Do you know how sound waves affect people’s lives? Homer Middle School 8th grade student Olivia Glasman does, and she signs you how (and typed in cc to assist!)
https://youtu.be/jmzrwj42YFU
“Through a science research project on sound waves, I wanted to educate people on how hearing and deaf people perceive sound waves. I think this is an important topic because instead of not talking about disabilities we should educate people on them. I think by doing this it will benefit the deaf community and the hearing community.” – Olivia Glasman, 8th grade, Homer Middle School
Maddy Rea and capybara
Maddy Rea [Seward High School, Class of 2016], set a goal early in her high school career to travel abroad and volunteer to work with animals. At first, her plan was to travel to Malaysia and work with Sea Turtles. When she discovered that this program was not accepting more applications, her research landed her in Yungas, Bolivia, at a place called La Senda Verde (which means The Green Path). Further research convinced her mom, CJ, that Maddy had found, “the most incredible place on the planet” and that this would be an amazing opportunity for Maddy to see her goal to fruition. La Senda Verde takes in animals that were victims of illegal animal trafficking and, with the help of volunteers, tries to return them to a life as close to normal as they can have. It is illegal to re-release an animal once it has been trafficked in Bolivia. They are currently working with 550 different animals.
Maddy secured a position for two and a half months. She saved the money from her summer job to buy her tickets, visa, and pay for her volunteer position. Many of their volunteers are there for just two weeks. Volunteers like Maddy, who stick around, get to do a lot more with the animals. Her favorite animals to work with are what they call the “special animals.” These are all of the small primates (Lucachi, Squirrel, and Owl monkeys), Capybara and Paca (both really big rodents) and the Margays and Ocelots (cats). Based on skills she learned as a volunteer at the Alaska Sealife Center she is trying to train the Capybara (attached picture is a mural of a capybara). La Senda Verde has animals of all kinds; Spider, Capuchin, and Howler monkeys, Andean Spectacled Bears, Parrots, Toucans, Macaws, Tortoises, and Coatis.
Maddy’s days begin at 6:45 a.m. and she starts work at 7:30. She works until 5:30 p.m., has dinner and then socializes a bit. She works six days a week and on her seventh day she usually makes it into the town of Coroico where she has access to the internet. There are no other American volunteers. She lives in a dorm styled room with six other people, and has met people from Australia, Brazil, Belgium, France and other countries. She has also experienced tarantulas in her bed and the shower.
Maddy will return in mid-May to participate in graduation with her class at Seward High School and begin her summer work to save for college.
“I think it’s important for the people in my community to weigh in any opportunity that they get on the budget preference or revenue enhancements. And, while I don’t know how that is going to turn out yet, it will take some combination of both of those in order to come up with a sustainable budget that will move Alaska forward and help my community.” – Speaker of the House, Mike Chenault, February 8, 2016, in conversation with Soldotna High School student
KPBSD Board of Education student representative Brian Dusek talks with Speaker of the House, Mike Chenault, about a letter Soldotna High School students wrote to Alaska legislators about the budget and what the value of public education means to them.
Balancing a billion dollar state budget
On anything but a normal Monday in Juneau, when HCR 23 “Suspend Uniform Rules 20, 21, 23, 24” made fast tracks to pass through the House of Representatives, “restricting committee meetings of the Alaska House of Representatives to measures that substantially relate to and have as their primary purpose appropriating, raising, or allocating state revenue, until the Alaska House of Representatives passes a state operating budget to the Alaska Senate,” Speaker of the House Mike Chenault (and District 29 representative) met with one of his young constituents, a high school student from Soldotna, Alaska.
In Juneau for a school board legislative fly-in with board member Lynn Hohl, the student school board representative, Brian Dusek, shared a letter that Soldotna High School students wrote to Alaska legislators. Speaker Chenault said, “I hope we are on the right track, we are going to work on the budget, try to focus on the budget, and come up with a remedy for the budget. We’ll look at revenue streams, we’ll look at reducing the budget where we can. I think it’s important for the people in my community to weigh in, any opportunity that they get—either weigh in on the budget preference or revenue enhancements. And, while I don’t know how that is going to turn out yet, it will take some combination of both of those in order to come up with a sustainable budget that will move Alaska forward and help my community. So that’s where we will be and what we will work on for the next three weeks, and see if we can get a budget passed.” Alaska residents are asked to weigh in with their ideas to The House Majority “Idea Line” 1-844-414-5949 to help solve the State’s budget crunch.
“I’m having a great time advocating for public education and the KPBSD,” said Brian Dusek, Soldotna High School student and school board student representative. “It was great to learn more about the legislative process, meet Governor Walker, our senators, and our representatives, speak to public officials, and have a voice that represents my peers and community. I appreciate the KPBSD school board for allowing me to attend the legislative fly in, and I hope that I helped advocate for public education so it remains a #1 priority in the state. It’s been an amazing experience!” The Legislature and KPBSD webpage offers helpful links, copies of legislator communications, KPBSD legislative priorities, LIO office locations, and more. This page is updated throughout the legislative session.
Balancing a multi-million dollar school district budget
“The district is facing a fiscal gap for our 2016-2017 budget,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent. “We are prioritizing the programs and services we will be able to offer in our schools. The district will likely need to make additional difficult decisions depending upon the level of funding we receive from the state and borough. This is an important year to be involved and engaged in all levels of our budget development, and understand the local (borough) and state level funding for public education.”
KPBSD Public Budget Meetings
Parents, staff, students, business partners, community members, and elected officials, are invited to bring your questions and ideas to a KPBSD public meeting, where you will learn about the district budget perspective, expenditures, revenues, and receive responses to your questions.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016, Seward High School library, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016, Soldotna High School library, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016, Homer High School library, 5:30 p.m.
Building a Sustainable Future for Alaska The KPBSD Board of Education encourages everyone to participate in Governor Walker’s Sustainable Future: conversations with Alaskans through an interactive revenue and expenditure model that “allows you to fix Alaska’s budget your way.” New!Alaska residents are asked to weigh in with their ideas to The House Majority “Idea Line” 1-844-414-5949 to help solve the State’s budget crunch.
On April 9, 2015, the Soldotna High School Student Council sent a letter to Alaska legislators in response to proposed reductions to education funding.
Dear Senators and Representatives,
We, the students of Soldotna High School Student Council would like to address the current status of HB72 as it stands on April 8, 2015. We are gravely concerned about the educational implications of this bill if it should pass as it currently exists.
While we do recognize the importance of drafting a balanced budget, the cuts to education are extremely distressing. With the additional reduction of 4.1% to the Foundation Formula and a cut to other One-Time funding sources, our district is now facing up to an additional $8 million reduction to the new school year budget—which was already a deficit budget and included cuts. We worry about what this means for our school next year and in the future.
With the adoption of new curriculum standards and adjustment to the new testing procedures, we are worried that decreased budgets could lead to increases in the size of our classrooms and a reduction in resources. While each of them by themselves is alarming, combined they could be devastating. Already we do not have enough one on one time with teachers and while we have internet access, our computers and buildings are showing their age.
Extra-curricular activities will also be hit very hard. Student fees to play may need to be increased to help cover the costs of busing, uniforms, referees and coaching staff. Many students are already discouraged about the high costs of participating in sports and yet it is these activities that help keep many kids in school and motivates them to get passing grades. We will need to lean more on local businesses and communities to help with fundraising efforts at a time when they already feel the pressure of helping our local schools.
Thank you for this opportunity to share our concerns. We would encourage you to continue to look at a variety of ways to help balance the budget without such extreme cuts to education.
Sincerely,
Members of Soldotna High School Student Council
(This presentation is streamed in Windows Media format. If you do not have Windows Media Player, please get it here.)
Scroll down for the convention schedule. Mock Convention co-chair, Annaleah Ernst, writes: On behalf of the Senior Government Class at Nikiski Junior Senior High-School, I would like to invite you to our eighth quadrennial Political Mock Convention on Tuesday, October 30th, 2012. The convention will begin at 8:00AM and end at noon. The Political Mock Convention is an opportunity for students to learn about democracy in action. Starting at Kenai High School in 1984 under the mentorship of former US Senate candidate Bob Bird, and continuing under his guidance at Nikiski High School in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008, we have staged student led exercises in learning to be a good citizen. Every election year, the senior class of Nikiski Junior Senior High-School runs the convention which features resolutions written and debated by students, presidential nominating speeches, and guest speakers. Every year, we invite local, state, and national politicians to be guest speakers at the convention. This year, we are pleased to announce that our guest speakers will be State Senator Cathy Giessel, State Senate Candidate Ron Devon, Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives Mike Chenault, Kenai Borough Mayor Mike Navarre, State Representative and candidate for US House Sharon Cissna, and US Senator Mark Begich. All politicians will be at the convention in person with the exception of Mark Begich, who will be giving his speech via Skype. Contact: Any contact can be made through Mr. Bird’s classroom phone number at 907-776-9442, an email to me at annaleah.ernst@g.kpbsd.org, or an email to my co-chairman Lincoln Johnson at lincoln.johnson@g.kpbsd.org. Mock Convention October 30th, 2012 2012 Co-Chairs: Lincoln Johnson & Annaleah Ernst Co-Secretaries: Lacy Elsey, Sienna Wallis & Mahlon Troyer Guest Speakers: 1. State Senator Cathy Giessel 2. State Senator Opponent Ron Devon 3. Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives Mike Chenault 4. President of the Kenai Peninsula School Board Joe Arness 5. Kenai Mayor Mike Navarre 6. Democratic member of the Alaska House of Representatives Sharon Cissna 7. State Senator Peter Micciche 8. United States Senator Mark Begich 2012 Nominating Speeches: 1. Barack Obama– Lauren Countryman 2. Mitt Romney– Hannah Tauriainen 3. Ron Paul– Katie O’Brien 4. Condoleezza Rice–Michael Hollinger Convention Schedule: (all times are approximate) 8:00-8:10…………………………………………………….………………..Caucus 8:10-8:20……………………………………………….….…Call to order, Anthems 8:20-8:25……………………………………………………………Keynote Speech 8:25-8:40…………………………………………………..………………..Roll Call 8:40-9:25……………………………………………………….…Resolutions, Part 1 9:25-9:55……………………………………………………………..Guest Speakers 9:55-10:40…………………………………………………………Resolutions, Part 2 10:40-11:15………………………………………………….Nominating & Seconding Speeches 11:20-11:35………………………………………………….Roll Call for President Convention Staff: Resolutions Committee Chairs: Shaylee Rizzo & Caleb Alkire Seating Committee Chairs: Jesse Ross, Brittany Sexton & Emily Berry Video Reporters: Paris Davis, Bailey Buchholz, Morgan Sauve & Dylan Griffith Video & Tech Chair: Asher Phillips, Orren Hyatt Artists: Colleen Dempsey, Lauren Countryman & Haley Conti Faculty Tech Advisors: Mr. Vern Kornstad, Sr. Faculty Director: Mr. Bob Bird
