Spectrum

School is valuable to non-traditional students

This is an open letter to the legislators: I have just learned of a State Task Force's proposal to close Alyeska Central School, the state-operated correspondence school.

I must urge you, and yes, beg, that you vote against this proposal.

Speaking as the parent of a student who just graduated from Alyeska after attending it from K-12, I feel I have the unique ability to say it would be criminal to take this valuable asset away from Alaska's remote students. I sought and fond the very best school for my son to attend when he started school.

We live remote -- a lifestyle with unique requirements which the school adapted to, to meet my son's unique needs, instead of trying to force him into a mold with other students. By doing this they allowed him to flourish. Because of our lifestyle, my son worked year-round on his school work as our lives and survival required time-consuming chores on a daily basis, and I commercial fished summers. Many schools close for summers, but ACS was there to meet that need.

In kindergarten he feel in love with sea life and for seven years we were allowed to create marine biology lessons to substitute for regular curriculum to encourage his interest. I am proud to say that he graduated in January and has started his first semester at UAF School of Fisheries, on his way to a master's degree in marine biology, with the dream of one day helping to find the solution to Alaska's dwindling fisheries.

Because of the background they allowed him to build and encouraged him in, he is taking a post graduate course in his freshman year, and will be allowed to go out on the research ship during spring break, (unheard of for a freshman) and because of the efforts of his teachers and their unique ability to work with students by mail -- no small feat I can assure you -- he is an honor student at UAF with straight A's in all classes.

In fourth grade we saved the life of an orphaned bear cub in mid-winter and cared for it through the winter, and the school let us do bear studies and observations as a science course substitute. That same year my son got interested in horticulture, and with the encouragement from his science teacher, he started an experimental orchard as a science project that we now harvest from.

When they ran out of science courses of interest to him, they searched numerous programs out of state and found oceanographic and astronomy courses for him.

Their workload for their students was much heavier and more demanding than most programs, but I felt "the more expected of him -- the more he would grow and learn," which is exactly what happened. I have recommended Alyeska to numerous parents who tried it then moved to borough programs because they were easier and did not have such rigorous programs.

Alyeska Central School needs to be commended for its efforts and ability to teach students at such great distances -- and not be judged in terms of monetary value. You cannot put a dollar value on a great education for Alaska's students.

Through the encouragement of Mr. Selig, one of the science teachers, my son joined the school's Academic Decathlon Team for 2001 and 2002, and both years their team took third place for all large schools in Alaska that were competing, and won the Super Quiz over all 35 schools in Alaska that were competing. At 2003 decathlon one student in honors division earned four gold medals. These accomplishments are reflective of the school and its programs.

If the state truly values the education of its students, it needs to continue offering ACS as an option for its students. Their dedication and drive to help their students be the best educated that they can be, and be there for encouragement when they slip, needs to be applauded.

I am sure my son is not a unique case. I attended the Academic Decathlon for 2001 and 2002 and worked as a judge, and never ceased to be amazed at the wonderful teams that ACS put together -- bright, brilliant and eager students. I could see the once-a-year personal interaction between the students' coaches -- who were also the unseen faces behind the school work the rest of the year -- and the pride they took in themselves and their school.

Money can be found when it is needed, that is fact of government. It might need to be moved around a bit but it can happen, and it needs to happen to allow ACS to stay open. The Su-Valley High School, among many others, orders courses from them to fill in what they cannot offer.

Alyeska is an extremely valuable asset to the state and needs to be acknowledged as such and continue to be protected by state law as the treasure that it is. It is older than the state.

If you start taking educational resources away from students to save money, you are in essence destroying that which you are supposedly trying to do -- give each Alaskan student the best education possible to prepare them to lead Alaska in the future.

I hope you will forgive the length of this but much had to be said. I hope you will ponder this issue seriously and realize the true value of this school to the state and vote against the proposal to close it, for the sake of current students as well as possible future ones.

It must also be pointed out that ACS teachers write their courses, supplemented by text books, to be current and up to date, as well as make lessons more understandable to the student. There are no text books for correspondence students, especially in math. They also have a wonderful program on Alaska Studies and Alaska History that should be mandated for all Alaskan schools. Racism against Natives will never disappear until students understand the Native people and their culture. They have also gone the extra mile during the years to develop programs unique to the different Alaska lifestyles.

A student on a fishing boat cannot do land-based science, there are students living a subsistence lifestyle who benefit from courses relating to horticulture and students living on a trapline who can find courses unique to their circumstances. There is something for everyone and their unique situation. They by no means duplicate available services; they are the ultimate education services to our students. ACS has programs designed for traveling students, students out of state for illness -- you name the circumstance, they have it covered.

Another point, ACS is one of very few correspondence programs accredited by the state so its students can go on to college. It was Alaska's first correspondence school and is older than the state itself and is by no means an antique. It was built in 1939 and currently has about 1,100 students enrolled. It has set standards that most others cannot nor probably ever will be able to meet.

"No child left behind" will not exist in Alaska, especially in remote areas, if it is closed. Remote students will be forced to take whatever is available even if it is substandard or poorly organized compared to ACS.

The parents and 1,100 students have chosen it for one reason -- its academic excellence as a correspondence school. Check benchmark and exit exams of ACS against others. You will be surprised. There is a very good reason why it has survived and thrived for so long -- it is unsurpassable as a correspondence school.

It should also be noted that many come from Anchorage by choice year-round, not just summers.

Nancy J. Richar is a Trapper Creek resident.