- Cama-i, quyana tailuci!
- (Central Yup’ik)
- "Greetings, thank you for coming!"
Information Exchange: Vol. 45 No. 1
Inside This Edition:
- State Board to Meet by Audio Conference January 27
- State Historical Collections Combines Expertise and Technology to Preserve Rare Film Footage
- Sheldon Jackson Museum’s Artifact of the Month
- Nominations Sought for Secondary School Principal, Assistant Principal Awards
- Craig Public Library Awarded $1,000 NOAA PLACE Grant
- Inclusive Practice Award 2017
- Department Offers Updated Guidelines for School Equipment Purchases
- Museum of the North Explores Heritage This Month
- Museum of the North Seeks Volunteer Docents
- Court System and Bar Offer Art Contest for Grades K-8
- Free Summer Science and Wilderness Expeditions Accepts Girls Ages 16 to 17
- Award Honors Teachers Who Innovate
Contact Us
- Eric Fry: (907) 465-2851
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State Board to Meet by Audio Conference January 27
The State Board of Education and Early Development will meet by audio conference at noon on January 27. The meeting will originate from the first-floor state board room at 801 West 10th Street in Juneau. The public is invited to attend in Juneau or by telephone from anywhere in Alaska, including Juneau.
Topics at the work session include the department’s operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2018, a report on the upcoming legislative session, a proposed change to the date of the board’s March meeting, and documents to define the board’s strategic goals. Topics at the business meeting include setting dates of future meetings and approving the department’s budget, the annual report to the legislature, and minutes of the December 8, 2016, meeting.
Public comment is open on agenda and non-agenda items. Comment at this oral hearing is limited to three minutes per person and five minutes per group. The public comment period is an opportunity for the board to hear the public’s concerns. The board will not engage in discussions with members of the public during the comment period.
Public comment can be made for this meeting, during this time only, by calling 1-844-586-9085 if you are outside of Juneau. For participation from Juneau, call 586-9085. This meeting will be streamed through the Legislative Information Office, Streaming, Committee Meetings beginning at noon on January 25 (audio only). Click on the meeting name to listen to the proceedings. When public comment is over, the meeting will continue to be broadcast at the above web site.
State Historical Collections Combines Expertise and Technology to Preserve Rare Film Footage
An article in the Homer News highlights the work done by staff at the Alaska State Library Historical Collections to rescue rare 1974 footage of Peter Kalifornsky, Claus Naske, and other Alaska notables. Sandra Johnston of the Historical Collections helped a researcher locate the materials, and the Historical Collections film specialist, Damon Stuebner, spent approximately 50 hours restoring films from 1974 and digitizing them onto DVDs. The state donated a set of the DVDs to an upcoming Kenai Peninsula conference on local history. Read the article.
Sheldon Jackson Museum’s Artifact of the Month
The artifact of the month for the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka, one of the Alaska State Museums, is a mask from Anaktuvuk Pass. Learn more about the artifact this month, and see Archive of Previous Artifacts of the Month.
Nominations Sought for Secondary School Principal, Assistant Principal Awards
The Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals (AASSP) invites you to nominate a secondary school Principal and an Assistant Principal for the 2018 Regional Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year Awards (RPOY & RAPOY).
The nomination process is simple and can be completed by anyone in contact with the principal and assistant principal including students, staff, parents, district office staff, or principal peers. Nominate a secondary school principal or assistant principal. Nominations are due by February 12.
Nomination criteria: a secondary school Principal or Assistant Principal in Alaska, three or more years of experience as a principal, and a current member of AASSP/NASSP (to be verified by AASSP). Only nominations that meet all the above criteria will be included in the ballot for each region. Selection of the RPOY & RAPOY is made only by current AASSP members. For the purpose of this nomination process a secondary school is considered a school that includes some or all of grades 6-12.
An award recipient will be selected for each of eight AASSP regions. Nominations should be submitted through the link above and the results will be sent to the AASSP regional director, who coordinates the voting/selection process for their region.
Craig Public Library Awarded $1,000 NOAA PLACE Grant
The Craig Public Library has been awarded a $1,000 grant as part of the Public Libraries Advancing Community Engagement (PLACE) program funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Congratulations to Alaska State Library VISTA Emma Fisk for her work in writing this successful grant. Librarians receive professional development and, in partnership with NOAA scientists, will co-facilitate a three-part public library program series for their community.
NOAA said librarians can play a significant role in increasing a community's ability to recover quickly from, or plan for and anticipate, weather impacts. Using a model that is essentially book club meets science café, PLACE engages people to discuss local weather challenges and threats.
Community members will read popular fiction and non-fiction books and watch human-interest videos about people who have developed resilient strategies for facing climate challenges. Participants will become aware of online tools that can provide information for their own community, family, and individual planning for extreme weather and other climate events.
Inclusive Practice Award 2017
The Governor’s Council on Disabilities & Special Education has established an annual award to be given at the Annual Statewide Special Education Conference each February. The award recognizes 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.
Parents, students, and educators are encouraged to nominate an outstanding educator by completing the nomination form and returning it to the council by 5:00 p.m., January 20.
Nominees for the Inclusive Practice Award should be individuals or teams who are currently educators -- including preschool, regular, special educators, related service providers, administrators or related personnel. Award winners are selected based on demonstration of the following criteria: involving parents as equal partner in their child’s education: promoting inclusive practices that allow students with disabilities to be included within the classroom, with peers and in the school community; and modifying curricula or providing support services that enables access to the regular curriculum or classroom.
Completed forms should be submitted to Christie Reinhardt at christie.reinhardt@alaska.gov; or via FAX to: 907=269-8995; or by mail: Governor’s Council on Disabilities & Special Education, Education Committee/Inclusive Awards, 3601 C Street, Suite 740, Anchorage, AK 99503 Questions? Phone 907-269-8462. View the Inclusive Practice Award 2017.
Department Offers Updated Guidelines for School Equipment Purchases
The Department of Education and Early Development has published a revised Guidelines for School Equipment Purchases, 2016 Edition. The publication provides guidance to school districts and municipal entities in purchasing equipment in compliance with statutes and regulations governing debt reimbursement and grant capital project funding (AS 14.11).
See Guidelines for School Equipment Purchase, revisions include clarifications and examples of eligible and ineligible purchases, increases to the per-student allocation with an uplift based on the geographic cost factor, and additional information regarding fixed asset inventory.
Museum of the North Explores Heritage This Month
The University of Alaska Museum of the North, in Fairbanks, is exploring heritage at hands-on programs during January. Families are invited to drop in with children 5 and under at Early Explorers each Friday from 10 a.m.-noon. Junior Curators, for kids 6 and up, meets January 7, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. A newer program, Teen Studio on, January 21, offers an opportunity for young adults ages 13-18 to make a time capsule. The museum is also offering a Museum Treasures program at the Noel Wien Library on January 22, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. See University of Alaska Museum of the North website.
Museum of the North Seeks Volunteer Docents
The University of Alaska Museum of the North is looking for volunteer docents for its school tour programs this semester.Docents will use the museum’s exhibits and hands-on collection to teach students about science, culture and art. No experience is necessary. Credit is available through UAF. For more information or to register for the training, which takes place January 18-19 and 23-26, please call 907-474-5360 or email ua-museumlearn@alaska.edu.
Court System and Bar Offer Art Contest for Grades K-8
The 2017 “Justice for All” Art Contest, sponsored by the Alaska Court System and the Alaska Bar Association, is open to students in K-8; the entry deadline in March 15. Students should address the contest theme of fairness, diversity and equality. For entry form, guidelines, and information on cash prizes, see courts.alaska.gov/outreach/#art.
Free Summer Science and Wilderness Expeditions Accepts Girls Ages 16 to 17
Inspiring Girls Expeditions is accepting applications through January 31 for free summer science and wilderness expeditions in Alaska and Washington for girls ages 16 to 17. Three teams of up to nine teenage girls and three instructors will spend 12 days exploring and learning about mountain glaciers or fjords with tidewater glaciers. They’ll conduct scientific field studies with professional glaciologists, oceanographers, artists, and mountaineers.
The three Inspiring Girls trips will include Girls on Ice Alaska, Girls On Ice Cascades, and Girls in Icy Fjords. They are operated through the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ College of Natural Science and Mathematics and the International Arctic Research Center.
Girls participate in these programs tuition-free through small grants, gifts from individuals, and support from the National Science Foundation, the Department of the Interior Alaska Climate Science Center, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
For more information, and to learn about the application process, go to Inspiring Girls Expeditions website.
Award Honors Teachers Who Innovate
The Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Awards are looking for teachers who demonstrate an original and creative approach to teaching, exhibit resourcefulness, engage students, and are making a positive impact on not only their classroom but their community, colleagues, administrators, school, and district. Nominations are due by February 28. For more information, visit The Henry Ford website.
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