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2008 features
Around the World in 80 Minutes
 On Monday, April 14th, over 350 people came to Keet Gooshi Heen to travel the world without getting on a plane or boat. Rooms in the school were transformed into different countries and cultures. Travelers were able to experience games, food, and sights from 11 different countries and cultures. Belize, Jamaica, Southeast Asia, Philippines, Tlingit, South Africa, Norway, France, Mexico, Germany, and Hawaii were all represented.
read full story with pictures...
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get to know Community Schools
Sitka Students Learn a New Sport
Community Schools' own Livvy King is on a mission to spread her love of Lacrosse to Sitka. Livvy played in college and is now teaching the sport to students from BMS and KGH. With around 50 donated sticks from former teammates and opponents Livvy is able to teach Sitka students the fundamentals and rules of the games, as well as some really fancy tricks. Look for more lacrosse camps as Livvy is planning on doing a second Americorp year here in Sitka.
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SHS Students Serve During Spring Break Weekend
 On Saturday, March 15th and Sunday, March 16th, students from Sitka High School joined Amy from SAIL and Matt from Community Schools to start their Spring Break by giving back to the community. They volunteered to give their weekend to helping locals senior citizens at their homes. The jobs varied greatly from cleaning up yards to cleaning shelves to reorganizing computer desks. All the students had a great time helping out local seniors who were thrilled to have such young and energetic volunteers to help with their house and yard work.
read full story with pictures...
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get to know Community Schools
KGH Students Rush to School Over Spring Break
This Spring Break instead of sleeping in, over 50 students at Keet Gooshi Heen rushed to school with smiles on their faces. They were excited because Community Schools, through its Crossing Bridges program, was offering a Spring Break Camp. The camp ran from 9 -12 for four days. The activities varied greatly with some students skateboarding while others learned how to chroshay. Other activities included airplane making, mad science, bridge making, dodgeball, rock climbing, storytelling, lacrosse, and team games. Snacks were provided every day by the students in the cooking class. The staff of Community Schools had a great time running the camp and we all loved seeing the kids enjoying themselves as well.
More Pictures!
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Crossing Bridges Retreat
On February 1st, the Crossing Bridges Program held its fourth retreat of the school year for its tutors at the Hames Athletic and Wellness Center. The program takes students from all three high schools in town and sends them to the other schools to tutor both in classrooms and after school. The retreats are a great way for the tutors to get together with other who tutor at different schools and also go to different schools. They talk about both the struggles and the joys of tutoring younger students. There is also lots of time alloted for fun.
Read the full story with more pictures...
After dinner, the tutors were able to climb the rock wall. Eric and Ryan from Community Schools were there to belay and help teach the tutors about the wall. Many tutors made it to the top and for some it was there first time ever climbing. Bobbi, a tutor at Keet Gooshi Heen, even took on Eric's blind fold challenge. She climbed blindfolded with Ryan climbing next to her, giving her directions. Students were also able to swim if they did not want to climb the wall.
As the night came to an end, students helped clean up and headed home. It was very rewarding to see students from all three high schools working together and interacting with each other. Crossing Bridges will hold two more retreats before the end of the school year. |
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get to know Community Schools Community Schools is Ready to School People on the Court
It is February and that means a couple of things. Stores are loaded with Valentine's Day cards and candy, football season is over, but more importantly volleyball is starting. This year the staff of Community Schools hopes to win it all. With new players like Stacie Bolan, Livvy King, Faith Lee, and Matt Walsh adding new talent to the already talented core of Ryan Kauffman, Barb Warren, Megan Weiss and Caitlin Reichelderfer, the team has a chance this year. Team morale was high after the first two practices and even though we've gotten off to a shaky start, everyone is ready for the season to start. We are all looking forward to having some fun and winning some games. If you want to see this extraordinary team in action check out the volleyball schedule to see the time Community Schools plays.
2007 features
Winter Craft Party
 On Saturday December 15th over 200 parents and students came into the Multipurpose Room of Keet Gooshi Heen to enjoy Community Schools' annual Winter Craft Party. The event was organized by the Crossing Bridges Program and was huge success thanks to all the volunteers and staff the helped. This free event was a great way for students of Baranoff and Keet Gooshi Heen to make some winter and holiday crafts with their families. There were 18 stations the students could visit. Some of the stations included felt mice ornaments, tree ornaments, and glitter pine cone ornaments. Children could also make felt menorahs, gingerbread houses, dreidels, and holiday greeting cards. Santa Claus himself even paid a visit to Party to take pictures with the children and check out all their crafts. All the children left with smiles on their faces and many crafts in their bags.
We have more pictures!
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get to know Community Schools Peer Helpers team up with MADD to "Tie One On"
For the fourth year in a row the Sitka Peer Helpers have worked with M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) to bring to Sitka “Tie One On.” The idea behind this project is to distribute red MADD ribbons to Sitkans to tie to their cars, bikes, and boats in return for their pledge to not drink and drive. Last year in Sitka there were 96 Driving Under the Influence arrests and drunk driving crashes are responsible for killing over 17,000 people in the United States annually! This project is one that Peer Helpers love to do every year because it is fun to hand out ribbons and also because it is an issue that they feel is important in our community. Ribbons are available at any grocery store until new years, so pick one up and pledge to not drink and drive! Your life can change in just a few miles.
More Pictures of the MADD-ness
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Turkey Trot
 This year all those who participated in Community Schools' Annual Turkey Trot really lucked out with some great weather. The event was organized by Woody Widmark and was another success for Community Schools with both runners and walkers having a great time. The race was filled with families, teams, and individuals who all took time out of their Turkey Day to squeeze some exercise in. Some participants even walked away with prizes. Thanks to all of those who participated and helped. Below are the top 16 results of the race which was a 2.5 mile run or 1 mile walk.
Scott Totten, 18:07 |
Chris Redfox II, 20:50 |
Joe Villa, 22:12 |
Ivan Grutter, 18:49 |
Tim Nelson, 22:55 |
Isaac Villa, 22:28 |
Erin Ratia, 19:07 |
Joe Mille, 21:16 |
Arnold Dick, 22:28 |
Stephen MacIntyre, 19:07 |
Greg Dudgeon, 21:46 |
Ian Poindexter, 22:29 |
Rich Forst, 19:21 |
Mike Morse, 22:00 |
Dan Baier, 22:57 |
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John Hedden, 22:57 |
We have more pictures!!!
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get to know Community Schools
Community Schools Says Good-bye to One of its Volunteers
On December 1st Michael Hayes will be leaving Sitka and Community Schools. Over the last year he was a valued volunteer who joined us with through the Americorp program. Michael did everything asked of him and did it with a smile. He spent most of his time at Pacific High School were we did everything from painting to teaching.
Michael will also be remembered for being the person who started to traditional "good-bye song" that Community School volunteers must sing before they can return home. Michael's rendition of the classic Irish song "Wild Rover," performed at The Nugget, will be talked about for years to come. Michael hopes to volunteer again and plans to return to Sitka this summer with his son to fish.
Michael will be missed by all. Below is what Crossing Bridges Coordinator, Faith Lee had to say about Michael Hayes.
"I had the great pleasure of hosting a camping trip with Michael and 30 plus tutors this last school year. We went to a forest service cabin in early February and arrived to find no fire wood. Michael braved the cold with a group of students and went to search out a source of fire wood. This was his first such experience with building fires, and his first ever for roasting a hot dog on a stick over an open fire. He was a champ at keeping attitudes high and even gave up his floor space and slept on top of a picnic table. I personally didn't think he actually slept any that night as he was up so early and had his bedroll all repacked before everyone woke up. I would gladly take a large group of students camping again with Michael as my partner. His smile is contagious, his willingness to try new things is refreshing and I know that he will be greatly missed at Pacific High School by staff and students alike."
So from all of us at Community Schools,
GOOD LUCK MICHAEL!!!
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Fall Family Carnival
On November 12th, the Crossing Bridges Program of Community Schools held its Fall Family Carnival at Keet Gooshi Heen. The event was completely free of charge though people were asked to donate a can good to go the youth home.
Over 100 cans were donated by the over 400 participants making the night a huge success. Both the multipurpose room and the gym were buzzing with activity as well as laughter. This event was a great way for families with students in Kindergarten through 5 th grade to come together to have a night of fun, games, and food. The Crossing Bridges tutors along with volunteers from the school district and the community helped to work the event.
There were over 20 stations for the students to partake in. Some of the more popular games were bowling, Wii, and "Monster Mash" where students attempted to pop balloons with their feet. Other games included ring tosses, bean bag tosses, miniature golf, target practice for both baseball and football, as well as skee-ball. There was also a cake walk were everyone walked a away with a delicious cupcake provided by the Keet Gooshi Heen teachers. Students could also get their faces painted or have a balloon animal made for them. Volunteers in the kitchen worked hard to provide everyone with delicious chili dogs throughout the night. All the students left with a prize in their hand and a smile on their face.
For more pictures of the Carnival click here.
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Skateboarding has Arrived!
There is a new and exciting club at Blatchley Middle School. Crossing Bridges is pleased to present Skateboarding. With Community Schools' own Ryan Kauffman as supervisor this club is bound to be great. Scott Salzer from Raven's Way has also offered his service and skills to the club. Both Ryan and Scott have worked with the students to build a "fun box." There are also plans to build a quarter pipe in the near future. Until then both the students and Ryan are having fun learning new tricks and showing them off in the MPR.
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2007 Grandparents Dinner
On Sunday, October 21st Community Schools and it's Learn and Serve Program held it's 16th Annual Grandparents Dinner. The event was coordinated and organized by Learn and Serve Coordinator, Darlene Dehlin. The dinner is held in order to celebrate grandparents and thier families. It is a great way for the young and old to come together, eat, and have fun. It is completely free and relies soley on donnations and volunteers.
Grandparents and thier families braved the weather and arrived at Centennial Hall at 3:30 pm. They were taken to thier tables by members of the MEHS Yup'ik Dancers and enjoyed some piano music. Once everyone arrived they were entertained by the two dance performances. The Yup'ik Dancers performed serval of their native songs and dances. Dancers from the Sitka Studio of Dance also performed a tap number for the crowd. Curt Ledford of Community Schools acted as MC for the night, entertaining the crowd and giving away prizes.
The meal was a lovely turkey dinner with all the trimmings prepared by chef Buzz Dick. The turkeys were donnated by both Sea Mart and Lakeside. Many other businesses and individuals gave donnations. The night was a great success and couldn't have happened without the help of all the community and high school volutneers who did everything from folding programs to serving dinner.
For More Pictures of Grandparents Dinner click here
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Scenes from Bilbo and Frodo's Birthday Party
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2007 Community Bike Ride
We've got pictures - check them out.
Sitka’s 2007 Community Bicycle Ride was a resounding success. While there have been community rides here in the past, this event marks the beginning of an annual initiative to bring a multitude of riders in Sitka to the streets for a fun-filled day including bicycle education, games, prizes, and, of course, riding!
 Our goal was to get 150 riders to show their support for Sitka becoming a Bicycle-Friendly Community. This goal not only was met, it was exceeded. Though we do not have an official count, we know that there were at least 250 community members who participated, and likely many more.
Loaner bicycles and helmets were available to those who needed them. Yellow Jersey Cycle Shop held a sale on helmets, and many groups and individuals pitched in to make this a very special event.
Three new bicycles were raffled to participants as an incentive to participate. A variety of activities and events led up to the highlight of the day – the bicycle parade. Led by Mayor Marko Dapcevich and STA Tribal Chairman Woody Widmark, the parade circled through downtown and returned to Crescent Harbor. Prizes were given to “Most Reflective Rider” and also the catch-all “Wow” category. Names were drawn to determine winners for the bicycles. Finally, participants could choose between three group rides, each led by a parade marshal. There was a family ride, a mountain bike ride, and a road ride – something to suite anyone’s taste.
read the full story...
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Students Won't Leave School
The Community Schools After School Clubs are proud to recognize these students for their participation in various programs offered through out the school year. The Crossing Bridges Program supports these clubs with funding for bussing, snacks and staff. These are free to the students and families and we invite students to sign up this next fall for clubs that are interesting to them. This year we had very high attendance in our various clubs and are excited to continue seeing this type of attendance this next fall.
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Pictured first is Brandon Romine who has completed more than 100 hours in chess club and homework helpers this year at Keet Gooshi Heen. |
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Front row: Roger Graziano. Back row left to right: Christopher Moore, brothers Ghulam and Muhammomd Lodhi, Devin Hammonds, Minh Iwamoto, Maraelia Romine.
The next group we would like to recognize is the over 80 hour participants at Keet Gooshi Heen. In the front is Roger Graziano who attended Homework Helpers in the after school tutoring class. In the back row left to right is Christopher Moore who attended these clubs; American Sign Language, Chess Club, Dodge ball, Drama Club, Jeopardy, Knitting Club, Sport Stacking and Skate Pass Club. Next are the brothers Ghulam and Muhammomd Lodhi who attended Health Club and Homework Helpers. Pictured next to them is Devin Hammonds who attended the after school tutoring Homework Helpers Club. The next student pictured is Minh Iwamoto who participated in these clubs; chess club, dodge ball, drama club, latch hook, sport stacking. The next student is Maraelia Romine who participated in these clubs; dodge ball, knitting club, latch hooking, drama and health. |
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Pictured left to right; Ryan Morse, Jackie Diego, Cameron Mutchler, Patrick Moore and Lariah Christensen. Not pictured are Daisy Arce, Claire West and Sania Lodhi.
The Sitka Schools Community Schools After School Clubs are proud to recognize these students for their outstanding attendance of over 80 hours of individual participation in various programs offered throughout the school year. Ryan Morse attended Archery Club, Art Club and Chess Club this year. Jackie Diego attended Art Club, Homework Helpers Club, Drama Club, French Club, Sport Stacking Club and Play Production. Cameron Mutchler attended Archery Club, Drama Club, Chess Club, Sport Stacking Club and Play Production. Patrick Moore attended Art Club, Archery Club, Drama Club, Homework Helpers Club, Chess Club, Sport Stacking Club and Unicycle Club. Lariah Christensen attended Drama Club, Costume Design Club and Play Production. Daisy Arce attended Art Club, Beading Studio, Costume Design Club, Knitting and Felting Club and Project Runway. Claire West attended Art Club, Costume Design Club, Project Runway and Play Production. Sania Lodhi attended Drama Club and Homework Helpers Club, achieving more than 150 hours of participation.
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World Sport Stacking Association First Annual Sitka Sport Stacking Competition
The Sport Stacking Clubs from Keet and Blatchley came together for a sanctioned tournament on Saturday, April 28th at Keet Gooshi Heen. Seventeen finalists competed in seven divisions and four events. The best times have been submitted to the WSSA for consideration.
We expect that some of our stackers have established new state records for Alaska. Visit www.worldsportstackingassociation.org to see the updated records when they are uploaded.
See the results for the 2007 Tournament.
What is Sport Stacking?
Sport stacking is an exciting individual and team sport where participants stack and unstack 12 specially designed plastic cups in pre-determined sequences. Individually, stackers race against the clock for fastest or best times. With practice, a person can stack at lightning speed that has to be seen to be believed! (from www.speedstacks.com)
We are finishing up our second season of stacking and encourage newcomers to join us in the fall at both schools.
For more information contact Rick Petersen at the Crossing Bridges Office -966-1453.
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Hard Working Kids
This group of hard working tutees have all tied for the most hours spent in Homework Helpers completing their homework this last month. This group is dedicated to attending every day and supporting each other to complete their work. When students come to Homework Helpers at Keet Gooshi Heen they arrive with a full packet of work for the week. This group of young men work diligently to finish their work in a timely manner and then earn free time on Thursday with the high school tutors, playing games or moving out to the playground for gross motor activities where they excel with more endurance than the older students. This group of young boys shows that with a smile and patience they can do their work, make new friends with the high school students and feel good about themselves. Congratulations to: left to right
Roger Graziano, Ghulam Lodhi, Devin Hammonds, Muhammond Lodhi, Cecil Romine, Joseph Moser.
Spotlight: Tutoring our own Horn
Do you know a child who could use some extra help with academics? Community Schools offers several opportunities for homework assistance and tutoring for students in 2nd –8th grade. The Crossing Bridges program matches qualified high school students with younger students to help them with their homework, or to practice reading, writing, spelling, and math. The tutors help the younger students through a mentoring relationship that can feel like having big brothers and sisters. The program also provides adult supervision, snacks, and transportation – all for free! If your children are enrolled in the Ventures program, they can also benefit from the assistance of this tutoring program.
The Crossing Bridges tutoring program offers a stress-free way for parents to help their children get the extra academic help they need. You can read more about the details on the tutoring page, or call Faith Lee at 966-1452.
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 Teens Spend Their Spring Break Building Houses!
For many students in Sitka spring break was spent shoveling snow, watching TV and playing video games. But for a group of 9 students from Edgecumbe, Sitka and Pacific high schools spring break was full of service work, fun and new experiences!
The group began weekly meetings in December to start planning the weeklong trip to Tacoma to work on houses for Habitat for Humanity. The group spent many hours planning fundraisers and writing letters to supportive family members, friends and community members. The goal was to raise almost $9000 in two and a half months, and they did it! On Saturday the 10th of March, the Habitat group hosted the best bake sale of all time, raising over $600 and pushing the group over their goal.
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Peer Helpers team up with SEARHC for a FUNdraiser
The Healing Power of Humor Comedy Showcase and FUNdraiser benefited Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV). The evening was a big success, with every seat in the Sheetka Kwaan Naa-Kahidi community house filled. $2,177 was rasied for SAFV and people had some very hardy laughs along the way. It also showcased local youth and brought youth and adults together to have some fun!
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that's MISTER A-to-the-Mon to you.
by Ryan Kauffman: Amon Johnson is one of the funniest people I know. He has the kind of humor that makes people laugh and feel good all over, as opposed to the kind of humor that hurts peoples feelings. If you were to ever e-mail Amon he will e-mail you back right away and sign it "A to the mon." He is a self proclaimed "nerd" when it comes to computers and is great at teaching computer skills, I know, because he taught me how to put music on my ipod. Amon is really active at school and in the community. He plays baseball at Sitka High, is active in Younglife and works to improve his school and community in Peer Helpers. You may have seen Amon on T.V. lately, he was part of the teen panel for the town meeting that discussed teen perception of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs and teen perception of adults attitudes towards teens in Sitka. Amon is one of the coolest people i know that is why the spotlight is on him!
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Thank You Robin
Robin White has been an AmeriCore volunteer for the past year. Robin works at Keet Gooshi Heen as a teacher’s aid. Robin is also one of our supervisors for the tutoring program at Keet. Her hard work and dedication for the Crossing Bridges Tutoring Program has made this year a great success. Thank you Robin for all the work that you have done this year. Robin leaves this month, back home to Ohio, to finish school. We'll miss her!
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Peer Helpers get Community Engaged
The high school students that make up the Peer Helpers are in charge of $5000 in funds. They have challenged community groups to come up with proposal that use the funds that:
- involve Peer Helpers in the project, working with adults,
- involve underserved populations in service and delivery,
- provide meaningful opportunities for youth and adults to work together, and
- the projects must be fun
They have reviewed the proposals and awarded grants to six groups: Sitkans Against Family Violence, Southeast Alaska Independent Living, Sitka Trail Works, Sitka Conservation Society, the White Ribbon Campaign, SEARHC Health Promotions.
learn more...
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Students take the lead in Town Meeting
A diverse group of students served as a youth panel for the town meeting, at Centennial Hall on February 12. The meeting was recorded and broadcast on Northstar, KSCW TV. The meeting was facilitated by Donna Rae Faulkner. In addition to the panel, there were 75 people in attendance.
The youth panel reflected on findings from a student-developed survey on perceptions of risky behaviors and community support for teens to make good decisions. The panel took questions and comments from the community and then shared their recommendations on how to more effectively support Sitka teens in making healthy choices.
Organizations, providers and individuals had opportunities to post “Call for Action” requests that answer either of these questions:
What can somebody (or a group) from Sitka do with my organization/program right now to make a difference for youth?
What would I like to see anyone do in their home or neighborhood to make a positive difference for youth?
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