Lisa Worl began the presentation with a definition of what equity is not: deficit thinking. The key to improving academic outcomes is not fixing the student, she said, but fixing the system so it provides an opportunity for the student to succeed. To illustrate this point, she shared a quote from Zaretta Hammond, author of Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain:

2 Minute Read | Slides

Ms. Mitchell began her two-part presentation by discussing the human resource challenges involved with filling a job position in a small community. It is important to have a clear policy and a process for recruitment and selection, she said. If the policy is followed consistently, it will make the process easier.

In a two-part presentation, Lon Garrison explained the mechanics of school board elections and process of filling a vacancy, and the purposes of board policy.

In her presentation on Robert’s Rules survival tips, Timi Tullis covered some parliamentary procedure basics, as well as a few mistakes commonly made when using it. Topics included the roles and responsibilities of the board chair, steps for handling a motion, and actions that can be taken on a main motion.

The presenters began by asking the administrative assistants in attendance to answer a question: What two people who must be present to hold a valid meeting? The answer, they said, is the board chair and the board secretary to take the meeting minutes.

Attendees were then asked, why take meeting minutes? Their answers included, to document history, to capture an official record of action taken, and for legal protection if needed, and that it is required by state law.

The motion “To Lay on the Table” is commonly shortened to “Table.” This is a motion that is often misused.

Next fall, Noorvik’s own Wilfried Zibell will head to the University of Oxford in England to study colonization and its economic impacts on subsistence economies in rural Alaska.

Zibell was recently selected to be a Rhodes Scholar from nearly 1,000 applicants across the United States. The Rhodes Scholarship, one of the most selective in the world, is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford.

This piece is part of “Dear Adult Leaders: Listen to Youth,” a produced in collaboration with America’s Promise Alliance to elevate student voices in the national conversation as schools and districts navigate how to educate our country’s youth in a global pandemic.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Friday proposed a budget that would cut state spending on government services, but would also pay out nearly $5,000 in Permanent Fund dividends.

The proposal relies on drawing from the Alaska Permanent Fund’s earnings to pay for most of state government and to pay two PFD payouts. The total draw of $6.3 billion is more than twice the amount allowed under state law.

The U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce the Arctic Education Alliance, a new education partnership between organizations and universities in the United States and Greenland. The Alliance will build vocational education programs that support training in sustainable tourism, hospitality, and land and fisheries management in Greenland.

On a tiny speck of a frozen runway on the north bank of the Yukon River, nearly a hundred miles northwest of Fairbanks, Christmas was delivered in a most unusual way.An Alaska National Guard helicopter descended through a rotor-whipped cloud of snow in Stevens Village, a tiny community of about 30 people.

Townspeople rushed to the airstrip on their snowmobiles after seeing the helicopter land and then watched as Guardsmen wearing flight helmets unloaded boxes containing wrapped gifts for just about everyone in the community.

An Alaska-based theater company is putting a Tlingit twist on a holiday classic. From the opening carol, viewers will notice a particular Southeast Alaska flavor to “A Tlingit Christmas Carol.”

The production is five roughly 20-minute episodes, or “staves,” livestreamed through Perseverance Theatre’s Facebook page and YouTube channel, each Friday until Christmas Day, Dec. 25. It will remain available to stream until Russian Orthodox Christmas in January 7.

The Anchorage School Board on Tuesday passed a memorandum that directs the superintendent not to postpone current plans to begin reopening schools in January. It also passed a resolution asking the city to prioritize the superintendent’s plan to phase students back into schools before it relaxes current COVID-19 restrictions. Both the resolution and the memorandum aim to address the fact that public schools have largely remained closed to in-person learning during the pandemic while the rest of the community, including businesses, day cares and private schools, have continued to function.

Education leaders approve plan to open all schools by Feb 1

The Juneau School District released a schedule Tuesday for when students can return to in-person learning in January.

The district returns from winter break January 7, and under the new schedule kindergarten and first grade would return to classrooms on January 11. That is also when students in sixth through 12th grade would resume in-person learning. Second and third grades would return Jan. 19, and fourth and fifth grades would resume in-person learning on Jan. 25,

Half the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District will be back in schools five days a week as early as January 19. It’s something many parents in the district have been pushing for since classes went remote in October. But representatives said teachers and support staff are split on bringing thousands of students back as the virus intensifies locally.

Schools on Prince of Wales Island are moving to partial or full distance learning as cases on the island rise. That’s in contrast to some Ketchikan schools, which are preparing to resume full-capacity classes.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s newly released proposed budget for the coming fiscal year has good news and bad news for Kodiak. The good news is that Dunleavy included some level of school bond debt reimbursement instead of none at all.

There are no longer any public school students attending in-person classes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

Kuspuk was the last school district to move all of its schools to remote learning. The district will re-evaluate whether it can reopen schools on February 6, according to the Facebook page of the Auntie Mary Nicoli Elementary School in Aniak.

The Lower Kuskokwim School District is continuing to adapt to the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Bethel. To avoid crowds, the school district will deliver meals directly to students’ homes. Previously, LKSD was delivering meals at several bus stop locations in Bethel, where children and their families could come pick up the food.

The Sitka School Board will consider acknowledging Tlingit lands when it formally opens its meetings, if a proposal introduced gets traction. The so-called “land acknowledgement” is a sign of respect toward Alaska’s Indigenous populations, and many government bodies are adopting a statement of gratitude as policy.

Unalaska's classrooms will be closed from Tuesday, earlier this week, as the district moves to distance learning. That's after city officials on Monday confirmed at least one more COVID-19 case from community spread. The city will also be moving to the "high risk" threshold under the island's multi-agency Unified Command guidelines.

Wrangell’s school board approved spending around $11,000 to aid in its search for its next district superintendent. Wrangell public schools’ superintendent Debbe Lancaster is leaving at the end of the school year. She submitted a letter of resignation in October. The board met in a special meeting to discuss a contract with the Association of Alaska School Boards to help in the search.

The Alaska Schools Activities Association is looking at the possibility of two separate high school hockey seasons: some “old time hockey” in Fairbanks and “spring time hockey” in Anchorage.

According to an email from Soldotna High School Athletic Director Kyle McFall, high schools will be able to start ski practice. Cross-country skiing is the only sport the Alaska School Activities Association is allowing right now. The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District has not been allowing skiing due to high numbers of COVID-19 cases in the area.