STEPS Alaska Updates
Stepping Up for Alaska's Youth!
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If You Build It, The Kids Will Come
(and bring their families)
How the Sitka School District has been working to increase Family Engagement
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By Kari Sagel, Family Engagement Specialist | |
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We came up with two areas to focus on:
- Parents as partners
- Resources to extend learning/activities in the home.
Our first step was to better understand what would bring families to the event by asking them in a survey. The top results were:
- Individual invitations,
- reminders,
- fun activities,
- a meal, and
- transportation.
During the event, teachers offered stations ranging from learning American Sign Language to creating formline snowman decorations. Families hunkered down in tents in a darkened library for a “Flashlight Friday” reading activity. The activities were fun for students and their families and were linked to classroom learning.
The Sitka Rotary sponsored and attended the event. Volunteers from Delta Kappa Gamma served pancit and spring rolls in the commons. So many people came that we ran out of food! Families left the building in smiles, children clutching their creations and with kits to support activities in their homes.
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We started the process with clear goals for family engagement guided by our School Climate and Connectedness Survey - which ultimately led to a key learning. In a post-survey of families, we learned that the biggest factor that led families to attend was one we did not intentionally focus on in our planning – children’s excitement and anticipation of the event.
Comments from families included:
“Our daughter really wanted to go and kept reminding us, she looked forward to it and she was really happy to see friends with their families attending. It was awesome!”
“Our child reminded us every day for a week so we wouldn't forget. Kids and adults had a great time.”
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Collaborating Across the Community | |
Celebrating 49 years at Sitka Native Education Program!
This year Sitka Native Education Program(SNEP) celebrated 49 years. The mission of SNEP is to perpetuate Lingít Yoo X'atángi and Haa Kusteeyí (Lingít language and way of life) by providing cultural instruction to our youth after school. The partnership between the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the School District has yielded resources for teachers to use in school. The school district has been making it even easier for Sitka’s teachers to find and access these resources via a new website, www.sitkaschoolsact.org.
Note that this site was built so that only those with a school district address can access many of the resources. This is one way the district is respecting and protecting the stories and indigenous knowledge that has been shared with them.
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Pictured above: Lakrisha Brady with her nieces and nephews at SNEP's culture camp this summer. The camp celebrated families by taking photos of kids and their adults and gifting them to families.
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 |  | The Pathways to a Safer Sitka Coalition has been gathering community organizations to work together since 2008 (fifteen years!) to set a shared vision, align work, and measure the impact of their collective efforts. Pathways aims to prevent first time occurrences of the various negative health outcomes impacting Sitka. By working together and addressing the underlying root causes, coalition partners have been establishing equitable, accessible, and culturally responsive services and systems to support individuals in reaching their full potential. Over the years, coalition members have focused on fostering social & emotional learning environments, building a positive peer culture, strengthening family connectedness, and working with boys and men to build a community of respect and nonviolence. The Sheet’ká Family Challenge, a slate of free and fun outdoor activities for families and kids, and the Boys Run I toowú klatseen program are a few of the shared initiatives designed to help achieve the coalition’s goals. Check out the newly launched coalition website, sitkapathways.org, for more information about Sitka’s collective work.
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Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a program that sends FREE books every month to kids under five and their families. This year when five-year-olds in Sitka graduated from the Imagination Library they got their very own library card at the Sitka Public Library. “Warm hand-offs” from one program to the next can help families maintain access to services and support from womb to world. If you know of families who have kids under five they can sign-up for the Imagination Library here. | | |
Alaska College & Career Guidance Report | |
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Thanks to all who contributed to the Alaska College & Career Guidance Report and the Bridging to the Future Framework. Check out the findings and resource here and dig into the details with the Career Guides Community of Practice (see below for details.)
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Fall 23 STEPS Gathering
Who: STEPS and FSCS Partners
When: October 10-11, 2023
Where: Centennial Hall in Juneau
How: See flyer and registration link below.
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Safety & Wellbeing Conference
What: A free statewide conference for those working to improve school safety & wellbeing
Who: Administrators, Teachers, School Counselors/Nurses/Social Workers, Community Partners, School Board Members, Parents, Students
When: Sept. 13th & 14th, with a post-conference day on Family Engagement, on Sept. 15
How: Register Here for the Safety & Wellbeing Confrence here, and email Lisa Worl for more info on the Family Engagement post-conference day, lworl@aasb.org
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Association of Career & Technical Educators
What: A statewide professional development conference
Who: Teachers, school leaders, community and business partners
When: October 1st through 4th
Where: Anchorage
How: Register or submit a proposal to host a session.
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Alaska School Counselors Conference
What: The Alaska School Counselors Conference is currently accepting presentation proposals for the theme “Pursuing upstream strategies”
Who: Counselors and those supporting counselors
When: November 16th & 17th
Where: Anchorage
How: Submit a presentation proposal here
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Alaska Afterschool Network Conference
What: The Out-of-School Time Conference is currently accepting proposals
Who: Staff and providers of out of school time programming
When: November 16th & 17th
Where: Anchorage
How: Submit a presentation proposal here
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Ongoing Learning Opportunities | |
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Career Guides Community of Practice
What: A space to connect, reflect, and share resources for culturally affirming career guidance. Who: People who work with students to plan for life after high school
When: 4th Wednesdays at 3:30. The first one will be on August 30th
Why: Reflecting together and sharing resources is one of the best ways we can build the web of support students need in order to thrive after the graduate from high school
How: Register here to receive the Zoom link
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Kaa Tukaxsaké Héende
What: Restorative Learning Co-hort
Who: Community members committed to social justice and equity
When: 3rd Fridays, 8-10am Zoom Equity Session, 2-4pm Respectful Harvesting
How: Register here
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Continuing Education Credits for Trauma Engaged School
What: DEED now offers CEU credits for Trauma Engaged Schools training.
Who: educators who hold current five- or ten-year Alaska teaching, administrative, or special services certificates
When: Registration fees are waived for the first 400 people who register.
How: Register here
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Grant & Funding Opportunities | |
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Orange Shirt Day Mini-Grants
What: Funding and other resources to support local efforts to mark the National Boarding School Day of Remembrance
When: Orange shirt day is Sept. 30th
Who: Individuals or organizations interested in hosting a local event
How: Learn more and apply here
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Alaska Academic Decathlon and Pentathlon
What: SERRC is looking for schools and programs who would like to host middle and high school teams to participate in the statewide academic competition.
Who: Middle and high school programs can be offered as a class or afterschool activity.
How: Learn more and sign-up here
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For Students, Families and Staff | |
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Alaska Family Advisory Board (the FAB!)
What: A statewide network of family members providing insight and feedback to the Alaska Family Engagement Center.
Who: Family members who have kids in schools across the state and who want to help make our school systems more family-friendly.
When: The FAB will meet for an hour a month via Zoom
How: Nominate FAB candidates here (self-nominations are also appreciated!)
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Girls on the Run
What: An after-school program for girls in grades 3-5 aimed at developing healthy life skills.
Who: Schools can sign-up to host a program
When: Training for new coaches is Saturday, August 26th from 9 to 3 in Juneau
How: Register at GOTGreaterAlaska.org/Coach or email breannas@awareak.org
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Motherhood is Sacred
What: Parenting course to help strengthen families
Who: Offered by Tlingit & Haida’s Community & Behavioural Service Division
Where: Offered virtually
When: Tuesdays, 9-10:30 am
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Parents as Teachers
What: AEYC’s Parents as Teachers program continues to offer in-home AND virtual home visits. If you know of a family with young children who could use some extra support,
Who: Adults who are parenting kids ages 3 and under
When: On-going
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The Learning Connection
Who: Anyone over 16 needing support taking the next step toward college and career training
When: Daily
Where: Downtown Juneau and the Valley Library
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Looking for additional ideas? Check out the STEPS Resources page for past newsletters and other STEPS-related resources.
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