To Foster Community Support in Alaska, add ICE (continued)

While many families are classified as economically disadvantaged (e.g., 60 percent of the elementary school students), Wrangell may soon be looking up. It is building a new harbor, fish canneries are retooling, and the city just put in a new belt freezer for salmon. In the past two years, sales tax revenues have increased, and there is “reason for mild optimism,” says Jeff Jabusch, city finance manager.

“We still have our problems—life is life,” acknowledges community leader Privett, “but our hope is to give students a way to go through it, and understand what responsibility is, and consequences.” For the most part, kids seem to be getting the message—and applying it. For their senior project, for instance, two students who are junior emergency medical technicians took a boat with a Global Positioning System (GPS) to remote areas and recorded who lived where using their GPS coordinates so they could all be located in case of emergency.

Statewide efforts

Community engagement has also helped progress statewide. AASB executive director Carl Rose says, “The challenge is to welcome people in [to schools], to energize people. Who shows up? Families, people involved in the tribal organizations, business people, elders. You find the gems, the diamonds in the rough. We have evolved in ways we never imagined because of their talents.”

Out of fifty-three Alaska districts, eighteen have been QS2/ICE partners. Looking at academic statistics for 2004 and 2006, the QS2/ICE districts showed higher proficiency gains than the state overall on reading, writing, and math. “Although there is still a gap between Native and all students in achievement, QS2 districts are making significant gains on closing that gap,” says Rue. “And the good news is that overall, QS2 districts are making faster progress than the statewide average.” 

“We couldn’t have that big a footprint without community involvement all over the state,” notes Rose. The community involvement push came about in the early 1990s, he explains, because of the state AASB board. “Prior to that, the board had been more of a counterpoint to the teacher’s union. But board members had their fill of fighting with the union. They wanted to focus on the future and saw a vision of something better.”

In 1995, the AASB board took funds from reserve and hired a community engagement director; in 1997, it adopted the Assets model (see sidebar). In 1999, AASB got a $14 million federal grant over seven years, which it channeled into partnerships with local districts. Wrangell, for instance, received $50,632 over three years.

The community engagement focus, ICE, helps local districts with tools and encouragement, such as a practical handbook, Helping Kids Succeed—Alaskan Style. The “Alaskan-style” caveat is important. AASB’s leaders  wanted something written by and for Alaskans who understood the unique challenges and delights of living here.

This is, after all, Alaska—where the Wrangell high school government teacher also takes tourists bear-watching in summers, and where teenagers working long hours on a seine boat for the summer can make enough money to buy a decent car or truck.

Cultural context

Helping Kids Succeed—Alaskan Style lists simple things that any person can do to build assets. Its framework is an Alaskan context with traditional Alaskan cultures. From the village of Kluti-Kaah (population 450), for instance, comes this advice on asset number twenty-eight—Integrity: “Subsistence skills directly translate into life skills. When you teach your children to hunt, to prepare the catch, to treat the catch with respect, and to share the catch, you are teaching them how to live life. The hunt teaches us to delay gratification, to persevere, to prepare, and to walk with integrity.”