Principals’ association cited for teachers’ day

The county’s principals’ association was tapped for a state award this year, one of eight given out by a private, state-wide organization, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

The Whitman County Principals’ Association won the award for coming up with and executing a professional teaching day last year.

On Oct. 8 last year, roughly 275 educators and school support staff took to the hallways of Colfax high school to swap education tips and learn more about teacher collaboration.

Because the day went so well, they have two planned for next year; Oct. 8 and March 7, according to Supt. Bev Fox at Palouse.

As the state’s education budget shrinks, state-paid teacher training days have become less and less frequent, Fox said.

“Professional development has been one of the things we’ve lost money for,” Fox said.

To compensate for this, the county principals came up with a plan to have an “in-service day” where teachers and support staff from around the county gather to learn from each other. This is called a Professional Learning Community.

ESD 101, the education district for eastern Washington, said it nominated Whitman County for the ASCD award because the idea of the day was so unique.

“The fact that they are doing that on the behalf of all the children living across the county is, we think, phenomenal,” said ESD 101 Supt. Mike Dunn.

“It’s just a fabulous model of bringing together the professionals and experts of multiple school districts, in this case, all small,” Dunn said.

This particular award from the Washington State ASCD program seeks to award teams of educators who have excelled in “instructional leadership and professional growth of educators,” according to a press release from ESD 101.

Most schools in the county were closed for the in-service day last October with their staff coming to Colfax in school buses.

In the morning, educators listened to two keynote speakers, then met in group sessions to discuss specific subjects. At the end of the day, all the educators broke up into their own districts to talk about what they learned.

In the weeks following, teachers grouped together in grade-specific conferences to share more information.

“This is really exciting work,” Fox said. “When you have a bunch of educated people together and they share ideas, then they become even better and stronger.”

Fox said the idea of having a day of learning for teachers had been in the works for a long time.

“As we are being held to high accountability, we need to continue to be able to help our teachers grow professionally,” Fox said.