Each year, Carrs-Safeway and the Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA) awards education grants to educators looking to enhance and innovate their professional practice in schools around Alaska. The program encourages educators to identify a problem of practice in their classroom, school, and/or district and propose novel ways to address this challenge to improve student outcomes.
Teacher Melinda Berg from Nunamiut School in Anaktuvuk Pass used her grant to provide an alternative education setting within her school to better meet the needs of the at-risk high school students she serves. Driven by a want to increase attendance and course completion rates, she retrofitted a classroom with comfortable furniture, laptop work stations, and access to coffee, tea and filtered water. Students have responded to this new positive work space with increased completion of school work and positive engagement with peers. The space has also been a popular space for community elders, who have been using it as a hospitality room during sports events at the school. Ms. Berg stated that the room “has had an impact on the whole community.”
To learn more about the Carrs-Safeway Alaska Education Grant Program, see: http://www.alaskaacsa.org/safeway/
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