‘How Columbia University Students’ Design of an Alaskan School is Informed by Climate, Culture & Community’ by Angelina Wu & Charitie Ropati

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3D Model of the rural Alaska school building design

Senior design projects are an engineering students’ rite of passage, a chance to apply four years of classroom knowledge to a real-world project. We, as civil engineering students, could choose any type of structure in any location. While our classmates decided to focus on projects within the city of our university, Columbia University in the New York City, our group decided to turn our focus to rural Alaska.

As global climate change has worsened, thawing permafrost, and advancing waters have slowly eroded the coastline, washing away critical infrastructure and threatening homes along Alaskan rivers. This is particularly true for Newtok, a small village located on the Ningliq River in Southwest Alaska. In 2003, an agreement for managed retreat was made for townspeople to resettle by river to higher ground several miles away in Mertarvik. It wasn’t until 2019 that the first residents arrived in this new town, even though there is no functioning sewer system and part of the school has been torn down for safety concerns. As a complete greenfield development, Mertarvik requires all new infrastructure to be built, including an air landing strip, a landfill, an evacuation center, and a school. Continue reading ‘How Columbia University Students’ Design of an Alaskan School is Informed by Climate, Culture & Community’ by Angelina Wu & Charitie Ropati

“Shining a Light on Story: Teacher Tales Amplifies the Voices of Educators of Every Variety” by Sarah Cronick

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“It was a marvelously bright spring day- a perfect day to take my 8th graders on a bike ride along our city’s outstanding greenbelt. The trails were finally free of the sloshy slush and we were a week away from their graduation. What could be better than soaking up our final days together than hopping on our bikes and letting that fresh Alaskan spring breeze hit our skin as we meander the rolling hills to the song of babbling brooks nearby? Of course, I should’ve known that we wouldn’t be the only ones delighted to be out and about…” 

Teacher Tales shares stories. Stories of educators of every variety, in and out of the classroom, at various points along their journey. It is an opportunity to hear from the teachers themselves about what teaching is really like. The moments that make us laugh, the ones that make us cringe, the ones that make us cry.  Continue reading “Shining a Light on Story: Teacher Tales Amplifies the Voices of Educators of Every Variety” by Sarah Cronick

‘Seven Alaska Youth Recognized as Local Community Heroes’

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Seven Alaska Youth Recognized as Local Community Heroes

With a heart to serve others, young Alaskans are changing lives and making their communities better. From advocating for legislation in the U.S. Congress to supporting their peers, and raising awareness and funds for causes important to them, youth across the state are having a positive impact on Alaska.

Through the Summer of Heroes Program, Alaska Communications is celebrating seven young people for their outstanding community service across Alaska. The youth each will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship for their efforts, no strings attached. Continue reading ‘Seven Alaska Youth Recognized as Local Community Heroes’

‘AK Indigenous Educators Present Research at University of Helsinki’ by Anya Nelson and Luke Fortier

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GROUP OF INDIGENOUS SOUTHEAST ALASKA EDUCATORS PRESENT COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE MODEL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Through funding provided by the Goldbelt Heritage Foundation and based on a Sealaska Heritage Institute Community of Practice approach, a group of Southeast Alaska educators recently traveled to the Reimagining Teachers and Teacher Education for Our Futures conference at the University of Helsinki in Finland. They presented findings for a Community of Practice approach to strengthening educational practices that makes Indigenous language and pedagogies a central component to the classroom. Continue reading ‘AK Indigenous Educators Present Research at University of Helsinki’ by Anya Nelson and Luke Fortier

‘Bats of Alaska! Yakutat’s Summer Explorers Camp’ by ACSA Staff

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The land of the midnight sun and the study of nocturnal animals, such as bats, isn’t what you would expect at your typical summer camp—however, this unique combination made for a memorable experience for students and members of the Yakutat community.  

For the past 12 years, Sarah Israelson, the middle school teacher for Yakutat School District, has led the district’s Summer Explorers Camp for students in grades 3-8. The two-week camp focuses on STEM projects and has a theme around local wildlife or nature. This year, Israelson and her team chose bats.   Continue reading ‘Bats of Alaska! Yakutat’s Summer Explorers Camp’ by ACSA Staff

‘Growing Employment Opportunity Through YKSD’s Welding Program’ by ACSA Staff

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Every school district in Alaska focuses on preparing students for life after graduation. Anthony Cavan, CTE Welding Instructor for the Yukon-Koyukuk School District (YKSD), helps students receive the certifications and skills they need to start a career as welders right after graduation.  

After 22 years of teaching welding in Kodiak, Cavan moved to Fairbanks in 2021 to develop a welding program for YKSD. What was created was a short-term intensive training program where Cavan would visit each of the 10 YKSD schools for one week to introduce them to the concepts of welding.   Continue reading ‘Growing Employment Opportunity Through YKSD’s Welding Program’ by ACSA Staff

‘LYSD’s Kusilvak Career Academy: CTE focusing on Careers, Culture, and Leadership’ by ACSA Staff

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Careers, Culture, and Leadership are the core tenets of the Kusilvak Career Academy (KCA), a program for 11th and 12th-grade students in the Lower Yukon School District (LYSD).  

In 2019, the LYSD School board and district leadership sought to help close the equity gap between rural and urban students and how they received their career and technical education (CTE). LYSD’s solution was the Kusilvak Career Academy, a quarterly CTE residential program based in Anchorage.   Continue reading ‘LYSD’s Kusilvak Career Academy: CTE focusing on Careers, Culture, and Leadership’ by ACSA Staff

‘An Extraordinarily Significant Undertaking that No One Else in this World is Capable of Doing’ by Peter Hawkins

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The CPQE Translation Team

Each school day at 1pm, four elders make their way up the ramp at Nuniwarmiut School. Upon entering the building, they turn right and walk past the pre-school room. They stop by the office to greet the secretary and the principal and make their way down the hallway past the junior high and high school classrooms where students and teachers are collaboratively working on learning. They enter the library/meeting room at the end of the hall. They close the door and install themselves around one of the large tables where there is a collection of notepads, pencils, erasers, dictionaries and snacks just as they left them the day before. They are soon focused together on an extraordinarily significant undertaking that no one else in this world is capable of doing. Continue reading ‘An Extraordinarily Significant Undertaking that No One Else in this World is Capable of Doing’ by Peter Hawkins

‘Kinesthetic and Authentic Learning through Haiku Poetry’ by Kirk Bergen

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Children absolutely love learning and studying anything having to do with animals. They are more focused and tuned in to the learning process visually and auditorily and are excited to learn more with photos, videos, text, sound, conversation, and dialogue with the introduction to the topic.

At Davis-Ramoth School in Selawik, Alaska in Northwest Arctic School Borough, general education teachers have been joining their students during their daily Inupiaq class to learn more about the culture and to learn more about what they are studying and learning. I then like to integrate what they are studying and learning in Inupiaq with social studies, science, art, reading, and writing back in the general education classroom with kinesthetic learning that emphasizes hands-on and interactive learning experiences. This type of learning utilizes the sense of touch and movement to facilitate understanding and retention. Physical activity is incorporated with movement and hands-on experiences to enhance the learning process. Continue reading ‘Kinesthetic and Authentic Learning through Haiku Poetry’ by Kirk Bergen

‘Kelp in Cordova Classrooms’ by Skye Steritz

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In Prince William Sound and several other regions in Alaska, kelp farming is a budding, regenerative industry, adding to the vibrancy of working waterfronts. I am a fourth grade teacher at Mt. Eccles Elementary School in the Cordova City School District and also a kelp farmer. My husband and I started Noble Ocean Farms in January 2020. From the start, I was determined to find ways to weave my passions of education and ocean science.

Continue reading ‘Kelp in Cordova Classrooms’ by Skye Steritz