Warrior Nation Community Schools: A community-wide effort to teach technical, skilled trades

As the Russia invasion of Ukraine nears its third year, hundreds of refugees have made a new home for themselves and their families here in Alaska. As the families get acclimated to the Last Frontier, a new need has arisen for the Ukrainian refugees to access technical education and become members of the workforce.

Meanwhile, there remains a gap in the local community with a need for a more skilled workforce.

To answer the call, Laura Anderson, Librarian and Media Specialist at Wasilla High School (WHS), along with Principal Jason Marvel and USAF CMS (ret) Bret Copple, who leads the JROTC at the high school and is a member of the VFW Post 9365, along with other community partners to form the Warrior Nation Community Schools (WNCS) program.

“We’ve been working on this for over a year now, with the city, with MTA, the Wasilla Tech Alliance, and others,” Anderson said in a recent interview. “This is a great opportunity and a way to open the door to other vulnerable populations and make a bigger impact.”

The WNCS is a no-cost career and technical education program that will help teach technical skills like construction and electrical work. It is a logical complement to the evening English Second Language class for adults and school-age refugees already being offer at the school.

Marvel says that developing the WNCS requires a different approach than what is typically seen at high schools. “You look at education as preparing and training employees and send them out into the community to find the employers. It’s really loud and clear that our community has said that we need these skilled trades. And what we’ve done is identified these employers in the community that have needs and want to help bridge that gap.”

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has over 120 Ukrainian refugees, second only to Anchorage. This first program is a pilot program that will serve as a model for expanding workforce training throughout the Mat-Su Borough, and the funding for it, in the form of a grant from the Catholic Social Services, is specific to the Ukrainian refugees, through the Refugee Assistance & Immigration Services (RAIS) program that provides a bridge for refugees and other new arrivals from their former life experiences to the new skills required for success in the United States.

“The pilot program is to show viability for future funding. CSS is specific toward the Ukrainian refugees, which is why we are targeting them first,” said Marvel. “The big vision, in collaboration with the VFW, who will be overseeing the grants, is really a community-wide effort in response to the workforce development gap. We want to train workers and tradespeople to fit in our community.”

The grant, upwards of $76, 000, was accepted and will be managed by VFW Post 9365. Copple says the VFW getting involved was a natural fit, even if from the outside it might appear otherwise.

“People hear the VFW and this community schools project targeting young adults and wonder why the VFW would get involved in something like this –this is not a veteran thing. What people don’t realize is the VFW is a much broader entity. We do a lot of projects for the community because we and our fellow veterans and families live in the community, and if the community is thriving and doing well, then we are thriving and doing well.”

“The valley needs employment, they need training centers like this to put people to work,” Copple said. “And so who benefits from that is the veterans and veterans’ families who end up staying here.”

Anderson says the program has the support of local businesses like Sumner Homes, MTA, and the City of Wasilla, along with national companies like Ford Motors.

The goal of WNCS is to not only help the refugees, but also bolster the local workforce, something Wasilla Mayor Glenda Ledford can only benefit the local community. “If a person can go to school, become certified in a trade, it means better wages, better families, and better communities.” Mayor Ledford said that there were community schools set up in the past, and that the WNCS brings a new approach. “We are re-inventing an old idea with a new take on it. I’m very excited.”

The WNCS will meet weekly in a series of evening classes and will offer childcare and have translators on hand.

There will be an information night on Tuesday, February 4 at Wasilla High School starting at 5:00 p.m. Dinner will be available and visitors will have a chance to meet the team and sign up for classes. For more information, please contact Laura Anderson at laura.anderson@matsuk12.us

“This is really important, and with all the partnerships we have, it truly makes this a community effort,” said Marvel.