Bering Strait School District

Congratulations to BSSD Graduates!

Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Successful BSSD Graduate! On behalf of the Bering Strait School District Board of Education and Administration, I would like to congratulate the Class of 2010. We are proud of your accomplishments and wish you the best. We know that you have been well prepared by your teachers and are ready to meet the challenges ahead of you. Whether you choose to go to post-secondary school or training, military, work, or other options, we know that you will be successful.

Whatever option you pursue after graduation, we look forward to seeing you, in the words of the BSSD Mission Statement, "becoming self-sufficient and contributing citizens in our region."

I look forward to visiting many of the graduations over the next week. Enjoy this time with your fellow classmates, family, and friends. Graduation is a special time and something that you will always remember. This will be a special time for me also as I will be retiring in June. I have been very fortunate to be able to attend many graduations in BSSD during the past twenty-nine years. As all of us begin our new adventure, I look forward to following your successes in the future.

Again, congratulations.

Jim Hickerson,
Superintendent

Summer Dates of Interest
May 24-28: Curriculum Advisory Committes (CASCs) in Unalakleet
July 31-August 8: BSSD Welcome Wagon Event in Anchorage!
August 9-13: Returning Teacher Workshop
August 11-13: New Teacher Training in Unalakleet
August 23: BSSD Schools Open!

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 12 May 2010 )

NACTEC Pays Tribute to Representative Richard Foster

Thursday, 24 June 2010

NACTEC Director Doug Walrath Presents Plaque

On Monday, June 7th a crowd gathered at the NACTEC House to celebrate the accomplishments of Nome's longtime legislator, Richard Foster. As a tribute to the late Representative, NACTEC Director This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , led the ceremony and presented his family with a plaque in recognition of Foster's leadership, dedication, service and hard work in support of vocational education for all rural Alaskans. Richard Foster was successful in the passage of HB 239 in 2001. This bill established a regional learning center as a four-year pilot program to see if such centers would be a viable alternative for rural Alaska vocational education.

Since the inception of NACTEC, the program has served over 1,500 students in the Bering Strait School District and Nome Public Schools. As a testament to the program and its ability to meet student needs for developing employability skills, NACTEC has also attracted students from the Chugach, Lake & Peninsula, Kuspuk, Northwest Arctic Borough, Tanana, and Yukon/Koyukuk school districts in recent years.

Richard Foster was a proponent of vocational education, believing that a regional boarding school could provide the means to teach vocational skills, job related and living skills not available in high schools of small isolated communities. "We need to be looking at creative ways to give our students every opportunity to build their career awareness and skills so they can go back to their home towns ready for work," Foster said, according to his press statement released shortly after the successful passage of HB 239 in 2001.

Since the bill was passed, Career and Technical Education has progressed through the development of a collaborative infrastructure. The Northwestern Alaska Career and Technical Center (NACTEC), is a joint venture of the Bering Strait School District and Nome City School District. Its continued success is accomplished through cooperation and partnerships with Kawerak, Inc., UAF/Northwest Campus, Norton Sound Health Corporation, Bering Straits Native Corporation, the Nome Common Council and the sixteen communities of the Bering Strait region.

Neal Foster, who was appointed by Governor Parnell to the vacancy left by his father, was in attendance to accept a plaque on behalf of his family. Neal emphasized that support of the regional training center model took the efforts and beliefs of others, such as Senator Donny Olson, in addition to his father to evolve into what has become NACTEC. His father's legacy and support for vocational education lives on through recent tax credit legislation. Neal referred to the support of both Bering Straits Native Corporation and SIU Alaska Corporation, a subsidiary of NSEDC, who each made $200,000 donations to NACTEC through a HB 61 tax credit program in 2009. The support of local partners through this tax credit program will sustain Career and Technical Education through NACTEC in the years to come.

A plaque will be permanently displayed at the NACTEC House honoring Representative Richard Foster and his efforts to vocational education, while serving as a reminder to all of the students, staff, partners and the public of the many successful partnerships formed since NACTEC's inception.

What's the hang up?

Wednesday, 12 May 2010

White Mountain School has a new hang up. Community members and students cooperated to create the 89 piece fence project. They designed, traced, cut, filed, drilled, primed, painted, sealed and then hung the artwork on the 90’ fence outside the school. This project was made possible through the generous support of the Bering Strait School District, the Alaska State Council on the Arts and NSEDC. Next time you are in White Mountain, make sure to check out our newest creation.?