A Matter of Principals

In this episode of A Matter of Principals , AWSP Associate Director Gina Yonts sits down with Manny Rangel, assistant principal at La Center Middle School, for a heartfelt conversation about leadership, belonging, and the life-changing power of relationships. Drawing from his experiences growing up in the Yakima Valley, serving in the military, coaching basketball, and working in school leadership...

In this episode of A Matter of Principals, AWSP Deputy Director Jack Arend sits down with Nick Birklid, principal of Eatonville Elementary, to discuss leadership growth, school culture, and the importance of creating systems that support both students and staff. Nick shares his journey from teacher and coach to principal, reflecting on how his early focus on systems evolved into a deeper understan...

In this episode of A Matter of Principals, AWSP Associate Director Scott Friedman sits down with Dr. Heather Hastie-Ulery, principal of Davis High School in Yakima School District, to explore how authentic relationships, student voice, and high expectations are shaping a thriving school community. Serving more than 2,000 students in one of Washington's most diverse high schools, Heather shares how...

In this episode of Principal Matters, Scott Friedman sits down with East Valley High School Principal Ryan Arnold to discuss his leadership journey from classroom teacher to principal and the lessons he's learned along the way. Ryan shares how strong relationships, instructional leadership, and distributive leadership have shaped his approach to leading a high school. He discusses building trust w...

In this episode of a Matter of Principals, AWSP Deputy Director Jack Arend sits down with Dr. Tamara York, principal of Littlerock Elementary in Tumwater School District, to discuss how intentional leadership can strengthen school culture, deepen family engagement, and support student success. Tamara shares her unique journey into education, beginning with more than a decade of teaching and leadin...

What does it really look like to lead meaningful change in a school? In this episode of A Matter of Principals, AWSP Deputy Director Jack Arend sits down with Jenny Hunt, principal of Broadview Elementary in Oak Harbor, to explore how one school transformed its approach to reading, intervention, and student success. Jenny shares how her team moved from overwhelmed and fragmented to focused and ali...

Roz's update dives into this past week in the Legislature, including budget challenges, key education bills on the move (or getting cut), and what’s next as lawmakers shift focus to floor votes. Plus, we’ll cover OSPI’s discipline rule changes and an urgent call to action for simple majority bonds.

Join Roz Thompson, AWSP's Director of Government Relations, in an engaging conversation with Senator Lisa Wellman, Chair of the Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee. In this episode, they discuss essential topics for the upcoming legislative session, including funding for basic education, special education, transportation, mental health support, and operations costs. Senator Wellman also sh...

For 51 years, AWSP has supported principals and assistant principals (the individuals) and the principalship (the profession) in the education of each and every student. We exist to support principals as a means to the same goal we all have in K-12 education: for all of our students to have hope. Today, we find ourselves in one of the most challenging spots in the history of our association, speci...

Executive Director Dr. Scott Seaman sits down with Roz Thompson, our Governmental Relations and Advocacy Director, to talk about our advocacy this session, specifically around SB 5085 and SB 5175. Learn more about the intent and ideas behind these bills.

Welcome to another episode of A Matter of Principals. In this episode, Associate Director Kamrica Ary-Turner asks Walla Walla teacher and former head football coach Marc Yonts his advice on leadership and what family members can do to support the school leader in their life. If the last name is familiar, it's because Marc is married to Associate Director Gina Yonts. Listen in to hear Marc's wisdom...

Meet Silas High School Principal Bernadette Ray, the only woman of color serving in Tacoma at the high school level. Learn about her, who she is, and how she leads. How she navigates through her leadership as a woman, woman of color, and day-to-day principal life. Hear how she supports and leads with her assistant principals. And lastly, she shares her big equity leadership move. Podcast Principal...

We're back in the studio for another episode of AWSP TV. Our special guest this time is one of our own, Kamrica Ary-Turner! Kamrica is one of our newest directors. Hired to support the ESD 121 and 189 regions, her impact is sure to be felt across the state. Watch the episode to learn more about Kamrica and her work here at AWSP. Special Guest: Kamrica Ary-Turner.

In this podcast, My Disablity Roadmap Co-Directors Samuel Habib and Dan Habib introduce the 23-minute film that recently appeared in the New York Times. Following the film's audio, Dan interviews Samuel about his education, post-secondary transition, the process of making the film, and more. The podcast also features an extended conversation between Samuel and with one of his “mentors” featured in...

In today's episode, we meet with James Layman, Director of the Association of Washington Student Leaders, to discuss how to increase student voice in your school, and an idea for your next MLK assembly. Special Guest: James Layman.

Increase your instructional leadership with The Main Idea educational book summaries. Through in-depth 8-page summaries of current education books, and suggestions for implementing those ideas, THE MAIN IDEA empowers education leaders with the knowledge and tools to improve student learning. Special Guest: Jenn David-Lang.

Dr. Kimbrelle Barbosa Lewis, a school administrator in Tennessee, NAESP past president, and chair of the NAESP National Taskforce on Race and Equity, will lead a panel discussion with other task force members. This taskforce was formed to help advise NAESP on issues related to racial equity in school communities, reveal schools’ common challenges and solutions, and support a peer-to-peer network o...

Special Guest: Sen. Lisa Wellman.

It’s easy now. That’s what Chad’s Legacy Project (CLP) co-founder Laura Crooks says about mental health instruction. CLP and the UW SMART Center created the Mental Health Literacy Library, a free tool for evidence-based mental health curriculum. Listen and learn more by visiting https://www.mentalhealthinstruction.org and https://www.chadslegacy.org .

The pandemic increased food insecurity rates among Washington students. Food insecurity negatively impacts the mental and physical health of young minds and bodies, and these impacts are a struggle many principals may encounter when returning to school this year. In this episode, we discuss what hunger looked like pre-pandemic, where we are now, and how do principals fit into the picture of helpin...

Inclusion has been a crucial professional learning focus for school leaders this year and will continue to be critical as we move our school communities forward into the opportunities and challenges ahead. As this unique school year draws to a close, we brought the inclusion conversation full circle with Inclusion 360, a live webinar on May 10, 2021. Join us for a discussion with national inclusio...

We are excited to bring you Inclusion 360, a special podcast series that with bring the inclusion discussion full circle. Inclusion 360 is the culminating event wrapping up our year of learning, exploring and implementing inclusionary best practices and diving deep into how to be an Inclusionary Leader. This work has been made possible by a generous grant from OSPI. Our AWSP Team has assembled som...

We are excited to bring you Inclusion 360, a special podcast series that with bring the inclusion discussion full circle. Inclusion 360 is the culminating event wrapping up our year of learning, exploring and implementing inclusionary best practices and diving deep into how to be an Inclusionary Leader. This work has been made possible by a generous grant from OSPI. Our AWSP Team has assembled som...

We are excited to bring you Inclusion 360, a special podcast series that with bring the inclusion discussion full circle. Inclusion 360 is the culminating event wrapping up our year of learning, exploring and implementing inclusionary best practices and diving deep into how to be an Inclusionary Leader. This work has been made possible by a generous grant from OSPI. Our AWSP Team has assembled som...

We are excited to bring you Inclusion 360, a special podcast series that with bring the inclusion discussion full circle. Inclusion 360 is the culminating event wrapping up our year of learning, exploring and implementing inclusionary best practices and diving deep into how to be an Inclusionary Leader. This work has been made possible by a generous grant from OSPI. Our AWSP Team has assembled som...