Tag: leadership

Kenai Peninsula student leadership in student government

Susan B English remotely contributing to the Student Advisory Board at the Borough-Wide Student Council Meeting.
Susan B English remotely contributing to the Student Advisory Board at the Borough-Wide Student Council Meeting.

More than 50 students from Kenai Peninsula Borough School District schools gathered for the districtwide student government conference March 4, 2019, held at the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward, Alaska. Students arrived in Seward for this annual in-person conference from Homer, Kenai, River City, Nanwalek, Nikiski, Seward, Soldotna, and remotely via videoconferencing with Susan B. English students form Seldovia.
Congratulations to the students elected to district leadership positions in the 2019-2020 school year!

  • Board of Education Information Committee: Kaegan Koski River City Academy
  • Board of Education Student Representative to the School Board: Cameron Blackwell, Soldotna High School
  • Calendar Committee: Ethan Evans, Soldotna High School
  • Instructional Materials Review Committee: Olivia Ferguson Ninilchik School
  • Science Curriculum Committee: Jackie Moore, Soldotna High School
  • Social Studies Curriculum Committee: Lexi Pierren, Kenai Central High School
  • Wellness Advisory Committee: Alex Juliessen, Soldotna High School

Words to lead by #inspire #motivate

LT quotes
Dear Soldotna High School Stars,
In December, KPBSD “Student Voice” leaders–many from your school–put forth an invite to schools to connect in a creative gift exchange celebrating our district. The KPBSD district office leadership team opted-in to play, and we drew Soldotna High School!
May these words of wisdom which guide and motivate your district leadership team also offer you inspiration.
Happy 2017 ~ may you shine this year! Cheers!

 

 

 

  • Hire good people, give them the tools they need to do their jobs, and get out of their way.
    Julie Cisco, planning and operations

 

 

  • “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically – to say no to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger yes burning inside.” –Stephen Covey
    Christine Ermold, EdD, human resources

 

  • Be strong when you are weak,
    Be brave when you are scared,
    Be humble when you are victorious.
    Alan Fields, principal representative

 

  • Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.
    Liz Hayes, finance

 

  • “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flow charts. It is about one life influencing another.” –John C. Maxwell    
    Clayton Holland, pupil services

 

  • Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives. –attributed to William A. Foster
    Laurie Olson, finance

 

  • “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it’s a matter of choice. It is not something to be waited for, it’s something to be achieved.”  –William Jennings Bryant
    John Pothast, elementary and secondary education

 

  • The path toward success weaves through triumph and setback. Learning equally from each guides the way.
    Eric Soderquist, information services

 

 

www.KPBSD.org

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Top 12 innovative ideas from KPBSD teens

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Teens respond: What can I do, invent, or create?

Soldotna, April 28, 2016—More than 300 KPBSD students competed in the Caring for the Kenai (CFK) competition this year, with $28,000 awarded to students and classrooms. The CFK essay prompt challenge is, “What can I do, invent or create to better care for the environment of the Kenai Peninsula or improve the area’s preparedness for a natural disaster?”

“I am very proud of all the finalists for Caring for the Kenai,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent. “This program allows the students and staff in our district to extend learning beyond the classroom in a meaningful way. These types of projects are the true measure of education in our district and exemplify what is happening on a daily basis in our classrooms. Congratulations to all of the participants and I look forward to the students taking the next step with their projects by making them happen in our communities.”

After several rounds of judging, the top 12 ideas were presented in a live competition, before a panel of community judges.

  • In first place, Evangeline & Marguerite Cox [Nikiski Middle-High School] claimed $1,600 with “Breath for Pets.” Their project places pet oxygen masks in the hands of first responders on the Kenai Peninsula. “Animals are a big part of our lives, not just domestic pets but wildlife as well, and these respirators can save both in emergency situations,” said Evangeline.
  • Second place and earning $1,100 is freshman Hunter Hanson [Kenai Central High School] who plans to put drones into service for environmental research, “My plan is to use drones to survey moose on the Kenai Peninsula using thermal imaging,” said Hunter.
  • Third place and claiming a $900 prize is Alicia Steiner [Homer High School] who is implementing a program at her school to reduce Styrofoam tray waste, “My project is to limit the amount of Styrofoam trays by implementing ‘Tray-less Tuesday’ which is one day of the week that we don’t use any Styrofoam only paper products,” said Steiner.
  • Fourth place and claiming $750 is Rowan Biessel [Homer High School], whose idea is to install algae photo bioreactors in buildings on the Kenai to combat climate change.
  • Fifth place and winning $650 is Victoria Giles [Soldotna Prep] who wants to convert common trash into energy with a bio-digester that could be used in homes or landfills.
  • Sixth place and winning $550 is Jacob Nabholz [Kenai Central High School] who is teaching the bio-cultural connection between people and nature by learning the meaning of ancient language of our host Dena’ina culture that reveals knowledge of local ecology.

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In addition to the $8,000 in cash awards for the finalists, this year $20,000 will be awarded to the schools science departments, thanks to the CFK signature sponsor Tesoro Alaska and the community partners Kenai River Raven Lodge, Hilcorp Energy, ASRC Energy Services, Peninsula Community Health Services, and Peninsula Radiation Oncology Center.
Other finalists that earned $400 each for making it to the final 12 out of over 300 entries were:

  • Robert McGinnis of Ninilchik with his mobile recycling unit
  • Elise Webber a Homer senior who has begun a program for disaster alert registration of cell phones
  • Chelsea Oberle-Lozano of Ninilchik with a project called “Facing your Feces,” an idea to provide poop-bags at trail heads
  • Samantha Graves from Homer has a plan to save more otters with volunteers
  • The team of Katelyn Moore and Drew Davis from Nikiski prepared emergency “To Go” bags for disaster preparedness
  • Owen Myer also of Homer is starting a sleeping bag drive to collect no-longer used sleeping bags to be used in case of an emergency

High schools using CFK as part of classroom curriculum are Homer High School, Kenai Central High School, Nikiski Middle-High School, Ninilchik School, Seward High School, Soldotna Prep, and Voznesenka School. Each school receives $750 for their participation and the remainder of the $20,000 was allocated proportionately to how the students ranked in the CFK competition. Additionally, twenty plus students received special recognition awards from local businesses and individuals.
On Saturday, April 30, 2016, finalists, teachers and guests will attend the CFK V.I.P. Awards banquet hosted in their honor by Tesoro at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai. This year’s April 21, 2016, oral presentation judges included Borough Mayor Mike Navarre, Cameron Hunt, Tesoro vice president Kenai Refinery, KPBSD Superintendent Sean Dusek, Ray Chumley, ConocoPhillips LNG plant superintendent, Marnie Olcott, CEO Challenger Learning Center of Alaska, Monica Adams PCHS chief executive officer, Amanda Millay, Environmental Program Technician Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and last year’s CFK 1st place winner Keira Stroh. Caring for the Kenai is administered as part of the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska educational programs.
Questions? Contact Merrill Sikorski, contest creator and coordinator, (907)-262-4949
Links:

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Panther leadership at Skyview Middle School

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Leadership is many things to many people. For this year’s Skyview Middle School Panther Student Council (StuCo), leadership can be summed up in three words: courage, compassion, and commitment.
Each of those words was exemplified in the work Panther StuCo did to raise funds for the KPBSD Students in Transition program earlier this school year. Program liaison, Kelly King, was a guest speaker at a lunch time meeting. The library was packed with seventy plus student council members who hung on her every word as she described the students and families she assists, their situations, and what our council could do to be helpful to the program. StuCo members asked great questions, the compassion for their peers in need evident in every word. And then courage made an unexpected appearance as one of our StuCo members raised his hand and shared how important the SIT program is to people in need. He knows. He was one of them. The commitment of the young people in that room grew ten-fold as they listened to their friend’s words. And that commitment resulted in a Penny War fundraiser that gathered over $700.00 in donations for the SIT program.
The young people who make up our Panther Student Council are not elected. They are not nominated. There are no speeches, campaigns, or popularity contests to win to be in StuCo. Instead, students in good academic and behavior standing sign a Membership Commitment agreeing to the following:

  • Work with others to establish a welcoming environment for ALL students at SMS
  • Model behavior that demonstrates kindness and helpfulness toward ALL students and staff
  • Value and respect the ideas and contributions of ALL members of our school community
  • Organize and participate in activities and events that promote a positive culture at SMS
  • Identify and organize ways to serve our community: local, national, global
  • Actively promote and participate in activities that serve our community
  • Demonstrate commitment to community by meeting service requirements each semester
  • Maintain academic eligibility in order to participate in Student Council meetings and events
  • Meet Attendance criteria in order to participate in Student Council meetings and events
  • Meet high behavior expectations required of a leader at Skyview Middle School
  • Serve as an ambassador for SMS at events such as conferences, orientations, celebrations

Lunch time meetings held in our school library are packed and table leaders work with advisor, Mrs. Pothast, to ensure agenda items are covered, votes taken, and attendance recorded. Activity Nights, Pep Rallies, and Service Projects are coordinated through committees, e-mails, bulletin board sign up sheets, and the tireless efforts of students working together to get things done.
Given the right opportunity, encouragement, and guidance leadership ability blooms in all of us. Organizers, chairpersons, artists, craft creators, music DJs, set up crews, clean-up crews, photographers, poster makers, food collectors, announcers, mascots, spirit leaders, game supervisors and more have emerged from this group of seventy plus Student Council members as each has found his or her niche, a way to step up, share a talent, and lead.
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Penny Wars
Cameron Blackwell, Maia Whitney, Whitney Benson, and Danica Schmidt sort coins for the Penny Wars fundraiser to benefit the KPBSD Students in Transition program

Penny Wars 2
Reva Lovett, Mrs. Goodwill, Clara Moore, Ayla Clark, and Kianna Holland count and roll coins from the Penny Wars fundraiser

Penny Wars 3
Kortney Birch and Haley Buckbee sort coins for the Penny Wars fundraiser

Recognition Day for KPBSD school principals

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District appreciates the dedicated professionals who serve as principals and assistant principals at our forty-four schools. Thirty-nine principals and nine assistant principals serve in the KPBSD.

Governor Parnell proclaims School Principal Recognition Day
November 18, 2011


“The principal is the principal teacher, the first among many—part of a team of professionals. His or her job is to gather this community, to find its special genius, to press it hard, to nurture it, to depend on it.” – Theodore R. Sizer

Please share your stories and praise about your school principal. Students, parents, educators, and community members are invited to comment.
Please e-mail a photo and caption of your favorite principal to communications@kpbsd.k12.ak.us for inclusion in the photo montage.
On November 18, 2011, photos of principals will be added to this post.