Education

Confused about all the upcoming elections this fall? Want to know more about the voting process?

Go to the Voter Registration Rally Thursday in Juneau.

It’s part of the nationwide Native Vote Action Week, with a number of events being held in Alaska to increase voter turnout.

Juneau’s is sponsored by Tlingit and Haida Central Council and Sealaska. It will be held at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall.

Organizer Nicole Hallingstad says it’s open to all Juneau residents, but the primary goal is to increase the number of Alaska Natives who vote.

While 70 percent of Sealaska shareholders over age 18 living in the state are registered, that doesn’t mean they actually vote.

“We hope to increase the understanding in the Alaska Native population that your vote literally is the source of our collective strength,” Hallingstad says.

People who need to register to vote, update their current registration, or want to learn more about the election process should attend, she says. Many people never register, and many others register but never go to the polls, because voting is an unfamiliar process.

“So we’ll actually have standing ballot booths that are exactly like those you’d see at any balloting station,” Hallingstad days. “People can get a mock ballot. They can get familiar with the process of showing their ID, casting their ballot and going through the act of electing to try to increase familiarity, reduce some of the fear or uncertainty around that process, and get people more comfortable with voting.”

The Voter Registration Rally is from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Willoughby Avenue.

Sixty Juneau families with young children will get educational assistance from the Parents as Teachers program, thanks to a $150,000 state grant to the Association for the Education of Young Children of Southeast Alaska.

The program brings educators into the home every month, armed with books and other tools to help parents teach their pre-school children. AEYC Director Joy Lyon says the program is from prenatal to age three.

“Those visits are so important supporting the family with really up to date information about child development specific to their child and their issues,” Lyons says. “So it’s giving the families all these tools to really be successful in supporting their children’s learning.”

Lyons says a pilot program launched this fall with 20 families. The expanded program will support 60 families over three years.

She says it’s a community-wide program, accessible to anyone.

“We are going to give special enrollment for families that are really under a lot of stress. And we’re working with the medical community as well as social services so that we can prioritize families,” she says. “Also we want it to be seen as community-wide; all parents have a lot stress!”

The program Parents as Teachers is international.

Research indicates that kids are more ready for pre-school and kindergarten. Participating parents are more involved throughout their child’s education. They read to their children more, have increased knowledge and use of positive discipline practices, and reduced stress in the home.

AEYC Southeast is one of four programs to be awarded grants from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development to expand Parents as Teachers statewide.

Seventy years ago this Nov. 13, the Navy warship U.S.S. Juneau was lost in the battle for Guadalcanal.

The city of Juneau will commemorate that anniversary with a series of community activities leading up to a solemn memorial on the waterfront.

The U.S.S. Juneau Remembrance Planning Committee will hold two public meetings this week to plan for those activities.

Assembly member Randy Wanamaker is coordinating the events.

“We want it to be a community event, by the community, for the community,” he says.

Wanamaker hopes local schools, libraries, museums, service clubs and other community organizations will participate

“What we see is a series of community activities at various times and locations leading up to the actual anniversary on the 13th of November, so people have an opportunity to go to an activity at a time and a place that works for them, because not everybody would be able to dome to a single large event,” he says.

The U.S.S. Juneau public planning meetings are Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Mendenhall Valley Library. Friday’s meeting is noon to 1:30 pm at the Downtown Library.

A new literacy program for young children will begin next month in Juneau schools, thanks to a $75,000 gift from Coeur Alaska, owners of the Kensington Gold Mine near Juneau.

The Volunteer Reading Tutor Program is a partnership of United Way of Southeast, the Juneau School District and Coeur.

Research indicates that children who are poor readers in the third grade remain poor readers, so the program specifically targets children in kindergarten through third grade.

The program was announced at Thursday’s Juneau Chamber of Commerce luncheon. District Superintendent Glen Gelbrich asked the crowd to imagine children in a classroom who cannot read.

“And they’re going to school every single day with kids who can and teachers who expect them to. Teachers who are doing everything they can to meet the kids where they are but for whom just making meaning from the text is a challenge,” Gelbrich said. “The gift that we can give them around literacy prevents course failure, it prevents low attendance, it prevents drop outs, it prevents poor behavior.”

Coeur’s grant will launch the three-year program in Juneau, but United Way President Wayne Stevens says the agency will take it to other Southeast school districts, if the model is successful here.

Kensington Mine Manager Wayne Zigarlick said education and helping youth are a company focus. He said Coeur believes the volunteer tutor program has great potential.

“The contribution we’ve made today is really the easy part of this process,” he said. “I’d like to thank in advance all those folks who will be volunteering their time to participate in this program. They’re the ones who will be making the difference.”

Patty Newman is Juneau School District Director of Teaching and Learning. She said the volunteer reading tutors will be working with children in the classroom twice a week in 30-minute blocks.

United Way and the district are now recruiting tutors. Newman said once volunteers have been selected, they will be trained and matched with children who can benefit the most from their time and attention.

The program is to begin in mid-October.

Update – 10:25 a.m.:

UAS Vice Chancellor Joe Nelson said that Warden made threatening phone calls to staffers on Monday.

“It’s just an allegation at this point, but it was enough to rise to the level of security alert,” Nelson said.

“It was over the phone and of a nature enough that it caused us some concern and we need to stay on the safe side rather than be sorry,” Nelson said.

Warden, originally from Sitka, lives in Juneau and is a part-time student taking distance education classes.

Nelson said Warden was contacted by police at noon yesterday and was banned from campus. The security alert was then sent to UAS staff and later to students.

Nelson said that alerts like this are very rare.

“In my 8 years here I don’t think we’ve had anything of this nature that got to this level,” Nelson said.

Warden’s actions have triggered the UAS judicial process.

“He’s going to have the opportunity to have a hearing and go through the judicial process under our code of conduct and it may or may not result in a suspension or expulsion,” Nelson said.

The security alert and directions for students and staff to call 911 if they see Warden on campus will stand until the hearing concludes.

Original Story – 9:23 a.m.:

UAS officials emailed a security alert to students yesterday evening warning students to be on the look out for William Warden.

Warden has been temporarily banned from campus and university buildings for allegedly making threats.

Students are instructed to call 911 if they see Warden on campus.

According to the alert, campus officials and the Juneau Police have notified Warden to stay off campus and is “not aware of any reason to refrain from normal activity at this time.”

The email instructs people to call the campus at 796-6461 with specific concerns.

This is an ongoing story, check back here for updates.

 

Alaska abuse shelters throughout the state took in more victims last year, according to the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

The number of nights spent in a shelter between Fiscal Year 2010 and FY 2011 increased by 5 percent.

Places like Juneau’s AWARE shelter provide protection and intervention for victims as well as education and outreach.

AWARE, which stands for Aiding Women in Abuse and Rape Emergencies, has helped battered women and children in Juneau and nine other rural communities for more than 30 years.

Next week it will offer 40 hours of training about the scourge of abuse.

The class is for community members who want to help family or friends who may have been victims of abuse as well as people who work in health care and other agencies that deal with victims.

AWARE’s Swarupa Toth says the two-part 40-hour training begins by exploring the basic history and foundation of domestic violence, adult and child sexual abuse, taught by experts who work in the field.

But she says the real experts are the victims with whom they work.

“The people who really teach us about what’s going on and what works are the women and children and the men themselves, the victims. They’re the ones who let us know what works for them and what doesn’t; what the real concern is and what will help them and what we can do to help other people,” Toth says. “Often times after a trauma, the best medicine for someone who’s trying to survive one of these experiences is someone who has survived.”

Toth says the first 25 hours of training are Sept. 10th through the 20th on evenings and weekends. She says people also can sign up for fewer hours.

Toth describes the last 15 hours as more “hands-on.” It will be taught by AWARE staff and volunteers, emergency room nurses, and staff from other agencies who work with assault victims. She says many of the people who take the second part of the training are interested in volunteering or working in the field.

Alaska has one of the highest rates of domestic violence and sexual assault in the country. The 2010 Alaska Victimization Survey estimates that nearly 60 percent of Alaskan women have or will experience some sort of sexual violence in their lifetime.

Toth says the Parnell administration’s Choose Respect campaign has helped raise awareness of domestic and sexual violence in Alaska.