Students take part

in planning process

By RINDI WHITE

Frontiersman reporter

COLONY HIGH SCHOOL -- Good jobs and quality schools are what many in the Mat-Su Borough are most concerned about seeing in their communities, and they're also the top two priorities of a group of students at Colony High School.

In a mixed-age classroom at the school Friday, a group of about 30 students took part in a public consensus collaboration hosted by two planners from Peter J. Smith and Company. The company is a New York-based consultant group that was hired by the borough to update the borough's Core Area Comprehensive Plan.

Planners Mary Kopaskie and Eve Holberg pared down a session that was initially geared to last two hours to fit into the one-hour time frame of two classes taught by Colony High teacher Larry Johnson, and walked students through the process of identifying goals they believe are important. The two classes taking part were a freshman law-related studies course and a mixed-class sociology course.

Kopaskie said the consulting company doesn't often get requests to include students in the planning process, and modifying the criteria to fit the time frame and the group was challenging. Judging from some of the questions, students weren't accustomed to being included in the planning process either. Several students weren't familiar with the term "core area," often used to describe the densely populated area between Palmer and Wasilla.

But the students were clear about what they valued. When the three groups of students were asked to indicate their top three priorities from 26 goals, each of the three groups agreed on two -- that the quality of schools is an attraction in the core area and should be maintained and enhanced, and that area residents should focus on developing more and better jobs in the core area.

In a class that included sophomores, juniors and seniors, it may not be a surprise that employment was a concern. And from their comments as the students deliberated, access to jobs was more important than where the jobs were located.

"I honestly have no problem driving in to Anchorage every day to work," one student said. "But that's just me."

Other students discussed whether development should be regulated or allowed to progress unrestricted. Students in one group agreed that tourism was vital to the area and that future development should be compatible with the natural environment to retain that attraction.

"If people wanted to see a big, huge city, they'd go to New York or something," a student said.

One student asked whether the school district was being included in the planning process, and who was representing the district's views. Kopaskie said Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle was part of planning discussions when the group was here in April and will continue to be included in the process.

Students were asked to consider the needs of the area 15 years in advance. Most students couldn't remember what the core area looked like 15 years ago -- or 10 or fewer years ago, for that matter. And when asked if they would be here in 15 years to see the coming changes, a chorus of "God, I hope not," "I don't think so," and "Not me" resonated. But one student pointed out that Alaska has a unique capacity to draw people back home after they've moved away, sometimes more than once.

Whether students planned to stay in the area or not, some said they were glad they were asked.

"I think it's great that we were able to get a voice," student Jaimz Nilsen said.