Meet #iAmKPBSD outstanding Distance Learning education students, Fall 2016
Annie Quinn Soldotna High School
Distance Class: Computer Applications
Distance Teacher: Darren Jones
“Annie Quinn completed all three computer applications courses this year earning her six college credits from Kenai Peninsula College. Annie has a great work ethic, time management skills and has demonstrated outstanding computer skills.” David Weisser Connections Homeschool
Distance Class: Biology A
Distance Teacher: Kim Leslie
“David’s creativity and enthusiasm for learning shine through on all of David’s work in Biology. He moves through this rigorous course on pace, showing strong understanding and bringing a level of curiosity that honors the wonders of science.” Caleb Rauch Homer High School
Distance Class: World History
Distance Teacher: Steve Cothran
“Caleb finished the whole semester of World History by the quarter mark, and more importantly, did so while maintaining the highest quality of work. His assignments were always comprehensive and he looked for meaningful insights between the course material and his contemporary world.” Gage Charlesworth, Connections Homeschool Gage Charlesworth Connections Homeschool
Distance Class: Health
Distance Teacher: Amanda Adams
“Gage has demonstrated true diligence in his first online course! Working continually to understand the material and remove roadblocks along the way. He responds to feedback by thinking deeper about the topics, and furthering his understandings.” Kaitlyn Johnson, Nikiski Middle-High School Kaitlyn Johnson Nikiski Middle-High School
Distance Class: Language Arts 10
Distance Teacher: Amanda Adams
“Kaitlyn continually demonstrates diligence in her efforts to become a better reader and writer. Her work ethic is unwavering, always reworking assignments, clarifying with questions, and applying feedback. Kaitlyn allows her creativity to shine through into her writing, and she isn’t afraid to take risks in trying new things with the goal of expanding her ability.” Olivia Delgado, Ninilchik School Olivia Delgado Ninilchik High School
Distance Class: Pre-Calculus
Distance Teacher: Gabe Evins
“Olivia is doing outstanding in Pre-Calculus online and is seven assignments ahead of schedule. Olivia continues to be one of my best students and shows exemplary work. She is very respectful with her communications and is not afraid to ask for help if help is needed.” Marissa Geissler, Homer High School Marissa Geissler Homer High School
Distance Class: Italian 1
Distance Teacher: Emanuela Pokryfi
“Marissa has been a remarkable student with her positive and proactive attitude throughout the first quarter. She was very helpful by letting me know of errors or issues with the course and its content whenever she found one, suggesting possible solutions. Marissa also agreed to meeting with another student in her school who is enrolled in the same online course to help her in getting more grounded in the course.” Learn more: KPBSD Distance Learning Department
The mission of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is to develop productive, responsible citizens who are prepared to be successful in a dynamic world.
News Release Southern peninsula school start and end time options Soldotna, October 12, 2016—Changes to school start and end times will begin in August, 2017, and in order to inform and gather input, three southern peninsula community meetings will take place in November. The same content will be presented at each meeting. Parents, KPBSD staff, students, and community members are invited and encouraged to attend a community meeting of their choosing:
Tuesday, November 1, 2016, 6:00 PM, Ninilchik School
Wednesday, November 2, 2016, 6:00 PM, Homer High School
Thursday, November 10, 6:00 PM, Chapman School, Anchor Point
Following community meetings and feedback from community members, on Tuesday, October 4, 2016, school principals met with district administration and staff to develop three options for new school start and end times in the southern peninsula. The preferred option from all school administrators is “X”. However, two additional options were also developed. Option “Y” adds ten minutes to start and end times, and option “Z” is most problematic, swaps the start times, and tiers schools without like needs. Next steps:
The transportation department analyzed X, Y, and Z options, and transportation routes for X and Y are viable.
School administrators will share the three options with site councils, and gather input.
November community meetings will be an excellent time for a shared conversation and discussion.
Principals will evaluate input and make final recommendations to district administration.
KPBSD transportation will make certain bus transportation for the chosen option is viable.
The district anticipates completion and a final decision before winter break so that parents and communities can begin to plan for the changes that will start in August, 2017.
Homer High School Nolan Bunting Nolan Bunting Homer High School #Classof2016
Nolan Bunting is a one-in-a-million person. His appetite for knowledge is insatiable and spans virtually every discipline, be it academic or career and technical. Apart from earning straight A’s in the most rigorous classes Homer High School offers, including seven Advanced Placement (AP) classes, Nolan has also managed to build a résumé that looks more like a list of volunteer opportunities rather than anything anyone could have actually done, and done so well: Briggs and Stratton Master Service Technician, multiple state champion and team captain in both Drama Debate and Forensics (DDF) as well as in Skills USA, volunteer-extraordinaire for various local non-profits in the fields of marine biology, ornithology, and veterinary.
Nolan will attend Colorado State University (CSU) this fall to pursue pre-veterinary studies. His undergraduate education does not stand to cost him much money nor take him much time. He received local, state, and national scholarships, in addition to the merit-based award he will receive directly from CSU. And he’ll be entering as a college sophomore or better because he took classes at the local Kachemak Bay Campus, as well as being the most prolific AP tester in Homer High history—he took eight AP exams this year alone. We anticipate the faculty of CSU should be prepared to be impressed by Nolan Bunting. Homer High School
Homer High student video is a top ten national contender in Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge Three Homer High School students triumphed over more than 1,500 entrants from across the country – the highest number of submissions ever received in the competition’s five year history – to be one of the top ten finalists in the annual Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge. The 56 second video, “Let’s Be Smart” topic is distracted driving, and it is up for a People’s Choice award based on online votes received by April 25.* Please vote online and share via social sites!
Liam Somers, Johann Kallelid, and Lyndsay Brown are finalists and have 1 in 10 chance to win up to $15,000 and participate in the video production of a PSA with Toyota and Discovery Education!
Plus, the People’s Choice winners also win $5,000. Encourage your school and community to support these creative and community minded students. Go to www.TeenDrive365InSchool.com/vote by April 25, and share with #TeenDrive365 on Twitter.
Let’s Be Smart video in Homer, Alaska L-R: Liam Somers, Johann Kallelid, and Lyndsay Brown
“I’ve always loved to get my friends together and make movies for fun, so when I saw that there was a scholarship being offered for making a video about distracted teen drivers, I immediately rounded up some actors and began filming. I’ve also realized, during my few short years of driving, just how dangerous distracted driving can be, and I thought that by making this video we could hopefully help prevent future accidents due to distractions.” – Liam Somers, Homer High School student
“Liam is the brains behind this whole video. He created the whole script and the green screen, everything. I am really proud and honored to be a part of this, and the fact that we are now in the top ten finalists, is incredible. Liam worked really hard on this video and deserves to win it all!” – Lyndsay Brown, Homer High School student
“In the past, Liam, me and some other friends have made many videos. Liam called me and asked if I wanted to make another video with him and of course I said, yes. It’s so cool that we’re in the top ten finalists. It’s a great feeling.” – Johann Kallelid, Homer High School student
“This is another great example of how our students are applying their education to make a difference in the world using new media platforms. I’m very proud of them—now please give the Let’s Be Smartvideo an online vote by April 25.” – Sean Dusek, superintendent
*VOTE by April 25: Let’s Be Smart video by Lian S, Johann K., Lyndsay B., in Homer, Alaska
To view Liam, Johann, and Lyndsay’s video along with the other finalists and pick a favorite, visit www.TeenDrive365InSchool.com/vote, and use #TeenDrive365 on Twitter. The People’s Choice Winner will receive a $5,000 prize and a behind-the-scenes trip to a taping of a Velocity network show. In addition to the People’s Choice winner, a panel of judges from Toyota and Discovery Education will choose several other prize winners. The first place winner will receive $15,000 and will work with a Discovery film crew to reshoot their video into a TV-ready PSA to air on a variety of Discovery networks. Other prizes include:
Second place prize – $10,000 and a behind-the-scenes trip to a Velocity network show taping
Third place prize – $7,500
Fourth to tenth place prizes – Each receives $2,500
Four regional prizes – Each receives $1,000
“We launched the Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge five years ago with Discovery Education because we wanted another way to engage young people in our commitment to make the roads safer for us all,” said Mike Goss, General Manager, Social Innovation, Toyota Motor North America. “It was tough to choose the 10 finalists this year and we were blown away by their creativity. Some of the videos were funny, others were profound, but all inspired us to think even more deeply about the importance of driving safely.” “We applaud this year’s finalists and their use of digital storytelling, creativity and passion to influence the behavior of their peers and ultimately help save lives,” said Bill Goodwyn, president and CEO at Discovery Education. “Discovery Education is proud to partner with Toyota on addressing this critical issue by empowering young people to make smart decisions behind the wheel through engaging digital resources and experiences.” To learn more about the resources offered through TeenDrive365: In School, go to http://www.teendrive365inschool.com/.
Cam Wyatt, educator at Homer High School, receives top state award as 2016 Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor!
“This has been a bonus year for me,” said Cam Wyatt, Homer High School educator. “The 2016 Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year is a high honor and it will hang right beside the 2015 ACTE Promising Practice Award presented to me in November at the Alaska Statewide ACTE Conference. To be selected as the 2016 Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year by my peers, mentors and supervisors is a personal and professional honor. Twenty-six years of teaching has led me to develop an instructional style that focuses on “allow the eyes to see what the hands are doing and the mind is thinking.” This proactive constructivist style is a student centered growth mindset philosophy that values hands on learning. SkillsUSA is all about being able to demonstrate skill sets that lend themselves to be “Prepared-Polite-Productive”. Roll it all together and you have an educational environment that is exciting, full of discovery learning, and promotes personal investment by all. As many know, I’m retiring from the classroom this year and will become Principal of Mesa County School District 51 Career Center in Grand Junction, Colorado. It has been a lifelong dream to lead a school of this type and now I get my chance. My two decades of service in KPBSD have served me well. I will take this award and others with me as I continue to make a difference in the lives of young people.” Cam Wyatt, Homer High School educator, with KPBSD students at Alaska State SkillsUSA conference
“Mr. Wyatt is one of the best teachers we have in our district and I am in so proud of his efforts with our students,” said Superintendent Sean Dusek. “This is a well-deserved award and I am very exciting recognition that he has earned. While I am sad to see him retire from our district, I am happy for him and the next steps in his career that will allow him to be closer to family.”
“Cam is an ambassador and a tremendous asset for the students and the programs of SkillsUSA and the learning community of Homer,” said Matt Widaman, Work Experience & Work Force Coordinator It is exciting to see the powerful impact that Cam has had on the students of Homer High and surrounding Russian village schools, helping them gain the skills and the confidence to tackle and succeed with some very technically challenging projects. Cam’s students are well prepared and compete in a wide variety of different competitions. He provides a culture of leadership and high expectations for his students and the SkillsUSA programs at Homer High School.” Links
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Golden Apple Award
December 7, 2015 Clayton Smith, Special Education Paraprofessional
Clayton Smith, Golden Apple recipient and school board member Sunni Hilts
Clayton Smith has been a motivating leader and dedicated teammate in the Homer High School (HHS) intensive needs classroom for 15 years. He is considered the team captain in the room, based both on his positive attitude and enthusiasm for his work, as well as his vast knowledge and experience in the classroom. Clayton has taken time to get to know each student he works with very well. His experience with them allows him to identify their individual needs, to voice ideas and ways to meet those needs and support the students in very specific and personal ways. Clayton’s many years working in the school with various classes and teachers has resulted in his being considered a jack of all trades. His student ‘toolbox’ is filled with strategies and methods that he uses based on the situation and need. Because of his vast knowledge of the students, school, and teachers, Clayton is incredibly flexible in his work. If a co-worker is absent, and a substitute is present, Clayton gladly adjusts his schedule to work with different students as needed. This flexibility is present in helping out team members as well. His knowledge base is critical in ensuring high quality supports for students in the school at all times. Clayton embraces the culture of inclusion at HHS, and finds creative ways to ensure students experience success and inclusion with peers daily. He wants all students to be a vibrant and vital part of the school community, and participate as fully as possible.
Clayton has been dedicated to KPBSD since 1992, when he first began as a custodian at McNeil Canyon School. He then worked as a paraprofessional at Homer Middle School for two years before transferring to Homer High School as a paraprofessional in 2002. In spite of his many years of work and commitment, Clayton continues to seek out new ways to learn and improve in his field. Clayton identifies areas of need in the team, and suggests topics that they would benefit from training in. He participates actively in trainings, and his newly learned approaches are seen incorporated into his daily work. He exemplifies the ideals of a lifelong learner.
Clayton engages in outreach within the school regularly. He gets to know students in the school outside of the intensive needs classroom, and makes great efforts to connect with all students in HHS. Clayton is known for his birthday greetings; he somehow knows the birthdays of every student in the school, and on their birthday, he seeks each one out and gives them a personal birthday greeting. This desire to connect with every student in the building, and willingness to take the time out of his very busy days to recognize and make a student feel connected and noticed exemplifies his approach to his work, going above and beyond his regular duties daily. He also helps in the development and implementation of school traditions. Annually for three years and counting, Clayton has served as the school host for a Thanksgiving lunch, providing a warm, home-cooked meal to students who have participated in or helped with activities in the intensive needs classroom, or worked individually with students in the room. This dinner is highly attended and valued; last year over 50 students came to eat together and be recognized for their efforts.
In addition to all his efforts connecting with students during the school day, Clayton has also been very involved with extracurricular events in the school. He has volunteered for the track team for 15 years, and was a girls’ basketball JV coach for five years. Clayton uses his knowledge of athletic activities and his coaching skills to identify creative ways for general education students to aid intensive needs students, in order to include them more in the school setting. An example of this is his development of Paired Pairs in athletic activities. Clayton helped pair general education students to play next to an intensive needs student during an athletic activity; the general education student provides assistance both in showing the rules of the game, or what to do, as well as modeling the physical skills and actions necessary. Annually in the fall and spring, Clayton runs a tennis activity at the end of the day during the school Focus on Learning block, encouraging a general education student to play alongside students with intensive needs. This activity has been wildly successful; many students ask to participate in this venture. Last spring over 30 students participated in this weekly event.
Another example of this was when Clayton used his track knowledge to help discuss and initiate the development of a possible unified track team. Using his coaching knowledge and skill set, Clayton began advocating that a student he was working with may be successful in a school-based team such as track or cross country. Through Clayton’s encouragement and knowledge, skills were taught to prepare this student slowly to possibly join the team. The student then began participating in running events over the summer. With the help of many adults, including the teacher, the cross country coach, and parents, school athletic director, the student joined the cross country team this fall, participating in practices, and even running in meets and regionals. At the awards banquet at the end of the season, he was recognized with an award for having the courage to start the race. Clayton’s skill at noticing student strengths and building on them was the foundation for this student experiencing this success.
Clayton has used his experience as first mate on the Predator to help in the school setting. He helped shape the Homer Marine Trades Association Focus on Learning series at HHS, which introduces students to specific marine trades based in Homer. Clayton spoke with students about the opportunity, offered to contact individuals to present, attended presentations, and offered guidance in material to be presented. His passion for all students in the school setting shines in many more acts throughout his many years working at HHS.
Clayton exemplifies outstanding personal dedication and commitment to the school community that he serves. He is a devoted grandpa, dad, husband, teacher, teammate, and friend. He uses his knowledge and experiences to help shape all students as they learn and grow. He shares in the learning journey with his classroom team. His hard work ethic that is utilized as he serves as first mate on the Predator, also is exemplified daily at school with students. Clayton is grounded, salt-of-the earth, with a big heart that shows when he is overcome with emotion when students make small gains as well as epic milestones. Clayton shows students that he won’t give up on them, and they in turn make efforts to grow and to prove him right.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education is proud to recognize Mr. Clayton Smith for his dedication to the students of the school district, past, present, and future. Links
Falcom Greear, Homer High School
When he was five, his music teacher inspired him. Fast forward eleven years, and Falcom Greear, now a sophomore at Homer High School, hasn’t stopped singing, and videoconferences via Skype nearly every week with his retired music teacher, who lives in Mississippi. She has been his inspiration and helped guide his love of music since he attended McNeil Canyon Elementary school in Homer, Alaska. There is a lot to talk about now, as Greear practices more than an hour a day in preparation to represent Alaska and sing during the NAfME All-National Honor Ensembles performance in Nashville, Tennessee.
Greear is working with his ensemble director, Kyle Schneider, Homer High School and Homer Middle School director of choirs, to prepare for the October 25 – 28 trip. One of three students selected from Alaska, the 673 students will perform on the world-famous Grand Ole Opry House stage, “known for creating one-of-a-kind entertainment that’s been referred to as the ‘home of American music,’” according to the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) website. The performance will take place during the 2015 NAfME National In-Service Conference.
“Selected students are currently rehearsing a challenging repertoire in preparation for performing under the baton of five of the most prominent conductors in the United States: Ann Howard Jones (Mixed Choir); Jung-Ho Pak (Symphony Orchestra); Eugene Migliaro Corporon (Concert Band); and Sherman Irby and Todd Stoll (Jazz Ensemble),” writes NAfME in a news release. “All conductors have received top honors in their field and will spend several days rehearsing with students before the concert.”
A sophomore, in his free time Falcom teaches Zumba classes, occasionally telling his students, “sing if you want to!” The Broadway musicals, All that Jazz and Chicago are his favorites, and Greear believes, “If you have a goal, go for it! Whatever you are passionate about brings you joy.” Link
“The intensive needs (IN) team at Homer High School is outstanding and goes to incredible lengths to make sure that our students have meaningful inclusion,” said Clayton Holland, director of pupil services. “Along with the other wonderful staff at Homer High School, they have created a school culture that accepts, includes, and is accountable for every student. The benefits of what this team has done extends not only to the students they serve directly in their classroom, but to every student and staff member in the building who has the opportunity to work and interact with students with disabilities on a daily basis.”
The 2014 winner of the Inclusive Practice Award is the Homer High School Intensive Needs Classroom. The Governor’s Council on Disabilities & Special Education established the Inclusive Practice Award to recognize outstanding educators who work to ensure students with disabilities have the opportunity for an inclusive education with their peers as part of the general education curriculum. The 2014 dynamic group includes:
Monica Stockburger (Intensive Needs teacher)
Bobby Creamer (Speech Language Pathologist)
Mary Cooper (Paraprofessional)
Sara Fischer (Paraprofessional)
Michael Kelley (Paraprofessional)
Rhonda Owens (Paraprofessional)
Clayton Smith (Paraprofessional)
Michael Steen (Paraprofessional)
The team bases their support of students on the expectation that inclusion in all aspects of the school fits with the individual needs of the student. As a result, virtually the entire school staff interacts and works closely with the Intensive Needs students. These students are involved in functional skill training as well as regular education classes and extracurricular activities both inside the school and outside in the community.
“All of the special education staff working with our Homer High School intensive needs students are to be commended for their willingness to go beyond the norm of what is expected in their pursuit of helping their students have a meaningful and successful experience at school.” –Dr. Steve Atwater, superintendent
The 2014 The Inclusive Practices Award is given by the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education, and recognizes outstanding educators who work to ensure students with disabilities have the opportunity for an inclusive education in the general education curriculum. The nominations are based on the following activities that assure a positive learning environment for all:
Involving parents as equal partners in their child’s education
Encouraging student’s self-determination
Emphasizing inclusive practices amongst peers and others
Providing leadership in sharing the values of inclusion
Designing support services that enable access to the regular curriculum
