Hello everyone!
I just returned home from our Fall WACA Board Meeting in Vancouver. Our March conference is looking better and better every day! As a reminder, the conference will be held March 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. I would LOVE to have a great showing for Area 7 this year, as we were the smallest group last year. I want to show the board that Area 7 has great people with a TON to offer!
Registration is live for anyone planning on using a PO and for those using a credit card, registration will be available no later than Oct. 5th.
The official conference hotels are the Springhill Suites (newly opened and connected to the Convention Center) and Hilton Garden Inn. 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!
Nominations for the Hall of Fame are open now as well and the nomination forms have been updated to make things quick and easy. If you know someone who has given a great deal to leadership and students in our state, take a minute and fill out the application. We have many worthy people who deserve to be recognized. Nominations can be done at http://www.wacaonline.org/hall-of-fame-application.html
And, as always, we are looking for a few experts, in other words…YOU, to present at the conference. 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. 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.
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, Middle Level Representatives, and Areas 2, 4, 6, and 8. Consider being a part of the board and sharing your knowledge!
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!
I know that several of you are desperately looking for new fundraisers to replace the many lost as a result of the changes to nutrition guidelines. Below are 2 that have been shared with me by another board member that I would like to pass along to you:
Here is a link to a great video that you can show your students that was found on the WACA video library. It is called “Can We Auto-Correct Humanity.” It's a great way to show that we all want to belong (as in the third tier of Maslow’s Hierarchy), but sometimes social media gives us a false sense of belonging. In addition to having a great message, it’s a great example of a spoken-word poem for all of you English teachers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ
One last thing - I am working on creating an accurate email list for leadership teachers/activities coordinators in our area, so if you know someone who should be receiving this email, please email me their address and I'll get them on the list.
I hope your September was great!
Amanda St. Pierre
WACA Area 7 Representative
I just returned home from our Fall WACA Board Meeting in Vancouver. Our March conference is looking better and better every day! As a reminder, the conference will be held March 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. I would LOVE to have a great showing for Area 7 this year, as we were the smallest group last year. I want to show the board that Area 7 has great people with a TON to offer!
Registration is live for anyone planning on using a PO and for those using a credit card, registration will be available no later than Oct. 5th.
The official conference hotels are the Springhill Suites (newly opened and connected to the Convention Center) and Hilton Garden Inn. 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!
Nominations for the Hall of Fame are open now as well and the nomination forms have been updated to make things quick and easy. If you know someone who has given a great deal to leadership and students in our state, take a minute and fill out the application. We have many worthy people who deserve to be recognized. Nominations can be done at http://www.wacaonline.org/hall-of-fame-application.html
And, as always, we are looking for a few experts, in other words…YOU, to present at the conference. 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. 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.
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, Middle Level Representatives, and Areas 2, 4, 6, and 8. Consider being a part of the board and sharing your knowledge!
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!
I know that several of you are desperately looking for new fundraisers to replace the many lost as a result of the changes to nutrition guidelines. Below are 2 that have been shared with me by another board member that I would like to pass along to you:
- Cutie Clause – instead of selling candy cane grams, last year students bought Cutie oranges, mini santa hats, and google eyes and sent out fun little holiday cards to kids at school.
- Cocoa Café – each February you can transform your cafeteria into a “coffee shop” for the night and invite students and staff to share their talents. It is not judged and free hot cocoa is given to those who are in attendance. You can also sell pastries (outside of school hours J). The show is a hit and the school that has done it makes a good profit because there is very little overhead.
Here is a link to a great video that you can show your students that was found on the WACA video library. It is called “Can We Auto-Correct Humanity.” It's a great way to show that we all want to belong (as in the third tier of Maslow’s Hierarchy), but sometimes social media gives us a false sense of belonging. In addition to having a great message, it’s a great example of a spoken-word poem for all of you English teachers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ
One last thing - I am working on creating an accurate email list for leadership teachers/activities coordinators in our area, so if you know someone who should be receiving this email, please email me their address and I'll get them on the list.
I hope your September was great!
Amanda St. Pierre
WACA Area 7 Representative
