AWSP Blog

Going outside, even in the city, has its benefits. City parks have opportunities for life satisfaction. While traveling to a remote outdoor setting is great, you can also look near your school. At-risk adolescents who participated in an Urban Forest Health Intervention Program showed an increase in life satisfaction and physical activity levels and a decrease in such risky behaviors as smoking.

Both houses have been on their respective floors debating and voting on various bills and amendments or in caucus/recess privately debating what bills to bring forth. Lobbyists hover outside each chamber’s doors waiting for requested legislators to come out. A lobbyist’s hope is to either encourage vote on a bill, to influence its content via suggested amendments, or to urge defeat.

The SEB Board held an all-day meeting (its 15th) covering a wide range of issues. The important sections are referenced below in terms of the TAB number in which the content was presented.

Preschool children played active roles as researchers in all aspects of a research project focusing on how they experienced different elements in a forest setting. Related discussion addresses the advantages, challenges, and opportunities of four interactive data collection and analysis methods.

Welcome to another episode of AWSP’s News, where we discuss our first ever “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” March Madness Campaign, registering for the National Association of Elementary School Principals conference in Spokane and our own Summer Conference for a chance to win a prize, the key we sent you for Future Educator's Month, five foundational blocks every school should have, de-linking graduation and state assessments, and a robust and effective High School and Beyond Plan, a reminder to use evaluations to build a culture of growth, and calling us for support and questions about principal contracts.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company announced the launch of a national initiative to bring the life-enhancing benefits of gardens and greenspaces to 10 million U.S. children over the next five years. Through its Gro More Good program, Scotts Miracle-Gro will provide monetary grants, educational curriculum and training to communities across the U.S. in collaboration with its partners, with the goal of creating more gardens, greenspaces and refurbished outdoor play spaces for children.

The state Legislature is now about 40 percent through this year’s 105-day session and faces its second significant checkpoint on Friday, March 1. That’s the deadline for fiscal committees to send bills on for further action or leave them behind for the year. (Unless, of course, they are deemed necessary to implement the budget (NTIB)).

The first cut off is occurring as this is being written and next week will be the last cut-off deadline for all fiscal bills. The legislative field will then be winnowed down, and the focus will shift toward floor action and behind the scenes’ discussions over the budget.

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss Future Educators Month, our Future School Leaders Day workshop, and the Give ’Em Your Keys campaign; what’s happening in the Legislature; some of our recent blog posts; our opening for an Associate Director and the retirement of two icons; sharing your stories with us; and how we’re always here to pick up the phone when you need us.

Snowmageddon descended on Olympia, and things came to a halt, but now that the worst (we can hope) is over, the process is moving again. Agendas have been lengthened. As cut off dates approach the list of bills for executive action by individual committees grows long. This is a brief summary of bills that are either moving or should be pushed to move. The last section of this report has some suggested actions on bills that need support and advocacy in order to advance before cutoffs.