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Harlee Harvey, 2023 Alaska Teacher of the Year
North Slope Borough School District Teacher Named 2023 Alaska Teacher of the Year
Last Tuesday, DEED announced that Harlee Harvey at Tikiġaq School in Point Hope has been named the 2023 Alaska Teacher of the Year.
Harvey is a graduate of the American College of Education and has been teaching at Tikiġaq School in the North Slope Borough School District since 2014. She has taught both first and fifth grade. Harvey has been involved with numerous staff development programs and extracurricular activities for students including the Inupiaq Spelling Bee, Battle of the Books, and is a Mapkuk Mentor for the North Slope Borough School District’s cultural curriculum project. Harvey’s classroom environment and instruction is centered on culturally responsive practices. Her peers commend her for her knowledge and respect of the Inupiaq culture. Similarly, her decision to make Point Hope her home and become involved in the community outside of the classroom has helped earn her respect and facilitates connecting with students.
“I want to congratulate and thank Ms. Harvey for a job well done,” said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “As a former rural school teacher, I appreciate the dedication she has given to her students, the school and the community of Point Hope."
“Congratulations to Ms. Harvey for this well earned recognition,” said DEED Acting Commissioner Heidi Teshner. “Ms. Harvey’s investment in the students of Point Hope is a shining example of how teachers not only help children learn, but also strengthen communities in the process.”
As Alaska’s Teacher of the Year, Harvey will participate in programming offered by the Council of Chief State School Officers with other state Teachers of the Year. Harvey will also be Alaska's candidate for the National Teacher of the Year.
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Alaska Health Warning: Fentanyl
Schools can support families by sharing messages about the dangers of opioids, especially fentanyl.
Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Illicit fentanyl is commonly mixed with other illegal drugs like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine or counterfeit pills made to look like prescription drugs. It comes in a variety of forms, including pills, powder, chunks or rocks, and liquids. A new and particularly troubling form is rainbow-colored fentanyl in chunks or pills that look like candy. Students, staff and families should know that a very small amount of fentanyl can cause an overdose. Just one pill or a tiny amount can be fatal.
The Alaska Department of Health has issued a new Alaska Health Warning to help alert Alaskans about this danger.
 State Board of Education Regular Quarterly Meeting
The Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development is holding professional development today in SItka. Tomorrow it will continue professional development followed by a work session and business meeting.
The board will take public comment starting at approximately 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday. Oral comment is limited to three minutes per person and five minutes per group. Public comment may be made for this meeting during this time only, in person or by calling 1-844-586-9085 if you are outside of Anchorage or Juneau. For participation from Anchorage, call 907-563-9085 and from Juneau, call 907-587-9085.
This meeting will be live-streamed through the LIO at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiUm8eR1-b8 (audio only) beginning at 8:30 a.m. on September 7, 2022.
When public comment is over, the meeting will continue to be broadcast at the above website.
Topics at the work session include legislative and budget update, assessment cut scores regulations for adoption, regulations for re-adoption to include teacher certification, assessment participation guidelines, and native languages, MEHS land sale, and discussion of commissioner recruitment process.
Topics at the business meeting include assessment cut scores regulations for adoption, regulations for re-adoption to include teacher certification, assessment participation guidelines, and native languages, MEHS land sale, and commissioner recruitment. The board will hear standing reports on the department’s divisions and the commissioner’s report, and will consider approval of the July 13, 2022 meeting minutes.
The board’s meeting packet is available online at https://education.alaska.gov/State_Board by clicking on the meeting date.
Alaska's Reading Playbook Webinar Series Begins Today
DEED and the Region 16 Comprehensive Center are excited to offer a new webinar series for Alaska's Reading Playbook.
Alaska’s Reading Playbook is a guide for educators teaching in Alaska’s unique educational landscape. The playbook combines decades of nationwide research with examples and resources developed by educators in our state.
The fall webinar series includes two tracks: an in-depth training for teachers, and a training course for school and district leaders.
The teacher series includes six session on Tuesdays and Thursdays in September from 4pm-5:30. The series for school and district leaders is three Wednesdays from 10am-11am.
Registration is now open.
RFA: Evidence-Based Summer Learning and Enrichment Programs
Through strategic planning that happened prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, DEED identified five positive trajectories, or goals, which were articulated as Alaska’s Education Challenge. To the greatest extent possible, DEED intends to use these five areas to focus all state-level American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act funded initiatives with hopes of simultaneously addressing COVID-19 related needs, addressing pre-existing areas of challenge, and sustaining the gains beyond the availability of these one-time funds.
This request for applications will ask potential subgrantees to provide evidence-based programming that intentionally supports at least one of the four selected areas of Alaska’s Education Challenge:
• Support all students to read at grade level by the end of third grade;
• Increase career, technical, and culturally relevant education to meet student and workforce needs;
• Close the achievement gap by ensuring equitable educational rigor and resources; or,
• Improve the safety and well-being of students through school partnerships with families, communities, and tribes.
The purpose of this competitive grant is to provide school districts and community-based organizations the opportunity to establish innovative strategies to carry out activities that will address unfinished learning and provide enrichment activities through summer programs.
Applications are due October 7, 2022.
Click here to view the full RFA.
 Assessment Literacy Professional Learning Opportunities on AKLearns
The 2022–2023 NWEA® Assessment Literacy Professional Learning Catalog for Alaska provides an overview of professional learning opportunities offered statewide for teachers, teacher leaders, coaches, and administrators. These assessment literacy learning opportunities include virtual workshops, virtual seminars, and on-demand eLearning. Now on AKLearns.org, you can find dates, times and details on the intended audience for each session. Click here to view opportunities.
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