder that the AWSL Fall conference is coming up SOON! Early-bird registrations must be postmarked no later than Tuesday, September 19th. So get yours in the mail today!

Remember, this year’s conference will be held in Yakima at Eisenhower High School. 

Also, there is a HUGE need for host families.  Attached is a flyer about hosting and below is a link to sign up.  www.awsleaders.org/hostfamily
We are hosting three students this year.  I've done it before and it was really fun.

That's it for now.  More WACA details soon.

​Good Morning WACA Area 6,

I can't believe it has already been a week since our great conference in Vancouver.  I am still going through my paperwork and notes trying to make sure I remember all the great ideas I heard. 

Please make sure to complete the survey at http://www.wacaonline.org/
Your feedback will help make our conference even better.  Thanks for taking the time to complete the survey. 

Mark your calendar for next year's conference: March 14, 15, 16 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, WA.  Tune in to Leadership!

Lastly, Stefani Tweedy from Zillah make a group Facebook page for us to share ideas, events, speakers and more.  Follow this link to join the WACA Area 6 group.  https://www.facebook.com/waca6/

That is it for now.  Please contact me if you want to be removed from this email list.  
Have a GREAT spring break!