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

‘ASDN Celebrates Code.org Award + Preparing for the 2022 Hour of Code’ by Sam Jordan

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Cheryl Bobo accepts the ‘Overcoming the Odds’ Code.org award on behalf of the ASDN/ACSA.

At the recent 2022 CSEdCon Global CS Education Conference, the Alaska Staff Development Network (ASDN) accepted an award for ‘overcoming the odds’ from Code.org, the international leader in computer science education. ASDN is a division of the education non-profit Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA). For the past four years, ASDN has served as the Code.org Regional Partner for Alaska and worked to expand access to computer science education across the state by providing professional learning opportunities for K-12 educators and advocating for computer science education policy. To date, ASDN has provided computer science curriculum professional development to nearly 1,000 Alaskan educators in 44 of Alaska’s 54 school districts. Continue reading ‘ASDN Celebrates Code.org Award + Preparing for the 2022 Hour of Code’ by Sam Jordan

‘Passing On Knowledge and Wisdom Through the Qaspeq’ by Sew Yupik’s Nikki Corbett

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Nikki Corbett, known by many as Sew Yupik, is an artist and educator who specializes in qaspeq design and sewing.

I made my first qaspeq when I was around 10 or 11 years old with my sister/cousin/aunt. And then I didn’t pick up sewing a qaspeq again until I was in college in my mid-20s. As a kid I would watch my auntie sew qaspeqs and would just be in awe of her beautiful creations. I longed to be able to sew. The sewing skills I learned at school thanks to my amazing Yup’ik teachers. I am forever thankful for their teachings and it has been a dream of mine to be able to teach and share the knowledge that I learned from grade school, my aunt, and my college qaspeq teachers.

Continue reading ‘Passing On Knowledge and Wisdom Through the Qaspeq’ by Sew Yupik’s Nikki Corbett

‘Alaska Traditional Skills Curriculum Supports Culturally-Informed Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities’ by ASDN Staff

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Nova Picks a Fish graphic by Rain Van Den Berg, based on photo by Robyn Chaney. Cold Water Safety and Set Netting Unit.

As high school students with disabilities and their families start to plan for life after their K-12 school experience, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process requires that planning takes place to thoughtfully prepare for any needed supports and skill development to ensure that the transition to adult life is as successful as possible. Many Alaskan students and their families practice traditional Native Alaskan arts and subsistence skills, and a well-rounded transition plan should reflect those family activities alongside career and college readiness. Continue reading ‘Alaska Traditional Skills Curriculum Supports Culturally-Informed Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities’ by ASDN Staff

‘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

‘Culture, Collaboration and Creativity!’ by Shelli Franckowiak, 2022 Alaska Elementary Art Teacher of the Year

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To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, 4th and 5th grade artists at Fronteras Spanish Immersion Charter School in Wasilla, AK created a 160 foot long alfombra de aserrin (sawdust carpet) on our school’s front sidewalk.

Sawdust Carpets (Alfombras de Aserrin) are one or more layers of colored sawdust laid on the ground as decoration. Sawdust carpets are traditionally created in Mexico and Guatemala and are used as part of Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebration, welcoming Good Friday and Easter processions of religious icons carried through the streets. Although sawdust carpets take days to design and create, it takes only minutes for them to be happily and reverently destroyed by the shuffling feet of participants in religious processions. Continue reading ‘Culture, Collaboration and Creativity!’ by Shelli Franckowiak, 2022 Alaska Elementary Art Teacher of the Year

‘Six Alaska Teens Recognized as Heroes for Work in their Local Communities’ by Alaska Communications

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From showing the positive outcomes of inclusion to preserving cultural traditions for future generations, or simply lending a hand to those in need, youth today are proving that an individual’s actions can have a tremendous impact on those around them. Through the Summer of Heroes Program, Alaska Communications is proud to celebrate six teens for their outstanding community service across Alaska. Five youth heroes at large and one youth hero from the company’s employee program each will be awarded a $1,500 scholarship for their efforts. Additionally, as part of the program, the broadband provider will donate $15,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs – Alaska to further support youth development in the state. Continue reading ‘Six Alaska Teens Recognized as Heroes for Work in their Local Communities’ by Alaska Communications

On Surviving and Thriving in the Online Classroom by Billeen Carlson

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In the Spring of 2020 my students stopped coming to school. The Kenai Peninsula extended Spring Break while my colleagues and I scrambled to figure out how we were going to reproduce the learning that had been going on in our classrooms for children that were now at home, often unsupervised.

I will admit, I was rather smug. I assumed that my technology-rich Nikolaevsk classroom trained my students for this. My class of 5th-12th grade social studies and language arts students were already prepared to do their learning online. They knew how to navigate Google Classroom and Canvas and PowerSchool. All of them could compose and post videos reflecting on the learning they had gained by engaging with online learning materials.  Continue reading On Surviving and Thriving in the Online Classroom by Billeen Carlson

Alaska’s Heart Through Student Art 2022

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Three pieces of student art on a table with silent auction bid forms in front.This spring, Alaska’s Heart Through Student Art, the statewide celebration and auction of student art from all 54 school districts, made its in-person return to the Andrew P. Kashevaroff State Museum. Once again legislators, statewide educational leaders, teachers, and student artists were able to celebrate student artists together.

This is the 7th year that Alaska Council for School Administrators has sponsored the event, collecting art nominated from all over Alaska. Schools shipped pieces to Juneau where ACSA staff and volunteers from the Alaska Arts Education Consortium set up the pieces for display. To kick it all off, ACSA sponsored a reception, bringing educators, administrators and legislators together. Continue reading Alaska’s Heart Through Student Art 2022