Greetings Fellow Educators,

Welcome to the 2021-2022 school year! It is my hope that each of you had a summer of reflection and relaxation. As we embark on the next step of our journey, let us remember that all of our goals, plans, and efforts must remain student-centered. We must provide the coaching, resources, and support that our teachers need to flourish in the classroom. And we must create opportunities for our parents and community partners to actively participate in our schools.

We have high expectations of our students and must sustain our engaging and inventive instructional practices to ensure that we provide the learning environment needed for them to thrive academically. This must be done fully cognizant of the strain placed on our students, staff, and families by the pandemic. As we focus on nurturing the “whole child”, we must address the social-emotional needs of our children. It is time to transition from a year in which many students were physically and emotionally isolated from their teachers and peers to one in which we foster collaborative learning cultures.

It’s a great time to extend our professional growth through targeted professional development and collaboration with other learning communities. This is the opportune time to try out those new ideas, take risks, and innovate. AASSP and CLAS provide a plethora of opportunities to discover and explore new strategies to stretch ourselves. This includes the upcoming AASSP/AAMSP Fall Conference scheduled for November 8th – 10th. It’s time to reconnect and reimagine who we are as an educational community.

The global pandemic continues to pose many challenges to educators and families. I am extremely proud of the outstanding work done by administrators throughout our state. Administrators secure the resources to safely house students in our buildings as face-to-face learning takes place. Teachers explore new platforms and integrate technological tools to reach into students’ homes and ensure continuity of learning. Students persevere through myriad challenges to show up and engage. I look forward to the exciting success stories that we’ll share and the growth we’ll see with our students throughout the year. Let’s do this!

Greetings! On behalf of the AAMSP Board of Directors, I want to welcome all middle-level administrators back to the start of another year. Last year when we began the year, we were certain we would be past these “unprecedented times” by now. Alas, we are facing some of the same challenges as last year. We have learned that we are more than ready to accept these challenges and meet them head on.

As we begin this year, I want to encourage each of you to renew your CLAS membership and to join the AAMSP affiliate to help you stay abreast of the policies which impact our day to day operations in our buildings. Membership also affords you the opportunity to network with other fellow administrators throughout the state. These are individuals who are uniquely positioned to mentor and provide wise counsel.

A strong component of the CLAS mission is to advocate legislatively for our educators and students. I ask that you continue to nurture and feed the solid relationships you have formed with your local legislators. These are the individuals who are in a position to make decisions which impact public education.

I am honored and humbled to lead this affiliate organization again. I encourage each of you to get involved and to reach out to me or other members of our Board of Directors listed in this publication. We are here to serve and to be a close point of connection between the CLAS office and your office. We will have several opportunities to meet face-to-face throughout the course of the year. Our annual AASSP/AAMSP Fall Conference will be held November 7 - 10, 2021 in Point Clear, AL. The theme is “Re-imagine” and I cannot wait to see you there.

By the time you receive this, you will have been back by about a month; however, I want to welcome you back, nonetheless. I hope you had a wonderful summer, and I hope you had a great start to the 2021-2022 school year. I know that many of you faced the daunting issue of mask or no mask and all things Covid related. Hopefully, you have been able to engage those under your care in a safe and productive manner.

Back in May, we ended a very long year that had been full of uncertainty, and yet we accomplished so many amazing things during the 2020-2021 school year. Leadership played a huge role in the success you had during the last year and the summer that just ended, and leadership will play an integral role in any success you have this year. Hopefully, you are a leader that you would want to follow, and hopefully you are leading those under your care in a positive direction every day. AASSP is here to help you during your leadership journey.

Data are clear. The principal is second only to the classroom teacher in having an impact on student learning. Is your leadership improving or hindering student learning? Be proactive in your lifelong learning, and always let us know at AASSP and CLAS how we can help you.

We have a great year in store for you at AASSP. Our professional learning calendar will provide great learning, networking, and collaborating opportunities throughout the calendar year. Remember, the learning opportunities are only as beneficial as you allow them to be. I encourage you to engage with your team and others around the state in the professional learning opportunities provided by AASSP and CLAS.

I encourage you to become active in your district meetings and at the state level of AASSP. You are the key to crafting the narrative for your school and learning from and with colleagues from your area and the state will help you become a better leader. Katrina Akers and I love working with all of you, and we are here to help in any way possible.

I hope you all have a GREAT 2021-2022 School Year! Thank you for all you do for those under your care. You are all ROCK STARS in my book!

As you begin a new year with the unexpected challenges that continue to consume and complicate your logical, decision-making process, just remember that as Rosa Parks said, “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right”. You, as the principal of your building, ARE doing the right things for all your students, faculty, and staff!! Most people never run far enough in their first wind to realize they’ve got a second wind. Congratulations…you have gotten your second wind as we enter the second year of COVID. Stay the course. We will get past this together.

The hope we have is in the positive attitude that we all can see in the eyes of our students, especially our student leaders. The Alabama Student Council Association (ASCA) supported by AASSP will once again provide an opportunity for a state-wide conference in April 2022. Please assist us in communicating with your Student Council/Student Government Advisor by forwarding this link www.asca.hereweb.com to join the state association.

Your school’s membership brings you and your sponsor information and discounts on the ASCA Spring Conference. More importantly, this conference is an excellent opportunity for your students to interact with other student leaders across the state, share ideas, hear outstanding speakers, compete for scholarships, and be recognized as the next generation of leaders in Alabama.

It was unfortunate that our students were unable to have their annual spring conference this past spring; however, as we move forward with the contagious optimism that is shared by our younger generation, we look forward to your school’s participation in our state organization.

Join with us as we continue to provide quality leadership opportunities for our students. Your continued support of our student council/student government organization is essential to the success of ASCA.

Thanks for all you do is not really enough. Just know that the “thanks” is heartfelt from more people than you realize.