Hello Everyone in Area 6!
My name is Susie Bennett. I teach at Selah Middle School. Additionally, I am the Area 6 representative for WACA (Washington Activities Coordinators Association). I hope that this note finds you happy and healthy. As usual, my first task at the beginning of the year is to ask, “Am I talking to the right person?” Are you the activities/leadership person? If so, great. If not, could you please forward me contact info for the correct person? And if you know someone in a neighboring school who should be getting this email but is not, I’d love some help with their contact info as well. Thanks!
As you know, we had our WACA Fall Board Meeting on Sept 22-23 in Spokane. We covered A LOT of material at the Board Meeting. Here goes:
1) The Board uses the Fall Meeting to check out possible sites for our conference. Since there have been several changes in the Spokane area, we decided it was time to visit again. We have to find a site that will accommodate our many break-out sessions, our big vendor area, our large-group sessions, and our housing needs (for about 350 people). And we try to be fiscally responsible – so we know that if we book a certain number of rooms (room block) and order a certain volume of food (banquet minimums), we can get our conference areas at no/low cost. Make sense so far? Well, we found ourselves involved in a “Three Bears” story at our Fall Meeting. Many places were “too small” – they didn’t have enough meeting space or vendor space. Some places were “too big” – like the Davenport Grand Hotel, where we were staying; they had enough space, but we can’t meet room blocks and banquet minimums that are large enough to offset the conference costs. So the Spokane venues weren’t the answer at this time, and we continue to look for “just right”. And right now, the Tri-Cities is “just right” for the size of our group.
2) Don’t forget that WACA sponsors an Advisor 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 recommend it. I use it on my TPEP evaluation each year. And when people ask why I attend certain conferences/events, I reply, “I’m a Certified Advisor; that’s what we do.” Deadline for applications for this cycle (certificates handed out at the March 2019 annual meeting) is February 1st.
3) By the way, one of those events is the AWSL Conference for high school students and their advisors. It is this weekend (October 12-14) in Kent. John Bittinger, a WACA Board member, will be presenting an advisor workshop on Saturday, for all those interested. He will be using webbing loops and some other “hands-on” items to highlight some teambuilding and Character Strong activities.
4) Back to the WACA Conference: Each March at the conference, we present our Hall of Fame awards. We need some input from you, so would you please consider going online atwacaonline.org, and nominating a colleague? Details are on the website, and the deadline is December 1st of 2018.
5) Mark your calendars for the WACA conference March 13-15 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick. Registration is open at http://www.wacaonline.org/conference-2019.html
Okay, that’s enough for now. I’ll send another email note in about a month. Until then, have a fantastic Fall season. Keep doing the amazing work that you do.
Take care,
Susie Bennett
My name is Susie Bennett. I teach at Selah Middle School. Additionally, I am the Area 6 representative for WACA (Washington Activities Coordinators Association). I hope that this note finds you happy and healthy. As usual, my first task at the beginning of the year is to ask, “Am I talking to the right person?” Are you the activities/leadership person? If so, great. If not, could you please forward me contact info for the correct person? And if you know someone in a neighboring school who should be getting this email but is not, I’d love some help with their contact info as well. Thanks!
As you know, we had our WACA Fall Board Meeting on Sept 22-23 in Spokane. We covered A LOT of material at the Board Meeting. Here goes:
1) The Board uses the Fall Meeting to check out possible sites for our conference. Since there have been several changes in the Spokane area, we decided it was time to visit again. We have to find a site that will accommodate our many break-out sessions, our big vendor area, our large-group sessions, and our housing needs (for about 350 people). And we try to be fiscally responsible – so we know that if we book a certain number of rooms (room block) and order a certain volume of food (banquet minimums), we can get our conference areas at no/low cost. Make sense so far? Well, we found ourselves involved in a “Three Bears” story at our Fall Meeting. Many places were “too small” – they didn’t have enough meeting space or vendor space. Some places were “too big” – like the Davenport Grand Hotel, where we were staying; they had enough space, but we can’t meet room blocks and banquet minimums that are large enough to offset the conference costs. So the Spokane venues weren’t the answer at this time, and we continue to look for “just right”. And right now, the Tri-Cities is “just right” for the size of our group.
2) Don’t forget that WACA sponsors an Advisor 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 recommend it. I use it on my TPEP evaluation each year. And when people ask why I attend certain conferences/events, I reply, “I’m a Certified Advisor; that’s what we do.” Deadline for applications for this cycle (certificates handed out at the March 2019 annual meeting) is February 1st.
3) By the way, one of those events is the AWSL Conference for high school students and their advisors. It is this weekend (October 12-14) in Kent. John Bittinger, a WACA Board member, will be presenting an advisor workshop on Saturday, for all those interested. He will be using webbing loops and some other “hands-on” items to highlight some teambuilding and Character Strong activities.
4) Back to the WACA Conference: Each March at the conference, we present our Hall of Fame awards. We need some input from you, so would you please consider going online atwacaonline.org, and nominating a colleague? Details are on the website, and the deadline is December 1st of 2018.
5) Mark your calendars for the WACA conference March 13-15 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick. Registration is open at http://www.wacaonline.org/conference-2019.html
Okay, that’s enough for now. I’ll send another email note in about a month. Until then, have a fantastic Fall season. Keep doing the amazing work that you do.
Take care,
Susie Bennett