Jamie Diep

Davin Savikko wears a lot of hats at Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen Elementary School. In addition to teaching integrated arts, he also works as the school’s librarian. And the library looks really, really different this year.

On Wednesday, Savikko walked around and pointed out handmade signs marking different sections and genres, from “spooky stories” to historical fiction and staff picks. Sunshine streamed through stained glass windows, lighting up the “everybody books” section of the library. Picture books filled cubby-like shelves on top, with books filed in a traditional manner on lower shelves. 

“It was really cool to get these new bins like you see at the public library that are accessible for young kids,” he said. “Before it was just, everything looked spines out and it was just really overcrowded.”

The school closed temporarily in 2022 after flooding from burst pipes. While students could go back to the school a couple months later, the library needed more repairs.  Instead of bookshelves, books sat in cardboard boxes that Savikko dug through as needed.

 The school received the final insurance reimbursement earlier this year. About $94,000 went toward buying materials for the library, according to meeting minutes from an April Facilities Committee meeting.

Between waiting on insurance payouts and getting supplies, it took more than three years to reopen the library.

“Imagine, like, three years of dread just looking at these boxes and knowing, like, you don’t really have the power to do anything with them,” Savikko said. “I didn’t have the shelving, we didn’t have the insurance money, etc, and so now it’s just so freeing to have this really beautiful space that I am really proud of. “

Shortly after the flood, Savikko turned half of the library into an integrated arts classroom. Students learn different art skills and connect it with what they’re learning in classes. Savikko said it’s built as a fluid space where students can come and go. But there was a bit of confusion when the library first opened. He said many students didn’t know how a library worked.

“They’ll be like, ‘how much does this book cost?’ You know, and things like that. And so it’s like, ‘Ah, well, the library books are for free. You get to check out books,’” he said. “So I’m really excited to give them this opportunity that they deserve.”

Savikko said the library can support classroom teachers by being a space for students to explore their interests. Since the Alaska Reads Act passed in 2023, Savikko said teachers have more focused skills to teach. While teachers can still build in more flexible time in their days, Savikko said the library is a place that’s well suited to support students on that front.

“The kids want two things. They want a choice in their education, and they want to have a voice in their education. 

Principal Katie Koski said it was a community effort in the school to get the library back together. The previous principal helped to work out the insurance settlement. In the meantime, teachers kept classroom libraries, and students would also go to the Mendenhall Valley Public Library nearby with their class. Koski said she’s excited to see what students can do in the new space.

“The library, in many ways, can be like the heart of a school,” she said.

And now, that heart is beating again.

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Deedie Sorensen did not plan on running for another term. But earlier this week, rumors circulated that she would run as a write-in candidate. Sorensen said on a call with KTOO Monday that she hadn’t heard the rumors. She also said she didn’t plan to run.

“Apparently, I was the only person that hadn’t heard the rumor that you called me about,” she said during a phone interview Wednesday.

Two days later, things had changed. Sorensen said people reached out to encourage her to run.

“The message I got on Monday was – from way too many people – was that they wanted another choice,” she said.

Sorensen filed with the city to run as a write-in candidate Wednesday. She’s now the fifth candidate vying to fill three seats on the board. This would be her third term if elected. 

Sorensen’s tenure coincided with a tumultuous period for the Juneau School District. She spent her first term largely working through the COVID-19 pandemic. She also served as board president when the district decided to close and consolidate Juneau schools to fill a $9.7 million budget deficit. She survived a recall effort following the consolidation last year.

Sorensen said she thinks the district is making progress since the consolidation. If elected, she said she’s interested in following the academic performance of sixth graders, who were lumped in with elementary school instead of middle school after the closures. 

She said the candidate forum hosted by KTOO and the League of Women Voters of Juneau last week influenced her decision.

“The overall message to me, for some of the candidates, was not an overwhelming desire to promote public education,” she said.

She said that commitment is necessary to serve on the school board.

“You need to be a real advocate for (the) best public education and for, you know, all the students,” Sorensen said.

Sorensen worked as a teacher for the district for more than 35 years.

This isn’t the first time someone has filed to be a write-in candidate for the school board in recent memory. Former school board member Will Muldoon ran a successful write-in campaign for his first term in 2021.

Sorensen is the only write-in candidate so far this year. As of Thursday morning, no one else has filed as a write-in candidate for the school board and Juneau Assembly races, according to the city clerk’s office. The city mailed ballots to registered voters on Sept. 19. Juneau voters have until Oct. 7 to return them.

The Juneau Assembly approved funding to get started on a new playground at the Dzantik’i Heeni campus in Lemon Creek. But the decision brought up budget concerns as voters consider reducing taxes in the upcoming municipal election. 

The $735,000 project is the next step in what’s turned into a yearslong process to build a new playground for the campus that houses Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi High School, Montessori Borealis and Juneau Community Charter School. 

The building used to be a middle school before the district consolidated middle and high schools, so no playground was necessary until elementary-aged students moved in. The money will go toward installing safety surfacing and fencing. But the school district will be on the hook to fundraise for playground equipment.

The final decision hit a brief bump in the road when one Assembly member asked the body to consider potential reductions to the city’s tax revenue. There are three ballot propositions in this year’s election that could change how much money the city brings in annually. Assembly member Neil Steininger moved to table the decision until October. Steininger said he wants to wait until after the election to see what the city’s budget looks like.

“I think it’d be prudent when we’re talking about a dollar value this large to wait until we have a better understanding of the revenue available to the city before we make this commitment,” he said.

Juneau School District Superintendent Frank Hauser said a delay in the decision could make it harder for the district to get that equipment. He said the district needs to order it in December or January to get things installed in time for next school year.

“It just makes it really tight to do the fundraising, not sure if we’re going to be able to move forward with this until the October 27 [meeting] and then trying to put all that together and get pieces in place for installation hopefully for the next school year,” Hauser said.

The district received a donation from the Juneau Rotary Club to put some musical play equipment and Gaga ball pits at the school in the meantime.

Other Assembly members agreed with Steininger’s point but said they should still move forward with the site preparations. Member Wade Bryson said the neighborhood as a whole has access to far fewer playgrounds than other parts of the city.

“So we’re not doing this just to make sure that a school has a playground,” Bryson said. “We’re doing this for social equality to one of the most socioeconomic depressed parts of our community.”

Steininger ultimately backtracked after the Assembly members opposed him. He said he wanted to make a point.

“This is the kind of thing that is at stake at the ballot box here in October, and these are the types of considerations and questions we have to ask,” Steininger said. “And the comments before me about equity in Lemon Creek and the count of playgrounds is very apt.”

The Assembly unanimously approved the funding. In a Finance Committee presentation Wednesday, Juneau School District Director of Operations Kristy Germain said the district plans to begin work on the playground next summer.

Rain poured down in Juneau on Sunday, but that didn’t stop residents from going to Tracy’s Crab Shack for a night of music from the local band The High Costa Livin’. Under covered tents, attendees lined up for food and were surrounded by a silent auction, a raffle and a bake sale.

Tracy’s hosted one of more than 15 local fundraisers working to help a young Juneau resident go on a clinical trial for a rare genetic disease. Emma Jobsis is the mother of four-year-old Cade Jobsis.

“People that I haven’t even asked, I haven’t even talked to, are texting, calling, wanting to be a part of this,” she said. “And I’m just so grateful because there’s no way we could do this alone.”

She says fundraising efforts started a couple years ago, when Cade was diagnosed with SPG50, a rare disease where a child gradually loses their cognitive and motor function. There is no cure.

“When we got the diagnosis, the doctors told us to take him home, love him. There was nothing they could do,” Jobsis said.

But there is an experimental treatment that she says was developed by the father of a child with the same disease. Its creation had a hefty price tag. Jobsis said she and several other families raised the $3 million to create the treatment. For Jobsis, that was largely done through social media campaigns.

Now, the Juneau family is fundraising again so Cade can use the new treatment. They need to raise $1.15 million for hospital and regulatory fees to do a clinical trial for Cade. Jobsis said fundraising largely falls on families, despite her efforts to raise funds through the government and pharmaceutical companies.

“It’s not lucrative, and they’re never even going to see their money again,” she said. “So the only people that care to get treatments are parents of children that have this childhood disease. And so as parents, we came together — four families — and we said, ‘We have to do this. We have to raise the money, because nobody else is going to. Nobody else cares like we do.’”

The Juneau community has been responding in a big way. Jobsis said as of Sunday evening, they had raised $357,000. She said Cade can begin treatment in November if they have 80% of the funds in escrow by Oct. 20. 

Juneau resident Kelsey Riker was at the event, eating dinner in the crowded tent. She’s the manager at Kindred Post, a local gift shop and post office. Riker said it’s great to see the community act in a huge way.

“While this community support has been such a bright light, I also think this should not be necessary for anyone, especially a little kid born with a thing that we don’t know much about,” Riker said.

But Riker said she wants to continue to be part of the effort to raise money.

“If there are ways to be fighting a very broken system by rallying around our community, then that is something that I want to be a part of,” she said.

Tom Ainsworth made his way into the tent with the festivities. He is a retired weather forecaster and said he’s glad to see everybody supporting the cause. He got emotional when he talked about why he came to support the family.

“Well, we have a grandson about the same age, and I can’t imagine going through what they’re going through,” Ainsworth said.

Jobsis estimated on Monday they raised another $50,000 from the weekend’s fundraisers. They have to raise about $738,000 more to reach their goal. The family will continue raising money for Cade’s treatment with fundraisers in and beyond Juneau.

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Joel Bos stands outside Sayéik: Gastineau Community School, rinsing tray after tray of freshly harvested potatoes with a hose. He’s a naturalist with Discovery Southeast, a nonprofit that connects Juneau residents to the outdoors. They partnered with the school to build and maintain a garden.

Bos has been working with students on the project. He said they participate in every part of the process, from planting seeds to eating the crops.

“Now this is not just something that one person is doing here as, like, kind of on the side, this is an entire school event, and that, to me, is really special,” Bos said.

There’s still more to harvest, including several beds of carrots. Bos said those are his favorite vegetables to grow in Juneau. 

“They’re super sweet if you grow them up north,” he said. “The kids just absolutely go bananas for them. I think we all do. Everybody who’s had a carrot that was picked and washed and eaten in the same day understands the difference in sweetness and flavor.”

Sayéik: Gastineau Community School librarian Monika Haygood walks through the school garden, pointing out the different crops separated by type.

“This side, the left side here, we have, of course, onions, kale,” she said. “And so they’re just dedicated to one crop, because you can just get so much more out of it.”

The garden is a project for the Ocean Guardian School program run by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Schools commit to protect local watersheds and the ocean through various conservation projects and schoolwide practices. Schools can also get start-up funds for projects like a school garden.

Sayéik has been an Ocean Guardian School for the past seven years. Haygood is also the lead teacher for the program. She says the school garden in particular teaches students more beyond math and reading in the classroom.

“It’s science. It gets them outside. It gets them working together, gets them thinking and talking, and all those pieces are just such an important part of  learning as a whole picture,” she said.

Building and maintaining the garden is a school and community-wide effort. Teachers incorporate the garden into the curriculum: students might try their hand at scientific illustrations or calculate the volume of a garden bed to find out how much soil it needs. Local businesses also donated materials for the garden.

The garden even runs when school is out. Haygood said teachers and some families water the plants through the summer. Bos also brought students from a summer camp to maintain the garden.

Haygood said she’s proud of the garden the school has created.

“I love to just see kids out here and learning and digging and, yeah, just making those connections,” she said. “I think that is the most powerful, just seeing the kids out here, and how inspiring that is for me. But it’s also so inspiring for them.”

Most of the vegetables will go toward a schoolwide dinner next week. The garden activities will continue to run after the big harvest. Students will start growing different plants indoors from seed under grow lights through the winter. The garden will also continue to grow. Next to it is a field peppered with dirt and weeds. Haygood said they’ll fill the area with native plants.

“We’ll develop this trail over here with some signage so that we have some plants that students can learn about, that are local, that grow here,” she said.

As for the remaining uneaten veggies, Haygood said they won’t go to waste. Students and teachers will take the leftovers home to their families.

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Learning outdoors is nothing new for students in Juneau’s Tlingit, Culture, Language and Literacy program. That’s what they did on their first field trip of the year, where they learned about Lingít language and values through foraging and processing local foods. 

Students, teachers and families walk through squishy, mossy muskeg near the Eagle River United Methodist Camp north of Juneau. First grader Owen Roehl crouches over small, short bushes peppered throughout the area, putting green and yellow leaves into an empty yogurt container looped around his neck.

“We’re picking s’ikshaldéen, also known as Hudson Bay tea,” he said.

Owen said picking tea has been his favorite part of the day so far.

Seventh grader Cassius Allen is one of the older students picking tea. Cassius said he thinks the tea will taste good once they process it. 

“Probably gonna have to mix it up with some other flavors so it tastes not plain and normal,” he said.

Cassius got help from eighth grader Leighton Heppner to identify the tea leaves. Leighton said he learned from friends and teachers.

“They said, ‘always make sure it’s yellow at the bottom, like fully yellow or partially yellow, and it will still work,’” he said.

Overall, Cassius appeared to have some fun while picking tea, getting part of a leaf up Leighton’s nose when holding it out for him to smell.

This is part of a longstanding field trip for students at Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy, a Lingít language immersion school. It’s not just for the students. They’re joined by families and volunteers, as well as students from Haa Yoo X̱’atángi Kúdi, a Lingít language preschool. That’s a language immersion preschool where children primarily speak in Lingít.

Things have changed slightly after the program expanded to middle school. While it’s normally a day trip, it’s turned into an overnight field trip for the older students.

Naakil.aan Hans Chester is a biliteracy specialist at the school. He said getting students out of the classroom opens the door for a lot of learning. 

“In this context, it’s real living, and they hear us using the language with each other and communicating, or just even expressions, to say when you’re doing something, and it’s in context and it makes sense,” he said.

In addition to tea, students also learned to fillet salmon and make jam. Chester said the jam was going to be given to guests at a Ku.éex’ – or potlatch – the next day.

“When we do our Ku.éex’, it’s to honor our lost clan members,” Chester said. “And so, you know, it’s really important for us to teach these skills to our kids, so when they grow up and they lose their mom or their sister or their cousin or whoever that’s in their family, they’ll have these skillsets to rely on so that they can do what we do.”

Chester said this field trip makes him feel like the school is in a stronger place than it was before.

“Hearing them use the language more, some of them stepping up and becoming leaders out here, is really awesome to see”

In the camp kitchen, Lingít language teacher Nae Tumulak portions out bowls of fish soup. The middle schoolers filleted coho salmon for it the night before. Tumulak said she likes getting to know the students more, both new and old.

“Just seeing them in their element, being able to witness a lot of their growths and everything like that, it’s been a lot of fun,” Tumulak said. “They’re also incredibly hilarious. So it’s been entertaining.”

Once they’re back at school, Chester said they will process the tea and give it away to community members.