College Tour Time!: LKSD GEAR UP Students Visit Alaskan Post-Secondary Programs by ASDN Staff

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LKSD GEAR UP students visited the Troth Yeddha’ Campus at University of Alaska at Fairbanks

Students from Rural Alaska don’t often get the opportunity to participate in college tours. Weather, distance, and logistics are a challenge when your hometown is accessible only by small plane or boat. Thanks to the support of the Rural Alaska GEAR UP Partnership, 19 students from villages served by Lower Kuskokwim School District got the opportunity to go on a statewide tour of post-secondary programs at UAF, UAA, APU, and AVTEC. Continue reading College Tour Time!: LKSD GEAR UP Students Visit Alaskan Post-Secondary Programs by ASDN Staff

‘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

‘Developing A Place-Based Computer Science Curriculum’ by YKSD Teacher Andrew Bellamy

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Place-Based Computer Science Curriculum Website: Place-Based Computer Science Curriculum

Place-based education is a philosophy that utilizes the context of student knowledge – culture, location, nature, and history – to connect to curricular and core content within the classroom. Despite numerous articles and studies on the merits of land-based and place-based education in rural Alaska, there is little information regarding a connection between the culture and ecology of this culturally rich land with a substantial computer science curriculum. One can find math modules, art and music units, and ELA lessons that attach to Alaska Native culture through a simple web search, but Computer Science has remained a subject that is primarily in the classroom and focused on materials that do not necessarily connect with the students’ lives outside of school. Continue reading ‘Developing A Place-Based Computer Science Curriculum’ by YKSD Teacher Andrew Bellamy

‘8th Annual ‘Alaska’s Heart Through Student Art’ Event Showcases Alaskan Student Art’ by Sam Jordan

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(Photos by Sam Jordan)

Last month, the Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA) hosted the 8th Annual ‘Alaska’s Heart Through Student Art’ reception. The event, held in Juneau at the the Andrew P. Kashevaroff State Museum, is an annual statewide celebration and auction of student art from Alaska’s 54 school districts. Legislators, statewide educational leaders, teachers, and student artists came together to celebrate and support student artistic achievement in Alaska. Continue reading ‘8th Annual ‘Alaska’s Heart Through Student Art’ Event Showcases Alaskan Student Art’ by Sam Jordan

‘Reflections From ASTE: YKSD Students and Teachers Present on Engaging Math Program’ by Nuri Johnsen

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I had the pleasure of attending the Alaska Society for Technology in Education (ASTE) conference in Anchorage a few weeks ago. This conference brought together speakers from all over the country and state to discuss technology in education. It was my first time attending and it will be on the calendar every year from now on. I listened to Fredrick Lane talk about cyber-ethics and the issues facing educators now, I learned about all the free resources that are available with Cyber.org and I had the pleasure of attending a presentation from two teachers in the Yukon-Koyukuk School District (YKSD) on how they use FLIP! to stay in communication with the students throughout their vast school district.

YKSD teachers Simon Huff and Andrew Bellamy were joined by students to present on making math engaging in their district.

Continue reading ‘Reflections From ASTE: YKSD Students and Teachers Present on Engaging Math Program’ by Nuri Johnsen

‘The 2023 RTI/MTSS Effective Instruction Conference’ by Sam Jordan

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Over two weekends in January, over one thousand educators from across Alaska gathered online and in-person for the 2023 RTI MTSS / Effective Instruction Conference. Hosted and lead by the Alaska Staff Development Network (ASDN), this annual professional development gathering is the largest K-12 education conference in the State of Alaska and brings national caliber presenters and education experts from across the curriculum together with Alaska’s education community. Continue reading ‘The 2023 RTI/MTSS Effective Instruction Conference’ by Sam Jordan

‘Napaskiak Student Creates Calillguteluta “Working Together” Project Logo’ by Sam Jordan

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Napaskiak student artist Kristen Maxie works across many mediums, including photography.

The Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) is in the process of converting its previous district wide Yugtun language assessment into a fully online assessment called the Yugtun Piciryaranek Qaneryaranek-lluCuqyun (YQPC) that will provide new capabilities for using data to drive curriculum revision and improve instructional practices. This project, named Calillguteluta “Working Together”, is funded through a federal Alaska Native Education (ANE) grant with the U.S Department of Education – Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Alaska Staff Development Network (ASDN) serves as a project partner. Continue reading ‘Napaskiak Student Creates Calillguteluta “Working Together” Project Logo’ by Sam Jordan

‘Year Four for the Our Alaskan Schools Blog!’ by Sam Jordan at ASDN

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The Our Alaskan Schools Blog turns four this month! In 2022, we presented 21 stories from classrooms, schools, and communities around the state. It was a dynamic year of transition across the state, as educators shifted from a pandemic stance to new stances infused with all we’ve learned from the challenge of the past few years. Here are some of the highlights of the stories featured this past year. Continue reading ‘Year Four for the Our Alaskan Schools Blog!’ by Sam Jordan at ASDN

‘Delta Elementary School Honored for Second Time as a National Blue Ribbon School’ by Principal Milt Hooton

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Principal Milt Hooton and DES students

This year, Delta Elementary School (DES) in Delta Junction, Alaska was honored as a National Blue Ribbon School for the second time. This was a very special honor for us because of the effort we put in over the last few years to not allow our school to simply survive the challenges the pandemic presented, but to thrive. It was a hard earned and well deserved recognition of the blood, sweat, and tears we all shed under some very difficult circumstances. Continue reading ‘Delta Elementary School Honored for Second Time as a National Blue Ribbon School’ by Principal Milt Hooton

Denali Elementary Named 2022-23 ESEA Distinguished School by Principal Becky Zaverl

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“We come to school every day to learn, take responsibility for our actions and treat everyone with love, kindness, and respect.”

Denali Elementary was recently named ESEA Distinguished School for 2022-23 and we are so excited about it!  We have 300 students preK through 5th grade & are located in Fairbanks, the 2nd largest city in Alaska.  Our school is located right in the downtown area so the majority of our students are within a mile and walk to school, even when it’s 25 below zero! Our student population is very diverse. We have 27% of our students who are 2 or more races, 15% Alaskan Native, 30% caucasion, 15% hispanic, 6% african american, 4% asian and 3% pacific islander. About 60% of our students receive free or reduced lunches. 

We have a motto here at Denali, “We come to school every day to learn, take responsibility for our actions and treat everyone with love, kindness, and respect”. This motto of spreading love, kindness and respect was given to us from an Alaskan native Artist and carver, Bert Ryan in the late 1990s, who, alongside our students, carved our very own totem pole which stands in our playground today.

Continue reading Denali Elementary Named 2022-23 ESEA Distinguished School by Principal Becky Zaverl