InsIde

The UAF Summer Leadership Institute is a one-week summer experience designed to develop leadership skills for students finish-ing grades 9-12. The curriculum focuses on leadership roles and accountability, team building, leadership styles and situations, motivating others, civic responsibility, integrity, public speaking, changing behav-iors, and goal setting.

Students will live on campus, enjoy the aca-demic and social atmosphere and get a taste of college life. Students will also earn two college credits upon successful completion of the institute.

Participants will:

• Be able to articulate the principles of values-based leadership, including hon-esty, integrity, compassion, diversity and social responsibility.

• Assess their baseline leadership skills and preferred practices.

• Identify leadership traits and competen-cies such as interpersonal skills, leader-ship styles, teamwork, goal orientation, motivating others, public speaking, ethical

decision making and changing behaviors.• Engage in youth-adult partnership models

of civic engagement to increase social re-sponsibility and intergenerational respect.

• Develop an appreciation of youth-adult partnerships and mentoring relationships for accomplishment of short-term objec-tives and lifelong goals.

Applications are available by mail or online; the deadline is April 10, 2010. Ap-plications are reviewed and processed on an incoming basis until all spaces are filled, so apply early. The tuition to attend one week is $425, including lodging and meals.

For more information contact: The Northern Leadership Center, P.O. Box 756080, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6080 or 907-474-5942, or fynlc@uaf.edu or see our website at: www.uaf.edu/nlc.

Who: Students finishing grades 9-12When: June 1 – 7, 2010Where: University of Alaska FairbanksEarn: 2 college credits Cost: $425

UAF Summer Leadership InstituteBy Sheri Layral, Northern Leadership Center Program Coordinator

Students participate in classroom work ... and outdoor team-building activities

Creating Brain-considerate climates

Page 2

June Nelson Scholarship

Page 3

Good Parenting and Drug-Free Youth

Page 6

School Climate Statewide Results

Page 8

Kids These Days • December 2009 • Page 1

Creating “brain-considerate” environments for our youth By AASB Staff

Dr. Kenneth Wesson, a leader in the field of the neuroscience of learning, gave an ad-dress to Alaska teachers and administrators at the 2009 Alaska Math & Science Con-ference, October 15, 2009 in Juneau. His overall message was simple, that emotions are a catalyst to learning and positive, sup-portive school environments matter.

Dr. Wesson’s talk emphasized that con-nectedness to school is a key to student achievement. One factor in that equation, which is backed by numerous studies, is the importance of youth feeling valued by adults in the school. Wesson stressed the sig-nificance of interpersonal connections. Stu-dents want to know that someone, whether it is a teacher or an administrator, truly cares about their success and wellbeing. He went on to say that positive student-adult rela-tionships go a long way toward establishing a better environment for learning to take place, and provide motivation for students. The positive culture of the classroom and the school reinforces attachment, providing students a safe, inclusive, and nurturing cli-mate in which to learn.

Class in the Pribilofs

A caring environment also helps to combat factors that can inhibit learning. Dr. Wesson touched on multi-tasking and stress as two of the more common distracters. Creating a safe, inclusive, non-threatening environ-ment for students can allow them to focus and be more at ease.

----------------------------------------------------------Safe, caring, participatory and respon-sive school climate tends to foster great attachment to school as well as providing the optional foundation for social, emotional and academic learn-ing

- (Blum, et. al., 2002)----------------------------------------------------------

If the youth are engaged and can pay closer attention to the teacher, they can absorb more from the lessons. In addition to aca-demics, there is a growing body of research that suggests connectedness is a power-ful predictor of adolescent heath outcomes (McNeely, et. al., 2002).

----------------------------------------------------------Research shows that positive school climate is a critical dimension linked to effective risk prevention and health promotion efforts as well as teaching and learning

- (Cohen, 2001)----------------------------------------------------------

In a review of studies on the impact of sup-port in school, the Search Institute found that a caring school climate is associated with:

• Higher grades, engagement, attendance, expectations and aspirations, a sense of scholastic competence, fewer school suspensions, and on-time progression through grades (19 studies)• Higher self-esteem and self-concept (5 studies)• Less anxiety, depression and loneliness (3 studies)• Less substance abuse (4 studies)

(Source: University-Community Partner-ships, Michigan State University, 2004)

Class in Brevig Mission

----------------------------------------------------------“Not only are several aspects of school climate and connectedness related to student achievement, but positive change in school climate and connectedness is related to significant gains in student scores on statewide achievement tests.”

- (AIR, 2007)----------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Wesson concluded by saying that if you change the landscape and the vision of the classroom and the school, you can positive-ly influence the brains of youth and enrich their learning experience.

Produced by:The Association of Alaska School Boards’ Alaska Initiative for Community Engagement1111 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK 99801(907) 586-1083 Fax: (907) 586-2995E-mail: aasb@aasb.orgWeb: www.kidsthesedays.org

The contents of this newsletter were devel-oped under a grant from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal govt.

Kids These Days • December 2009 • Page 2

June Nelson Memorial ScholarshipBy AASB Staff

The Association of Alaska School Boards is excited and proud to announce its 19th Annual Scholarship Award Competition.

The June Nelson Memorial Scholarship is named in honor of the late, June Nelson, longtime school board member from Kotzebue. June contributed much to the cause of education, and will be remembered for her outstanding ser-vice on behalf of Alaska’s children.

This 2009-2010 school year, AASB will once again award ten graduating seniors each with a $1,000 scholarship to apply toward their post-secondary education. The scholarship may be applied toward the student’s choice of a busi-ness, trade, or college institution.

The essay question for the 2010 competition is:

How can our schools move students towards civic responsi-bility, i.e., becoming voters, increasing awareness of local, state, and national governments and political issues, and understand-ing the relationship of our history to current situations?

In addition to the essay, students are responsible for submitting their high school transcript, 2 letters of recommendation, SAT or ACT scores, and other materials listed at www.AASB.org.

(Full application form) Deadline to apply: March 22, 2010

Qualifications:

• The student must be graduating this 2009-2010 school year.• The student must be accepted as a full-time stu-dent by either a business, trade or college institu-tion.• Students graduating from AASB’s member school districts will be considered for the scholar-ship award.

The winners of the June Nelson Memorial Scholarship Awards will be announced March 30, 2010.

The June Nelson Memorial Scholarship is funded by individual contributions of school board members and administrators from across the state.

Local Partnerships Organized With Support From Best Beginnings By Patty Ginsburg, for Best Beginnings

When organizations in a community have a common interest – such as early childhood – it only makes sense that they would try to work together. It ought to be a no-brainer. But the obstacles that arise can be challenging. Somebody has to organize meet-ings, for example, and different roles and responsibilities must be navigated.

In an effort to overcome such obstacles and help communities make more of the resources they have, Best Beginnings is con-ducting a pilot project in nine Alaska communities. With grants up to $9,000 and technical assistance, participating entities organize a partnership and conduct a community assessment to identify early childhood needs, assets, and gaps. Based on that work, the partnerships will develop plans to address the needs identified. Funding for the grants is possible because of major contributions from BP, ConocoPhillips, and the State of Alaska.

Each partnership includes residents from a range of sectors with an interest in early childhood.

Steve Pine, Superintendent/Principal of Hoonah City Schools, reports that interest in Hoonah has been far-reaching.

“Many of the folks that have long wanted to become more integrally involved, like the seniors up at the senior center, are now stepping up to voice their opinions and let us know that they feel early childhood is an important aspect of their culture,” Pine reported. “We also have other agencies coming into the mix that were not present before the partnership activity started,” Pine wrote.

Local, early childhood partnerships are the cornerstone for build-ing a statewide network and a system that supports all aspects of development in young children, according to Abbe Hensley, Executive Director of Best Beginnings. “Local Partnerships” continues on Page 4

Kids These Days • December 2009 • Page 3

Night without shelterBy Mary Catherine Martin, for the Juneau Empire

They made shelters out of cardboard boxes and duct tape. They warmed themselves around a fire. Earlier that night, they’d held signs reading “Everyone should have a home” and “Honk for the Homeless.” And at night, they curled up in their sleeping bags and slept until 6 a.m. Sunday morning, when the lights at the covered basketball court at Riverbend Elementary School switched on. They took down the shelters and went home.

The 20 or so members of the Juneau-Douglas High School and Thunder Mountain High School Interact Clubs - Rotary International-sponsored clubs for youth ages 14 to 18 - weren’t homeless. But with their annual homeless sleepout, what they aim to accomplish is to raise money and awareness for those who are.

“It makes me feel good because I know a lot of people that are homeless teens,” Thunder Mountain junior and Interact President Sheryce Marshall said.

Each student who participated in the sleepout contributed or raised a minimum of $35, and two philanthropic Safeway shop-pers contributed a combined total of $40 when they saw the youths, JDHS Interact President Mariel Enriquez said. Some students solicited donations prior to the event.

Fundraising will continue until December, but so far, the students have raised several hundred dollars, which will be split evenly be-tween the Juneau School District’s program for homeless youths and the Glory Hole’s food box program.

The school district last year identified 165 students as homeless.

So far this year, it has identified 75.

Dixie Weiss, faculty advisor for the JDHS Interact Club, said in past years, the group has raised between $600 and $1,200 with the event.

“I’m proud of our kids,” Weiss said. “It’s kids helping kids ... they don’t just do the minimum.”

“It’s cold,” said Kelli Menze, secretary for JDHS Interact. “It’s nice, though. It makes you realize how fortunate you are and how car-ing the community can be when you get together.”

Students slept in the shelters to raise awareness about the plight of homeless people in Juneau. Photo: Brian Wallace

“We know from extensive research that the more we do in the earliest years, the better chance that child has of succeeding in school and in life. One of the challenges is the lack of any over-arching structure or coordination among the various entities that touch on early childhood,” Hensley said.

“For older children, the K-12 school system provides that struc-ture. There’s nothing comparable to coordinate resources and services for early childhood,” Hensley said. “These grants allow communities to create Partnerships – or in some cases, support existing Partnerships – that can take a broader view of early child-hood needs and ways to meet them.”

The combined service areas of the grant recipients represent ap-proximately 40,000 children under age 5.

The grant recipients are:

► Anchorage Success By 6► Early Childhood Development Commission, Fairbanks North Star Borough► Gustavus Early Childhood Coalition► South (Kenai) Peninsula Coalition for Young Children► Hoonah’s Coalition for Kids► Juneau Partnership for Families and Children► Ketchikan Early Childhood Leadership Coalition► Kodiak Early Childhood Coalition► a MATter of SUccess, Mat Su Borough

...Local Partnershipscontinued from Page 3

Kids These Days • December 2009 • Page 4

Run for LifeBy Lanier Hutcheson, for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

MAT-SU — If you were driving on the Parks Highway Friday morning [Oct. 23], you may have noticed a group of teenagers running down the pedestrian path carrying a torch.

No, they weren’t wayward youth looking for wanton destruction and vandalism. They were Wasilla High School students running the first leg of a two-year run to bring attention to the need for organ donations.

Wasilla was the start of the 8,000-mile run to Argentina that will go through 257 cities for the non-profit SOS The Americas Foundation. The organization is dedicated to raising organ and tissue donation awareness in Canada, the United States and South America.

The run to Argentina is the seventh in the Step By Step pro-gram started by SOS The Ameri-cas. Step By Step’s mission is “to empower student participa-tion. Their role is to promote the importance of organ and tissue donations throughout the world by inspiring the public, media and the three levels of government,” according to the SOS website.

The Alaska portion of the journey started at Wasilla’s Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center and then continued on to Anchor-age.

“These Wasilla kids are the first of thousands to run, and they have been so passionate and excited about it. We are just trying to get people to be organ donors,” said organizer George Mar-cello.

SOS The Americas believes that for waiting organ recipients the situation is dire, but fixable.

Marcello hopes this run will encourage Alaskans to donate their organs.

“There are over 100,000 people waiting for transplants right now, and one person donating can save up to eight lives,” he said.

James Hastings, recreation and cultural service manager for

Wasilla, shared one story demonstrating that point.

“Spc. Max Cavanaugh served in over 300 combat missions in Iraq before returning to Anchorage, where he was killed in a moose accident,” Hastings said. “His donated organs help five people live.”

Hastings encourages everyone to become organ donors, and believes that with the turnout at Friday’s event, more people will give longer lives for others.

“We had several Wasilla High School students, members of the community and the police chief came out and spoke. As well as the mayor and governor writing letters of recommendation and encouragement,” he said.

“I am pleased with the turnout so far. It has been good, we just need to keep it up,” Marcello said.

Anyone interested in becoming a donor can sign the back of their driver’s license or visit Life Alaska

Donor at www.lifealaska.org.

Wasilla Teens Call Attention to Organ Donation

http://aprn.org/2009/10/23/wasilla-teens-call-atten-tion-to-organ-donation/

Wasilla High School track stars are holding the torch high to kick–start a two year campaign to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. Campaign organizers plan to continue through Canada, and the Lower 48, then on to

Argentina.

Wasilla High School X-C runners Todd Taylor, Jessica Pah-kala, Alison Kelley and Noah Ripley make their way along the Parks Highway. Photo: Robert DeBerry

(Radio story linked with permission from APRN.)

Kids These Days • December 2009 • Page 5

AYEA’s 2010 Civics and Conservation SummitBy AASB Staff

The Civics & Conservation Summit brings 15-20 youth leaders to our state capital for a week of high-impact, fun, and adrena-line-pumping civic engagement lessons. During this event, youth will learn: how to talk with the media, how to communicate with elected officials, how to read a bill, and how to impact decisions our lead-ers make about our environment and our lives. We also include sessions on the tribal resolution process, environmental justice, and defining sources of power and influence. The training ends with youth-led visits to state legislators to discuss envi-ronmental concerns and interests. This is a life-changing training that will give teens skills they can use in any arena.

Who:Alaska teens from urban and rural commu-nities who are interested in environmental issues and want to learn more about the political process! You do not have to have past experience with AYEA to apply for the Summit! All you need is interest and an open mind! We encour-age 2-4 youth per community to apply to create a local peer network after the event. Twenty youth will be accepted.

When:Monday, March 15 – Friday, March 19. Participants travelling from farther away may need to arrive in the evening of Sunday, March 14. Teen participants are expected to stay with the group through-out the whole week and participate in the entire event.

Where:The training will take place in down-town Juneau, our state’s capital city. We will be staying at the Juneau International Youth Hostel and conducting our sessions at St. Ann’s Cathedral of the Nativity.

Cost:The tuition is $100 for the 4½ day training. This includes all housing, meals, trans-portation from Juneau’s airport, training materials, equipment, and staff instruction! Travel costs to Juneau are not included. AYEA staff can help applicants with fund-raising, and AYEA has limited scholarships available. (Please fill out the scholarship application.)

Applications are due February 1, 2010.

Apply early to receive help fundraising and to be first in line for travel scholar-ships from AYEA!

For more information about the summit, and to apply, go to the AYEA website.http://ayea.org/WordPress/training-events/ccs

Of all the answers offered at a recent con-ference on “How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope,” perhaps the one from Joseph A. Califano, chairman and founder of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, best summed up the advice to parents.

Califano closed the Nov. 17 meeting by re-counting a discussion with his former law partner, Edward Bennett Williams, just days before his death in 1988. Asked the most important lesson he had learned in a life-time spending rubbing shoulders with lumi-naries like Ben Bradlee, Frank Sinatra and Hugh Hefner, Williams simply responded,

“Always leave a light on in the window for your kids.”

In other words: “Be a parent.”

The underlying theme to the daylong con-ference, and work such as CASA’s annual reports on the importance of family dinners, is that just having parents isn’t enough to prevent adolescent alcohol and other drug problems. Parents need to consistently in-teract with their children in order to be effec-tive drug-prevention agents.

“Parents have profound power, but they need to engage,” said conference present-er Ross B. Brower, M.D., assistant profes-

sor of clinical health and an attending phy-sician at the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York.

The “Nine Facets of Parental Engagement” in Califano’s latest book, which lent its title to the conference, provides a ‘how-to’ checklist for parents:

• Be there: Get involved in your chil-dren’s lives and activities.

• Open the lines of communication and keep them open.

• Set a good example: Actions are more persuasive than words.

“Good Parenting” continues on Page 7

Excerpt from: Good Parenting Creates Drug-Free Kids, Conference Experts Say By Bob Curley, for JoinTogether.org

Kids These Days • December 2009 • Page 6

• Set rules and expect your children to follow them.

• Monitor your children’s where-abouts.

• Maintain family rituals such as eat-ing dinner together.

• Incorporate religious and spiritual practices into family life.

• Get Dad engaged -- and keep him engaged.

• Engage the larger family of your children’s friends, teachers, class-mates, neighbors and community.

Opening the conference, keynote speaker Nora Volkow, M.D., stressed that the brains of children and adolescents are still form-ing, and that their “developmental trajec-tory” can be greatly influenced by external stimuli -- especially that provided by par-ents.

First and foremost, parents need to lead by example, said Brower. “Through your behaviors and actions you are constant-ly communicating to your children,” he said. Parental actions like their own drink-ing, smoking and drug-using habits are the main lessons parents deliver, “enhanced by the occasional conversation,” he said.

Schools and Communities: In Loco Parentis

As noted in Califano’s book, schools and communities can play a critical role in cre-ating protective environments for adoles-cents. Mark D. Wilson, Ed.D., of Morgan County High School in Madison, Ga., and the 2009 Principal of the Year as named by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, tells the story of a six-year-old child who stole a car and tried to drive it to school because he was having problems at home. “He was going to school because it was a place of hope to him,” said Wilson.

As with parenting, however, the most ef-fective school and community based pre-vention programs are those that maintain constant contact with kids. For example, Robert Morris, a health educator and head football coach at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, is available practically 24/7 for students who take part in the Lead-ers from Exeter Abstaining from Drugs (LEAD) program.

“Kids who are substance-free make that de-cision over and over again, every weekend,” said Morris, who joined other educators on the conference’s “Don’t Let School Days Become School Daze” panel in stressing the need for building relationships with kids, establishing safe havens, and creating a “dinner-table equivalent” in school.

For parents, the take-home lesson from the conference may be this: Parent-ing is hard, and there are no shortcuts when trying to keep your kids safe from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. Just ask conference panelist Linda Morgan, an Oklahoma City mother who sold her house to pay for her son’s drug treatment.

Today, Morgan’s son is attending college -- he’s even in a fraternity -- and a mentor has pledged to pay for his education if he stays sober. As PDFA’s Pasierb noted, if you put in the hard work as a parent, “you’ll give your kids a gift for the rest of their lives.”

This material has been reprinted from Join Together, a service of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Co-lumbia University. For the full article, visit this link at the JoinTogether website.

With 2009 rapidly coming to a close and the holiday season upon us, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the year and to take stock in the positives in our lives. Though there may be a number of our own personal successes, perhaps more important is our opportunity to recognize the positive contributions of the youth in our communities.

Spirit of Youth, an Alaska ICE partner, fo-cuses on promoting and recognizing youth efforts to volunteer, serve others, and bet-ter their communities. In doing so, the Spirit of Youth campaign provides motivation to youth by acknowledging the value of their contributions and gives us a simple way to support their involvement in the community.

We encourage you to take a few minutes this morning to thank a youth for their time and efforts by nominating them for a Spirit of Youth Award. It’s easy, and it’s important.

Simple actions such as time spent parent-ing teachable moments at home, role mod-eling in the community, or even recognizing youth efforts encourages youth success and builds a strong foundation of support for children and youth.

Nominate a youth for a Spirit of Youth Award today!(nominations received by Dec. 31 ensure youth will be included in the 2009 Award pool)

For more specifics on the Spirit of Youth campaign, including information on the Youth Friendly Business program, visit our Spirit of Youth page on the Alaska ICE website.

...Good Parentingcontinued from Page 6

Support Youth through S.O.Y.

Kids These Days • December 2009 • Page 7

School Climate and Connectedness Statewide ResultsBy AASB Staff

AASB has contracted with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to evaluate student and school staff perceptions of school climate and student perceptions of school connectedness. School climate refers to factors that contribute to the tone in schools, and the attitudes of staff and students toward their schools. School connectedness refers to students‘ school experiences and their perceptions and feelings about school. AIR developed a School Climate and Connectedness Survey (SCCS) in 2005 specifically to evaluate school climate and student connectedness in Alaskan schools.

The SCCS was administered to staff and students in a small number of Alaska school districts in 2005 and to larger numbers in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Twenty-four districts, 225 schools, 27,000 students and 5200 staff participated in 2009. Students in grades 5 through 12 were eligible to participate. All school staff serving students in grades 5 and higher were invited to complete the staff version of the SCCS.

Key findings from the Statewide SCCS Report:

» At the school level, the higher the 2009 student and staff ratings for school climate and connectedness, the greater the 2009 schoolwide proficiency rates on Alaska’s Standards Based Assessments in reading, writing and math.

» The lower the staff ratings of student risk behaviors (ie fewer observed incidents of risk behaviors such as fight-ing, drug/alcohol use, vandalism at school), the higher the school’s proficiency rates on all 3 subject areas.

» There were modest but significant relationships between student risk behaviors and school climate and connected-ness each year. The better the student-reported positive school climate and the greater the connectedness to school, the lower the number of incidents of delinquent behavior and drug and alcohol use students reported seeing at school or school events.

» Other aspects of student perceptions of school climate and connectedness (high expectations, school safety, peer climate, caring adults, and parent and community involve-ment) and student social and emotional learning improved from 2006 to 2008).

The 2009 School Climate and Connectedness Survey Statewide Report was prepared Nov. 16, 2009.

Two figures from the report representing significant increases in student agreement (School Safety and Parent/Community involvement) are below. A link to the full report can be found at www.ALASKAICE.org.

Statewide Changes in Parent

Statewide Changes in School Safety and Community Involvement

From 2007 to 2009, there was a substantial increase in the per-centage of students overall who agreed or strongly agreed that they felt safe at school, and the percentage of students who felt unsafe decreased (Figure 11).

From 2007 to 2009, there was a steady increase in the percent-age of students who agreed that their parents and community were involved in their school, and the percentage who disagreed dropped by half (Figure 36).

Kids These Days • December 2009 • Page 8

(Fig. 11, page 24 of SCCS Report) (Fig. 36, page 44 of SCCS Report)