Highlights of the past year

Another year has come and, in the blink of an eye, has gone. Oh, there were plenty of days (and nights) when it felt like time had stood still or had even gone backwards, especially when having to cover meetings. So many meetings. But that is the nature of the beast, to cover the things that are taking place in the community.

Thinking back on 2023, there certainly was a lot. From gravel, gravel, and more gravel, to the emergence of a small but vocal group of people out to remove books from school libraries, with loftier goals in mind, to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the POTUS.

There was also a lot that happened around the school district, from a bus driver strike that impacted not just transportation to and from school, but interfered with getting students to athletic activities and field trips; teachers voting to strike after contract negotiations stalled, though it never came to pass; and of course, the school boards policy changes that have sparked a student movement and a lawsuit.

When I look back at the hundreds (yes, I did say hundreds) of stories, told with thousands of words, the thing that strikes me most in the stories that seemed to have the most impact on me are the stories that involve kids. And in this case, kids mean those found in high school and younger.

Of course, most of the stories that involve younger people seem to center around the emergence of a high school student movement and the impact they were trying to make. A grassroots movement started in a few high schools with students from the student governments deciding to speak out at a school board meeting, heeding the advice of some board members who wanted to see students engaged in local government meetings. What followed was, yes an investigation, but also a movement that began to grow. Not long after, students from all across the Mat Su walked out in protest to decisions and policy changes the school board had made. There were protests held in the cold and dark, just outside of school property, before school was to begin. Students were seen at not just school board meetings, but Borough Assembly meetings as well, taking part, watching their local government in action and getting a real-world education. There are plenty of people who think that these students have no business participating in these kinds of activities, that their time is better spent in the classroom, heeding to the elected and appointed officials, though most of these students know more about civics, history, and government than a number of elected officials do.

Moving away from that, there are some other amazing things young people are doing. I have done more than one story about the students in different Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, and every single time, they have blown me away with what they are able to accomplish, whether in the welding program, earning certifications, moving on to higher education in engineering programs, or entering the workforce straight out of school’ or the aviation program over at Career and Technical High School (CHTS) who are literally building an airplane from the ground up, and some are already certified to fly (or getting there soon); and over at Houston High, where students from different CTE programs were able to team up and design gingerbread houses for a chance at a scholarship.

But it’s not just high school students who were impressive this year. Earlier in the year, I met with students from Teeland Middle School who were raising money for their robotics competition. These weren’t just everyday robotics either. The group of students had already won a grant for their recycled containers with net zero features such as air source heat pumps and insulation from refrigerated containers, and were building on that project as they headed to national competition.

One of the most surprising and popular stories was the group of students from three different elementary schools that typically make up Su Valley Junior/Senior High together for a shared art and music project. Elementary students from the schools worked on 3 panels, and instead of painting their own mascot-a timberwolf, a wolverine, and a husky-the students worked on a panel for a different school. They also wrote and sang a song unique to the occasion.

There were others I met this year that I would consider highlights, like 15-year-old Eric Edwards, who let me tag along while he got a behind-the-scenes tour of MATCOM as they worked to set up a ‘Premises Note’ in case Eric, who has cerebral palsy and has speech and mobility issues, would need to call 9-1-1. Or Josie Herbert, who had been Miss Alaska High School and was using her platform to overcome hurdles from her learning disability, including public speaking, leadership skills, and communication skills, as well as convey a message of empowerment and helping others who were foster kids, and then adopted, see that they can overcome challenges.

So as everyone recovers from their holiday hangovers and starts to get into the groove of a new year, the community should feel proud of the youth and the roads they are paving for the future.