Raven Correspondence School 1

Raven’s Call

“A Parent-Guided Education Program” November 2011

One kind word can warm

three winter months~

Japanese Proverb

Don’t Forget ~ Raven Survey

Online

If you have not taken the program survey, please

take a few moments to link to the survey and give

us important program feedback~

Go to the Survey

Middle School Close-Up Trip

to Washington D.C.

March 11-18, 2011 (week of Spring Break)

Please Contact Nicholas Graves at

ngraves@yksd.com/907-374-9422

High School Students~ Important ACT and SAT Dates

If you are planning on taking tests this winter and

spring, click here for a detailed list of registration

deadlines and test dates and locations.

Respect: Picture It! Poster Contest The Governor has invited all Alaskan students

Preschool-High School to participate in the

Annual Poster Contest. Raven students wanting

to participate may submit their art work to their

local Raven office. Artists should depict

“respect” and what it means to them. Our district

will select one finalist from each age category

(elementary, middle, high school) to send to the

Governor’s office. Entries must be received in

your local Raven office on or before Friday,

December 9, to be eligible. The winner of the

contest will have their poster professionally

printed and promoted along with the Choose

Respect Marches in March 2012. They will also

qualify for a Tasty Freez ice cream party.

Anchorage: 644-8590

Office Hours: Monday – Friday

8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Teachers: Danae Davis

Terri Thurston

Carmen Romero

Kimberly Turnbow

Graduation Coach: Sheila Beardsley

Administrative Assistant: Alexa Morales

Administrative Assistant: Valerie Thurston

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Anchorage Raven Career & College Day

Graduation Coach Sheila Beardsley spent a day

touring post-secondary options based on student

choices. From UAA’s culinary arts, dental

hygiene, healthy and fine arts…to a hands-on

presentation with Alaska Zoo staff. The day

ended with a tour of Alaska Carpenter Training

Center. Students enjoyed their day together~

“I learned

about

different

careers and

people…and

made

friends!”

The Alaska Museum of Natural History – Homeschool Workshops

Follow the link to the schedule. Workshops will

be held the second Thursday

of the month from November

through May. What a great

way to get together with

other area homeschoolers!

http://www.alaskamuseum.org/education/homescho

ol.html

Class Opportunity

Jim Cunningham, Certified

Teacher, is offering classes for

interested students.

Alyeska Two Week Ski & Snowboarding

Intensive February 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 2012

Transportation, Lift, Lessons, & Rental cost is

approximately $795. If you have your own

equipment it saves approximately $100. These

classes are for grades 3-12. ASD & Forsyth

Student Bus Co will transport students to

Alyeska. Students are put into lesson groups by

age and ability level for each day’s two hour

lesson.

If you are interested in taking this class, please

work with your Raven Advisory Teacher. If you

have questions or need more information, you

may also email Jim @ teach@alaska.net. He is a

retired ASD teacher that has been doing small

group classes for the last decade.

Delta: 895-2280

Office Hours: Monday – Friday

8 am – 4 pm

Teacher: Joan Jones

Administrative Assistant: Julie Szidloski

Family Representative: Tammi Stocks

Jarvis West Building, Room 2B

Raven Caroling ~ Come one, come all! We are excited to

announce that we are

putting together a

“Raven Choir” for the

holiday season to share

our singing talents. We

are scheduled to sing at

the local IGA (19th) and

for our Senior Citizens Potluck at the Delta

Delta Junction Events

December 9 & 16…..Holiday Craft Workshops

@ Delta Office

December 19…Caroling @ IGA

December 21…Caroling @ Seniors Potluck @

Delta Community Center

TBA January . . . . Raven Star Lab at

Delta Community Center

Please call the Raven office to confirm events.

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Community Center (21st). We also have two

holiday craft workshops scheduled for December

both are on the 9th and 16th.

Back in the Raven Family:

Graduation Coach Kathy Vander Zwaag

Back-to-School has special significance to me

this year as I “retired” from Raven a year ago and

didn’t expect to return. However, when the

Graduation Coach position became available

through our new School Improvement Grant, I

applied and was delighted to be hired.

As Graduation Coach this year, I will be working

primarily with juniors and seniors who need extra

help to graduate either because of lack of credits

or because they have not yet passed part of the

High School Graduation Qualifying (Exit) Exam.

This help may look different depending on the

student’s needs. For some, all that may be needed

is a series of calls to check progress and to

encourage students to keep working. For others,

a workshop for students and/or parents may be

helpful. Some students may be involved in test

preparation workshops to better prepare for the

exit exam. Juniors and seniors needing extra help

will have a team working with them that includes

their Raven teacher, a Raven Counselor, and their

Raven Graduation Coach.

In my half-time position, I will be working with

students served by the Delta and Fairbanks

offices. My office will be open Tuesday –

Thursdays from 8:30 – 4:00 when I am in Delta.

I will be working out of the Fairbanks Raven

office occasionally as well. I suggest calling

before you come to the office to confirm whether

or not I am in the office that day.

I can best be reached by email at

kvanderzwaag@gmail.com. Messages can be

taken in the Delta Raven office at (907) 895-2283

until a phone is installed in my office downstairs

in the same building.

Fairbanks: 374-9401

Office Hours: Monday – Friday

8:00 am – 4:30 pm

Teachers: Crystal Dennis

Nicholas Graves

Counselors: Whitney Adams

Ryan Tilbury

Administrative Assistants: Emilie Campbell

Joyce Billups

Family Representative: June Strothenke

Fairbanks Events

December 1 . . . . Raven Holiday Craft & Potluck

4-6:30 p.m. @ 1st United Methodist Church 3

rd &

Cowles

December 15 . . . . Raven High School Night 6-

7:30 p.m. @ Raven Office ~ All High School

Students Welcome!

Please call the Raven office to confirm events

Raven Fairbanks High School Night! Calling All High School

Students! Please join us

Thursday, December 15

from 6:00-7:30 p.m. We

will have a Meet & Greet

with your teachers, counselors, and graduation

coach…we will provide pizza and drinks. Hope

to see you there!

Mark Your Calendars for Chess Club! Chess club is open to all

of your homeschooling

friends and family. We meet monthly from 3-4

p.m. in the Raven Library. Our next club will be

January 18. Grab some friends and accept the

challenge! We have some boards available and

others on temporary loan are always appreciated.

November Game Night Fun!

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Juneau: 796-2112

Office Hours: Monday – Thursday 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Friday 8:30 – 12:00 pm

Teachers: Joy Shier

Narelle Horton

Administrative Assistant: Kathy Steckel

Family Representative: Pam Roemeling

Story Time with Joy!

Joy led us on a wonderful interactive journey

along with Squanto and the Pilgrims! The kids

had a great time listening, helping and making

YUMMY Squanto Helpful Snacks!

Jr. Lego League

Team “HEALTHY RAVENS SNACK

PATROL” has been involved in “Serious Play”

preparing for the Jr. First Lego League

competition. The 2011 topic is “SNACK

ATTACK” and the challenge has been

“KEEPING FOOD SAFE.” Our team chose ice

cream for our snack to research. We’ve learned

how to avoid food borne illnesses, about Louis

Pasteur and his discovery of pasteurization, and

the everyday use of simple machines. We are

creating our Lego presentation model and

preparing our presentation poster. Our serious

play has also included fieldtrips to the Fudge

Factory and Tasty Treats yogurt parlor, and

making our own homemade ice cream! Come

visit our display on December 10th at the

competition here in Juneau. “I scream, you

scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!!!!” Submitted by Pam Roemeling

Wasilla: 357-9573

Office Hours: Monday – Friday

9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Teacher: Geoff Johnson

Administrative Assistant: Kirstin Rudd

Family Representative: Laura Rasmussen

Upcoming Events Friday, Dec. 2nd at 1pm: Winter Craft Day;

Please rsvp to wasilla@yksd.com if you plan on

attending

Friday, Dec 16

th starting at noon: Movie Day;

Drop your kids off at the Raven office to watch a

movie with other Raven homeschoolers while you

get some holiday shopping done!

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A Successful Craft Day! Thank you to all who joined us for our Craft day

on October 20th, and

thank you to our

family rep, Laura

Rasmussen, for

planning and

preparing the craft!

Students and parents

gathered to make rice

crispy worms or

Frankenstein’s,

complete with icing and sprinkles, yum! We also

made a family tree paper craft. Students pasted

trees and cut out leaves to represent members of

their family.

WorkKeys Testing Thanks to the students who attended the paper

WorkKeys test on Nov. 7th and 9th. Remember if

your student is in 11th grade, they need to take the

WorkKeys test! If they did not attend the paper

test they will need to schedule a time to do the

online test in December. The deadline is the end

of December so be sure to schedule as soon as

possible! Also, any 12th graders who have not

previously taken the test or who want to try for a

better score will have the opportunity to take the

test. Call the office with questions or to schedule

a time to take the online WorkKeys test.

Happening in the Valley: Colony Christmas Starts Dec. 4, continuing

Dec. 9-11th Colony Christmas kicks off this year at 4 p.m.,

Dec. 4 with a show of Christmas lights and

decorations. The fun includes wagon rides,

caroling, activities at local merchants and

fireworks at 5:50 p.m. The annual Colony

Christmas celebration continues with events Dec.

9-11. This year’s fun includes Santa, a parade of

lights, horse-drawn sleigh rides, reindeers, light

tours, gingerbread houses and tubas. For more

information, visit palmerchamber.org.

A Recipe to Warm You… …And use some of that salmon!

Ingredients:

4 slices thick cut bacon, cut into pieces

2 T butter, unsalted

1 med red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 sprigs fresh Thyme, leaves only

¼ c all purpose flour

6 c vegetable or chicken stock

2 c heavy cream

2 med russet potatoes, peeled & diced

3 ½ c corn kernels, fresh (if using frozen, defrost

well & drain)

Kosher salt & ground black pepper, to taste

2 t cayenne pepper

¼ c parsley leaves, fresh – chopped

(as much salmon as you’d like!)

Directions ~

In soup pot, cook bacon on medium low heat until crispy. Drain on paper towel. Reserve 2 t of the grease & use it and the butter to sauté

thyme, onions, & garlic over medium heat, until soft (4-5 min). Dust with flour & stir to coat everything well. Pour in stock & bring to boil. Add cream & potatoes & bring to hard boil for 7 min, until potatoes break down (thickens & gives texture). Add corn & season with salt & pepper, (adding cayenne for a special “kick”), add salmon chunks & simmer until corn is softened (10-12 min). Stir in crumbled bacon, reserving some for garnish, if desired. Serve with fresh French bread & enjoy!

Raven Correspondence School 6

Raven’s Call Raven Correspondence School4762 Old

Airport Way

Fairbanks, AK 99709

1-888-99RAVEN

www.ravenschool.com

“Our kids are worth whatever it takes!” ____________________________________________