AWSP Blog

What is the "Devious Lick Challenge"? It is a challenge on TikTok, where students are encouraged to take something from their school; these items may include the bathroom sink, a soap dispenser, or even a teacher's desk. Schools have tried a multitude of ways to stop students, yet this challenge is just as popular today as ever. Clearly, many solutions aren't working. So what is the solution?

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!

The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) announces that high school students Ms. Ailani Savannah Baldwin and Ms. Khanh Le Doan will join Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell in representing Washington during the 59th annual USSYP Washington Week, to be held March 14 — 17, 2021. Ailani Baldwin of Vancouver and Khanh Doan of Everett were selected from among the state’s top student leaders to be part of the 104 national student delegation who will each also receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study. Due to the pandemic, the 2021 program will break ground as the first-ever fully virtual Washington Week, and is designed to be a highly interactive and exciting education and leadership forum for the nation’s most outstanding student leaders.

On Wednesday, January 20th, we witnessed the inauguration of a new president. Speeches, pageantry, fireworks, oaths, and traditions were on display as the symbolic exercise of welcoming a new president was on full display.   Of the noteworthy dignitaries and celebrities that were a part of the inauguration, maybe the most discussed was 22-year old Amanda Gorman. Amanda was the inauguration poet and read her poem, 'The Hill We Climb.' She was the youngest inauguration poet in our nation's poet. With poise, grace, power, and emotion, she captivated the country and the world as she invited us in to think, reflect, and look forward to what is possible.

The 2020 AWSL Virtual Fall Conference was a smashing success with over 5,000 attendees. Yes, we can celebrate the number of participants, but the success of this conference lies in who was able to attend. With the need to switch to a virtual format, we invited and encouraged schools to bring as many students as they wanted. Focusing on equity, becoming while doing, and the belief that all students can lead, we hoped that students who had never attended a conference of any kind, especially a 'leadership' conference who could learn, grow, connect, and see the leadership abilities within them.