Education

This is the time of year that graduating college students walk down the aisle solemnly, sometimes awkwardly. Families and friends smile, and hold up phones and cameras to snap pictures. University leaders and professors give speeches.

But the coronavirus pandemic has shut down schools, prompting all of them to cancel graduation ceremonies. The University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel was no exception. Instead, staff took to the KYUK airwaves to recognize its 2020 graduates on May 1. 

Many parents and students in the Lower Kuskokwim School District are now familiar with paper work packets substituting for classroom teachers. At LKSD’s last board meeting, one member blasted the work packets for being demotivating. Superintendent Dan Walker agrees with those complaints, but says that it’s hard when the most logical alternative, online learning, is not an option.

All schools in Alaska are closed to students until at least May 1, but that’s only a small part of how the coronavirus outbreak has impacted the Lower Kuskokwim School District. In a board meeting on April 2, the school board changed graduation requirements for seniors, planned for using schools as quarantine shelters, and adjusted schedules for construction projects.

Schools all across Alaska, including those in the Lower Kuskokwim School District, have been shuttered due to COVID-19 until at least March 30. District Superintendent Dan Walker expects the closures to last beyond that, and has been trying to plan accordingly.