Kids These Days • spring 2013 •

KTD Radio Spotlights Mental Health and the Alaskan Family

Spring Break Adventure Camp page 2

Community Support for Youth page 3

Get Schooled Online page 4

Learning more with STEM page 6

The Kids These Days! team delves into issues that affect the well being and

mental health of our youth and our fami-lies in this special 4-part radio series.

From learning what to do in a mental health crisis, to how schools manage behavioral health issues to supporting our caregivers

and helping adult children transition to independence - these are our conversations

and special reports from Alaska’s mental health community.

This series was (or will be) heard on the following stations: KSKA-Anchorage

KTOO-Juneau KCAW-Sitka KYUK-Bethel

KOTZ-Kotzebue KDLG-Dillingham

This series is supported by funds from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority and is a copyrighted production of the Content

Producers Guild.

Listen to the series at: www.kidsthesedays.org

Kids These Days • spring 2013 •

K T

D •

2

2013 Spirit of Youth Award Winners

The Challenger Learning Center of Alaska, in Kenai, is holding a Spring Break Academy March 11-15 in three strands: K-4, 5-7, and 8-11. The

cost is $275 for the day camp and $500 for the overnight camp. Scouting badges and high school credit can be earned. Topics include rocketry, robotics, simple machines, earth sciences, careers in space, aviation

career exploration.

For more information and to apply, visit the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska’s website at:

www.akchallenger.org.

Challenger Learning Academy Offers Camps During Spring Break

Congratulations to each student and student group nominated this year! Your efforts are a positive example for

Alaska youth and adults alike!

Overcoming ChallengesTuesona Tungwenuk , Nome

Julia Gebert, Anchorage

Science and the EnvironmentAnelise Zimmer , Kodiak

Brenda Castonguay, Kodiak

Cultural PursuitsAlicia Noel Crisci , Wales

Nanwalek Summer Youth Group , Nanwalek

Fine ArtsSelah Rees, AnchorageKelly May, North Pole

Technology and MediaHealy Tech Team, Healy

Mount Edgecumbe Radio Club, Sitka

Business and GovernmentGusty Michael School Student Body, Stony River

Rachell Gulanes, Unalaska

Lifesaver and PreventionChance Haller, Seldovia

Shaylee Rizzo, Kenai

Service to Young ChildrenRiccardo Kerns and Nino Delgado, Anchorage

Regan Fitzgerald, Anchorage

Service to PeersLuke Jager, Anchorage

Teens Acting Against Violence, Bethel

Service to CommunitySydney Zuyus , Palmer

Tiffany Immingan, SavoongaRead a description of each winners’ efforts in their home communities at spiritofyouth.org.

Purchase your tickets for the 2013 Spirit of Youth Awards April 6, 2013 at the Anchorage Marriott.

Reception begins at 6 p.m. Awards dinner begins at 7 p.m.

Kids These Days • spring 2013 •

K T

D • 3

There is strong evidence that, when schools partner with families and community-based organizations, these partnerships for learning improve children’s development and school success. They provide a seamless web of supports designed to ensure positive learning experiences for children and youth.

In this paper, we draw on the experiences of national organizations and a set of com-munity schools that have built these learning partnerships, and examine seven key elements that we find to be essential in building them:

1. Shared vision of learning2. Shared leadership and governance3. Complementary partnerships4. Effective communications5. Regular and consistent sharing of information about youth progress6. Family engagement, and Collaborative staffing models

Partnerships for Learning: Community Support for Youth Success

Best Beginnings is accepting proposals for grants to launch new local Imagination Libraries and expand existing ones. Additional information, including an application checklist and contact form, is available at www.

BestBeginningsAlaska.org. All applications must be received by 5 p.m., Friday, April 5, 2013.

Best Beginnings is working to expand Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library throughout Alaska. Presently, 102 communities have the program un-der 29 local Imagination Libraries. More than 20,000 children receive

a book in the mail each month. This proposal solicitation is supported financially by the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development.

Imagination Library mails a brand new, age appropriate book each month to every child from birth to age 5 who signs up for the program in their community, regardless of family income. But it’s more than a book delivery program; it’s a Get-the-Whole-Community- Involved-in-

Reading-to-Kids Program. There is no charge to participating families.

Proposals Sought for Imagination Library

Find out more about Best Beginnings and the Imagination Library at:

www.bestbeginningsalaska.org.

Go to Partnerships for Learning: Community Support for

Youth Success at the Harvard Family Research Project website.

Kids These Days • spring 2013 •

K T

D •

4

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sat down with former NBA All Star Allan Houston, current Golden State Warrior Harrison Barnes, and the WNBA’s Maya Moore to speak

with five high school student-athletes from across the coun-try during the Department of Education’s first Google Hangout. The discussion centered on the importance of education and how sports can play an important role in

maturation on and off the court.

During the live Hangout moderated by CNN’s John King, the students quizzed Secretary Duncan—who played

college and professional basketball—and the NBA/WNBA players on how they balanced the demands of education

and athletics, as well as discussed the importance of being a leader and a role model in the community.

Duncan Joins Students, NBA and WNBA Players for Hangoutwww.ed.gov

Kids and young adults ages 5-25 are eligible to apply for a $500 grant to support youth-led projects - that address a community need or issues - to take

place during Global Youth Service Day.

Global Youth Service Day, April 26-28, 2013, is put on by Youth Service America.

Grants for youth-led projects on Global Youth Service Day

Sequoia High School (Redwood, Calif.) senior point guard Alaina Woo said it best, “It’s really important that

you surround yourself with role models who are passionate about basketball but can go beyond the sport and see the

importance in having a balance in life.”

The discussion centered on the importance of education and how sports play a role in maturation,

on and off the court.

Secretary Arne Duncan joined WNBA player Maya Moore, NBA player Harrison Barnes, former NBA player Allan Hous-ton, and high school student athletes from across the country for a discussion about how sports have played a role in their

education and maturation.

Watch the 30-minute discussion here at the ed.gov website.

Get all the details at:www.gysd.org

Kids These Days • spring 2013 •

K T

D • 5

The Association of Alaska School Boards is proud to announce its 22nd 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 service on behalf of Alaska’s children.

This 2012-2013 school year, AASB will award ten graduating seniors each with a $1,200 scholarship to apply toward their post-secondary education. The scholarship

may be applied toward the student’s choice of a business, trade, or college institution.

Essay Topic: Looking back on your education, how has it helped you be prepared for today’s

global economy?

Along with the essay, students are required to submit other application materials.

For complete details, go to www.aasb.org.

Graduating Seniors: Apply for a June Nelson Scholarship!

Get tips on the college admissions process, filling out financial aid forms, building a support network and more!

Go to GetSchooled.com, or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

Get Schooled Online to Graduate!

Produced by:The Association of Alaska School Boards’ Alaska Initiative for Community Engagement1111 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK 99801(907) 463-1660 Fax: (907) 586-2995E-mail: aasb@aasb.orgWeb: www.alaskaice.org

The content of this newsletter was developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. However, this content does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Educa-

tion, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government.

Get Schooled is a national campaign that uses media and messengers of popular culture to inspire and engage

students in an effort to improve high school graduation rates and empower more students to go to and succeed in college.

The campaign will reach and engage millions of young people who need support, direction and a community to help them make their way through high school and college. Young people can visit their website to play games, track their own educational progress, get answers to questions and connect with people who can offer them the information, inspiration

and support they need to succeed.

All high schoolers (freshmen to seniors) can get better prepared to graduate high school and ready for college.

JNMS Application Deadline:March 18, 2013

Governor Parnell joined the Bethel Regional HS Student Council to help promote their Get Schooled effort

Photo credit: Nathaniel Betz

Kake teens weave a web of leadership support, sharing the leadership quality they will bring to their school.

Kids These Days • spring 2013 •

K T

D •

6

AASB’s Youth Advocacy Institute (YAI) brings young people together from across the state to develop and practice skills for strong youth voice in their

school, community, and at the Capitol.

Youth voice and perspective is at the heart of YAI. The Alaska ICE team worked with students to unlock that voice, to empower youth to share their thoughts with

others, on capitol hill and back home.

YAI Gives Voice to Alaska Students

Watch a short video overview of YAI that reveals some of the actiivities, workshops, and discussions that YAI students took part

in over the Leadership Fly-in weekend in early February.

Wouldn’t you like to go to camp during the school year? Offered only to Mat-Su Borough School District middle school students, the University of Alaska/ANSEP program is just that—a hands- on approach to science and math through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning for Alaska Native students and other students who may be underserved or underrepresented with

limited opportunities.

Approximately 200 middle school students were part of a three-hour introduc-tion to ANSEP Middle School Academy. Preparations are underway now for the two-week, academic program this spring. Included in the residential program are activites, experiments, projects, and field experiences for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade

students in essential and important skills. “Do you like technology, students?” asked Mr. Michael Bourdukofsky, Chief Operations Officer for ANSEP, and an

engineer. “Technology is always evolving to what you would like it to be. It helps you make the world a better place.”

Harnessing the Curiosity through STEMBy Catherine Esary, MSBSD Public Information Officer

Continue reading this story here.

Kids These Days • spring 2013 •

K T

D • 7

Alaskan Students Honored Nationally for Volunteerism

Shaylee Rizzo (Kenai) and Samuel Allred (Wasilla) have been selected as Alaska’s top youth volunteers for 2013 by the

Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

Each winner will receive $1,000, a silver medallion, and a trip to Washington, D.C., on May 4-7. Additionally, Allison Ostrander (Soldotna) and Reese Qualls (Palmer) were named Distin-guished Finalists and will be awarded bronze medallions.

Shaylee, 17, is a senior at Nikiski Middle/High School. She started a public service campaign called Missy the Moose to raise awareness of the dangers of vehicles hitting moose on

the highways. Shaylee wrote and illustrated a children’s book to convey her message to classrooms.

Samuel, 13, an eighth-grader at Raven Correspondence School, makes travel-size pillows and distributes them to chil-dren’s hospitals across the country in Project Comfort. Samuel

himself was hospitalized as a toddler.

Distinguished Finalists

Allison, 16, a sophomore at Kenai Central High School, created and organized the Salmon Run Series, five running races that raised more than $5,000 to help

combat the negative effects of canary grass on the salmon population.

Reese, 13, an eighth-grader at Palmer Junior Middle

School, developed a literacy program called Moose Books that provides free books to children in need. Re-ese collected 600 used books, turned them in for credit

at a local bookstore, and purchased new books.

Visit www.spirit.prudential.com to learn more and to implement The Prudential Spirit of Community

Awards in your community.