Inside AWSL: Sharing our Voices
Updated 6.15.2020
Blogs from the AWSL Staff
Thoughts from James, AWSL Program Director | June 15, 2020
“I miss your smile.”
Four words that have had a profound and everlasting impact on my life. A week before my mother passed, we were deep in conversation on her patio discussing life.
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | June 15, 2020
“Gifford’s Charge”
After 6 months of growing into what he was and having 4 months of that time to look at cows in a 60-acre pasture across from our house, Gifford charged the cows. By biology he is ½ Australian Sheppard and his dad is either a Pointer or Husky/Lab mix.
Thoughts from James Layman, AWSL Program Director | June 8, 2020
Start – Stop – Keep.
I remember the first time I realized I was treated different because of my skin color.
Before I share this story, let me contextualize my experience. I am a black male, adopted into a single-parent white family. My mother later adopted two other black children who became my brother and sister. The family next door to us was a white couple with one biological child and two adopted black children. So, conversations about race was commonplace in my household for as long as I can remember.
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | June 8, 2020
Gifford experienced his first thunderstorm the other day as we woke up together to a giant Pacific Northwest thunder and lightning display. He didn’t like it. In fact, he didn’t know what to do with it. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to jump off the bed or stay on the bed. So, he spun in circles. He didn’t know where the thunder was coming from, so he looked frantically back and forth at all the windows in the room trying to see it.
Statement regarding blogs from Joe and James (June 1, 2020):
“As we worked through the editorial content of this edition of ‘In the Loop’, conversations also turned toward recent national events. Our Blogs this week depart from looking at the pandemic and move into reflections on equity from a personal perspective.”
“I Just Want to Breathe” - by James Layman, AWSL Program Director | June 1, 2020
I can’t breathe.
Three words that encapsulate a feeling that I have experienced many times in my life, but most notably in the past week
“What Can I do” - by Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | June 1, 2020
Though I had known the concept of “white-male privilege” cognitively for a number of years, the first time I remember feeling it in my gut where it lodged in shame was after my family and I returned from teaching overseas in Latin America after three years. Even though we took our kids overseas as elementary students for the basic reason of having them experience life as a minority for a lesson in empathy building, and even though we intended this experience to contrast the wealth of the United States with an area of the world where on average 80% of the people live in extreme poverty, I still had never really owned my privilege as a white, middle-class, heterosexual male.
Thoughts from James Layman, AWSL Program Director | May 26, 2020
Emergency – Regression – Recovery.
To quote a hero of mine, and current Instagram star – Leslie Jordan, “How y’all doing?” I find myself asking this question with more purpose and intent than I have before. I have been seeing a therapist for a number of years now, and it has been done utilizing a zoom-type platform which has allowed us to continue to process throughout this collective experience. Last week he introduced me to this article, and it spoke to me.
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | May 26, 2020
Gifford the wonder-puppy was at it again teaching me a life lesson. We were heading up the hill for walkies. He came zooming around the corner chasing me after he had decided I wasn’t asking him to do anything he didn’t want to do. Gifford is a little hesitant about hitching himself to the train until he knows the destination.
Thoughts from James Layman, AWSL Program Director | May 18, 2020
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
-John Wesley
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | May 18, 2020
Suzanne Simard is a pioneer scientist studying how trees in a forest talk with each other. She even uses the term “communicate” in her scientific writing because the complexity of the things that are happening in the forests are best described using human behavior as the metaphor. It has been shown that an old stump in a forest is receiving nutrients far beyond its ability to gather them with the remnant of life that remains inside.
Perspectives in a Covid World, Greg Barker - AWSL Director | May 18, 2020
We can only know our own experiences and must be open to learning the stories of others. But learning from others as we are socially distant is difficult. We are always on a journey of learning and discovery. To better support our students and families, we need to hear (and hopefully understand) how this current reality is impacting them.
Thoughts from James Layman, AWSL Program Director | May 13, 2020
1. “Hitting the wall is real.”
2. Hard days suck
3. There is nothing wrong with us.
4. We’re going to be okay
- Brené Brown
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | May 13, 2020
Gifford our five month old puppy is the world’s most spoiled dog, in a good way. Since his birth on November 29, he has never been alone without his liter mates or his humans, until the other day. Roanne and I were picking up take-out food, Jeff our son, was taking the opportunity to experience the relaxed social distancing guideline on fishing.
Thoughts from James Layman, AWSL Program Director | May 4, 2020
Triage – Transition – Transformation
Triage: The act of urgently creating a level of stability and reduce unnecessary uncertainty during a time of crisis.
Transition: Passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another.
Transform: How must we change and how can we change in a post-Covid world.
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | May 4, 2020
The other day I was walking back from the woods behind our house with our five month old puppy Gifford, named for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest that sits directly behind our house. It is about a 200 meter walk from the top of our backyard down to the house on a remnant of an old logging road.
Greg Barker, AWSL Executive Director | April 30, 2020 - Senior Activities & Graduation Ideas
We are working to collect ideas from across the nation of what schools and districts are considering and/or planning to celebrate our seniors. From AWSP collaboration with Jostens on a virtual graduation (AWSP/Jostens: The Show Will Go On!) to little things to make the senior's year a bit better, we are updating our 2020 Resources page daily.
Here are some of the ideas from our member schools, advisers, principals, and students:
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | April 27, 2020
A friend and principal in Taos New Mexico wrote me at the beginning of the stay at home orders:
“Teachers are the most adaptable creatures around. 180-degree shift in the idea of "school" and BOOM, two weeks later they are running with it.” I think we all fall in the trap sometimes of thinking about what we are not doing, rather than what we are doing.
Thoughts from James Layman, AWSL Program Director | April 27, 2020
A simple message from a colleague and friend Jack Arend this weekend lifted my spirits in an incredible way. Just a “checking in” and “seeing how you are doing” message was simplistically poignant and needed for me, as after last week I was feeling quite zoomed-out.
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | April 20, 2020
Research indicates we use a metaphor in our writing every 25 words. Count it off sometime. Write something without really thinking about it, then look back and see how many metaphors have snuck into the writing.
Student Reflections in response to Covid-19 by James Layman, AWSL Program Director
Throughout these challenging times the voice of the students should be at the core. The AWSL Student Voice and Advisory Council took time to share their thoughts, questions and perspectives on how Covid-19 is affecting their academic, social, and personal livelihoods.
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | April 13, 2020
One way to process loss was defined by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her book On Death and Dying published in 1969.
Thoughts from James Layman, AWSL Program Director | April 13, 2020
Be. That has been my word this year. That was the word that filled my vision board of my goals for 2020. To be.
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | April 7, 2020
As we all grasp with how to keep normal routines going in un-normal times, Cody, our neighborhood ranch dog helped out our family by just showing up.
Thoughts from James Layman, AWSL Program Director | April 7, 2020
As I have spent the majority of the past week researching, finding, and compiling resources for us to get out to folks, a moment of clarity struck me.
Greetings from Joe Fenbert, AWSL Program Director | March 30, 2020
As we all grasp with how to keep normal routines going in un-normal times, Cody, our neighborhood ranch dog helped out our family by just showing up.
PODCASTS:
‘Journey through life Podcast’ featuring James Layman, AWSL Program Director
This conversation with AWSL’s James Layman really is a "wow" episode. It is packed with meaning and importance from the beginning to the end. Many times when we hear the phrase "Kids these days..." it is packed with negative connotations. James makes his life about turning that around and lifting and serving and empowering "kids these days" to be the leaders of the future. He shares several powerful stories that bring goose bumps.