Re-Training of Mentors & Refreshed Training Modules We believe that collaborative adult learning experiences will result in the kind of growth and sustainability needed for sustained school leadership. Growing our collective understanding of how, where and when issues of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion show up in school leadership is a primary driver to the refreshed training format for school leaders. Not only do new leaders need the support, but our experienced mentors need support as well. We have re-vamped our training to take into account principal needs: limited amount of time out of the building, quality resources and trainings with practical learning, hybrid model and accountability in walking with each other in this leadership journey. Dates and times for in-person trainings as well as the themes/topics of the virtual implementation sessions are posted on the AWSP website. All mentors who are interested in being an active mentor this year, are asked to attend one of the in-person training dates (six offered throughout the state, by region) and to commit to attending the implementation sessions to round out the training. We know that the state of Washington hires over 300 new school leaders every year and our grant can only sustain about 150 pairings. As we move into the 2022-23 school year and legislative session, we will be asking for more financial stability with our mentor program and we will have new leaders who do not have direct support. All mentors who participate in the implementation sessions will be in virtual break-out rooms with non-paired school leaders to network and support. The all hands-on deck approach will help AWSP support more school leaders in our state. We are excited to offer training in a principal learning community format! Another added benefit to participating in the free Mentor Training is access to CCDEI cultural competency clock hours. We know that as a preferred provider of CCDEI clock hours, we will ensure that participation in our training will assist in getting hours for certificate renewal. More details on the AWSP Mentoring homepage. Mentor Application/Mentee Application Process We affectionately refer to the process of pairing new school leaders and mentors as the AWSP P-Harmony program! All joking aside, ensuring new leaders have a strong match from the beginning of mentor/mentee pairing takes a lot of time and energy as well as detailed information from both sides. Therefore, members will see a couple of news things on our AWSP website this spring, all with the intention of making the best pairings for new school leaders and also making sure that trained mentors are still interested in providing this service. If you are a new or newly assigned school leader (principals, assistant principal) and are within your first three years (first year in your current role was in 2020) in your assignment you will be eligible to request a mentor. The AWSP Mentoring page will have two buttons: (1) to request a mentor and (1) to apply to be an AWSP mentor. This will greatly speed up our ability to make timely pairings and to ensure a solid fit. It’s important to realize that as mentoring is requested, AWSP needs to know the seated new leader has communicated their interest in participating in the AWSP Mentor Program to their superintendent. It is critical that we get accurate contact information for the mentee’s district iGrant coordinator. AWSP is responsible for pairings and informing OSPI about the amount of money deposited in each iGrants account for Principal Mentoring. We do have several districts who request services and districts with Principal Mentoring leads can reach out directly to the AWSP office to handle bulk mentoring requests.