The Our Alaskan Schools Blog Wraps Up its 6th Year by Sam Jordan

The ‘Our Alaskan Schools’ blog is wrapping up its 6th year, sharing 25 diverse and captivating stories from Alaska’s public schools. If you missed some, here are highlights from our most popular posts.

From the Northwest Arctic community of Buckland we learned about the creation of a new library space. From the organization SeeStories, we learned how film and podcasts are allowing students across the state to tell their personal stories. Further south in Cordova, we heard how kelp farming practices are being shared with students by 4th grade teacher Skye Steritz.

Back north in Selawik, we were able to read amazing poems written by students inspired by the many birds who live in the local National Wildlife Refuge. Out west in Mekoryuk, we heard about a tremendous effort to revitalize Cup’ig language instruction. Back in Anchorage, we got to enjoy storytelling from educators during the spring ‘Teacher Tales’ event.

South in Ketchikan, Alma Manabat Parker shared her organization’s work to support the healthy development of Filipino identity and cultural awareness. We also heard how a group of Alaskan Indigenous educators presented their research on indigenous language instruction at the University of Helsinki, Finland. From a group of Columbia University students, we were able to imagine a climate-informed school design for arctic Alaska. Finally, we were able to hear how Anchorage Public Schools is bringing student art out into the community through new public art galleries.

There is no end to the ongoing dedication and creative spirit of Alaska educators and their students. As we look toward year seven of blogging about our incredible education community, the ‘Our Alaskan Schools’ blog looks forward to highlighting the unique space that our schools hold in every community around the state.

Have a story to share? Send us a pitch at OurAkSchoolsBlog@alaskaacsa.org