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Though the Wrangell School District has had its challenges filling various positions throughout the years, one position ⎯ the activities director ⎯ has seen yearly turnover with four people in the position in the past three years. Lifelong resident X'atshaawditee Tammi Meissner is the latest hire for the part-time contract, and she is committed to staying in the job "for the foreseeable future." Meissner, who also works as the community navigator for the Central Council of the Tlingit & Hai...
The Wrangell School District has received the green light to buy an electric school bus through a federal clean energy grant. In his report to the school board on Aug. 21, Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said the Environmental Protection Agency approved the district for a grant that will go toward a newly built electric bus and charging station. The grant was almost a no-go just a few months ago. Working with the district’s contracted bus company, Taylor Transportation, Burr submitted the grant to the EPA about a year ago. The program r...
When I arrived almost exactly two years ago, Jeff and Kay Jabusch told me people in Wrangell aren’t necessarily wary of newcomers. Rather, they pointed out, they’re hesitant to get attached since they never know who’s going to stay. I fully intended to stay. As you read this, I’m on the Columbia with my three cats, headed for Bellingham, Washington. From there, I’ll disembark and head for my new home in Idaho. A lot changed in two years. When I arrived here, I was married and had four cats and was quite healthy. The marriage ended after bei...
Four elected positions will be on the municipal ballot on Oct. 3, and as of Monday it was uncertain if all of the incumbents will seek re-election. Two seats on the borough assembly, one on the school board and one on the port commission will be on the ballot. All four are three-year terms. Esther Aaltséen Reese, the only incumbent on the five-member school board whose term expires this year, said last week she is undecided as to whether to run for the position again or not. Anne Morrison, who holds one of the assembly seats that will be on...
Though not all children had enrolled before the scheduled start of school on Thursday, Aug. 24, due to migrant status or other reasons, district staff reported an increase of two students over their enrollment estimates from last November, which will help with a very small increase in state funding. A couple more students could add maybe $20,000 or so in state money to the overall $5 million school district operating budget. The budget for the 2023-2024 school year is based on 263 students, however, after the updated enrollment estimate, that n...
The whistle trills. "50 freestyle! Take your mark!" The athlete gets into position on the platform. The horn sounds. "Go! Let's go!" SPLASH! With the reopening of the community swimming pool, the high school swim team was able to jump into practice and get their feet - and the rest of their bodies - wet for the upcoming competition. As the swimmers finished up their practice sprints on Aug. 17, with coach Jamie Roberts monitoring their form, they began to cool down. "It's especially important th...
Visitors to the Anan Wildlife Observatory could pay much more than the current daily $10 permit fee if a proposed increase is approved later this year. The U.S. Forest Service recently proposed boosting the fee to $50 per person, per day. If enacted, the full amount would be phased in over the next four years, with the additional revenues helping to pay for work at the popular bear viewing site. According to Erica Keene, media relations specialist for the Forest Service in Alaska, Anan has not had a fee increase since 2004. “The revenue from t...
It's beginning to look a lot like fitness at the Parks and Recreation Department. For the past several months, department staff and work crews have been laboring to finish projects, add more amenities and make the community healthier. One of the recently completed projects was a major fix to the swimming pool, which reopened on Aug. 7. The pool had been closed since last November to repair a leak and to upgrade the ventilation system. "We haven't had any major water loss, which means the repair...
When was the last time you had an excuse to let loose and dance or “cut a rug” like cool people said 100 years ago. On Saturday, Aug. 19, from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, the adult prom will give partygoers the chance to live it up and help a community-based nonprofit at the same time. “It’s going to be your high school prom but better,” said event organizer Devyn Johnson. “It’s a retro disco, so you can choose any past decade you’d like to dress up as.” Proceeds from the prom will benefit Wrangell Burial Assistance, an organization John...
In an age of cash-strapped school budgets, teachers and support staff have found themselves getting creative in order to give students all the tools needed to succeed in their education. A teacher at Stikine Middle School had such success with an extracurricular class last year that she began fundraising to continue the program this year, reaching her goal in a short amount of time. Sixth grade teacher Laura Davies worked with Juneau-based Seth Bader and the See Stories program last spring. The...
Just like the gardens they visited, the number of people in attendance grew as last Sunday's garden tour progressed. About 15 people showed up at first, but that number had sprung up to 22 by the end. Five gardens were visited during the nearly four-hour tour, with participants - both garden owners and visitors - sharing ideas, cultivating techniques and educating each other on what grows and what doesn't. The tour was presented by the community garden committee to give growing enthusiasts a...
Jackie Hanson has been an educator for 19 years. For all that time, she has operated under the philosophy of helping people reach their aspirations, regardless of how different they might be. The new Wrangell High School and Stikine Middle School principal is already in the office, ready to meet teachers, staff and, most importantly, the students. Originally from Lewistown, Montana, Hanson began her teaching career in Noorvik, in the Northwest Arctic Borough School District. She and her...
It's hard to miss: Groups of people whizzing down the streets of Wrangell on what looks like a cross between a bicycle and an old-school moped, sometimes down the middle of the street or dangerously close to pedestrians on the sidewalks. Increased use of electric bicycles, or e-bikes for short, has some questioning how the law applies to the machines, specifically where they can and can't be ridden. Wrangell municipal code states, "No person shall ride a bicycle upon a sidewalk within the...
Newly cleaned flooring, new paint and new faces will be among the changes students see as they return to school on Aug. 24. However, there will be plenty going on that students don’t really notice. School district staff are working hard to prepare for the coming educational year, whether it be in updating their certifications, preparing the classrooms or focusing on all the little details to ensure a successful year for kids. Online registration will begin Aug. 11 on the school district website, while in-person registration will be held Aug. 1...
When most people think of vacation, they don't necessarily think about work. But for visiting Britons Kate Dziubinska and Charlie Winchester, their work is the reason for their vacation. Winchester, 35, and Dziubinska (pronounced Juh-bin-skuh), 29, arrived in Wrangell on July 11 as part of a multi-country tour to learn how other countries are doing conservation work in wilderness areas. It's taken a lot of planning and saving (as most of their travel is self-financed), but it's yielding a world...
They gathered around a long table in the front hall of the Nolan Center, cutting construction paper, drawing and coloring images and gluing pieces together. There was focus. There was vision. There was quiet. There was not a kid in sight at the BearFest adult art workshop on July 27. About 12 women showed up to put their creative touch on Native formline art, with templates for bears, salmon, ravens and other things like totems. Various colors and designs could be utilized and the only limit...
“Mary, Mary, quite contrary How does your garden grow?” While gardeners in Wrangell may not plant silver bells and cockleshells, they still grow a myriad of things that some folks might find difficult to cultivate in the Southeast climate. To that end, a tour being offered by the community garden group at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 6, will give gardening enthusiasts a chance to see how others successfully grow things like potatoes, strawberries and a variety of flowers. The group is still enlisting gardens to participate in the tour, but so far...
Scientists and staff with the U.S. Forest Service are hopeful that the blackheaded budworm outbreak that began three years ago throughout the Tongass National Forest is beginning to decline. Data collected earlier this year revealed not only the extent of the damage done by the half-inch insect but evidence showed the worms are dying off. Elizabeth Graham, an entomologist with the Forest Service, said in a news conference on July 20 she has seen firsthand that there is lower activity of the bug...
Whether you have a green thumb or are all thumbs around greenery doesn't matter. If you want to help beautify downtown, the Parks and Recreation Department is looking for you. And your thumbs. Six garden beds throughout the downtown need to be adopted by volunteers who will weed, clean, water and maintain the spots. Another six have already been adopted. "The beautification of downtown Wrangell is everybody's responsibility in that your community is what you make of it," said Lucy Robinson,...
When people choose to live in a remote area, they give up certain things like grocery stores, movie theaters and, probably most importantly, pizza deliveries. That's why residents of Port Protection were thrilled when Nic Martin and Brian Schwartz showed up on July 15 with 18 pizzas from Nic's Place pizzeria. Not only was it a chance to expand the reach of Nic's Place and bring some happiness to the community on the north end of Prince of Wales Island about 47 nautical miles west of Wrangell,...
This year’s Wrangell High School cross country team has some big running shoes to fill. Last year, the boys team placed first at regionals and first at state, which was a first-ever accomplishment for the team. Some of those runners are returning and head coach Mason Villarma has big hopes for the athletes. “I think the men will definitely look to repeat a state championship,” he said in an interview on Friday, July 21. “I think the women — Southeast looks really weak — so I think they can win a regional championship. Anything can happen at s...
It was a month of learning, exploring, brainstorming and playing in the wilds of Alaska that left one Wrangell youth with a lot to think about. Andrei Bardin-Siekawitch was the only teen from Southeast to join other students from across the state on the latest Upward Bound and Teaching Through Technology Alliance (T3) trip, giving him an opportunity to make new friends and start plotting a course for his future endeavors. From May 31 through June 30, Bardin-Siekawitch, 13, traveled to the...
From a “beary” pie contest to a cub-o-war, art workshops, live music and a usually sold-out dinner, BearFest is returning for its 14th year. The activities start July 26. The popular educational and cultural event celebrates bears and the surrounding environment. Along with the activities, educational opportunities and symposiums and a bear safety session are planned. One of the more popular features of BearFest is the dinner and fundraising auction held at the Stikine Inn and Restaurant, which will begin at 6 p.m. July 28. Tickets went on sal...
As tribal members lined the shore on the backside of Shakes Island, dressed in regalia from their respective clans, one of their voices rang out. "Where do these boats come from?" "We are the children of Hawaii. We come from Hawaii," came the response from a canoe in Reliance Harbor. "Aahá. It is good to see you again. Aahá. Come on our land. You are welcome." From the moment the sailing vessel Hōkūleʻa appeared on the horizon June 27 to greet the Tlingit tribe near Petroglyph Beach for an esco...
As three days of cultural exchanges wrapped up in Wrangell with the departure of the visiting crew from the Polynesian Voyaging Society, another piece of Wrangell history came to light depicting Tlingit life almost 140 years ago. In the late 1800s, artist Theodore J. Richardson painted a watercolor of a village that appears to be in the general vicinity of Reliance Harbor. A photo shows him possibly working on that watercolor while in a boat in Zimovia Strait, with Woronkofski Island in the...
