I did a little something tonight. I spoke at a borough meeting about funding education to the cap. This would add roughly $2.4 million to the school district budget. We are in desperate need of this money. For all of my friends and family outside of Alaska...the newly elected Governor has proposed gutting funding to many public services including education. The school district I am currently teaching in faces over a $20 million cut. This is "draconian", as many have put it. It would devastate this area, and all Alaskan schools would be in similar situations. I could no longer stay silent about how I feel about this, and wanted my voice to be heard. Here is what I said:
"My name is Sara lucas and I am an educator. I am one of these non tenured teachers and this decrease in funding could mean I will no longer have a job. This is my 2nd year with the district and 7th year teaching in Alaska. I definitely have a vested interest in increasing funding for our K-12 schools, but I am here fighting for my students tonight, not my job. I have a chemistry degree. I feel like I have plenty of options with this degree, but my students do not have a choice. I love teaching and am torn in whether to leave or stay. The students keep pulling me back. I realize I love being in the classroom with my students and can’t imagine doing anything else. However, currently my thoughts are consumed with looking at other career or school options because this is the 2nd year in a row, where at this point in time, I do not have a signed contract. I cannot wait around I need to take care of my needs first and I think it might be time for a career change. It pains me to say this, as I love what I do, but I just cannot see myself teaching for the rest of my life anymore if education is in limbo every year. I feel I am not alone in this sentiment. I have heard many young teachers that share my position fearing what this state will be like if there are major cuts. We are all considering our futures and considering a future that does not include education. Our students will suffer and I can’t imagine living in a state where our next generation is not being given the education they deserve. The schools are the heart of a community, and without good schools there will be a ripple effect that is felt by the community. It pains me to think about the education of kids in our state if education funding is drastically cut. They will be underprepared to enter the workforce creating a crisis for all Alaskans. There will undoubtedly be a decreased morale at the very least. Please fund education to the cap. Our students deserve the best."
*This weekend I also went to my final hockey tournament with the Queens, for this season. It was a blast and I will get a post up about this soon. I know many are patiently waiting.
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I got to see Denali!! Such a clear view this past weekend with beautiful weather! I just went to Denali National Park for the 1st time since moving to Alaska!! I was able to take a field course called geology of Denali through Alaska Geographic. I was offered a 75% scholarship to attend the course, and it was absolutely amazing!! Denny Capps (the park geologist) was a wealth of knowledge that kept us captivated from start to finish. I wasn't sure what to expect going into the course, as geology is not really my thing, but I was totally stoked to visit Denali nonetheless. I ended up gaining an interest in geology and having the best weekend camping out at Teklanika campground in the park and visiting sites that other visitors might not know to visit. I knew nothing about Denali going into this course so lets just say I learned a ton and probably have forgotten half of it by now. The park road is 92 miles and we went to the Toklat River which is at mile 53 in the course of the weekend. We were lucky that we had our own shuttle and did not have to take the bus, which would've have meant relying on that time schedule. You can see below why a bus system is needed as the road is only 1.5 lanes wide with no guard rails. It is quite dangerous to drive for the inexperienced.
This part of the road is failing due to a debris flow as well as other factors. You can see in the picture below where the debris is falling. This part of the road as well as many other parts of the road are difficult to keep open due to many debris flows in the area. The park is tasked with cleaning up after each instance. To try to figure out what is going on with this section of the road they are currently in the process of digging 2 wells and placing instruments in the wells to collect data. This well is down to 140 ft. and you can see the wires for the instruments. The coolest thing by far was taking a hike to see dinosaur tracks from the duck-billed dinosaur. Scientifically they are known as Hadrosaurs. Click here for more info from the park. We saw over 20 of these fossils, but these are some of the better ones. As you can imagine some of the fossils are either broken or the tracks weren't as clean as these ones. These are all cast fossils. "Cast fossils are formed when an organism dies and is buried between layers of mud and silt. The mud and silt form around what is left of the organism and slowly hardens and becomes sedimentary rock. The buried organism decays and the hardened rock leaves an impression where the organism once was. Lastly, mineral-enriched groundwater fills in the mold and hardens to form a cast fossil" (castfossils.weebly.com). In other words there was a print in the mud or some sort of soft ground that was filled in and hardened. In addition to seeing these amazing fossils and doing so much other site seeing we had some of the best views. Here is one of the only pics I took with me in the photo. After the course I did a midnight sun ATV tour with Denali ATV tours. They were great!! Not much wildlife, but with seeing wildlife on my own I wasn't that concerned. I just wanted to do something fun and not hurt my foot anymore, as I had already hiked more than I should've. Yes, I am still in a boot hoping that the stress fracture in my foot heals soon. I then stayed at the McKinley Chalet Resort. It was a great stay that wasn't too expensive. I didn't get any great views but the room was spacious and everything was clean and comfortable. I'm sure if I had payed more I could've gotten a better view, but since I was really just there to sleep it wasn't worth it. Overall it was an excellent trip, and even though the Alaska Geographic courses are a little pricey, they are totally worth it. I would consider going back and paying full price to take another course with them. Source:
https://castfossils.weebly.com/how-are-cast-fossils-formed.html This past weekend I flew to Juneau to attend commecement at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS). I graduated with my Master's in Learning Design and technology. It took me 3 years to complete the degree, but I am so happy that I chose the program that I did. All of my work is stored on teachinginak.weebly.com, if you are interested in viewing it. It was definitely a whirlwind of a trip but totally worth it. I flew in Saturday. I left Kenai at 7 am and arrived in Juneau around 12:30 pm. Once I arrived in Juneau, I drove around a bit as I was a little early to check into my hotel. Unfortunately Saturday was very rainy (no pictures from Saturday for this reason). Sunday on the other hand, was gorgeous! Graduation lasted 3 hours and was very long! I was hoping for more time to hike after the ceremony but did not have any time. I left Juneau at 8 pm on Sunday and arrived in Anchorage a little before 10. By the time I got to the hotel, checked in, and showered it was after 11. I then proceeded to get up at 2:45 am so that I could catch the 5 am flight with RAVN. This way I was able to teach Monday. I arrived at school around 5:40 am and didn't leave until about 10 pm. We had track boroughs in Homer and I had to prepare for a sub for part of the day. I am still exhausted but slowly catching up. Can't wait for the weekend, and even better my parents are flying in to visit!
I am trying to get funding for a couple more chromebooks for my classroom. Any donations or shares are greatly appreciated!! I am hoping to use these computers to add more blended resources and differentiated activities to help support student learning.
So in KPBSD the district is pushing for more personalized learning. In my own philosophy of teaching I am an advocate for technology in the classroom. I believe that when students can leverage technology to advance their learning this promotes the ability to be lifelong learners. They learn to use technology that is around them constantly in a productive way. I believe this is where real learning occurs. If you have any extra money and would like to donate to my classroom click the link below. Give to my classroom by November 19 and your donation will be doubled thanks to DonorsChoose.org. Just enter the code LIFTOFF on the payment page and you'll be matched dollar for dollar (up to $50).
So after getting into my classroom I have been working hard to get things set up the way I want them. I'm not completely done yet but here is a sneak peak. Still some bare walls but I'm sure they won't be bare for long. (Notice I have a window!!!!) |