Category: Uncategorized

‘Alaska Superintendent Cohort Completes National Certification’ by Sam Jordan

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Superintendents Scott MacManus, Kerry Boyd and Pat Manning pose with fellow Superintendent and cohort mentor Dr. Bridget Weiss.

This past February four long-time Alaskan school Superintendents celebrated their graduation from the AASA National Superintendent Certification Program. The AASA is the premier national association for school system leaders and serves as a leading national voice for public education and district leadership.

The opportunity to participate in the certification program came as part of their district’s participation in a federal grant called Increasing Performance and Retention in Alaska’s Rural Schools (IPRARS), which is administered by the Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA). Continue reading ‘Alaska Superintendent Cohort Completes National Certification’ by Sam Jordan

‘Haa Tóo Yéi Yatee Haa Yoo X̱ʼatángi: Our Language is Inside Us – Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM) Resilience Project’ by JAMM Staff

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Student participants and Athabascan songster Yuxgitsiy George Holly developing songs for the JAMM resilience project.

Juneau Alaska Music Matters‘ (JAMM) resilience project is a series of two Língit songs, Daaḵ Nadéin (“the tide is coming in”) and Yánde Kg̱waláa (“the tide is going to go out”), inspired by conversations with Língit elders and JAMM students. These songs are presented in a music video project that brought together students, staff, musicians, dancers, and elders, showing the rich diversity of Juneauʼs culture and showcasing efforts of multiple organizations in Southeast Alaska to revitalize the Língit language before it is lost forever. This project was filmed both at JAMM school sites and throughout Juneau, home of the Áak’w Kwáan  people. Continue reading ‘Haa Tóo Yéi Yatee Haa Yoo X̱ʼatángi: Our Language is Inside Us – Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM) Resilience Project’ by JAMM Staff

‘Slow Looking’ by Nancy Lehnhart at Juneau School District

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In my work as the Elementary Visual Art Specialist for the Juneau School District I have for years puzzled about art being an avenue for complex thinking for students. For the last six years, I’ve been very involved with a grant-funded PD project in the Juneau School District called Artful Teaching. We have a large cohort of teachers learning together through workshops and small collegiate study groups called “Art Labs.” We are exploring arts integration and culturally responsive teaching. One of the areas of learning for us has been through Project Zero Harvard and their Visible Thinking routines and practices. I’m experimenting all the time now with how to deepen thinking through art. The following shares a project around students’ school environments. 

Continue reading ‘Slow Looking’ by Nancy Lehnhart at Juneau School District

An Old Game Meets New Tech: Creating Connections During Remote Schooling by TJ O’Donnell, Pearl Creek School

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In Fall 2020, faced with the challenge of conducting Pearl Creek Elementary’ s Extended Learning Program remotely, I turned to chess to help students connect with each other. As a longtime school chess club sponsor, I knew how much fun students had playing against each other, so I just needed to figure out a way for them to play online. I invited students to play using a copy of a shared google drawings template during Zoom sessions with ELP students enrolled in Fairbanks North Star Borough School District’s e-learning and BEST homeschool programs. I was happy to find that, even remotely, I was able to hop from game to game and give advice or settle disputes as they arose. 

A screenshot of chess game being played in Google Draw. Google Draw.
Pearl Creek Elementary students learned to play chess online with each other remote learning.

It worked! Students liked it so much that games sometimes extended beyond the ELP session. Students would often have more than one game active with different classmates. Some even started their own games by copying the template and sharing it with willing friends. Continue reading An Old Game Meets New Tech: Creating Connections During Remote Schooling by TJ O’Donnell, Pearl Creek School

‘Six Alaska Teens Honored for Community Service as Local Heroes’ By Heather Marron, Alaska Communications

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Collage photo identification – Top row, left to right: Asya Gipson, Zoe Nelles, Ted (Emily) Tedrick – Bottom row, left to right: Trevor Morgan, Joy Martin, Rosalie Cortes

Alaska youth are doing remarkable work to improve lives in our local communities.

Through the Summer of Heroes Program, Alaska Communications is proud to celebrate six youth for their outstanding community service across Alaska. Five youth heroes at large and one youth hero from the company’s employee program will be awarded a $1,500 scholarship for their efforts. Additionally, as part of the program, Alaska Communications will donate $15,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs – Alaska to further support youth development in the state. Continue reading ‘Six Alaska Teens Honored for Community Service as Local Heroes’ By Heather Marron, Alaska Communications

‘Online Writing Conferences Key to Virtual Learning Success’ by Kayla “Ashton” Morrison

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About a year ago, I started rethinking how I teach.

Not because someone told me to, or a mandate of any sort. But I felt a pressing on my heart to switch some things around and find some more joy. This planning and idea mulling turned out to be a blessing during remote learning. 

None of us were prepared for spring, and this fall has been filled with lots of struggles, questions, and tech issues. But there is joy where you look for it, even if it is different than ever before.  Continue reading ‘Online Writing Conferences Key to Virtual Learning Success’ by Kayla “Ashton” Morrison

‘Advancing College Success with Upward Bound in Alaska’ by Adam Low at UAF

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The University of Alaska Fairbanks campus has been home to Alaska’s Upward Bound (UB) program for over 52 years. The federally grant-funded Upward Bound project reaches across the state to assist first-generation-to-college students in small, rural high schools. The program strives to increase the number of high school graduates who continue on to enter universities and colleges.

Continue reading ‘Advancing College Success with Upward Bound in Alaska’ by Adam Low at UAF

‘We Are All In This Together: ASDN Supports Alaskan Educators’ Transition to Online Learning’ by Austin Burdette at ACSA

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As educators across the state face the challenge of creating and navigating virtual classrooms, the Alaska Staff Development Network (ASDN) and Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA), have stepped up to provide relevant, researched-based online programs for Alaska’s teachers and school administrators. 

Continue reading ‘We Are All In This Together: ASDN Supports Alaskan Educators’ Transition to Online Learning’ by Austin Burdette at ACSA

‘The Annette Island School District (AISD) Highlights Its Reading and Cultural Instruction’ by Superintendent Taw Lindsey

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The Annette Island School District (AISD) serves students from Metlakatla and surrounding areas on the beautiful southeast Alaskan island of Annette. Metlakatla or Maxłaxaała means “salt water passage” in the Tsimshian language. The community is only accessible by boat, ferry or plane.

Continue reading ‘The Annette Island School District (AISD) Highlights Its Reading and Cultural Instruction’ by Superintendent Taw Lindsey

‘Making Local Jellies and Syrup’ written by Students Vanessa, Chase, Liyana and Natalie at Rampart School

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The Our Alaskan Schools blog is excited to host our first-ever student blog post. This post comes to us from four middle school/high school students at Rampart School in the Yukon-Koyukuk School District.  We are excited for this opportunity to share the exciting things happening in Rampart from the perspective of these amazing student-journalists!

 

Continue reading ‘Making Local Jellies and Syrup’ written by Students Vanessa, Chase, Liyana and Natalie at Rampart School