Shorewood High School Assistant Principal Melyssa Stone (MEd, ’16), a Danforth program alumna and longtime Leading Towards Justice steering committee member, has been named the 2026 Washington State Secondary Assistant Principal of the Year and was recently appointed by the Governor to the Professional Educator Standards Board. Read the Q&A!

Applying a Chicanx decolonial and humanizing framework, the course encourages students to discover the transformative potential of teaching and organizing, equipping them with the tools to bring about positive social change in their communities.

AWSP is a K-12 organization and each year recognizes two winners, one elementary and one secondary principal, as its Washington State Principals of the Year.

During in-person and virtual sessions offered over multiple days in early November, early childhood administrators, coaches, behavior specialists and state teams focused on specific aspects of Pyramid Model implementation and systems-level supports.

As the newly appointed Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies, Professor Ann Ishimaru looks forward to continuing her work convening collaborative spaces of research and inquiry to advance educational justice.