Wrangell kids return from ANSEP trip

Students from Stikine Middle School returned from their trip to Anchorage on Jan. 24. The trip, hosted by the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, let the students get a taste of college life by staying on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus and participating in numerous STEM projects. Winston Davies, teacher and chaperone for the trip, said it was a terrific experience for the kids.

"It went really well.

The kids, all 13 of them, had a blast," he said. "It was a neat experience. It was an educational thing, but it was just a fun trip to come out of town and get some exposure to the college campus life."

The kids, from middle schools from several different communities, got to work on several various projects. They built computer towers, learned about the 1964 earthquake, dissected fish and sea lion droppings, and also made a visit to the Sea Life Center in Seward. Education surrounding earthquakes was heavily emphasized during the trip, Davies said. In fact, he said in an email, the class got to experience a 5.0 magnitude earthquake on the second day of their trip. Besides all that, they also got to hear a presentation from an astronaut.

"Our timing was pretty cool because, apparently, every year they do this big annual ANSEP celebration at the Dena'ina Center, which is the big convention center in Anchorage. It was basically to thank all their donors," Davies said. "It was a huge production. The keynote speaker was an astronaut, Bernard Harris."

The purpose of the middle school academy, Davies said, was not only to give middle school students a taste of college life, but also to help point them towards other programs when they get to high school age and begin looking for college credits. He mentioned that there had been talk of ANSEP building an academy in Wrangell several years ago, but he was not sure if those talks had gone anywhere.

To learn more about ANSEP, visit their website at http://www.ansep.net.