President's Newletter 2018

Colleagues,

I’m excited to begin the year as the president of the CAWS board. It is an honor to be in this position, and I will work to ensure that CAWS continues to provide an array of outstanding services and support to our member schools.  

Our organization experienced some significant changes in 2018. Pat Prather, who served as executive director and as one of the Granlibakken directors, retired this year. We had a wonderful celebration for her at the Global Conference in San Diego. Thank you again, Pat, for all you’ve done to support the educators, students and families in California’s IB World School community. Past President Diana Cinatl is also departing our board this year. Her tireless efforts allowed CAWS to flourish during some challenging times for schools. Thank you, Diana, for your years of service. Thanks also to David Crawford, our departing president, who helped to develop CAWS’ scholarship program during his tenure on the board. Thanks, Dave, for your service to CAWS and our California IB community.

Change leads to opportunity, as the saying goes, and some exciting changes are on the horizon. We learned at the Global Conference that California is now the fifth largest IB region in the world, with more schools than any other state, and exponentially more California schools looking to become IB World Schools. With that growth in mind, CAWS is seeking new board members to join us as we look to strengthen what we offer and find new ways to support all of California’s IB programs. If you would like join our board of directors, please send a short letter of interest and a CV to either me or CAWS Executive Director Robin Oliver by October 10th, 2018. We have some at-large positions open, and we are also looking for a new treasurer and a university relations representative.

May you all have a wonderful start to your school year! I hope to see you at our Fall Forum in San Diego on October 29th. If you have any questions or IB needs, please reach out to one of our board members. We are all happy to serve you.

Best wishes,

Michael Winsatt

President of the CAWS board of directors