Education

More than 620 University of Alaska Southeast graduates from three campuses are celebrating their degrees.

Graduation ceremonies were held over the weekend at the UAS Sitka, Ketchikan and Juneau campuses to award masters, bachelors and associates’ degrees as well as certificates and occupational endorsements. Seven doctorates in fisheries from the University of Alaska Fairbanks program located in Juneau also were awarded.

Sunday’s Juneau campus commencement was the 41st since the formation of the University of Alaska Southeast. As Chancellor John Pugh noted, UAS became a regional university only 25 years ago.

“When we folded in the community college system with the senior college system there was a lot discussion, a lot of heated debate about was that a good idea or not,” Pugh recalled. “And being in Sitka (Friday ceremony) and Ketchikan (Saturday) and now Juneau today for this graduation, I just want to say I think it’s working, it’s working well, and it really has benefited the communities and the citizens of Southeast Alaska.”

The Juneau campus has continued to grow and this year’s graduating class of 529 is the largest in its history. About a quarter actually came to the ceremonies. Many are distance education students, some have been taking classes on other U-A campuses or at other universities, others just don’t attend. Pugh said 64 percent of the 2012 graduates are women and 36 percent men.

“Eighty-seven percent of them are Alaskans from all other Alaska,” Pugh said. “You know we have 23 other states represented today, and we have an age range from 19 to 63, with a median age of 30.”

Commencement speaker Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho – whose son graduated with an associate’s degree – gave a history lesson.

He went back 100 years to 1912, when Juneau was the seat of Alaska territorial government and a mining town. It was a year of progress for the territory. Congress had granted the Alaska territory a small, but first step toward home rule; working conditions began to improve, and the Alaska Native Brotherhood was formed.

Botelho used the example to challenge every graduate to play a role in shaping the conditions that surround them.

“Whether you’re in diesel technology or teaching, construction or chemistry, the certificates and degrees you receive today are your special license to help shape contemporary society,” Botelho said. “The purpose of your education is not driven simply to advance the interests of each of you individually, but to advance the society of which you are a part.”

Student speaker Crystal Rogers stuck at similar chord. She received a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Independent Design, with a focus on art, language, government and history. A fluent Tlingit speaker, Rogers’ minor was in Tlingit language.

The word Tlingit, she said, means “human being.”

“You have all fulfilled something here today, but you are not done. And the way you will continue to be fulfilled is to use the gifts that you have received to care for those around you,” Rogers said.

Tlingit elder John Borbridge, Jr., of Juneau, received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from UAS for his work on behalf of Alaska Natives. Borbridge was instrumental in the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.

At the University of Alaska Anchorage Sunday, Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl, also of Juneau, received an Honorary Doctor of Sciences. Former Gov. Tony Knowles and recently retired Providence Health Systems CEO Al Parrish were awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws. Author Barry Lopez received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

The UAA class of 2012 totaled 2,172 students. Commencement ceremonies for the University of Alaska Fairbanks will be held Sunday, May 13.

Juneau police say they’re investigating what appears to be an attempted abduction of a student from near Gastineau Elementary School on Thursday afternoon.

Officers say the fifth-grader was walking away from the school when approached by a man in a small green vehicle. The man told the boy that his mother had asked him to pick him up. But the boy – not knowing the man – asked him for the family password. Since the man didn’t know the secret word and tried guessing it, the boy broke off contact and went home. He told his mother who then called the school.

Lieutenant David Campbell says JPD teaches parents and kids to have a safety password for any potential encounters with strangers.

“We do have two school resource officers that work in the schools,” Campbell says. “And one of the classes that they teach every year to the school district is what’s referred to as ‘Stranger Danger.’ So, that is a pretty standard tool used for parents, and in this case it was a very successful one.”

Campbell says the case is under investigation as attempted child enticement.

Juneau’s School Board has restored some jobs and programs slated for cuts. But other positions on the chopping block will still be eliminated.

The board voted Tuesday to fund the top six items on a long list of reductions. All were threatened by a budget shortfall. A last-minute, one-time legislative funding boost allowed the jobs to be restored.

David Means is the district’s administrative services director.

“That included restoring the elementary cultural para-educators, elementary specialists, restoring five teaching positions for our classrooms across the district, two middle school counselors and our drug testing program,” Means says.

He says remaining cuts will include administrative positions, custodians, and some classroom staff.

Cuts would have totaled $5.8 million without the extra state money. But School Board President Sally Saddler says the extra $1.2 million just isn’t enough.

“Well, I’d like to say I feel relief, but it’s difficult to feel relief when we’re still laying off over 50 people. The money is just not there to continue all the fine things that we’re doing for our students,” Saddler says. “And while it’s great that we’re able to add back the 13 or so positions, you have to keep in mind that we’re still cutting $4.4 million from our budget.”

The district’s total spending plan for the next fiscal year is around $92 million.

Saddler says she knows the cuts disappoint many parents.

“People are advocating for art, they’re advocating for the truancy officers, they’re advocating for the nurses who serve the students. Each and every one of those positions is important,” she says. “And so it’s really all about having to make a Sophie’s Choice. Which of these programs is closest to the classroom and can benefit the most students, when the reality is all students are benefiting from these programs we’re cutting.”

Saddler says school expenses continue to rise at the same time state and federal funding has gotten smaller.

Juneau teacher Brenda Edwards has been named principal of Gastineau Elementary School.

Edwards currently teaches a Tlingit language and literacy program at Juneau’s Harborview Elementary.

She will take over Gastineau leadership in the next school year from interim principal Kathi Yanamurra.

The school district conducted a nationwide search for the new principal. Edwards has been working in the Juneau School District since 2005. She holds a bachelor’s degree from University of California at Los Angeles, and a masters in teaching from University of Alaska Southeast, where she is finishing a masters in educational leadership.

Bonds for Auke Bay Elementary School renovation and new turf at Adair Kennedy Park will be sold in two installments over the next two years.

The Assembly Monday night voted for the change as a way to reduce future debt service. The first bonds for nearly $13.2 million would be issued in August. A second bond sale in July 2013 would be for $8.1 million. The bonds will be issued for a 10-year term.

Juneau voters approved the renovation bonds in 2011. Last fall voters approved bonds for the Auke Bay school ground source heat system and resurfacing of the Adair Kennedy turf field.

The projects qualify for 70 percent reimbursement by the state. The remaining debt service on the bonds would be paid from local property tax, estimated to be $10 per $100,000 in assessed value.

The Juneau School District has reached a tentative agreement with Juneau Support Staff for a new three-year contract.

The two sides have been negotiating since early January. The current contract expires at the end of June.

JESS represents more than 300 of the district’s 745 staff members. It includes office and instructional support staff, school nurses, RALLY, as well as maintenance and custodial personnel.

JESS president Cricket Curtain says few details are being released at this time, because members are currently on spring break. But she says negotiations with the district went well.

“It was very good,” Curtain says. “I thought both sides worked very well together and came to an agreement we can all live with.”

JESS members are scheduled to vote on the new contract on Saturday, April 14. The Juneau School Board will vote on it a few days later. Details of the agreement will be released after it is ratified.

The district is still negotiating with the Juneau Education Association, which represents teachers.

Interviews for DZ assistant principal finalists
Candidates for assistant principal for Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School will be interviewed next week.

After a nationwide search, four finalists have been selected. The public is invited to participate in the interviews on Wednesday (March 28), in the Dzantik’i Heeni Library.

Two of the candidates are from Juneau. Kristy Germain has taught at JDHS since 2003, and is also a student advisor. She has a bachelor’s degree from Albertson College of Idaho and two education masters’ degrees from the University of Alaska Southeast.

Tim Fraychineaud is currently completing his master of educational leadership at UAS. He has taught at Thunder Mountain High School and in Washington state. Fraychineaud has a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Washington at Tacoma, and a bachelor’s from California State at Chico.

Sondra Lundvick is presently teaching at Metlakatla. She’s taught high school in Texas, and coached basketball at Northern Illinois University and Texas Christian. Lundvick has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Lamar University in Texas, and another masters from Northern Illinois.

Eric Serbus, of Prior Lake, Minnesota, is the fourth candidate for DZ assistant principal. He’s taught or worked in administration since 2000 in Prior Lake. His bachelor’s and master’s degrees come from Saint John’s, Saint Mary’s and St. Thomas universities, all in Minnesota.

Candidate interviews scheduled for Gastineau principal
Two finalists for Gastineau Elementary School principal will visit the school on April 4th and 5th. A community open house is April 4th , with interviews the following day.

One candidate, Brenda Edwards, is from Juneau. She’s been teaching in the Juneau School District since 2005, including in the Tlingit Culture Language and Literacy program. Edwards’ bachelor’s degree is from the University of California Los Angeles. She has a Master of Arts in Teaching from UAS.

Jacquelyn Howland is from Placentia, California, where she’s worked in administration and professional development for more than a decade. Howland also has teaching experience. Her degrees are from California State at Fullerton, and Pepperdine University at Malibu.

Click here for the interview schedule for both positions.