The CSTP kids are back to school. Thank you to all of the educators and administrators for all of your hard work to prepare schools for students. Have a wonderful school year!

Congratulations to Dana Miles, the 2023 Washington State Teacher of the Year and Veronica Gonzalez, the 2022 Washington State Classified School Employee of the Year. Dana is a Work Experience and Applied Bilingual Language Arts (BLA) Teacher at the Washington School for the Deaf, located in Vancouver, WA. Veronica is a Multilingual Student/Family Liaison in the Mount Vernon School District. Both educators will go on to compete for the national title in their respective classes, a 3rd time for classified employees and in the 58th year for teachers. You can read more about them on the OSPI blog.

Nine regional teachers and nine classified staff are selected each year in their ESD regions and a great representation of the talented educators working in Washington state. Congratulations to our new regional teachers of the year and classified staff of the year. CSTP had the opportunity to meet them this past weekend, share our Teacher Leadership Framework and help prepare them for their leadership journey ahead.

Gina Behrens, Intervention Specialist and Instructional Coach, Seth Woodard Elementary School, West Valley School District, Northeast Educational Service District (ESD) 101

Chelsea Brannock, English Language Arts (ELA)/English Language Development (ELD) Teacher, Wahluke High School, Wahluke School District, ESD 105

Carolyn Gilman, English & Creative Writing Teacher, Olympia High School, Olympia School District, ESD 113

Linsey Kitchens, Teacher and Librarian, Sedro-Woolley High School, Sedro-Woolley School District, Northwest ESD 189

Dana Miles, Work Experience and Bilingual Language Arts (BLA) Teacher, Washington School for the Deaf, ESD 112

Shane Monroe, Fifth Grade Teacher, Wilburton Elementary, Bellevue School District, Puget Sound ESD 121

Julie Nuntananusit, English as a Second Language and Spanish Teacher, Connell High School, North Franklin School District, ESD 123

Jennifer Proiette, Kindergarten Teacher, Franklin Elementary School, Port Angeles School District, Olympic ESD 114

Hugo Zavala, 4th Grade Bilingual Teacher, Lewis and Clark Elementary, Wenatchee School District, North Central ESD 171

Kara Babst, Special Education Preschool Paraeducator, Eastmont School District, North Central ESD 171

Anthony Collins, Student Support and Behavior Intervention Technician, Horizon Middle School, Central Valley School District, Northeast ESD 101

Leslie DeBoer-Taggart, School Bus Driver, Centralia School District, ESD 113

Veronica Gonzalez, Multilingual Family Liaison, Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon School District, Northwest ESD 189

Jamie Harres, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Specialist, Cascade Middle School, Auburn School District, Puget Sound ESD 121

Jill Hendricks, Student and Family Engagement Liaison, Innovation Center, West Valley School District, ESD 105

Melinda Jones, Restorative Center Secretary, Kingston High School, North Kitsap School District, Olympic ESD 114

Stephanie Green, Administrative Assistant, Lewis & Clark Elementary, Richland School District, ESD 123

Karie Rolfe, Paraprofessional, Centerville School District, ESD 112

Are you curious about the Culturally Responsive Education Residency program? Have you heard about the CRE Residency and want more information? Join the CSTP team and Dr. Adeyemi Stembridge himself to learn more about this unique opportunity for WA state educators.

We will share an overview of the residency, logistical considerations and provide a real vision for what a residency can look like in your school or district. We will also have past participants (administrators and teachers) join us to share reflections from their experience to help you truly understand why the residency is such a transformational professional development opportunity. There will be time included for questions and answers.

Register to learn more today! If you can't attend the live session, a recording will be sent out to all those who register.

Date: September 19, 2022 from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Who Should Attend: District and Building Administrators and Instructional Leaders

CSTP and OSPI are excited to announce another year of Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom residency experiences in WA State. CRE in the Classroom Residency is a unique and intensive professional development experience in which teacher teams receive coaching, facilitation and technical assistance from Dr. Adeyemi Stembridge, author of “Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom.”

Residencies are designed based on the need of the educators and their students, and include 18 hours of in person learning and coaching around the mental model that serves as the foundation for a culturally responsive classroom. Generally, the 18 hours are covered in a three-day sub release model. The dates and schedule will be mutually agreed upon once your team is selected and approved. We anticipate selecting up to 24 schools or districts for this one of a kind professional development training. To apply, fill out this application.

For more information visit CSTP's website or email your questions to Anzara Miller.

Join us for CSTP’s first free virtual book study of the school year! Author, Dr. Adeyemi Stembridge will start the first of three equity-based studies by leading discussions about his book Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom: An Equity Framework for Pedagogy. 

This opportunity is open to all Washington paraeducators, teachers, principals, administrators, and ESAs. Registration is free, and 13.5 equity clock hours will be available upon completion. Book study registrants will purchase and read the book on their own. 

More information about the other two book studies taking place in 2023 will come soon. We cannot wait for you to join us in the quest to make all classrooms equitable. If you have any questions or need help, contact Stephanie Prosser.

Are you looking for resources to help students with their post-high school goals? Ready WA has talking points and resources to help educators assist students with their High School & Beyond Plan.

Learn more on the Ready WA website.

"When I am setting up my classroom structures for a new year, it is imperative I make time to consider the potential consequences of creating an environment that focuses too much on a teacher-led model, versus a more student-led foundation. It is important to clarify this does not mean I have no say in how my classroom operates and how my students engage with myself and each other. Rather, the intent is for my students to also state their expectations of me and their peers, in a collaborative approach to laying the foundations for our classroom community’s behavior norms and expectations."

Continue Reading on the League of Education Voters website.

OSPI is hosting information sessions for educators interested in starting the National Board process! The sessions include two modules:

OSPI is hosting monthly workshops throughout the 2022-2023 school year to support candidates' writing for National Board Certification. Each workshop will focus on a different topic based on what candidates may be working on at each step of the portfolio submission cycle.

Who: Any National Board candidate working toward National Board Certification in 2022-2023 and their cohort facilitators.

When: Monthly (always Tuesdays), 4:30 PM-5:30 PM

Sept 20: Writing about Contextual Information

Oct 11: Writing about Instructional Context

Oct 25: Identifying and Writing about Goals

Nov 8: Three Types of Writing

Dec 13: Writing about Evidence/Component 3 – Video Focus

Jan 10: Writing about Fairness, Equity and Access

Feb 7: Writing about Evidence/Component 2 – Student Work

Feb 28: Writing about Impact on Student Learning/Component 4

March 14: Forms & Written Commentary – Is the Architecture of Accomplished Teaching Explicit?

March 28: Standards in your Writing

April 11: Concise Writing & Editing

Are you considering earning your national certification or working towards your renewal? National Board for Professional Teaching Standards offers free informational webinars including Introduction to National Board Certification, Preparing for Your National Board Journey, and Introduction to Maintenance of Certification.

Are you searching for ways to make your classroom more inclusive? A team of Washington teachers created asynchronous and synchronous resources to support educator growth in this area based on information shared in OSPI’s Inclusionary Practices Handbook: Chapter 2 Inclusive Learning Environments.

The eLearning for Educators website has the newly launched asynchronous Inclusionary Practices: Chapter 2 Inclusive Learning Environments Course. The course can be accessed at no cost by registering for the "Free Offerings" option (which also gives access to other free offerings, including the IP Chapter 1 course). Participants can also earn clock hours by registering for the course and paying a nominal cost.

The Open Educational Resources website is where you can access the synchronous resources. The ten modules available were developed to help educators grow knowledge about creating inclusive classrooms. These trainings can be mixed and matched to allow you to choose what best suits your needs.

The Special Education Technology Center (SETC) webinar series addresses technology tools and strategies to support inclusive learning environments.

Check out SETC's website for more resources and professional development.

WEA offers over 50 asynchronous courses on a variety of inclusionary practice topics for Washington educators throughout the year including:

Collaborative Learning Solutions is offering free training, resources and supports to educators, students and schools to create conditions for all learners focused on restorative practices and equity emphasizing the educational and social-emotional needs of all students. The training they are offering is comprised of distinctive targets including Restorative Practices, Community of Equity and Inclusive Practices, and Restorative Justice Centers. The target audiences for their trainings are district leaders, school leaders, teachers, counselors, parents and students. Learn more and register.

Also, check out their weekly SEL lessons.

Ed4all WA is a collaborative project with the CEEDAR WA team and Washington Educators. Ed4all WA provides educators in the State of Washington with resources and online professional development opportunities to help strengthen their profession as an educator.

Check out the Ed4all website for educator resources to help support growth in awareness surrounding best practice to use with students of all ages.

The latest posts from CSTP's teacher bloggers on www.storiesfromschools.org.

Are you here to stay?

For some educators, it is the end. They are leaving the classroom. Others are leaving their current positions, changing their teaching assignments, seeking the change that will heal the damage, the damage of the last three years.

Your gift ensures that CSTP continues to support student achievement through a focus on teaching excellence. With you as a partner in CSTP’s mission, you directly make a difference in the lives of youth across Washington State schools. Donations are tax deductible and essential as CSTP works to support educators navigate unique models of student engagement during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Liking and sharing our posts on social media is another way you can support CSTP during these times. Thank you for sharing our message.