Back to school days in Mat-Su

August 21, 2007

By John R. Moses

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Jokes, breakfast and new class assignments marked first period at the new home of Su Valley Jr./Sr. High School. An assembly in the Upper Susitna Senior Center building featuring warm flapjacks and maps of the new campus marked the reopening of a school that burned to the ground June 5.

&#8220A lot of people reminded the students that school isn't the building, it's the people in it,” said Su Valley PTSA member Jenny Krepel.

Students and staff made the best of an odd situation as the close-knit community resumed its quest for education in an environment that is unfinished, uniform and temporary nature.

Librarian Deb Maynard's room had books but no shelves, a common problem in Su Valley classrooms, too.

Some teachers were missing a lot more than just shelves. English and Spanish teacher Pat Bills had to start from scratch over the summer -her classroom was in the main building, which burned. Some other teachers and the library had been moved to portables last March due to a roof reconstruction project at the old campus.

&#8220I lost 16 years worth of teaching supplies, novels, lesson plans,” Bills said Monday while unwrapping a new portable stereo. On her desk was a stack of freshly-lettered orange flashcards to replace the old ones.

&#8220Normally you can go to the file cabinet and bring it out. Now I'm just creating lessons,” she said.

Su Valley was one of 39 campuses to begin the school year Monday. Correspondence, the 40th Mat-Su campus, conducts programs for students working at home.

Schools spokesperson Traci Crotteau said the area around Wasilla High had an unexpected traffic jam due to road paving work that wasn't finished on time at Crusey and Bogard Road in Wasilla. She said the problem will be solved tomorrow and a traffic light is coming soon at that intersection. By yesterday afternoon the new entrance to Wasilla High was open.

Nearby at Wasilla Middle School the back entrance to the school will be open allowing traffic to exit and drive on the unpaved portion of Crusey. Crusey should be paved by Saturday, she said.

Monday also marked the opening of Mat-Su Career and Technical Education Center on North Seward Meridian Parkway, and things went a little smoother than in Su Valley.

Principal Ben Eveland said all was well there Monday. &#8220I don't think you could have dreamed of anything smoother,” he said. &#8220The young people have shown that they're mature enough to be here.”

The new campus draws full-time students as well as part-time students who are bussed from other high schools for specific technical or career courses. The school offers training in many subjects, like culinary arts, drafting and training to be a certified nurse's assistant, as well as general education.

&#8220It seems we're picking up a lot of kids who are presently home-schooled or in other programs,” Eveland said.

He said the basic school programs will earn students a diploma, but the school has given up a lot of creative electives like fine arts to fit in detailed vocational training programs. It's a choice each family makes when they apply, he said. &#8220To me, this isn't for every kid.”

The day marked another historic first for the district - a high water mark for new administrative personnel.

There were 12 new principals and six new assistant principals. Of those, about a third are former Mat-Su teachers who spent two years training in a district program.

One freshly-minted administrator is John Brown, new principal of both Talkeetna and Trapper Creek Elementary Schools in the Upper Susitna Valley. The 20-year-veteran educator taught middle school students in the Valley for six years before joining the district's program.

Brown compared running the two campuses to keeping &#8220spinning plates” aloft, but said a saving grace is having dedicated and experienced staffs at both schools. Experienced teachers and office staff make everything work, he said.

Brown said he likely would have retired a teacher had he not had the chance to enroll in the district's in-house administrative training program.