Education

An encouraging message, seen here on Aug. 3, 2022, is painted on a trash bin outside of Barrow High School. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska program to keep school principals to triple in size

BY: - October 5, 2023

A program aimed at supporting and retaining Alaska principals will more than triple its participation this year, coordinators told the state’s Board of Education at its October 5th meeting. The state’s two largest districts will join the Alaska School Leadership Academy, increasing its ranks from 36 to 118 principals. Lisa Parady, executive director of the […]

An empty hallway at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé in Juneau, Alaska, on July 20, 2022. (Photo by Lisa Phu/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska seeks to create statewide reading standards for Alaska Native languages

BY: - October 5, 2023

The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is seeking a specialist in Alaska Native language education to create state standards for reading in Alaska Native languages for students from kindergarten through third grade. Currently there is no standard to gauge reading competency in Alaska Native languages. State law allows for reading instruction in Alaska […]

(Getty Images photo)

First Amendment advocates fight growing number of U.S. book bans

BY: - October 4, 2023

WASHINGTON — One of Thomasina Brown’s favorite books is a memoir about a girl who deals with the grief of losing her father and struggles with her sexual identity. Brown, a 16-year-old student at Nixa High School in Nixa, Missouri, said in an interview that she felt a connection with the book, as she grieved […]

COMMENTARY
The author captures threads of a dialect by recording words for “Michipicoten” in an open-air meeting with community elders. (Photo by John-Paul Chalykoff, CC BY-ND)

I’m working to revitalize an Indigenous language and bring it into the future

BY: - October 3, 2023

Language is foundational to Indigenous communities, including my own, and a vital connection to our cultures. It is well documented how residential schools in Canada and boarding schools in the U.S. devastated Indigenous languages and severed cultural connections. While our languages are in decline, efforts to sustain them are ongoing, and I am taking part […]

Michael Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, speaks with students at Barrow High School on Aug. 30, 2023. (Photo provided by Environmental Protection Agency)

Report links lack of investment in school guidance programs to Alaska’s lagging workforce

BY: - October 2, 2023

Jobs are available in Alaska, but the workforce to fill them isn’t there. A report from the Association of Alaska School Boards linked it to underfunding public schools — especially guidance counselors and guidance programs. The report noted that one in five young adults in Alaska isn’t connected to school or work. Emily Ferry, a coordinator […]

Families stencil orange t-shirts with the message "Truth Healing" at Alaska Native Cultural Charter School in Anchorage on Sept. 27, 2023. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Once a suppressed history in Alaska, Indian boarding schools enter curriculum with Orange Shirt Day

BY: - September 30, 2023

Lucian Painter carefully applied black paint to an eagle stencil on a bright orange shirt in the crowded gymnasium of Alaska Native Cultural Charter School in Anchorage on Wednesday night. He is 6 years old, and said has already learned a little about Orange Shirt Day, commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance of Indian […]

The Too Much Talent Band and local activists have a joyful protest of music and dancing outside of The White House to "Cancel Student Debt" on March 15, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We The 45 Million)

Student debt relief scams on the rise. Here’s what borrowers need to know.

BY: - September 28, 2023

Complaints about student debt relief scams are increasing as the date approaches for borrowers to restart payment on their student loans after more than a three-year pause. Consumer protection advocates say that the Biden administration’s student debt relief efforts, the subsequent halting of those policies by the courts, and the restart of student loan payments […]

(Photo by Eyecrave Productions/Getty Images)

Alaska schools stay open after bomb threat email

BY: - September 19, 2023

Alaska schools are not closing their doors after multiple districts received a bomb threat by email on Tuesday. Authorities have determined the threat is not credible, but its source is under investigation. Austin McDaniel, communications director for the state’s Department of Public Safety, said Alaska State Troopers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Anchorage field […]

COMMENTARY
A sign, seen on May 29, marks the eastern edge of the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

UAA offers affordable and convenient pathways that prepare students for the next step 

BY: - September 14, 2023

Through its community campuses and online program offerings, the University of Alaska Anchorage provides multiple entry points that meet learners where they are. UAA reaches far beyond the Municipality of Anchorage; we serve the communities of Southcentral Alaska through our campuses in Soldotna, Homer, Valdez, Kodiak, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Anchorage, as well as thousands […]

A statue of Charles Bunnell, the first president of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, as the University of Alaska Fairbanks was once known, is seen on Sept. 18 on the UAF campus. An administrative order issued by Gov. Mike Dunleavy removes college-degree requirements for most state jobs. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Gov. Dunleavy appoints new regent to University of Alaska board 

BY: - September 6, 2023

Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed Stephen Colligan to the board that guides policy and appoints the president of the state’s university system on Tuesday. Colligan is the governor’s third attempt to fill the seat on the state university system’s board of regents. His appointment comes a month after the governor’s last pick, his former chief of […]

Applying for student loan. Filling up the loan form with calculator, pen, note pad on the desk. (Getty Images)

Millions enrolled in new student loan repayment program

BY: - September 5, 2023

WASHINGTON — More than 4 million federal student loan borrowers are enrolled in the Biden administration’s new repayment program, according to figures released Tuesday by the Department of Education. With the pause of more than three years on federal student loan repayments coming to an end in October, and the Supreme Court’s summer decision to […]

A sign at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, seen on Sept. 20. 2022, uses the Lower Tanana name Troth Yeddha'. The name translates roughly to "potato ridge" and refers to the tradition of harvesting wild potatoes on the Fairbanks ridge that now holds the heart of the campus. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Fundraising effort for Alaska Indigenous studies center OK’d by UA board 

BY: - September 5, 2023

The state board of regents unanimously approved a fundraising effort at University of Alaska Fairbanks to raise $53 million over three years to build the Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center. The goal is to create the first university space in the nation that is designed with Indigenous education models in mind, Samara Taber, who leads […]