AWSP Blog

As you think about next school year, and the type of culture and climate you want to push front and center - make sure students are active in the collaboration. "Nothing for us, without us" has been a phrase used by AWSL for years, and now is the time to think about how to weave and incorporate student voice into your practices. Let AWSL support you in this important work. Your students are worth it. Your staff is worth it. Your community is worth it, and YOU are worth it.

In my third year as the principal at Sunnyside Elementary in the Marysville School District, my goals for my students are to have a voice and to feel a sense of belonging and connection to their school. With those goals in mind, I initiated a student council, that would be voted by and would represent our student body, which consists of 480 Kindergarten -5th-grade students.

I always ask, “Have you asked your students yet?” This question opens the door to possibilities and discoveries. Students are the experts at being students. I will say that again so that it can truly marinate… students, are the experts at being students. Adults are no longer the experts; they are. We get to use our lived experiences and positionality to support students achieve academic and social success.

As we get ready to close the doors on the 2020-2021 school year, the big questions and musings are starting to rumble beneath the surface. "I can't wait until we can ______________ again." "Remember when we use to _________________? I cannot wait until we can do that again." Now is an extraordinary time to assess these ponderings and begin to examine what "needs" to come back in our post-COVID era and what is best for students as we continue to move through these times of "what's next?" This week I got to work with middle school students, and I asked the question, "What have been some positives of the past year?" Their answers were riveting, powerful, profound, and revealing!

Welcome to another episode of AWSP News, where we discuss this year’s National Assistant Principals Week, how Vicki Puckett and the Mercer Island School District empower and use student voice, how the Association of Washington Student Leaders can help you harness student voice, and a great example from Bob Walters on how to use our pay gap video with your district administration.