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At the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, a group of workers wheels a drilling machine about the size of a golf cart into the visitor center parking lot.
Sean Sjostedt of PND Engineers says they’re drilling to collect soil samples to find out what the soil and groundwater conditions are like.
“That helps us come up with parking lot designs, building foundation designs, bridge abutment designs and a number of different aspects about the project,” said Sjostedt.
The drilling is part of an improvement plan for the area that’s still in the works. The receding glacier and an anticipated increase in visitor traffic mean that the area will look very different, with a new visitor center and parking lot.
“We had an off year in 2020,” said Sjostedt. “All the projections generally say that tourism is going to bounce back maybe more than it was before. And the consensus right now is that the existing recreational area just cannot handle the number of current visitors or projected visitors very well.”
The U.S. Forest Service is leading the improvement plan, which is still being finalized pending further public comment. Tristan Fluharty is a district ranger with the Forest Service. He says the drilling this week is part of that plan.
“It’s strictly to inform the process,” Fluhurty said. “It’s not necessarily already determined what we’re going to do, but what they find will help inform our process, in fact, as far as what is on the table for us to be able to do out there.”
Fluharty says the work shouldn’t disrupt the wildlife or visitors. Hikers wanting to reach Nugget Falls will be temporarily diverted to the Mendenhall Lake shore, but they can still access the popular attraction.
The latest public comment period on the recreation area’s future closed last week, but Fluhary says there’ll be one more opportunity for comment later this summer. The final decision on a plan for the area is set for spring 2022.
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Jamie Framke and her son Max walk through the front doors of Sayéik Gastineau Community School in Douglas. They pose for a photo in front of a banner of a formline drawing of an eagle, the school’s mascot.
It’s Max’s first day of kindergarten. He is part of a group of 18 students whose families chose to have their kids return to in-person classes on Thursday.
While those families are relieved to return to something that resembles normalcy, others decided to keep their kids at home. Framke says she understands the risks of sending Max to school.
“As his mom, it’s my choice if he can be exposed or not to anything,” Framke said. “We’re really big on handwashing and sanitizer, and I’ve taught them about all of that.”
Framke works in health care. She says it’s a relief to return something that resembles normal life.
Sayéik’s principal Stacy Diouf says this week is the beginning of the end of a challenging time for students and their families.
“We are looking forward to being able to connect with students who are back in person to assess them to sort of see what skills they’ve gained during their time away from us, or time via distance, and what gaps we can begin to fill academically,” Diouf said.
Devon Francis is another parent who chose to have his son Gregory start school in person. He says face-to-face time is important for his child’s learning development.
“Sometimes, even with a distance learning, they don’t understand clearly what sometimes the teachers are trying to say to them,” said Francis. “They can participate more. Teachers can see them, how they operate, and all of that sort of stuff. And their weaknesses can be easily realized and built upon.”
Some parents aren’t ready to send their kids back to school yet.
Sanjay Pyare has a fifth-grader and a third-grader who would normally be attending classes at Sayéik.
“They gave us the option,” Pyare said. “We said ‘why, why?’ Why are we going to roll the dice when, you know, there’s some upside as arduous as it is for everybody, like hanging out with their kids and keeping them home and everything?”
Pyare says he understands the reasons the other families chose to go with face-to-face classes, especially for kids’ emotional health. But his kids seem to be doing OK so far.
“They’re resilient. Like, they’re just brought up,” he said. “Maybe it’s the technology, maybe it’s, this is what they have, and they’re rolling with it.”
The Juneau School District reports about 1,200 — or one-third — of students have returned to face-to-face classes this week. The other two-thirds are still doing distance learning.
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the child in the first photo, his name is Ryker Lenkiewicz.
