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When See Stories brought its documentary filmmaking program to Wrangell two years ago, most of the students who participated hadn't picked up a camera outside of what was on their phones. Now, Laura Davies, a teacher at Stikine Middle School, is carrying on what she and her students learned by creating Stikine Stories, producing more documentaries and podcasts. One of her former students who participated in the original program even plans to make filmmaking a career. Alaska-based See Stories, a...
TURKEY TROT on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 28, at the covered basketball court, hosted by Parks and Recreation. Sign-up is at 8:45 a.m. and the fun run starts at 9 a.m. Costumes encouraged. All donations will go to the Stikine Middle School cross-country team travel fund. ELKS HOOP SHOOT free-throw contest for ages 8 to 13 will be Saturday, Nov. 30, at the community center gym: 10 a.m. for ages 8 to 9; 11 a.m. for ages 10 to 11; noon for ages 12 to 13. For more information, call Jeff Jabusch 907-305-0086. A hamburger lunch for all participants...
In a series of intersquad and exhibition matches, Wrangell wrestlers put on a show in front of their fans, friends and families. On Friday, Nov. 15, the high school wrestling team hosted their only home event of the year. Petersburg made the trip to town for the one-day meet, comprised of a handful of exhibition matches between the two rivals. The senior night festivities that preceded the competition were emotional for head coach Jack Carney. Carney, who also serves as the middle school wrestli...
Alaska has joined a growing number of states that are considering cellphone restrictions in schools. The Alaska Board of Education has directed the state’s education department to create a policy to limit the use of cellphones in schools during class hours. Currently, there is no statewide cellphone policy in Alaska, and any restrictions must be set at the district or school level. Several already do that, including Wrangell middle and high schools. “The Stikine Middle School is cellphone, earbud free,” said Greg Clark, who serves as princ...
Borough Manager Mason Villarma stopped his truck at the top of St. Michaels Street when a car driving down Church Street whizzed by him going 40 miles per hour - 15 mph over the speed limit - in a school zone, nonetheless. "We need to slow things down here," Villarma thought to himself this summer. In response, he reached out to other borough officials to see what could be done. The result is a four-way stop at the intersection of St. Michaels and Church streets, next to the Stikine Middle...
Port commission candidate Eric Yancey would like to see a second boat launch ramp constructed at Heritage Harbor, "right alongside the one that is there." The ramp can get busy and backed up, he said. "One thing would be nice during the summer over at Heritage ... a second boat launch." The 20-year-old harbor has a large parking area and is popular with people who trailer their boats in and out of the water. It's much closer to town than the launch ramp at Shoemaker. Another pinch point for...
School is back — at least it will be in a week. On Aug. 22, students will walk through the doors of Evergreen Elementary, Stikine Middle and Wrangell High, marking the start of the 2024-2025 school year. Superintendent Bill Burr said this year’s projected enrollment of 260 students is an estimate, nearly identical to last year’s average daily tally of 259.5. Though school might not feel all that different for students walking the halls, the upcoming school year will not be without some changes. In personnel, Jamie Wollman and Greg Clark will...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed more than $230 million in spending from the state budget but left intact $6.5 million for repairs to Wrangell school buildings, along with $5 million for stabilization work at the community’s water reservoir earthen dams and $200,000 for the borough to start planning an emergency access route from the southern end of Zimovia Highway. In addition to covering state-provided public services, construction projects and community grants, the budget bills signed by Dunleavy on June 27 also will provide an estimated $1,650 t...
Wrangell is on a financial winning streak these days. It has received multiple state and federal grants to pay for construction, repairs, rebuilds and improvements. But that does not help pay the operating costs of public services and local support for the schools. It’s a distinction people need to keep in mind. Money in one pocket does not automatically transfer to another pocket. The borough has received notice of a $25 million federal grant to rebuild most of the downtown harbors floats. It will receive $6.5 million from the state to go t...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has indicated he is willing to accept a one-year increase in state money for schools as legislators work toward a $175 million addition to the funding formula before their scheduled adjournment deadline May 15. The increase would cover almost two-thirds of the projected revenue gap in the Wrangell School District operating budget for the 2024-2025 school year. Districts statewide face significant budget deficits after more than seven years without an increase in the state’s per-student funding formula. Though both the H...
A film festival featuring student-created documentaries about different facets of Wrangell life will be held at the Nolan Center at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 14. Admission is free. Middle school science teacher Laura Davies said the documentaries were created during the school year after two weeks of intense training with mentors from the nonprofit program See Stories. "(We're) aiming for about 10 (documentaries), but it depends on how many finish their films in time," she said. Based in Juneau,...
The Alaska Senate has passed a capital budget to fund roads, school repairs and rebuilds, housing, water and sewer systems and other public works projects across the state — but the spending plan is short of funds to cover repairs to Wrangell’s three aging school buildings. The budget bill approved by the Senate on April 12 will move next to the House for its consideration and possible amendments before a legislative adjournment deadline of May 15, at which time the governor could exercise his authority to veto individual items in the spe...
One of Wrangell's two teams placed second in the Stikine Middle School Invitational Volleyball Tournament, losing to Klawock in the final, while a Petersburg team took first place in the other bracket after defeating a different squad from Klawock. The two-bracket competition of 13 teams from middle schools across Southeast was held at the Wrangell high school and community center gyms on Friday and Saturday, April 12-13. The teams included two from Wrangell, one from Craig, one from...
BOOK FAIR 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 21, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, March 22, at the Evergreen Elementary School gym. Open to the public. Call Kendra at 907-874-2321 for more information. BAHA’I NEW YEAR (Naw Ruz) 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, at the community center. Enjoy a potluck dinner, short program and social. Family oriented. Call 907-209-9117 for more information. STIKINE HOOPS INVITATIONAL, middle school-age girls basketball tournament Friday and Saturday, March 22-23, at the high school gym. Games start at 11 a.m. Friday a...
March 6, 1924 The leap year edition of the Stikine Messenger, published on the 29th of February by the girls of the high school, was a splendid six-page paper and reflected much credit on the girls and their adviser, Miss Alice Carlson, teacher of English and history, and could be shown with pride by any school. When it is considered that the total enrollment of the high school is only 25, the achievement of the girls is even more remarkable. The high school boys will issue the March edition of the Messenger and they make no secret of the fact...
The state, which administers the federally funded Community Development Block Grant program, has awarded Wrangell $695,000 toward a new roof at the middle school. The borough assembly designated the school roof — most of which is almost 30 years old — as its top priority for the grant program this year. The project is estimated at about $1.4 million. “We would have to provide the balance to make it a whole project,” Amber Al-Haddad, the borough’s capital facilities director, said Feb. 28. “It’s possible we can get the (middle school) roof done...
Jackie Hanson has resigned as principal of Wrangell High School and Stikine Middle School, effective at the end of the school year. Hanson started with the Wrangell district in August. She was the third principal for the schools in the past three years; each served just one school year. She responded via email that she was offered a position as superintendent for the Craig City School District. Since most of her family lives in Craig, her parents are getting older and she already has a house there, she decided to accept. “I plan to finish the s...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following positions for the 2023-2024 school year: - Paraprofessional: This is a part-time position working with students in Grades 6 through 12, 5.75 hours per day in the Special Education Program at Stikine Middle and Wrangell High School. A high school diploma or equivalent is required. An associate degree, equivalent credits, or the ability to pass the para pro assessment is also required. - Middle School Volleyball Head Coach: This is a part-time, contracted position coa...
Wrangell is No. 16 on the statewide priority list and unlikely to receive any school repair money this year from the state’s Major Maintenance Grant Fund. The list, prepared each year by the Alaska Department of Education after reviewing engineering and condition reports on school buildings, determines which districts receive state funding for their priority repair and rebuilding projects. The Wrangell School District had requested $6.5 million in state money that it would use with $3.5 million approved by voters in 2022 to make $10 million o...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following positions for the 2023-2024 school year: - Paraprofessional: This is a part-time position working with students in Grades 6 through 12, at 5.75 hours per day in the Special Education Program at Stikine Middle School and Wrangell High School. A high school diploma or equivalent is required. An associate degree, equivalent credits or the ability to pass the para pro assessment is also required. - Middle School Volleyball Head Coach: This is a part-time contracted posi...
A massive landslide 11 miles from town destroyed three homes on Nov. 20 - including one that housed a five-member family - and stranded more than 70 residents who lived south of the slide. Timothy Heller, 44, Beth Heller, 36, Mara Heller, 16, and Kara Heller, 11, have been confirmed dead. Derek Heller, 12, and Otto Florschutz, 65, were missing as of Monday night, Nov. 27. Christina Florschutz, a teachers aide at Evergreen Elementary School, survived. The slide occurred shortly before 9 p.m. and...
A massive landslide 11 miles from town destroyed three homes on Nov. 20 — including one that housed a five-member family — and stranded more than 70 residents who lived south of the slide. Timothy Heller, 44, Beth Heller, 36, Mara Heller, 16, and Kara Heller, 11, have been confirmed dead. Derek Heller, 12, and Otto Florschutz, 65, were missing as of Monday night, Nov. 27. Christina Florschutz, a teachers aide at Evergreen Elementary School, survived. The slide occurred shortly before 9 p.m. and destroyed the Florschutz residence and an unoccupi...
After considering 11 projects submitted by community members and borough staff for Wrangell’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application, the assembly selected the Stikine Middle School roof replacement as its top priority at the Oct. 24 meeting. Most of the middle school roof hasn’t been replaced since 1995, and the roof’s substrate has begun to warp after 28 years of water absorption. The estimated cost is $1.475 million. The CDBG is a federal program that provides financial assistance for low- to moderate-income communities seeki...
Oct. 25, 1923 Volume 1, Number 1, Buy 1, of the School News of the Wrangell Public School is off the mimeograph. The publication is brim full of interesting reading pertaining to school life in general and the Wrangell school in particular. The School News, like every other publication that has appeared on the journalistic horizon during the past 300 years, “fills a long-felt want.” For the past quarter-century or more, there has been a class in English in the Wrangell school each year, with students eager for an opportunity to make use of the...