Happy Friday WACA Area 7 Friends! 
 
WACA is almost here and that means it is time for The Greatest Show on Earth!  The conference begins Wednesday, March 13th!  One week from today!!! 
Here are some last-minute details… 

If you are a presenter, THANK YOU for your time and talent. We can’t make this conference happen without your willingness to present.
 
During Area meetings, the focus will be on how we can best utilize this conference and one another to fill the needs we have in our schools.  Is there a need to improve school culture?  Got it.  Professional Development?  Deal.  Help with projects and events?  Okay.  We’ll also spend some time networking and sharing resource and ideas with one another.

It’s a very casual conference so jeans and t-shirts usually work well.  Temperatures in the conference center rooms can vary so you may want to dress in layers. Some people like to dress a bit nicer for the Thursday evening awards banquet, but that is very optional.  Friday of the conference is school colors day.  Show your school pride on Friday! 

If you have any questions or comments please email me.
 
I'm excited to see you NEXT WEEK!
 
 
Bryan Conrad
​

Hello WACA Area 7,
 
We are just three weeks away from the Greatest Show On Earth, our 2019 state WACA conference.  
 
1. It is not too late to sign up for the conference.  You will not regret it! www.wacaonline.org
 
2. We need 15 more people to present at Meet the Pros. This is a chance to present a short lesson that you do or an activity you want to highlight.  It is low-key.  You sit around a table with people who want to hear about your project.  Would you consider signing up for a Meet the Pros session?  Here is the link.  http://www.wacaonline.org/presenter-application.html
 
That's all for now.  Have a great week!
 
 
Bryan Conrad
Director of Bands
Leadership
ASB Adviser
Activities Coordinator
Horizon Middle School
Central Valley School District
WACA Area 7 Representative
​

Dear WACA Area 7,

I hope your Wednesday is going well!

Now that we’re in December, the WACA Conference is 98 days away! Which means it’s time to get your paperwork, registration and hotel rooms in order so you can attend the conference.

WACA Conference: March 13 – 15, 2019 @ Three Rivers Convention Center in the Tri-Cities. The theme is: Come One, Come All, to the Greatest Show on Earth! Click here to register.

Presenting at WACA: Learning from each other is the best part of WACA (besides just being together), so please share your knowledge with us. If you’re stuck on what you can present on, use these three areas of focus; personal growth, project management and building culture, to brainstorm what you can present.
-      50-minute classes
o  Present/Teach/Facilitate 50-min lesson
-      10-minute Meet the Pros
o  Present 10-min session 4 times.
-      If you need ideas, go here to see past year’s presentations.
-      To apply to present, please click here.

 
The Purpose of WACA: Our focus at WACA is threefold:
1. Personal Growth 2. Project Management 3. Culture Building

As Activities Directors, Leadership Advisors, Leadership Teachers, Administrators, Counselors, Class and Club Advisors, Success Support staff, we all have a strong role and identity within personal growth, project management and culture building.
 
Therefore, this conference is helpful and reaffirming of your own purpose, goals and actions. There is a place for everyone at this conference, so please attend.

The Benefits of WACA:
-      You get to be with people who surround themselves with positive environments, want to serve kids, schools and adults.
-      You get to learn and hear new perspectives from people from all over the state and beyond. You will come back with a bucket full of ideas that you want to do now.
-      You get a break from the routine in the middle of March when we need it most.
-      You have a built-in support network of people who are in similar jobs as you, so they naturally understand.
-      The ability to network with Advisors, Administrators and more from across the whole state
-      Some good ol’ fun. We all need more fun. We create it in our jobs for kids, yet we don’t take the time for ourselves. Take the time.
-      Self-care. Take care of yourself and development so that you can effectively take care of others.
-      This is the only Activities based professional development conference in Washington state. So take advantage and use it for your evaluation.

How to Pay for WACA:If you’re worried about how to pay for WACA, here are a few ways that may work for you (if you’re not worried, just skip past this section):
-      ASB funds:It is totally acceptable to use ASB funds for your registration and lodging. Just get the kid’s approval, which also stems into a great conversation about lifelong learning and being current on best practices to best help the kids and the school
-      Principal’s funds: I’ve definitely convinced my principal more than once to help cover sub costs for this conference. If they need to see the value, you can show them the Principal framework and they can see how you getting professional development to help with school culture is a part of their framework.
-      Professional development funds:based off your district’s contract, you may have funds to use.
-      ASB Secretary:Talk to your ASB Secretary about other funds that may be available. Some districts have specific advisor pools of money for professional development.
-      Department Funds:If you’re lucky enough to have a dept fund for activities or leadership, use that.
-      Your local school foundation, union, and/or Parent organization: Ask for a scholarship. It directly supports kids and their development, so this is a perfect use.

If you have any questions about anything or need help, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
 
 
Bryan Conrad
Director of Bands
Leadership
ASB Adviser
Activities Coordinator
Horizon Middle School
Central Valley School District
WACA Area 7 Representative
​

Hello Area 7!
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!
 
 
Bryan Conrad

Hello everyone!
I hope you are all well on this fine Tuesday! 
 
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 7, 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 week!
 
 
Bryan Conrad
Director of Bands
Leadership
ASB Adviser
Activities Coordinator
Horizon Middle School
Central Valley School District
WACA Area 7 Representative
​

Happy January WACA Area 7!

My name is Bryan Conrad and I am your Area 7 Representative for the Washington Activities Coordinators Association (WACA).  Area  7 is made up of Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Lincoln and Spokane counties. Here is a little info about myself:  I have been the Band Director at Horizon Middle School  in Spokane Valley for the past 18 years.  I have been the ASB Adviser and Leadership teacher for the past four years and I am in my first year as Activities Coordinator. I also serve as a Teaching Counselor for the AWSL Middle Level Leadership Camp at Chewelah Peak each summer. My goal is to create a current contact list so that I can share all of the great resources that WACA has to offer. If you receive this email and you are not the Activities Coordinator, Leadership Teacher, ASB Adviser or Athletic Director in your building, please take a few minutes and send me the contact information of the person who is.  Thank you in advance.
 
For me, the WACA conference is a great place to network with other advisers and learn from some amazing educators and speakers on many topics relating to student activities, creating culture, ASB resources and much more.  We all need something to re-energize us from time to time. Student activities has done that for me. So come join me in March for a great time connecting and learning.
 
Here's an update on all things WACA:

#1 Registration is open for our WACA Conference, March 14-16 at the Tri-Cities Convention Center in Kennewick at wacaonline.org.   Get your paperwork in, reserve those substitutes and put it on the calendar to recharge your battery in March.  Here are some conference details:

• The Pre-Conference session topics and the Speakers Showcase speakers are listed on the website if you would like a little advance peek at some highlights of the first day of the conference.  The outline for the entire conference is online as well.
• Hotel information is available too.  Book now so you get a great room.
• When you register, look carefully at the section for menu options/concerns.  We are trying to serve our delegates as best we can and trying to be sensitive to dietary needs.

 
#2 Be a Presenter at WACA.  We need you to help make our conference great.  Share your expertise and creativity by presenting a session at the conference.  

#3  Don’t forget that you can apply for Washington State Advisor Certification.  We started the program earlier this year and have approximately thirty 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.

#4 I’ve attached a lesson that I received from a friend while networking at the WACA conference. I like to do this with my leadership class or student council when talking about group roles. We do the Group Dynamics or Bust activities first and then, I give out the group roles paper.  We identify who played positive roles during the activities.  Next, I assign a skit topic to small groups.  In the small groups, they design a skit that tries to showcase all of the group roles.  Once they perform the skits, the rest fill out the observing group roles paper and discuss. Lastly, I have each of the students write two goals on a note card; the positive group role they want to practice more and one negative group role they want to minimize.

I hope you enjoy the lesson and the wonderful month of January.  Feel free to email me if you have any questions. Have a great day!
 
 
Bryan Conrad
Director of Bands
Leadership
ASB Adviser
Activities Coordinator
Horizon Middle School
Central Valley School District
WACA Area 7 Representative

​Hi Area 7 Friends!
 
Sorry that this is the first time you are hearing from me for the year, but I know that you all understand the busy that I am experiencing, but I'm excited for this year's WACA conference! Below you will find the details for registration for the conference, a request for presentations, and information about the pre-conference offerings this year (which are GREAT!)
 
Please let me know if you have any questions - I would love an opportunity to connect with 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
 
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!
SESSION 4:
Engage. Captivate. Inspire., Presented By Scott Bachovich - Youth Motivational Speaker. http://scottbackovich.com/
 
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.

Hello Area 7!
​
We are now down to just single digit days until the 2016 WACA Conference! I can’t wait! It's not too late to register for the conference or to present! We still need people to present during our Meet the Pros and Book the Pros sections. You can find the presenter application and all of the information you need to register on our website at http://www.wacaonline.org
 
I have also included a sneak peak into our WACA Book store (where books and other activities will be available for purchase) and our Throwback Thursday template in case you would like to come to the conference with your photo already done. If not, we will have cardstock copies for you to put up your photo when you arrive (more about this later in the email).
 
Here are a few last minute reminders for you:

What to Wear: Something I need to pack? Yes, but only for fun! During the conference, we often try and dress to the theme (Our own version of WACA spirit) Wednesday, come in whatever you would like. Thursday, because it is Sports themed, feel free to wear a team jersey or any sort of sports attire. Thursday evening, we have a banquet, so feel free to wear your spiffed up sports attire then as well! Friday is usually a day where we all get to represent our own school spirit. Pick a cool shirt that your school has designed to wear around and show off. ALSO! To complement the theme we are doing a fun “Throwback Thursday” activity. Feel free to bring any old sports pics (yes, of yourself!) 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 would rather, you can also bring a digital copy that we can post on our digital tag board during the conference. 
 
See you all next week!

Your WACA Area 7 Rep,
 
Amanda

Hi Area 7 Folks! 
Welcome back from your three day weekend!
 
Can you believe it is mid-January already?! I sure can’t. The good news is that the countdown to WACA 2016 is on!  As a reminder, the conference will be heldMarch 9-11, 2016 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, WA.  If you’re not certain what to expect, here is a link to the trailer for the conference:http://www.wacaonline.org/conference-2016.html
 
Conference: Registration is live for anyone planning on using a PO and for those using a credit card.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve already submitted my substitute request and travel documents, so don’t delay! I know many districts have sub shortages, so I would hate for you not to be able to get this awesome PD because you don’t have a sub.  Get your paperwork in soon – less than two months until the conference.
 
Two huge highlights of the conference will be our keynote speakers.  This year they are Stu Cabe (http://www.ovationcompany.com/) and Anthony Robles (http://anthonyrobles.com/).
 
Lodging: The official conference hotels are the Springhill Suites (newly opened and connected to the Convention Center - I stayed there last weekend for a pre-conference meeting and IT'S BEAUTIFUL!) and Hilton Garden Inn (within walking distance).  Both are accepting reservations for the conference at this time.  The rooms at the Springhill Suites are just as they sound, suites.  Several people will be able to share a room if that is of interest to you.  What a great way to save some money!  Additionally, rooms have been added at the Red Lion on Young St. (on the other side of roundabout from Springhill Suites).  Information about all hotels are on the WACA website.  Make sure to let agents know you are with the conference to get the conference rate.  Book your rooms soon to get the conference rate.  The hotels are only holding our block of rooms through the beginning of February.
 
Presenters: The secret sauce of our conference is our presenters, in other words…YOU.  If you have created an event, seen great success in a particular fundraising activity, or simply have a great classroom lesson, we want to see it!  We are in need of both 50-minute sessions and 10-minute Meet the Pros sessions and Books the Pros (sharing about a book/resource you use for activities).  I know how incredibly talented you all are, so please consider sharing your expertise with others!  If you’re interested, please go to http://www.wacaonline.org/presenter-application.html to submit a description of your workshop.
 

WACA Board: If you are interested in being a part of the WACA Board, there are several positions open this year – Technology Coordinator, Communications Coordinator, President-Elect, and Middle Level Representative.
 
Also, if you have a great Partner (vendor) you use in the area that you think might be interested in having a booth at the conference, please shoot me an email with their contact information.  We are always looking for new vendors and they get great exposure!
 
One last thing - if you know someone who should be receiving this information, please email me their address and I'll get them on the list. And, if you would like me to remove you from this list, please let me know. Also, if you would like more information about the conference (or you need me to convince why the conference is a good idea!) please let me know. So far we only have 3 peopleregistered and I would love for more of you to experience the conference!
 
You will be getting another email from me soon with even more specific details about the conference.  You are always welcome to email me if you have specific questions.
 
Have a great four day week!
 
Amanda St. Pierre
WACA Area 7 Representative