NOTE: Issues range from 1996–2006. Contact information in earlier issues could be outdated. For current information, please contact the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, 907-474-1902.
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AISES Corner by Claudette Bradley:The AISES students have developed the NEWNET outreach program for high school students to educate them about AISES, plus science, mathematics, engineering and technology careers. The students have a tutoring program, which took several years to develop. As a result they have a weekly schedule of tutors available for all the mathematics courses and some science courses. The AISES students invite quality guest speakers in the science, mathematics, engineering and technology fields to meet with them in their biweekly meetings and work sessions. The University of Alaska Fairbanks chapter enjoys strong student leadership and good faculty support. Among the sessions at the national AISES meeting was a three-person panel on "Alaska Native Elders Impact on Education in Interior Alaska". Caroline Tritt-Frank of Arctic Village is a tenured teacher in Yukon Flats School District and is a master's degree candidate at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Caroline spoke of her research on indigenous language immersion programs in New Zealand, Hawaii, Canada and Bethel, Alaska. This research is helping her develop a Gwich'in language immersion program in Arctic Village. In the same session Catherine Attla spoke of her work with teachers and students in Koyukon-Athabascan villages and the four books she has authored on Koyukon-Athabascan stories and beadwork. Catherine is an Elder from Huslia, Alaska and has many opportunities to work with educators and students helping them learn Koyukon-Athabascan traditions. Claudette Bradley spoke about culture-based science camps and science fairs held every year since 1996 in Alaska. Claudette is an Associate Professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Society (ANSES) coordinator for Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI). The camps employ Elders from Interior villages and Native certified teachers. The Elders supply valuable Native knowledge about crafts, stories, animals and plants for students' science projects. The teachers assist the students in the development of their science projects at the camp and these are then entered in regional science fairs. The ANSES science fairs have two sets of judges: the scientists judge the research design and science knowledge in the projects and the Elders judge the project's value to Native culture and village life. Throughout the state ANSES holds regional culture-based, science fairs. These include the following: * Kodiak , November 2001 * Fairbanks Fair, December 6-7, 2001 * Juneau Fair, January 2001 * Kotzebue Fair, January 24, 2002 Pribolofs, Unalakleet and Bethel are currently planning to have science fairs just before the statewide fair in February, 2002. Two to four projects are selected as grand prize winners at each regional fair. The students who developed the grand prize winning projects have an opportunity to attend the ANSES statewide science fair in Anchorage February 3-5, 2002. The students and chaperones will stay at the Camp Carlquist Lodge about 30 miles outside of Anchorage. The judging of the projects will take place at the Carlquist Lodge and the awards will be presented at the Sheraton Hotel during the Tuesday luncheon of the Native Educators Conference. Sommer Stickman from Nulato, grade six with her project "Pitch: Will It Kill Bacteria?" Tamara Thomas and Kiera Abrams, grade nine, with their project "Can Spruce Trees be a Medical Application?" | |
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AISES Corner by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley:Students attending from UAF AISES Chapter were: * Sasha Atuk, Fairbanks, mathematics education major * Ambrose Towarak, Unalakleet, civil engineering major AISES Region I (Pacific Northwest) held a conference in Pullman, Washington, March 28-30. College AISES students came from Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. These students learned how traditional ways influence today's technology; visited Washington State University, networked with Native students and professionals and attended spiritual ceremonies. Students attending UAF AISES Chapter were: * Mark Blair, Kotzebue, anthropology major * John Henry, Stebbins, electrical engineering major * Kim O'Connor, Nome, health education major During the UAF AISES meeting in Fairbanks, February 22, Professor Dimitrios Hatzignaiou gave a presentation on "Opportunities and Careers in Petroleum Engineering." He explained the role of petroleum engineering in Prudhoe Bay and the process of drilling oil both on land and under the sea. The AISES students asked many questions and appreciated Dr. Hatzignaiou's diagrams and samples of petroleum sand pellets. The guest speakerfor the March * meeting was Bob Ritchie of Alaska Biological Research. The first regional Inupiat Elders' Council Conference was held February 5-7 at Ilisagvik College, Barrow, Alaska. Claudette Bradley-Kawagley presented an overview of AISES showing the AISES video, "A New Beginning" and color transparencies of activities of AISES students in the UAF chapter. Through the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, AISES Chapters will be established in villages for high school, middle and elementary students. The grade levels will be determined by the school and community. The Inupiat Elders' Council will advise the school districts and schools in the establishing and management of village chapters. Inupiat elders expressed concern that the chapters in the North Slope, Bering Straits, and NANA regions reflect the Inupiat culture and life ways. This concern is compatible with AISES and its mission. Allison Warden is an AISES UAF Chapter member from Kaktovik. She attended the Inupiat Elders Council and was a valuable participant in the meeting. She invited twelve Ilisagvik College students to attend the AISES presentation for the Elders' Council. Allison served as their ambassador from AISES (UAF chapter). Students at Ilisagvik College are presently establishing an Ilisagvik AISES college chapter. The twelve students who came to watch Dr. Bradley-Kawagley's presentation were interested in the video and spoke of plans to go to the AISES Region I Conference in Washington. ARSI highly supports the establishment of Ilisagvik College AISES chapter, and hopes they will have a smooth and steadfast beginning. Claudette Bradley-Kawagley attended the planning meeting for the Athabascan Region in Fairbanks, March 4-5. She gave a talk on AISES with videotape and color transparencies. Elders had the opportunity to ask questions and offer advice on establishing chapters in the Interior of Alaska. Claudette gave a third AISES presentation in Kotzebue the first week in April. Claudette Bradley-Kawagley, ARSI AISES Coordinator Claudette is a member of the Schaghticoke Tribe whose reservation is located in Kent, Connecticut. She was raised in Stratford, Connecticut with her parents and two brothers. Claudette holds an education doctorate from Harvard School of Education, and a bachelor's and master's degree in mathematics from the University of Connecticut. She specializes in computer and mathematics instruction and in Alaska Native and American issues. Her teaching experience includes seven years of distance-delivery mathematics and education courses with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, advising in the Cross-Cultural Education Development (X-CED) program in Yukon Flats and Alaska Gateway Regions and classroom instruction in the AISES pre-college summer camps in Montana State University, Caltech, Stanford University, and Oklahoma State University. Her research and publications address the development of culturally appropriate curriculum for Alaska Native and American Indian students. Claudette has been a member of AISES for twelve years beginning in 1984 as a graduate student at Harvard. She taught mathematics and LOGO computing language in the first AISES pre-college summer camp at Montana State University, 1988, and has continued teaching in AISES camps during the past eight summers. After completing her doctorate in 1987, Claudette was hired as an assistant professor of education at UAF in 1989. She started the UAF AISES chapter in the fall of 1989 with the help of Rural Student Services and became the faculty advisor for the UAF chapter. Claudette received a Sequoyah Fellowship from AISES in 1992. | |
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AISES Corner by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley:The students have elected new officers for the coming academic year: President: Mark Blair, graduate student in anthropology, from Kotzebue/Detroit Vice President: Sasha Atuk, junior in mechanical engineering, from Fairbanks Secretary: Kim Ivie, junior in education, from Fairbanks Treasurer: Ambrose Towarak, junior in civil engineering, from Unalakleet AISES students ended the year with two interesting guest speakers. Pierre Deviche, Professor of Wildlife Biology at UAF, spoke on song birds and how they learn the songs through imitation and practice, much like humans learning songs. Dave Gilliam, Professor at University of Northern Colorado, spoke on risk factors with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. UAF AISES students are preparing a fall fundraiser (for travel money) to attend the AISES National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, November 14-17, 1996. Region I includes AISES chapters in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, Oregon, Canada and Alaska. Region I AISES Conference '96 occurred at the University of Washington, March 28-31. March 6, 7 and 8, 1997, Region I AISES Conference '97 will be at the University of Alaska Anchorage concurrently with the Alaska Native Foundation (ANF) Festival. During the first week of April Claudette Bradley-Kawagley traveled to Kotzebue, Nome and Unalakleet to talk with school district administrators, math and science teachers and students about AISES and the benefits for AISES chapters in schools K-12. Students are never too young to join AISES and learn about mathematics, science and their relationship to Native people and the future self-sufficiency of Native people. Oscar Kawagley attended the meetings and spoke of the importance of students developing village science application projects for an Inupiaq science fair to be held early winter 1996. The Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative will sponsor an Inupiaq science fair for the students of North Slope, Northwest Arctic, Bering Straits and Nome public school districts. Oscar and I want to thank Bernadette Alvanna-Stimpfle and Elmer Jackson as well as the school district administrators and teachers for arranging meetings and making it possible to achieve our goals. Fourteen students at Ilisagvik College, Barrow, Alaska, have started an AISES chapter. Students have elected officers: President: Daniel Lum Vice President: Aaron Cook Secretary: Felton Sarren Treasurer: Daniel Wright (American Indian Science & Engineering Society) Ten students attended the AISES Region I Conference '96 at the University of Washington. The conference gave students inspiration and ideas for operating the AISES chapter at Ilisagvik. Congratulations, Ilisagvik College, on your new AISES chapter! | |
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AISES Corner by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley:The AISES summer camp, for students entering grades seven through nine, starts July 14 at the UAF campus for ten days and continues for eleven more days at the Howard Luke Camp, five miles from Fairbanks on the Tanana River. The camp objectives are to: * Stimulate interest in mathematics, sciences, and engineering among Alaskan Native students. * Increase student's confidence and knowledge in mathematics and science. * Prepare students for cultural challenges away from their traditional environment. * Incorporate Native values with western mathematics and science. * Encourage parents of students to support the academic pursuits of their children. * Spend ten days on campus with rural educators and UAF professors. * Spend eleven days in an Athabascan camp located on the Tanana River just outside of Fairbanks. * Learn first hand from Native elders with hands-on projects relative to rural survival. Students will have an opportunity to work on their science fair projects with teachers, scientists and elders employed by the camp. They will have use of the Rasmusen Library and other university facilities and begin their experiments and the collection of data. All projects will be completed by the student either during the camp or in his/her home village. Students will develop their display boards with village teachers during the fall and enter their region science fair to be held November 20-22. The regional science fair will be in Fairbanks for Interior students and in Ambler for Inupiaq students. | |
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AISES Corner by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley:We are proud to report 14 students with 7 projects and 6 chaperones attended the 11th Annual National AISES Science Fair in Rapid City, South Dakota, April 2-4, 1998. Students entered their science projects into the fair making it a total of 389 projects completed by American Indian and Alaskan Native students from around the country. The students who entered the fair are as follows: Elmer Taaqpak Howarth, Jr. Caribou Antlers Noatak (gr 8) Alison Huntington Which is Warmer? Galena (gr 5) Brianna Evans Which is Warmer? Galena (gr 5) Sarah Monroe Arctic Grayling and Burbot Nenana (gr 8) Brandon Olanna Uses of Low Wattage Electric Bulb Shishmaref (gr 6) by Using Inverter Norman Kokeok Uses of Low Wattage Electric Bulb Shishmaref (gr 6) by Using Inverter Donnie Pootoogooluk Uses of Low Wattage Electric Bulb Shishmaref (gr 6) by Using Inverter Brenda Thomas Storing Berries the Traditional Way Buckland (gr 11) Sherry Ballot Storing Berries the Traditional Way Buckland (gr 12) William Biesemeier Furs that Keep Us Warm Kotzebue (gr 5) Tirrell Thomas Furs that Keep Us Warm Kotzebue (gr 5) Katy Miller Alder Willow Bark Dye Kotzebue (gr 5) Brandon Romane Alder Willow Bark Dye Kotzebue (gr 6) Puyuk Joules Alder Willow Bark Dye Kotzebue (gr 5) Congratulations to these students for their hard work and perseverance that make a difference. The following three projects received awards. Elmer Taaqpak Howarth, Jr. of Noatak received the traditional award for his project "Caribou Antlers." For that award Elmer was given a traditional quilt. Alison Huntington and Brianna Evans of Galena received the second place (silver) award in physical science for their project "Which is Warmer?" Katy Miller, Brandon Romane, and Puyuk Joules of Kotzebue received a first place (gold) award in (5th grade) life science for their project "Alder Willow Bark Dye." Congratulations to these students. We are most proud of your success and recognition at the fair. Also, we would like to extend our congratulations to the six chaperones who supervised the students throughout the trip: Rita O'Brien, Nenana George Olanna, Shishmaref Deborah Webber-Werle, Noatak Elmer Jackson, Kiana Eddie Gavin, Buckland Polly Schaeffer, Kotzebue Students reported seeing lots of animals traveling along the highway to and from the hotel: buffalo, turkeys, horses, antelopes, and goats. They had fun swimming every day in the hotel pool. They loved Crazy Horse Memorial tour, which offered them free rocks to carry back to Alaska. Their visit to Mount Rushmore was fun too. Students enjoyed meeting Indians from many tribes and were surprised to learn that other tribes are not doing subsistence hunting and fishing. We are thrilled over the success of the Alaska AISES delegation's travel to the AISES National Science Fair. We are now preparing for another summer camp and more Native science fairs in the fall of 1998, so we may select students for the 12th Annual AISES National Science Fair. | |
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AISES Corner by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley:by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley This fall, the AISES science fairs acknowledge Elders as the first teachers of their culture. Elders have valuable knowledge of life and the environment they have lived in. Through the AISES program of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, village students are learning that Elders' knowledge is relevant to science and makes valuable contributions to scientific research. Elders will be the judges in four regional science fairs. They will judge students' science projects in the following areas: * science project's capacity to maintain Native values of the region, * project's importance to Native culture, * its importance to village life, and * its contribution to the understanding of the land and assets of village and Native corporations. The teacher/scientist judges will evaluate projects on the scientific method, detail, and accuracy of the research, and the project's best possible use of food or equipment. Both sets of judges will award students first, second, and third place prizes. Students in Fairbanks Science Camp '98 held at Howard Luke's Gaalee'ya Spirit Camp along the Tanana river created at least five questions about their project from which to interview Elders. The camp had six Elders working as instructors. They were: Elizabeth Frantz from Barrow Elizabeth Fleagle from Manley Hot Springs Margaret Tritt from Arctic Village Howard Luke at home on the Tanana River Jonathan David from Minto Fred Alexander from Minto These Elders taught students beadwork, yo-yo making, cleaning and tanning skins, and traditional stories. The students included the knowledge they learned from the Elders on the background information of their project. For example, students learned about the eating habits of wolves, researched the potence of healing plants, and how to tell the caribou's age by his teeth. Prior to sending projects to the fair, every project must be evaluated by an adult sponsor, a science teacher/expert in the field, and an Elder in the village. The checklist for the evaluation included a list of values determined by a council of Elders in the region. The evaluator is to determine if the project maintains or does not maintain each value in the checklist. If you are interested in entering the fair, you will need to obtain the handbook with the guidelines and registration forms for the fair. Second Annual Arctic Regional Science Fair '98 Kotzebue, Alaska Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 1998 Contact: Ruthie Sampson 907-442-3472 Second Annual Interior Science Fair '98 Fairbanks, Alaska Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 1998 Contact: Dixie Dayo 907-474-5086 First Annual Kodiak Science Fair '98 Old Harbor, Alaska Nov. 18-20, 1998 Contact: Teri Schneider 907-486-9031 First Annual Pribilof/Aleutians Science Fair '98 St. Paul Island, Alaska January 1999 Contact: Debbie Bourdukofsky 907-546-2206 Two projects will be selected as grand prize winners from each fair. These projects will be sponsored to be entered in one of the following: Alaska State Science Fair 99 University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, Alaska March 26-28, 1999 Contact: Margaret Cowan 907-465-2826 Annual AISES National Science Fair 99 Albuquerque, New Mexico Contact: Karen Gomez 505-646-7740 | |
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AISES CORNER by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley:& Engineering Society Dietrich Nikolai with his project "Marten Sets" at the Interior AISES Science Fair. Feona Sawden from Port Graham helps students prepare urritaq at last summer's Academy of Elders/AISES Science Camp on Afognak Island outside of Kodiak. Camps help prepare students for regional science fairs. by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley In November of '98, the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative sponsored science fairs in Kotzebue, Fairbanks and Old Harbor. A fourth science fair was held February 17, 1999 in St. Paul Island. Each science fair establishes the values of the Elders in that region as the measuring device for determining if a project is acceptable. Each fair employs Elders as judges to determine the value of projects to the cultural ways of the Native people in that region. Likewise, each fair begins and ends with a blessing offered by an Elder and everyone participates in Native dancing and singing. It is not surprising that these fairs are becoming known as "Native Science Fairs". Each fair has two sets of judges. The teacher/scientist judges review projects looking at the research design and scientific method. The Elders judge projects looking at their value to village life and the regional culture. After awarding first, second and third place prizes, the judges come together to select two grand prize winning projects. The students of the grand prize winning projects will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to enter their projects in the AISES National Science Fair, March 5-6, 1999. The AISES National Fair has 400 or more science projects done by American Indian and Alaska Native students (5th-12th grade) from the lower forty-eight states and Alaska. The Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative is sending the following grand prize winners to AISES National Science Fair: Kelsey Peterson Kelsey is a fifth-grader in Kodiak. She wanted to know "How Did the Skin Parkas Stay Waterproof?" She tested three types of stitches with water. The regular cotton stitches leak and are not waterproof. Gut-skin stitches had less leakage. Ryegrass stitches did not leak. The wet grass expanded and did not allow any water to leak. Traditional skin parkas are stitched with rye grass. Tasha Price and Jonyssa Ignatin Tasha and Jonyssa are sixth graders in Old Harbor. They are proud of the village of Old Harbor and the Alutiiq culture. Their science project explores pumice stone and how their ancestors used it. Dietrich Nikolai Dietrich is an eighth grader in Nikolai, which has a population of 90 people. Nikolai is the first village dog mushers encounter after passing through the "burn" on the trail of the Iditarod. Dietrich wanted to learn which set-poleset or cubbie-is more effective for subsistence trapping for marten. Marten fur hats are desirable to keep warm in extreme cold weather. Dietrich interviewed local trappers and set his own traps for his science project. Kristopher John Kristopher is in eighth grade in Fort Yukon. After exploring the behavior of tornadoes he discovered river eddies swirled with similar behavior. Kristopher interviewed Elders and learned: there are more fish in the eddies than elsewhere in the river and Native fisherman place their nets in eddies to catch the most fish. He experimented with placing a log in the river to make a good eddy and a bad eddy. He learned the water flows out of good eddies, allowing fish to continue swimming up the river. Puyuk Joule and Thomas Tirrell Puyuk and Thomas, who are sixth graders in Kotzebue, entitled their project "Kinakina Atquin", which means "What's your name?" They wanted to know if the Iñupiaq cultural names were being lost and forgotten. Puyuk and Thomas wrote a questionnaire seeking knowledge of the respondents family tree. They each interviewed four friends, four family members, four Elders, and four relatives. Puyuk and Thomas expected 16 out of 32 respondents would know their Iñupiaq cultural names, but instead the found 30 out of 32 respondents knew their Iñupiaq names both in the present and past generations. Heather Outwater Heather is 15 years old and lives in Noorvik. She's president of the student council and captain of the cheerleading squad. Her project tested plants and inorganic materials to preserve and restore the river and stream banks. The Kobuk river has been eroding the banks causing some people in Noorvik to lose their homes into the river. This project will be shown to the Noorvik City Council and the Elders' Committee. Heather hopes they will consider bioengineering techniques such as the ones used in her project to stop the river and stream bank erosion. The Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative extends its congratulations to these bright young scientists and is very proud to send them to the AISES National Science Fair in Albuquerque, March 5-6, 1999. | |
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AISES Corner by Claudette Kawagley-Bradley:A new school year is well on its way. AISES students are busy with science fair projects. Excitement is rising as they get ready to enter projects in the first annual AISES science fairs in the Interior and Arctic regions of Alaska. The Arctic Regional Science Fair will be held in Kotzebue, November 20-22, 1997. Students will enter projects from the North Slope Borough School District, Northwest Arctic Borough School District, Bering Straits School District and Nome City Schools. The Interior Regional Science Fair will be in Fairbanks, Alaska at the Howard Luke Academy, November 20-22, 1997. Students will enter projects from the Alaska Gateway School District, Galena City Schools, Iditarod School District, Nenana Schools, Tanana School District, Yukon Flats School District and Yukon-Koyukuk School District. Students will enter their project in any of 12 science categories plus two team categories (life sciences and physical sciences). The team categories allow for two or three students to work on one project. Each project will be previewed by a teacher, an expert in the field and an elder in the community. The hope is each project will not only follow the guidelines of the scientific methods, but will uphold Alaska Native cultural values and make a valuable contribution to Native knowledge and to the village community. Each fair will have two sets of judges and awards. Teachers and scientists will judge projects for their mastery of scientific method and contribution to science. They will judge projects for creative ability, scientific thought/engineering goals, thoroughness, presentation to judges and skill. Native elders will judge projects on their ability to maintain Native values, their contribution to Native cultural knowledge, to village community life and to issues pertinent to Native corporations. Students will set up projects on Thursday, November 20, and attend an opening ceremony and traditional dancing in the evening. On Friday, November 21, they will have the opportunity to socialize and share in science activities similar to those experienced in the Imaginarium (exploratorium), along with discussing their projects with the judges. The public will be invited to view the projects after the judging is over and purchase tickets to the awards dinner Saturday afternoon. Twenty-nine students attended the Fairbanks AISES Science Camp 97 at University of Alaska Fairbanks and Gaalee'ya Spirit Camp. These students developed plans for science fair projects and had the opportunity to begin their research during the summer when Alaska has lots of plant life and wildlife activity to explore for science projects. They have some advantage over other students who begin projects at the start of the academic school year. It also gave them access to elders who provided the cultural knowledge that gave them an alternate framework for their project. We are looking forward to this new style of science fairs in Alaska and hope it will set a precedence in preparing Native students for more effective leadership in the twenty-first century. Kristopher John, a student from Ft. Yukon, works on a science project at the '97 AISES Summer Camp held at Gaalee'ya Spirit Camp. Kristopher is interested in the weather, particularly tornadoes. | |
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AISES State Science Fair:Students brought science projects from every corner of the state to the annual ANSES State Science Fair at Camp Carlquist outside of Anchorage on Feb 4-7. Most projects had already been judged in regional fairs and represented the best of the best. Juneau, Circle, Arctic Village, St. Paul on the Pribiloff Islands, Port Lions on Kodiak Island, Kiana, Selawik and Nulato all competed in the third annual ANSES Science Fair. Twenty projects, some individual, some team, some experiments, others demonstrations went head to head, judged by two teams of Western scientists and two teams of Native Elders. It was fairly easy for the Western scientists to agree on the scoring, and it was also easy for the Native Elders, as they both had different scoring rubrics, but when they met to agree on the Best of Show, there were no projects in common. The dialog and interaction between them was intense and rich. As one teacher said, "I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to listen in." Only the personal nature of the discussion keeps this interaction from being the teaching event of the year. Best of Show winners were: Devil's Club Salve by Kami Wright and Amanda Padron of Juneau. Their tests indicated that the traditional salve made from Devil's Club is more effective than modern medications on skin conditions like eczema. Scott Asplund and Ronald Mayo of Circle discovered that natural furs are much more efficient insulators than artificial furs in their project, Fake vs. Real Fur. John Melovidov and Maria Philemonoff of St. Paul on the Pribiloff Islands tested the fur of stellar sea lions vs. seal and discovered that the seal fur is a much better insulator. Their project was called Otariidae Warmth. Ely Cyrus of Kiana did extensive research among Iñupiaq Elders in his project on Weather Predicting. Other projects in the state fair were: Osmosis and Why Salmon Turn Color in Fresh Water, by John Carroll from Circle. Reflexes by Alicia John from Circle Surface Tension (Why Slough Bugs Walk on Water) by Justin Mayo and Tyler Ely. Magnetic North, improvising a compass in the woods by Billy John. Blubber vs. Feathers, comparing insulating qualities by Rachel Searls and Airana McDonough of Juneau. Antibacterial Properties of Sphagnum Moss, by Rena Dalman, Courtney Wendel, Myshelle Pope and Brandon Roulet of Juneau. Helping Hands, Traditional Iñupiaq Massage for Health Problems, by Earl Ramoth and Lindi Skin of Selawik. Stinkweed/Wormwood, Health Properties, by Ester Dexter and Kathleen Skin of Selawik. Parts of a Net by Austin Gerhardt-Cyrus of Kiana. Traditional vs. Modern Diapers by Lexy Staheli. Caribou and Moose, Traditional Uses, by Vivian Shellabarger. Fish Trap Construction, by Shayla Carney, Albert Gilbert, Belynda Gilbert and Jessica Tritt of Arctic Village. Traditional Uses of Spruce Pitch by Summer Stickman from Nulato. Deadfall vs. Box trap by Greg Lukin of Port Lions. Plants with Vitamin * by Anna Nelson of Port Lions. Traditional Barabara vs. Modern Housing: Heat loss, by Sophia Zaharof, Brandon Rukovishnikoff of St. Paul. Junkyard Wars of Science Fairs Adrenaline ran high on the first day of gathering materials for the Junkyard Wars, which made its debut at this years ANSES Science Fair. Fashioned after the popular TV show, teams of four students had from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. to plan, research, experiment and prepare a poster board to compete at 7 P.M. No one knew what the project would be until the clock started ticking. When they learned that they had to do an experiment with a traditional drum from their region, teams feverishly planned as chaperones drove to the various locations in the Eagle River/Anchorage area. Map skills were developed as students learned to navigate in this strange landscape. Some teams experimented with types of materials for the drum head, others with frame size, others with head tension, others with combinations of all three as well as different drumming sticks. Display boards were not perfect and reports were highlighted photocopy pages from different libraries, but judges were amazed at the depth of scientific knowledge students were able to assemble in the short time allowed. All team members had to participate in the demonstration and most groups had a song and native dance for the judges to accompany the newly constructed drums. The students from Port Lions won first place and Arctic Village second. While the projects for the State Fair were high quality with the top four going to AISES Nationals in Albuquerque, the Junkyard Fair provoked an intense level of creativity and excitement. Both fairs worked together to send students to the airport with a sense of accomplishment that is impossible to describe. | |
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AISES Update: Barrow, Alaska by Carla Willetto:The llisagvik chapter began hosting a lunch-time lecture series which entailed an invited speaker giving a twenty-five to thirty minute presentation on a science or engineering topic. College students and staff, as well as the public, were invited and encouraged. Speakers have included the North Slope Borough veterinarian who spoke about rabies and a local borough administrator, also an amateur astronomer, who presented information about the comet Hale-Bopp. These lectures were very well attended. Through the Inupiat Research Institute at Ilisagvik College, one student was able to arrange for the AISES StarLab to be brought to Barrow. The StarLab is a portable planetarium and was shared with the K-12 schools in Barrow where it was a big hit with the students. The chapter was also represented by a student who helped judge the Barrow High School Science Fair in March. The highlight for several members was the AISES Region I Conference at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The college was represented by four student members and keynote speaker, Richard Glenn. They thoroughly enjoyed the tours, sessions, Career Expo and fellowship with new friends throughout the conference, as well as the concurrent Festival of Native Arts. They returned to school armed with notes, ideas and souvenirs. Plans are underway to implement a weekend activity every month that would be open to all Ilisagvik students as well as pre-college AISES students. They also intend to assemble recruitment displays to take to community events to increase AISES visibility and attract more members. The chapter has been supported and encouraged by various factors of Ilisagvik College-faculty advisors, administration and the Inupiat Research Institute. Support like this is crucial for the success of a young organization and speaks highly of those who support the participation of Native students in science and engineering. | |
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AKRSI Holds Forum on Culturally-Responsive Curriculum:On March 26-28, 2001, over 50 educators from across the state gathered in Anchorage for a forum on culturally-responsive curriculum sponsored by the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI). A dedicated group of Elders, Native educators and others actively involved in curriculum initiatives associated with the AKRSI spent three days reviewing current curriculum efforts and outlining steps for future development. Given the many new state mandates, school reform initiatives and ongoing challenges that school districts are grappling with today, it seemed an opportune time to step back and reflect on where we are and where we want to go with Native education in Alaska. The focus of the curriculum forum was to take a look at how education programs and services can best be positioned to push our curriculum development efforts beyond just developing more culturally-appropriate "units" and exploring what a broader culturally-responsive curriculum "framework" might look like and then to build on this to determine where the AKRSI resources can be best put to use over the next few years. In addition to going over existing materials and models, we explored what it means for curriculum and instruction when attempting to operationalize the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools, and what kind of support is needed to move that process forward. Along with presentations on many exciting regional curriculum development initiatives from around the state by participants from each of the five cultural regions, reports were made on the following current statewide programs and initiatives: * Orientation to ANKN SPIRAL Curriculum Resources/Web Site: Sean Topkok * Curriculum Resources at www.alaskool.org: Paul Ongtooguk * Innuqatagiit/Dene Kede Curriculum Models: Cathy McGregor, Nunavut * Handbook for Culturally-Responsive Science Curriculum: Sidney Stephens * Translating Science Standards into Practice: Cyndy Curran * Village Science/Alaska Native Science and Engineering Society: Alan Dick * GLOBE Project: Sidney Stephens * Subsistence Contaminants Curriculum Project: Marvin Bailey, Patricia Cochran * Alaska Challenger Project: Daniela Martian * Carnegie Math Tutor Initiative: Bev Smith * Cooperative Extension Fisheries Project: Peter Stortz, Zelma Axford * Cultural Atlas Initiative: Sean Topkok * ARCTIC Technology Initiative: John Rusyniak Following status reports on the various regional and statewide initiatives, the participants turned their attention to developing recommendations for action plans around three focal areas. Following is a summary of the recommendations put forward for follow-up actions in each of the focal areas (no order of priority was established): Group 1: Develop local and regional strategies for school districts to implement culturally-responsive curriculum. This group was to prepare an action plan outlining strategies to guide district-level curriculum initiatives and regional collaboration aimed at improving the cultural responsiveness of school curricula. Recommendations of this group included: 1. The AKRSI regional coordinators should organize a "Regional Curriculum Forum" in conjunction with the regional planning meetings in the fall. 2. The AKRSI staff should work with the regional Native educator associations to develop a CD-ROM template that provides a locally-adaptive framework to facilitate culturally-aligned curriculum development. 3. AKRSI should develop a "Talent Bank" of knowledgeable Native educators who are available to provide culturally-appropriate professional development for teachers, administrators, schools and districts. 4. AKRSI, Native educator associations and AASB should provide assistance for local school boards to develop a vision for implementing culturally-responsive schools (e.g., AOTE process). 5. AKRSI staff should assist in developing a network of curriculum development expertise to assist local schools and districts in implementing the cultural standards for curriculum. 6. State, regional and village corporations and foundations should provide political support and investment for strengthening the role of schools in local communities. 7. AFN should work with the Native educator associations to promote educational policies that support the implementation of culturally-responsive schools throughout the state. 8. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and AKRSI should use school district report card data and the cultural standards to document the relationship between culturally-responsive curriculum and issues associated with student achievement. 9. School districts should establish locally-knowledgeable teams of teachers, Elders and aides to promote culturally-responsive curriculum in the schools. 10.The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and AKRSI should establish a procedure for a cadre of Quality School consultants who can assist schools in developing "school improvement plans" based on the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools. Group 2: Develop statewide strategies for supporting school districts in implementing culturally-responsive curriculum. This group was to prepare an action plan outlining statewide strategies to guide the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and the University of Alaska in providing support to schools for implementation of culturally-responsive curricula. Recommendations of this group included: 1. Support for curriculum initiatives should focus on those school districts that have the greatest need and are most receptive to implementing new approaches so as to achieve the greatest demonstration effect and impact. 2. AKRSI should organize the curriculum resources and technical assistance that are available to schools seeking to become more culturally responsive into a package of support services that can be tailored to meet school district needs. 3. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development should provide incentives for school districts to implement cultural orientation programs for new teachers as part of their annual in-service plan submitted to EED. The orientation program should include an extended camp experience and an "Adopt-a-Teacher" program. 4. The University of Alaska and EED should make available a "cross-cultural specialist" endorsement for teachers built around the criteria outlined in the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools and the Guidelines for Preparing Culturally-Responsive Teachers. 5. The UA system should develop a unified approach for the delivery of performance-based elementary and secondary teacher preparation programs and degrees to rural Alaska, with a particular focus on the professional development of the 700-plus teacher aides in rural schools. 6. All teacher preparation programs should fully incorporate the Guidelines for Preparing Culturally-Responsive Teachers and prepare teachers who are equipped to work with communities in implementing the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools. 7. The Guidelines for Preparing Culturally-Responsive Teachers and the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools should serve as the basis for the review and approval of courses to be used to meet the state Multicultural Education and Alaska Studies requirements. 8. The school designator criteria being established by EED should include an assessment of the extent to which the ethnic composition of a schools professional staff is proportional to the ethnic composition of the students being served, and if they are disproportional, the school improvement plan should indicate how such a balance will be achieved. 9. AKRSI should work with the Alaska EED to develop a process and support structure to assist schools designated as low-performing in the development of school improvement plans consistent with the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools. 10.A cadre of Culturally-Responsive Quality Schools consultants should be established who are fully knowledgeable in all aspects of the implementation of the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools to assist districts in the development of culturally-appropriate school improvement plans. Areas of CRQSC expertise should include the following: * multiple standards for measuring school success; * appropriate methods for assessing local educational needs; * history of alternative approaches to school structure in Alaska; * role and practices of successful administrators; * procedures for developing and implementing a local plan of action; * strategies for parent, community and staff involvement; * relevant aspects of school law and state regulations; * alternative school staffing and scheduling arrangements and * techniques for systematic observation and analysis of school practices. 11.Information on the beneficial effects of the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools on student achievement should be made available in multiple ways to schools and communities. 12.AKRSI should work with the Native educator associations to develop a set of guidelines for culturally-responsive school boards and to orient superintendents to the strategies for implementing the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools. 13.Appropriate resources and training should be made available to ensure that the history of Alaska Native peoples is fully integrated in all Alaska and U.S. history courses in an accurate and representative manner. 14.AKRSI should seek funds to provide support for Native educator associations to become more actively involved in all aspects of policy- and decision-making regarding education in Alaska. 15.The Alaska Federation of Natives, the Native corporations, the First Alaskans Foundation, the Denali Commission and the Consortium for Alaska Native Higher Education should take a proactive role in support of integrating the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools and associated guidelines in all aspects of education in Alaska. 16.All of the recommendations derived from the Forum on Culturally-Responsive Curriculum should be reviewed on a region-by- region basis to formulate appropriate regional action plans for their implementation. Group 3: Develop strategies for regional Native educator associations to play an active role in implementing culturally-responsive curriculum. This group was to prepare an action plan outlining strategies to guide the involvement of regional Native educator associations in the development and implementation of culturally-responsive curricula. Recommendations of this group included: 1. The regional Native educator associations should work closely with local and regional corporations to establish ongoing Elders councils (e.g., Calista Elders Council) to provide guidance at all levels in implementing the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools. 2. The Native educator associations should work with Elders to document traditional ways of knowing and terminologies not used in everyday conversation to make them available for use in curriculum materials development. 3. The Native educator associations and AKRSI should organize grant-writing workshops for teachers to obtain funds for curriculum and teacher training initiatives. 4. AKRSI should set up a section of the ANKN web site listing grant opportunities and guidelines for funding Native education initiatives. 5. Native educator associations should utilize the ERIC Clearinghouse to obtain current information on research related to American Indian/Alaska Native education issues (http://www.ael.org/erichp.htm). 6. Regional Native educator associations should utilize the Cook Inlet Tribal Council resource materials to support recruitment and placement of Native teachers and administrators. 7. Native educator associations should assist teachers in developing the proper protocol and practices for working with Elders in a culturally-appropriate educational capacity, including effective use of the Guidelines for Respecting Cultural Knowledge. 8. School districts should include Native educators in all curriculum discussions with the explicit responsibility of promoting the incorporation of the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools in all aspects of education programs. 9. Native educator associations should incorporate as 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations so they can secure and manage funding for their own initiatives. 10.Native educator associations should each host a minimum of two to three audioconference meetings per year to provide an opportunity for members to identify current issues, voice concerns and formulate strategies. 11.Native educator associations should assist graduate students in identifying appropriate topics for research projects and theses that will contribute to the educational needs of the state. The recommendations outlined above are intended to serve as the basis for more detailed action plans by the designated organizations. We wish to express appreciation to all the participants in the Forum on Culturally-Responsive Curriculum for contributing their valuable time and insights to this effort. We invite everyone with an interest in these issues to offer additional ideas and suggestions for how the action plans can be further strengthened so that we can look forward to a bright future for education in rural Alaska. | |
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AKRSI Leadership Institute Maps Out New Initiatives by Ray Barnhardt:While considerable attention has been given to community engagement and ownership in the implementation of the AKRSI and to support for teachers to develop curricula and teaching practices consistent with the needs of rural/Native students and communities, less attention has been given to the role of the principal and other administrators and policy-makers in this process. Rural school administrators, particularly principals, are often situated in remote settings where they are isolated from their colleagues and have little opportunity for professional interaction around the issues they experience on a day-to-day basis. This professional isolation and lack of a collegial support system contributes to a high turnover rate of administrative personnel in rural schools, and thus a lack of continuity in leadership that can inhibit the potential for sustained innovation and initiative. There is also a growing recognition of the need for more Native administrators with the skills to provide leadership in bridging the gap between rural schools and the Native communities they serve, and to provide the professional continuity that is needed to foster cumulative organizational learning that can bring stability and consistency to school reform efforts. Furthermore, the adoption of Alaska Standards for Cultural Responsive Schools by Alaska Native educators in February, 1998 provides new guideposts and a process by which schools can evaluate their educational programs in reference to meeting the cultural needs of the students they serve. Administrators are in key leadership roles with regard to implementation of the cultural standards as a foundation on which to build rural school curricula and teaching practices. Rural schools are grappling with the task of implementing standards-based curricula and performance assessments, meeting legislative mandates for high school graduation qualifying exams, responding to increased demand for community voice in school programs and accommodating increasing enrollments. At the same time they are also coping with significant budgetary constraints, all of which calls for the development of new support systems to assist administrators in making the structural changes that are necessary to respond to this rapidly changing leadership environment. Following are some of the initiatives that have been incorporated into the AKRSI agenda and will be factored into the strategic plan and budget for year four. 1. Develop cooperative links with superintendents, policy makers and legislators. 2. Assist Rural Educator Preparation Partnership (REPP) in preparation of local teachers. 3. Reactivate Native Administrators for Rural Alaska Program. 4. Support involvement of retired Native professionals in regional Native educator organizations. 5. Consolidate/strengthen rural higher education resources in support of rural schools. 6. Support Consortium for Alaska Native higher education and tribal college development. 7. Assist in implementation of the Department of Education (DOE) Native Student Learning Action Plan. 8. Develop joint Math/Science Consortium Rural Institute for site teams. 9. Co-sponsor statewide math/science conference, fall 1999. 10.Develop link with Elementary and Secondary Principals Association. 11.Explore joint initiatives with Alaska Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 12.Sponsor AKRSI workshops, poster sessions, etc. at administrators and school board events. 13.Support involvement of AISES professional chapters. 14.Propose alternatives to DOE for meeting state multicultural education requirement. 15.Co-sponsor Alaska Rural School Leadership Retreat with DOE. 16.Develop cultural standards self-assessment tools and poster. 17.Provide technical assistance and training for implementation of cultural standards by schools. 18.Offer AKRSI workshops at rural school in-services. These are a some of the "leadership development" initiatives that we will be following up on as we enter year four of the AKRSI. We welcome further input or interest on the part of anyone with something to contribute to this effort, and we will be getting in touch with many of you as these initiatives evolve over the coming year. If you have comments or suggestions, please contact us through the ANKN web site, or call (907) 474-1902. A hearty thank you goes out to the following people for taking time out of their busy summer schedule to contribute to the development of the AKRSI leadership initiatives: Peggy Cowan, DOE/Science Consortium Marty Foster, Math Consortium/teacher, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Chris Simon, principal, Yukon-Koyukuk School District Larry LeDoux, principal, Kodiak Island Borough School District Elmer Jackson, AKRSI Iñupiaq regional coordinator, Kiana Amy Van Hatten, AKRSI Interior regional coordinator, Fairbanks Paula Dybdahl, secondary teacher, Juneau School District John Monahan, Educational Leadership faculty, UAA/UAF John Weise, superintendent, Yupiit School District, REPP Director Ernie Manzie, principal, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Frank Hill, AKRSI co-director Lolly Carpluk, ANKN Dixie Dayo, ANKN | |
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AKRSI Regional Contacts:Elmer Jackson Iñupiaq Regional Coordinator (907) 475-2257 e-mail: fnej@uaf.edu Barbara Liu Yup'ik Regional Coordinator (907) 543-3467 e-mail: fnbl@uaf.edu Amy Van Hatten Athabascan Regional Coordinator (907) 474-0275 e-mail: fyav@uaf.edu Andy Hope Southeast Regional Coordinator (907) 465-8776 e-mail: fnah@uaf.edu Teri Schneider Kodiak, Alaska 99615 (907) 486-9276 e-mail: tschneider@kodiak.k12.ak.us | |
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AKRSI Welcomes Gerald Sam:Gerald Sam was recently selected as the Native and Rural Education Support Specialist (formerly the AKRSI Regional Coordinator) for Interior Athabascan Tribal College. Gerald "Jerry" grew up in the Allakaket area, was a past AFN representative, has strong Tribal ties from his time as a village chief and council member, and has always been an advocate for tribal members on educational and other community issues. | |
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AKRSI Welcomes Judy Jaworski:Judy Jaworski joined the Anchorage AKRSI staff at the Alaska Federation of Natives this year. Judy holds the position of administration assistant. She is responsible for managing office functions for statewide AKRSI/ARC programs. Judy is of Iñupiat and Yup'ik decent from Elim. She is married with six children and two grandchildren. | |
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AKRSI Welcomes Katie Bourdon:Hello, my name is Katie Bourdon and I'm the new Eskimo Heritage Program (EHP) Director for Kawerak, Inc. in Nome, Alaska. I am very happy to be in a position that works, preserves, develops and promotes our Native culture. I'm following a strong leader, Branson Tungiyan, who worked in EHP for over four years. I'm thankful to have open communication with Branson and am glad for his support. The EHP program is fortunate to work so closely with our Elders as they are the guiding force behind EHP. Kawerak's Elders Advisory Committee have created long range goals and objectives that include procuring a cultural heritage center, continuing the documentation of Elders and culture and developing culturally-enhanced curriculum. The EHP has a wealth of recordings, slides, photos and videos that will be digitized for lifelong preservation and use. This is another major project that will take place this year. I'm very delighted to be welcomed by the staff and family of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative. You are a very vibrant group with a strong mission and I'm glad Kawerak is a part of this dynamic, innovative strength of Native educators and leaders. I look forward to meeting all of you and creating a strong working relationship. Finally, I would like to share some personal information about myself. I have four bright and lively children, three boys and one girl. My husband, Wilson Bourdon, and I have been married for 13 years. My parents are Frank and LaVonne Okleasik and Wilson's mother is Esther Bourdon, a very active Elder in Nome. His father, David Bourdon, passed away in 1997. We're happy to have so much family close to us as both Wilson and I have large families and most are living in Nome. Quyanna! | |
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AKRSI/AMC/ASC:Institute on Integrating Science, Math, and Cultural Standards in Rural Schools University of Alaska Fairbanks June 14-27, 1999 (with one-week fall implementation) The Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI), the Alaska Math Consortium (AMC) and the Alaska Science Consortium (ASC) are sponsoring a two-week summer institute focused on addressing math, science and cultural standards in rural classrooms. We are especially eager to receive applications from the 20 school districts currently partnering with the AKRSI and will review applications with a goal of selecting at least one team from each region. For an application packet or more information contact: Sidney Stephens, ASC/AKRSI c/o ANKN PO Box 756480 Fairbanks, AK 99775-6480 ffss1@uaf.edu Institute supported by AKRSI through a grant from the National Science Foundation and by the ASC and the AMC. | |
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Alakanuk Culture Camp by Mike Hull:There was consensus among all of us-students included-that the way things were in the spring of '97 was not the kind of community or school environment we wanted. As it has in the past, the community of Alakanuk spent no time looking for someone to blame, rather it assumed responsibility for its problems and set out to create solutions. The school is the major change agent in the community and because its very purpose is the development of young people, it became the focal point for many of the strategies to bring about change. Elders and parents collaborated with teachers and students to provide goals for the high school program and a framework for behavioral and instructional expectations. Students were the main voice in developing guidelines for class structure and methods of presentation. As community members and students assumed more responsibility for what happened at school, the view of the school's role in the community began to expand. Rather than being perceived as an agency that creates a distance between young people and the way of their Elders it began to appear as an integral part of the process of bringing the two together. The school staff integrated subsistence activities into the curriculum. Seal hunting, fishing, and camping have become schooltime activities and involve the teachers. The positive response of Elders, parents, students, and teachers has provided an atmosphere of trust, mutual respect, and encouragement to create bold visions of what else we might accomplish. In the fall of 1997, all students from grades 6 through 12 spent one week at three different camps engaged in subsistence activities. They hunted and caught seal, fished, gathered berries, and prepared meals with the food they took from the sea and tundra. Community members provided transportation and guidance for these camps. The teachers, for the most part, became students in this setting. The successes and the failures of the fall camps lead to the generation of a more ambitious plan to better meet the unique educational needs of the children of Alakanuk. For the coming year the community and school of Alakanuk are planning to provide a culture camp for the students in grades six through eight. The purpose of the camp is to provide a setting in which students can learn subsistence skills and gain an appreciation for the values of a traditional lifestyle. It is also the intention of the school to have the students experience the complimentary nature of the wisdom of traditional practices and the insights that modern technology can provide in understanding and utilizing the resources of their environment. The school acknowledges that it must take a role in the skills learned in the subsistence setting because they are fundamental to maintaining a healthy lifestyle for anyone living in the village. Many children have not been involved in subsistence activities because they are in school when their families are gathering food from the river, sea and tundra. It is also apparent that even when school is not in session some families are no longer providing this training for their children. The Alakanuk Culture Camp will be made up of instructional teams that will spend one month with 36 middle school students at a location that has been traditionally used for gathering berries, plants, fish, and for hunting birds and seals. Elders and community members will provide the explanations of the use of different plants as they gather these with the students. They will guide students in the use of nets and the preparation of fish. They will also share methods for hunting and preparing game birds and seals. What is caught and gathered will be food for the camp. The teachers will involve the students in the collection of scientific data related to their subsistence environment. The tundra, skies, and waterways will be the laboratories providing information that students will gather, analyze, and document through computers and other diagnostic instruments. Hopefully this sharing of the school and community will continue to rebuild a bridge between the generations. And hopefully the school will continue to pursue becoming a resource that addresses the real survival needs of the community. Sometimes we measure ourselves in rural schools by what we cannot do because of our size and remoteness. This proud community views these as assets, as opportunities to truly fashion a school that best serves the needs of its children. | |
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Alan Dick Begins New Venture:After seven years of writing books, curriculum materials and SOP articles for AKRSI, Alan Dick has started his own small publishing business operating out of Lime Village. The intent of the business is to enable other Alaskans to get their message or story into the hands of the public. This business is geared towards the first-time author who knows little or nothing about publishing. Alan says he can step into and out of the sequence required to print books, giving the author the opportunity to save money by doing some of the tasks, yet Alan will help the new authors cross the hurdles that have kept hundreds of wonderful Alaskan stories from the public eye. Alan has been a successful author and now wants to share the experience with other Alaskans, particularly those from villages. For more information, email him at fnad@uaf.edu and check the SV Publishing website http://www.svpublishing.com. The website describes all the options available to first time authors. The AKRSI staff wish to express our appreciation to Alan for his dedicated efforts on behalf of village science, camps and fairs over the past seven years. His ability to bring science alive for students in just about any setting has been an inspiration to teachers throughout Alaska, and his Village Science and Village Math curriculum resources are some of the most popular items in the ANKN curriculum collection. We wish Alan the best in his new ventures and hope to find ways to keep him involved in his "calling" as the Science Wizard of Alaska. | |
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Alaska 4-H Fisheries, Natural Resource and Youth Development:In 1990 there was considerable interest on the part of several Alaska legislators in helping fishermen on the Yukon River maintain their livelihood. Decreasing harvest of salmon and international disputes over salmon on the Yukon provided the context for a meeting of Yukon fishermen that took place in Galena in December, 1990. At the meeting, fishermen from the mouth of the Yukon to Eagle near the Canadian border met and formed the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association (YRDFA). The objectives of YRDFA were to increase the numbers of fish in the river, enhance the management of the fisheries and seek to educate people about the fisheries. At the meeting the Alaska 4-H program agreed to develop a fisheries education program for youth in the villages. The UAF Alaska Cooperative Extension, received a series of grants from the US Department of Agriculture and the help of many collaborators to work with youth-at-risk in rural Alaska. The Alaska 4-H Fisheries, Natural Resource and Youth Development Program began in June 1991 in ten Yukon River Drainage communities. Since then, the program has grown and expanded north and south to include over 50 communities and 22 school districts across the state. The program is designed to train village youth in science and math skills through fishery biology and hands-on learning. It is a far-reaching and long-term educational and community effort requiring the support of state, schools and residents of many Alaska villages. It continues today through the US Dept. of Agriculture grant to the 4-H program Strengthening Alaska's Children, Youth and Families-a three-part project including youth development, parenting education and health and safety. Scope and Strategies of the Program * Public schools provide classroom instruction in the science of fisheries biology, management and aquaculture technology through the use of in-classroom salmon-egg incubators. Youth have access to the incubators on a daily basis. * Schools receive Power Macintosh® computers, modems and Internet access to connect students with others participating in the program and the World Wide Web. * Students are responsible for water exchanges, water quality, temperature monitoring and predicting and reporting developmental stages of salmon. * Technological literacy, watershed management and knowledge and understanding of math and statistical methods through fish counts and survival rate calculation are all part of the in-school program. * Native elders build self-esteem in youth by fostering an appreciation of their cultural heritage and traditions associated with fishing. * Through 4-H project clubs, youth engage in hands-on experiential learning, learn life skills and participate in community service. Benefits for Village Youth * Enhance science and math literacy among participating youth. * Reinforce cultural values. * Develop citizenship though community service. * Acquire self-esteem through new skills. * Prospect for future employment and higher incomes. Benefits to Schools and Communities * Broad-based, interdisciplinary, and culturally relevant curriculum. * Hands-on learning program relevant to Alaska subsistence lifestyle. * Extensive support network of participating school districts, agencies and organizations. * Annual teacher in-service training. * On-going support, resources and activities provided by UAF. * On-going support, resources, activities, events and youth development opportunities through the Alaska 4-H program and the national Cooperative Extension system. An annual teacher in-service has become the key to success of the in-school fisheries science education program. Teachers representing schools participating in the 4-H Fisheries, Natural Resource and Youth Development program attended the annual teacher in-service held in Fairbanks, September 18-21. First year teachers starting in the school salmon project had a full day devoted to their needs. They were provided information about aquarium set-up, equipment maintenance, daily and weekly procedures, permit requirements, water chemistry and report writing. Additional topics were presented throughout the in-service to assist teachers in utilizing natural resource and fisheries management issues as a vehicle to develop critical thinking skills in math, science, social studies and language arts. Activities were provided for both classroom and outdoors. A variety of hands-on learning used to demonstrate new curriculum and project materials included: * using the internet-sharing with other teachers and students; * fish anatomy and physiology-dissections; o local egg-take procedures; * fish bank simulation activities; * new curriculum associated with genetics and fisheries management; * protocols for data collection and data reporting; inquiry and science processes. Amy Van Hatten, Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI) Athabascan Regional Coordinator and Sean Topkok, AKRSI Indigenous Curriculum Specialist, were among the dozen presenters. Amy and Sean shared information about the Alaska Native Knowledge Network and new cultural standards through several activities and demonstrations. They helped the group of teachers acquire a new awareness, appreciation and knowledge about the AKRSI and invited participation in the coming year. What became obvious after their presentation were the numerous complimentary objectives and outcomes of each of the programs. Teachers in the 4-H Fisheries, Natural Resource and Youth Development program are eager to develop new relationships and make applications of the information they received. | |
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