Education

In isolated, rural school districts, hiring teachers is only half the battle – keeping them is hard too. One Alaska program has a research-backed approach to helping teachers stick with it.

The cultural center in Bethel was full of friends, family, and community leaders. They gathered to celebrate the latest graduates from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Kuskokwim Campus.

In late April, Ayaprun Elitnaurvik students went ice fishing on the Johnson River. For some students, it was their first time catching fish. During the first week of May, students were tasked with preparing the pike. Each grade was responsible for a portion of the preparation like heading, gutting, and flaying, brining.

On Wednesday May 3rd, Nana management service held a lunch event for students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade.

For years, residents in Newtok expected severe erosion along the Ninglick River to render the community’s school useless. But it was a generator fire in January that has kept students in the Y-K Delta village from attending regular classes for months.

Tuluksak has faced several challenges in the past few years, including a fire that wiped out the washeteria in January 2021 and the recent water line break from the water plant. Those challenges didn’t stop the village’s Native Youth Olympics team from traveling to Bethel and competing.

After several weeks of waiting, Tuluksak is getting support from the state. In early February, a line leading from the community’s water plant to the school broke, leaving the school and teacher housing without running water.

According to the Lower Kuskokwim School District, at approximately 8:30 a.m. on March 22, Bethel Regional High School staff were alerted about a student who had brought a weapon to the school.

Tuluksak school administrators say that a pipe burst and that they've lost running water in their school and teacher housing.

Students resume in-person instruction after a couple of weeks of remote learing.