5 minute read
Spring Edition of EAST Quarterly 2020
The Founder’s Award, named in honor of the EAST founder, Tim Stephenson, is the most notable of all EAST Conference awards given. This year four schools have been inducted into the Founder’s Circle for extraordinary accomplishments in each of the core principle areas of EAST. We sat down with our four winners to talk to them about their experiences, and they all said something very similar, the best thing about winning Founder’s is reflecting.
QIs this your program's first time submitting for the Founder's Award?
FACILITATOR: This was actually our third time to submit a Founder's Application. We were selected as a Founder's Finalist in 2016. Then in 2017, we were chosen as the overall Founder's Winner. The application process this year was streamlined to make the process much simpler and efficient.
QWhy did you decide to submit an application for the Founder's Award?
TEAM MEMBER: It just felt right! We kind of all looked at each other and said why not? FACILITATOR: We felt that applying for Founder's made sense this year. Our whole EAST program seemed dedicated to making a positive change in our school and community. Making the decision to apply for Founder's early in the year encouraged and motivated students to work hard and do their absolute best.
QDescribe what it felt like when you were notified that you were 1 of 4 Founder's Award recipients for EAST Conference 2020.
FACILITATOR: It was exhilarating! The whole team felt like they were walking on cloud nine. I can remember walking down the hall and see
BUFFALO ISLAND CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL Meet the EAST Conference 2020 team of Buffalo Island Central High School led by facilitator, Jill Sanders!
ing other EAST students jumping up and down in excitement. TEAM MEMBER: Mrs. Jill, Brody, and Harris were at the EAST Leadership Team Retreat when the Founder's announcement was made. We were super excited, but it was hard not being with the rest of the EAST Conference Team to celebrate. We all just wanted to be together.
QWhy was it important for your program to submit a Founder's Award application?
TEAM MEMBER: Submitting a Founder's Award application is the perfect chance to pause and reflect on all that your program has accomplished. It is a celebration just to compile in one place all that you have achieved. FACILITATOR: Applying for Founder's also sets expectations for projects at a high level. This is a great thing! Once that level of expectation is set high, then students will consistently reach higher. They will challenge themselves to do more than they thought they could.
QWhat advice would you give a school who is considering submitting for Founder's Award next year?
FACILITATOR: Do it! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Our application video is something that we are very proud of. Even if we had not won Founder's, our application video is a great way for us to show our community partners, other EAST students, future EAST students, etc. what EAST is about. TEAM MEMBER: Start early on the application process. Don't put it off to the last minute! The earlier you start gathering
evidence and documentation, the better.
QWhat are some memorable moments from the year or the submission process you'd like to share with our audience?
TEAM MEMBER: One memorable moment would be sitting there at 1:20 PM trying to get the video to export, silently praying because the video was due at 3:00 PM! YIKES!
QWhat is something you know now that you wish you knew prior to submitting for the Founder's Award or even starting EAST?
TEAM MEMBER: EAST is so much more than just a class to fill your schedule. It’s a window into the real world, learning qualities that go far beyond the classroom. TEAM MEMBER: Start documenting all of your projects from the very beginning and have all of your pictures/video organized in Google Drive. This will make the application process go so much smoother.
QHow do you plan to follow up on the success of this year?
FACILITATOR: We plan to continue working hard to make a difference in our school and community. Some of our projects will continue on to next year to finish and implement. Next year will be a little different because we didn't get to have closure on some of our projects, but we will stay the course and finish them as soon as it is possible. Winning Founder's also helps us have high expectations for the future of EAST at Buffalo Island Central High School. TEAM MEMBER: We want to continue that tradition of excellence.
QIf you could plan a Founder's Award recipient celebration what would it look like?
FACILITATOR: We would love to be able to get together to celebrate in some way when it is safe to do so. One way could be for us to host a celebration at our school and maybe some of the EAST staff could come to help us celebrate. That way we could invite many of our EAST students and community partners/clients to join in the celebration. TEAM MEMBER: I agree, winning Founder's is definitely a joint effort between many students, and our community partners are an instrumental part of that as well. Being able to share the celebration with them would be a rewarding experience.
QIs there anything else you'd like to share with us? Inside jokes, life hacks, success tips for EAST, motivational quotes, and sayings you use to keep going, favorite snack during work time?
FACILITATOR: We just try to constantly motivate and encourage each other. We're all in this together!
Meet the Buffalo Island Central High 2020 EAST Conference Team:
Erica Hurst Mallie Zielinski Brittni Lyerly Colin Weatherly Rosalinda Vasquez Payton Spencer Remington Bupp Jasmine Vasquez Cason Rose Luis Reta Brody McFall
(EAST Ambassador Team Member) Harris McCord (EAST Tech Team Member)
