KCC Offers Two New Courses in Pre-Engineering and Plumbing & Pipefitting

PRE-ENGINEERING
Smart pigs? Battle bots? What are zerks and how do they work? Have you ever taken apart something that was working just fine because you had to know what was inside? Next fall, Anchorage juniors and seniors have the opportunity to take Pre-Engineering at the King Career Center. This exciting new course is a hands-on exploration of engineering design, reverse engineering, and research and development strategies where students design, build, and test prototypes, refine their designs, and conduct destructive testing.
This class sparks interest in engineering as a career and fosters talent with fun and challenging design competitions, labs, industry tours, and guest speakers. Pre-Engineering is a project-based course that is an integration of math, science and technology. Every activity will add to your understanding of engineering as you proceed towards a wide range of possible careers. The Pre-Engineering course will introduce students to the major engineering fields: Mechanical, Chemical, Civil, Petroleum, Environmental, and Electrical. Engineering is a field that is in high demand, pays high wages and the outlook for employment is very bright.
Pre-Engineering at KCC is guided by an advisory board comprised of engineers and executives from CH2M Hill, Shannon and Wilson, ConocoPhillips, CRW, and BP among others. Students have the opportunity to earn internships and summer jobs in different engineering disciplines in Anchorage and across Alaska. If you are strong in math and science, have a curiosity about how things work, and like to solve problems, Pre-Engineering is for you.
Brian Nelson, longtime ASD teacher and certified Mechanical Engineer will teach this course.

PLUMBING AND PIPEFITTING
Plumbing and Pipefitting is the newest course in KCC’s dynamic Construction Trades department. This new course will expose students to the many sides of plumbing, from copper and ABS to new technology like PEX tubing.
While the main focus will be the plumbing skills, other more universal construction skills will be taught. All trades use blueprints; that’s how we get structures built to the right specifications. Students will learn the meanings of all those lines, symbols, numbers and letters. Communication skills and employability skills will be covered to help students get that job and keep it.
Second semester students will expand upon their learning by working with cast iron pipe and fittings and steel pipe and fittings. They will learn about drain, waste and vent systems, and they will study the functions and structure of municipal water systems, including the treatment plant, pumping stations, reservoirs and distribution piping.
James Elam, KCC Construction Trades teacher will be the instructor for this class.

TO REGISTER FOR KCC CLASSES, PLEASE SEE YOUR HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELOR. THESE NEW COURSES WILL FILL QUICKLY SO DON’T HESITATE. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT KCC’S COUNSELOR, SHELLEY BERRY, AT 742-8947.

Mission Statement completed!

In attendance:
Barbara W.
Charles W.
Joe B.
Ken V.
Karin
Larry
Patrick M.
Jack
Nina
Tonei

Great turn out and super-productive meeting. Read on for details and how to pitch in on the next step.

Karin presented a document reflecting the work from the last all-community meeting on the Mission Statement. The group quickly gravitated to the shortest, strongest statement as a basis to work from: “The mission of Steller Secondary School is to foster independent, confident, self-directed learners.”

Our first step was deleting everything before “foster.” Then we looked for a stronger verb. Larry won many over with “stimulate,” but some thought that didn’t reflect the nurturing aspect of Steller enough. Tonei suggested “inspire.” After discussion, we agreed that “inspire” suggests both the active, exciting part of the mission and the supportive, nurturing aspect. It also suggests both inspiring independent learners and inspiring students to become independent learners.

Next we focused on broadening the emphasis on individualism in the statement, which we felt left out the important community aspect of Steller. We discussed whether “community” should come before or after the verb: is the community inspiring learners, or is community part of the inspiration we want to provide? Ken pointed out that our mission should focus on student outcomes, and a sense of community is something we want to instill in Steller students; thus, community should come after the verb. That point carried the day.

Here is our final product, presented with pride:

“Inspiring a community of independent, confident, self-directed learners.”

Next we discussed how to approach the Steller philosophy and creating the list of core values. We decided to tackle the list of values first. Each will be followed by an explanatory sentence. Then we will use the values to build the new philosophy statement, filling out what we mean and how each value should be actualized in the school. We threw out words we wanted to see listed as values and asked everyone to contribute more they want to have considered via email. We will plan another meeting to work through the values, trim down, and add explanatory statements.

Here is the brainstormed list of core values so far:

Freedom
Responsibility to self and community
Responsible freedom
(debate deferred to the next meeting on how much to combine the above)
Courage
Trust
Love of learning; life-long learning, enthusiasm for learning
Diversity
Community
Responsible commitment

We had a discussion about approval of the mission statement. Karin agreed to present it to the Ad Board, but the committee felt it would be mistake to allow further editing of the statement, because that would devalue the inclusive process we have used to this point. The consensus was that if the Ad Board rejects the statement, it should be brought back to the committee, but the statement should not be amended outside our process

This weekly news update is published for the Steller community by volunteer effort, sanctioned by the parent forum.

Send submissions to kjfarley@mtaonline.net.
Deadline each Tuesday.
Occasional copies of the Steller News Flash can be found on the bulletin board across from the office.

Wednesday, April 23rd, is filled with three important meetings. Please note the changes in date and location. If there was one night of the year to attend as many school meetings as possible, this might be your opportunity!!

The Steller Strategic Plan Committee will meet at 4pm in Danielle’s Room to take the work done on Steller’s mission at the last all-community meeting and refine it into a statement we can all support. We will also work on the philosophy statement and a list of our core values. This material will come back to the full community, probably next school year. For more information hit the Read the rest of this entry button below.

Ad Board to meet at 5:30pm in Danielle’s Room. This is a rescheduled meeting due to the snow cancellation last week. Karin and staff will be in attendence.

Parent Group to meet at 5:30pm in Ken’s Room. This is also a change from the previously announced date.
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Are you planning to go back to school? Do you talk with students who are interested in college or job training? Do you have kids or grandkids who want to further their education? Do you have a student loan or know someone who does? Then you likely have questions about the federal student loan programs.

Do you want to know about loan deferments for the military? What about graduates who have loans they are having trouble re-paying? If you lose your job or take a pay cut, what new options are available to you for paying your loans? What changes were made to Upward Bound, to Pell Grants, and to student loan eligibility? What will be the interest rate on a Federal Family Education Loan or a Direct Loan in 2010 when you’re ready to go, or go back to, school? What has changed in the way the federal government calculates how much money they’ll provide for a loan or grant?

An easy way to find the answers is finally here – the U.S. Department of Education’s Dear Colleague Letter on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. Just click here to download an understandable explanation of the changes made by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act.

The Strategic Plan Committee is meeting Tuesday, Jan 15, at 3:45 pm in Danielle’s room. This group has been organizing our all-school meetings and renewal process. The purpose of the meeting is to review action plans on Orientation, Advisory Groups, and Staff Development based on the discussions at the last all-community meeting. These three plans will then be taken to student, staff and parents, and to the next all-community meeting, on January 31. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate in our committee meetings. For more information, or to get on the email list for committee announcements and minutes, contact Charles Wohlforth (wohlforth@gci.net; 274-2271). Press ‘Read the rest of this entry’ to read the notes from the December 7, 2007 meeting.

Continue reading →

The Anchorage School Business Partnership program has been part of the ASD community since 1991. At present the program has grown to almost 540 partnerships worth well over $2,500,000 dollars to the School District. The program offers opportunities for businesses and schools to partner their expertise and services with one another. Generally, a business will give assistance directly to a selected school. The business partner enhances the education of ASD students and helps students gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the community and business world. The underlying message is that there are business professionals who support our schools and actively look for positive ways to assist.

This year, Steller has three business partners. The first partnership is Title Wave Books. Title Wave has found several ways to help Steller students participate in community service. Most recently, Title Wave asked and Steller responded: 17 Steller students took the performance stage at Title Wave and read selections of their choosing for a packed house during Banned Books Week 2007. Afterwards, Title Wave provided each student participant with a thank you gift. Last year, Title Wave generously provided over 25 gift certificates for student recognition as well as one for a seriously ill staff member. They are also willing to provide mentorships for interested students during our January and May intensives. During the holidays Title Wave gives Steller groups priority on their gift-wrapping station during the holiday season. They provide wrapping paper, tape, a table, and public address announcements free to Steller. Several advisory and class groups earned tips for their charities, clubs and activities last year and groups will again be “wrapping it up” on several occasions this holiday season once again.

The Anchorage Downtown Partnership is our second business partner. The ADP provides opportunities for student volunteers during holiday events in the downtown area. Because most colleges require over 500 documented high school
community service hours, this is just one good reason why Steller strongly recommends students attain 500 community service hours or more by the time of their graduation. The ADP sends a personalized letter to every Steller participant after each event recognizing his or her service, a nice addition to his or her college portfolio.

The next opportunity for Steller students sponsored by the ADP is the Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration, which will be held on Monday, December 31. Students can help anytime between 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. with children’s parties and other activities occurring in Town Square. ADP is inviting families of Steller students to participate as well. Interested families and students can call Kris Natwick at 279-5668, or email her: knatwick@anchoragedowntown.org to sign up.

Our third business partner is Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Alaska. Steller students have the opportunity this year to participate in the BBBS “Bigs and Littles” program. Essentially, Steller high school students in grades 9-12 volunteer to become a “Big,” and they are individually paired with an elementary school “Little.” Since we are so close in proximity to North Star Elementary, “Bigs” are paired with North Star Elementary “Littles.” Bigs and Littles meet together once per week for one hour at North Star for friendship and fun. A Big might read a book with their Little, help with homework, or just talk.
Finally, Steller can have more than three business partners. We would love to hear from any size business that would like to work with Steller and potentially form a partnership. Furthermore, Steller families are always invited to provide support in any of the mentioned areas. Please contact Linda in the Counseling office at 742-4956 or by email at samorajski_linda@asdk12.org. Thanks for your input!

Dear Parent and Guardian,

If your son/daughter is looking for something totally challenging and rewarding to do this summer, you might want them to give serious consideration to apply for the Alaska Railroad Tour Guide Training Program. This opportunity involves learning about Alaska while at the same time receiving high school credit and training for summer employment in the Alaska Visitor Industry. Continue reading →

ASD is holding a series of community discussions on high schools of the 21st century. The talks are open to parents, students, staff and community members. The district is examining all aspects of high school education to create a vision for 21st century learners.

With recent public comments in the paper semi-negative toward non-neighborhood schools, the Steller community may want to remind our community-at-large about the unique opportunity of alternative education.

Meetings are 7-9 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 23, Dimond High, Room C112
Wednesday, Oct. 24, Service High, Theatre
Tuesday, Nov. 6, Chugiak High, Library
Wednesday, Nov. 7, East High, M2 and M3
Wednesday, Nov. 14, West High, Cafeteria
Wednesday, Nov. 28, Eagle River High, Cafeteria
Thursday, Nov. 29, South High, Commons