One hundred and thirty Kenai Middle School (KMS) seventh graders descended upon Island Lake for a day of outdoor winter fun on February 26, 2016. The annual outing stresses outside life skills and activities, and is centered on an ice fishing contest. Students learned outdoor survival skills, socialized, and took part in fun activities. Twenty-five fish were caught, and trophies and prizes were awarded. The KMS seventh grade Ice Fishing Trip has become a community event, and local businesses show their support for student by donating food, gear, and prizes. A thank you extends to this year’s donors: Country Foods, Trustworthy Hardware, 3 Bears, and the Kenai River Sport Fishing Association (Hooked on Fishing) program.
Story and photos contributed by Kenai Middle School
Category: School Stories
Upward Bound at Nikiski Middle High School
“My grades are the best they’ve ever been.” — Angel, sophomore
“It’s made me make more responsible decisions and think seriously about my life.” – Kaitlyn, junior
“It has helped me expand my options and shown me other things that I can do to achieve the goals I want to achieve. I now know how much more important my grades are and it has helped me have extra time to work on my schooling and get ready for my future.” – Seyara, junior
“It’s helped me stay focused in school, helped me keep my mind set on what my goals are and it’s taught me the steps to achieve my goals.” – Corin, senior
“I’ve learned life lessons and skills that I will hold onto and remember: like working and talking to people you normally wouldn’t, being a leader in a crowd, the importance of my decisions now, and time management.” – Destiny, senior
What are all of these students referring to? Their experience as a participant in Upward Bound.
Upward Bound is a federally funded U.S. Department of Education TRiO program hosted in ten high schools throughout the state of Alaska. Nikiski Middle-High School (NMHS) is fortunate enough to be one of those ten schools. In order to qualify as an Upward Bound participant, students must meet certain criteria including coming from a low income household and, or being a first generation college student. The program is designed to offer motivated students extra support and guidance throughout high school as they prepare to enter post-secondary education. Upward Bound really opens doors for students. When students were asked what they have learned about as participants in Upward Bound, they stated that they’ve learned about all sorts of college-related topics including scholarships, college entrance exams (ACT, SAT), the college application process, the FAFSA and student loans, study abroad opportunities, dorm-life, etc. Taylaur, a NMHS junior, sums it up when she said that, “In Upward Bound, students learn about adulting.”
All of this adulting focused education takes place at twice-weekly Upward Bound meetings. On Tuesdays, NMHS Upward Bound students work with their coordinator, Nicole Gaunt (Ms. G), covering college-related topics and checking in with their accountability partners to set and review progress towards their goals. Thursday meetings focus on grade checks and study hall. This emphasis on grades and goals are key as Upward Bound students are expected to strive for at least a 3.0 GPA. This past semester, NMHS’s group celebrated when nine of 14 students made the honor roll!
For their hard work and dedication, students are compensated both financially, with the chance to earn up to $40 month, as well as with opportunities to participate in the Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) project, in cultural fieldtrips and in the Upward Bound summer programs at UAF. The summer programs allow students to experience living and learning on a college campus while working on academics, earning high school and even college credit, and exploring what Fairbanks has to offer.
While the summer programs are the icing on the cake, a lot of work goes into the day-to-day challenge of maintaining good grades as a high school student while preparing for the future. When NMHS Upward Bound students were asked to describe how participating in the school-year Upward Bound program with Ms. G has impacted their lives, a few common themes shine through: positivity, opportunity, encouragement and support.
“Upward Bound has taught me that getting help is okay.” — Avery, junior
“It has helped me reach my goals because I feel like I can get help from any of the people in there. I always feel welcome and all of them help each other stick to our goals. It has helped me have inspiration to keep my grades up.” – Lauren, junior
“Being in Upward Bound has given me the drive to pay more attention in my life, and focus on the goals I set.” – Lochlan, junior
“There’s just something about encouragement, and someone else wanting you to do something that is motivating and confidence building. My advisor cares about my success in life, and has helped me acquire skills and strategies to use while in college and beyond.”— Destiny, senior
“It’s helped me to try really hard to keep my grades up and apply for college. It’s given me a nice push.” – Shayne, senior
Sometimes we all need that little push to set and work towards our future goals. Nikiski Middle-High School is very proud of our Upward Bound students and program. It is inspiring to watch as these students to learn and grow, transitioning from high school and adolescence into college and adulthood.
Story contributed by Nicole Gaunt, School Counselor, NMHS
Typical Tustumena Elementary Day #iAmKPBSD
Tustumena Elementary is a small school in a diverse, supportive community. Students learn in an individualized, positive, accommodating, and caring environment. Tustumena Elementary is an ideal school. Our students and community greatly benefit from all staff member’s efforts. Their dedication to education is so very apparent. We are so fortunate and appreciative to have such an exception school!
On a typical Day at Tustumena Elementary, students and families are greeted outside by our Principal, Mr. Hayman. No matter rain, snow, or shine, he is always there with a familiar smile. The day begins with morning announcements and the Pledge of Allegiance. Students transitioning in the hallways are often observed respectfully pausing to say the Pledge.
Many positive observations can be made by peering into our primary classrooms. Students are actively participating in circle time. A soft chorus of voices can be heard reading out loud. Examples of student’s creativity are proudly displayed. Students are engaged, and eager to learn here.
In the intermediate wing, students can be seen enthusiastically taking part in hands on learning activities. Students are encouraged to participate in classroom discussions. Artwork and writing samples adorn the hallways and classroom walls. Intermediate students mentor younger students in our Buddy Reader program. This greatly encourages our younger students to enjoy reading. This also inspires leadership skills. Students are often observed helping and encouraging each other.
Fun, educational field trips are taken throughout the year. Kindergarteners visit the animal hospital and forestry department. First graders visit the hospital to learn about different medical occupations. Second graders visit local museums which correlate with their grade level history lessons. The fourth grade class participates in an “egg take” at Anchor River. They collect salmon eggs to raise, and they learn about life cycles. The fifth grade class travels to Seward to tour the Sea Life Center. They also hike to Exit Glacier to see and observe various geologic features. The sixth grade takes an overnight fieldtrip by boat to Peterson Bay. They observe and learn about tide pool habitats.
School Enrichment Model (SEM) classes teach and inspire our students with a variety of activities. Recent classes include: yoga, karate, grains and bread baking, spices, and fly tying. These classes encourage students to explore new areas of interest, and discover new talents.
Students are encouraged to volunteer here and their participation plays a significant role in success of school fundraisers. With the support and guidance of our PTO, our students get to see the benefits of their dedication and hard work, (which also instils good work ethics) during the fieldtrips and special events that are funded by these efforts.
Here at Tustumena, we are fortunate to have a dedicated group of parents. They lend us their individual talents. On any given day, volunteers are seen reading with students, helping with art projects, leading SEM classes, fundraising, creating bulletin boards, and participating in class parties and events. Community involvement is encouraged, and our school strongly benefits from it!
A typical day at Tustumena ends with a bustle of activity in the lobby. Students greet their families and excitedly fill them in on their day. Teachers and staff wave and wish them all well as they part ways.
- Story contributed by a Tustumena School parent
- To contribute a school or “#GoldenNews story to KPBSD, click this link.
High School Flexibility in Homer
“For many reasons, Homer Flex High School is the kind of school I wish I could have attended. At Flex, teachers encourage students to be self-motivated and tailor their education to their learning style, while still providing enough structure and support that students aren’t lost in an ocean of options. It is also one of the most accepting places I’ve had the pleasure of spending my time. And that’s what I’d like to celebrate: Flex’s ability to accept a range of quirky characters and find a way for them all to fit.
Roughly 35 students attend Flex, and each of them has their own way of making themselves known. Where one student might wear a fedora, another will come in with a cape. On any given day there will be pinks, blues, and purples scattered throughout the brown, black, blonde, and red hair of Flex’s population. Students who might inhabit opposing cliques in a different school will work together to create a rap defining and exemplifying literary terms (with a little social commentary in there, too). And then you realize that one student’s shirt is covered in kittens all silently judging the world in their cat-like way.
But those kittens are the only ones judging. Students and staff alike accept those who walk in ready to learn. “It wouldn’t be the same without them,” can be heard from one student about a peer they routinely find annoying. This recognition of the importance of each other’s different personalities is fostered in a myriad of ways, one of which is the school’s small size which allows for close relationships between students. In one exercise students were assigned to different groups and asked, over the following few days, to write notecards about each of the others in their group naming positive characteristics, and then present them to each other in front of the group. Because of the school’s size, most students have enough exposure to each other that they could easily find responses. Even students who were absent the day of the assignment were able to step into their group upon returning and name positive aspects of everyone else’s personalities.
This isn’t to say Flex is a magical school where everyone gets along and only sees the best in each other. Like in all schools, drama rears its ugly head, but Flex’s “leave drama at the door” mantra reminds students that the school strives to be a comfortable, safe place and every person who walks through its doors is responsible for maintaining that environment. And they do.
Flex changes a lot every year, every semester, as students come and go, but their level of acceptance remains a constant.”
Story contributed by Deb Meadows, a local skill provider from The Center, in Homer, Alaska
Links
- Video: The Face of Flex
- Facebook: Homer Flex
- Website: Homer Flex
Robotics enrichment at HMS
Homer Middle School Enrichment Opportunities
Exciting changes happened to the master schedule at Homer Middle School. In an effort to offer students a variety of enrichment classes, every seventh and eighth grade student takes band or choir for thirty minutes each day. In addition to the core content classes, each student has an enrichment period to take one quarter of robotics, art, business, and health. In the robotics class course, students are given an opportunity to use meaningful problem-based learning, a hands-on approach to math and science, integrate and apply knowledge of engineering, math, and science, and work in cooperative teams. At the end of each quarter, students compete with one another in the Robot Challenge in which the robots are programmed by students to complete an obstacle course. The challenge requires the robot to follow a black line, complete maneuvers and listen to voice commands.
Chapman School and Nikolaevsk School named National Title I Distinguished Schools
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
Contact: Pegge Erkeneff, 907.714.8888
News Release
Soldotna, November 23, 2015—Each year two Alaska schools are honored as a National Title I Distinguished School. This year, Chapman School in Anchor Point was recognized for exceptional student performance for two or more consecutive years. Nikolaevsk School in Nikolaevsk was recognized for significantly closing the achievement gap between student groups. Both schools are in the diverse Kenai Peninsula Borough School District (KPBSD).
We are very proud of the schools,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent. “Their staff, students, and communities have worked very hard. There is an obvious focus on meeting individual student needs which has shown great results. We are very excited that the schools have earned this honor from the state level.”
A November 20, 2015, press release from the State of Alaska Department of Education and Early Development stated: “Title I schools receive federal funds to support programs that supplement instruction to meet the educational needs of low-achieving students in high-poverty schools. The National Title I Distinguished Schools Program is a project of the National Title I Association. Selected schools must have a poverty rate of at least 35 percent and have been recognized by the state as a reward school in either the highest performing category or the highest progress category. Each state, using its own selection process, may select one school in each category for the honor.”
“The educators, students, and parents of Chapman School and Nikolaevsk School believe that all students can achieve, and they prove it every day,” said Commissioner Mike Hanley. “It is a great pleasure to congratulate these school-communities for their well-deserved recognition.”
Chapman School
Chapman School focuses on interventions and supports for grades K-3 in an effort to help decrease the learning gap between student groups. The foundation for these interventions is based on district-adopted and research-based curriculum partnered with strong data-based decision making for all students. The students at Chapman get a rich and varied education experience thanks to strong community partnerships.
“Through our Title I programs, Response To Intervention (RTI) program, community involvement, and top-notch staff, we continue to make it possible for all of our students to achieve—our students continue to rise to the challenge and do just that,” said Principal Conrad Woodhead.
Nikolaevsk School
Nikolaevsk School is proud of its high expectations for students and consistent 100% graduation rate. All students at Nikolaevsk develop SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) based on their personal academic data and lead their own student-parent-teacher conferences. All Nikolaevsk teachers work as a cooperative team and operate under a shared philosophy that every student is everyone’s responsibility.
Principal Michael Sellers said, “As a result of the teachers’ efforts toward focusing on individual student needs, adopting programs that fit within those goals, and focusing on research-based methods in instruction, Nikolaevsk has seen years of success as a five-star school and a school with successful students.”
Alaska identifies eligible schools for the award based on their students’ performance on state standards-based assessments. Identified schools then must choose to apply for the honor, providing evidence of effectiveness in research-based instructional strategies, opportunities for all children to achieve, coordination of Title I with other programs, professional development of staff, and partnerships with parents, families and communities.
Links and contacts
- Chapman School Anchor Point Alaska on Facebook
- Nikolaevsk School on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/NikolaevskSchool
- National Title I Association Distinguished Schools program, http://www.titlei.org/ds
- Chapman School Principal Conrad Woodhead, 907-235-8671
- Nikolaevsk School Principal Michael Sellers, 907-235-8972
News Release: Two KPBSD Schools named National Title I Distinguished Schools
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News Release: National Blue Ribbon for Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District News Release
Contact: Pegge Erkeneff, 907.714.8888
Soldotna, September 30, 2015—U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recognized Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science [Kenai, Alaska] as a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School. Based on overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups for making progress, 335 schools are honored as a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School.
One of the 15 charter schools recognized nationally, and one of three schools in Alaska to receive this distinguished honor in 2015, Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science in Kenai, Alaska, joins nine other schools in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District (KPBSD) to achieve the National Blue Ribbon School excellence designation.
“This honor recognizes your students’ accomplishments and the hard work and dedication that went into their success,” Duncan said in a video message to the awardees. “Your journey has taught you collaboration, intentional instruction, and strong relationships in school and with your community. You represent excellence—in vision, in implementation, and in results—and we want to learn as much as we can from you.”
“I’m honored our school has been recognized,” said Robin Dahlman, principal. “This is a reflection of a vision shared by dedicated teachers, staff, students, families and community members to personalize integrated learning for all students. We look forward to continuing to provide excellence in all we pursue with children’s learning and development.”
“We are very proud of Kaleidoscope and what they are doing for students in our district,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent. “The staff, students and parents should be commended for all of their hard work to make this school such a wonderful place for kids. Congratulations and keep up the great effort!”
The U.S. Department of Education will honor all 285 public and 50 private schools at a recognition ceremony on November 9-10, 2015, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Each school will receive an award plaque and a flag as symbols of their accomplishments. In its 33-year history, more than 8,000 of America’s schools have received the coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools award.
Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science is one of four charter schools in the KPBSD. With forty-three diverse public schools spanning 25,600 square miles on the Kenai Peninsula, Sean Dusek, superintendent, explains, “In my opinion our diversity is an asset that all of us should embrace. While this diversity makes the management of our district challenging, it is the best thing to offer for our nearly 9,000 students.”Alaskan families can choose to send their students to these KPBSD public schools:
- Free neighborhood schools that offer the KPBSD adopted curriculum choices
- Free school district optional and alternative high school programs
- Free local charter schools that offer an alternative curriculum choice
- Free performance-based school
- Free school district homeschool program
Links:
- 2015 National Blue Ribbon School Video Announcement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
- 2015 Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science – National Blue Ribbon School
- Facebook:Kaleidoscope School of Arts & Science
- National Blue Ribbon School Program
- KPBSD News Release: National Blue Ribbon School Award to Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science
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This and all KPBSD media releases are online at this web page: http://bit.ly/MediaPublicRelationships
Suggest or contribute a story online link: http://bit.ly/SuggestKPBSDstory
First time: Maritime Awareness Day
Thunder, lightening, and rain didn’t stop Seward High Students from painting, welding and working on heavy equipment at the Vigor Shipyard, September 10, 2015.
The interactive tour started at AVTEC when students from Seward High, AVTEC’s Welding, Diesel Mechanics and Constructions classes met with employers, department officials from DOT, and the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Labor, Joe Thomas. Students travelled to the shipyard where Vigor employees had a welding lab, machine shop demonstration, and fabrication shop stations, then they learned the art and science of the boat painting industry followed by the heavy equipment and Dry Dock facility. Students loved the hands on, action packed day, and returned with inspiration, new learning, and ideas!
Seward Elementary teacher and student meet the President of the United States
Jenna Fabian, Seward Elementary 4th and 5th grade teacher reflects after personally meeting with President Obama when he visited Seward, Alaska, in September 2015:
Today’s experience was clearly one that I will never forget! My student, Samantha, and I had a great conversation on the way out to Exit Glacier after going through three different security checkpoints. We decided that we were going to be “sponges” and take every little bit in! We ended up meeting up with him twice. The second time included a conversation with him regarding how important National Parks are, and the amazing career of a teacher.
What moved me the most is the absolute poise that our President exemplified. He was beyond personable with his warm smile and continuous eye contact. This experience made me think of the amazing colleagues that I am in the company of each and every day, our amazing school district, and all of the incredible educators that are there for our Nation’s children each and every day. With all of these fantastic people at the forefront of my mind, it was an absolute honor to represent Seward area schools and the initiative of “Every Kid in a Park.”
The President asked Samantha what grade she was in upon first meeting him. Then, as he walked to meet others, we were escorted down a trail by a White House correspondent to the 1926 marker near the outwash plain so that we could wait to see the President again. There at the outwash plain, we met him again with all of his press. He stopped and talked with us more, and referenced how fortunate our school is to have so many opportunities to see Exit Glacier and the great outdoors. He continued in and discuss the Every Kid, Every Park initiative and how important it is for kids to see the outdoors. We heard about his fond memories of visiting Yellowstone as a child, which seemed to be such a great memory for him as evidenced by the warm look on his face when speaking about the National Park.
I appreciated that he thanked me for my dedication to kids, and noted that teaching is one of the most important careers.
On the ride back, Samantha said there were two things that struck her the most: she was speechless after the President gave her a hug! Before the President continued his hike, he gave her a box of Presidential M&M’s. She was quite excited and reassured me that she would never eat them!
A local photographer, Kalani Woodlock, donated a picture of Seward in the winter time. This picture was printed on metal and given to the President on behalf of Seward Schools. I wasn’t able to give it to him personally but his assistant took it, and assured me that he would get the gift.
Razdolna students add splash of color
Razdolan School Jenny Sorensen and students get creative with paint. The students designed the mural, and the physical education shed was built last year during the fall and spring Construction Academies at Homer High School with instructor Cam Wyatt.
