PACE holds meet and greet in Wrangell last week

PACE, the statewide homeschool program, held a meet and greet at the Stikine

Inn last Wednesday, Sept. 25. Jen Whicker, a contact teacher for PACE, said that the program has been around since 2001 and is one of 15 homeschool providers in the state.

Currently, she said they serve about 310

students across Alaska. About 22 of those kids live in Wrangell. There are several reasons a family might consider homeschooling,

she said.

"Sometimes the schools have overcrowding, or kids feel bullied, or their kids aren't learning like they think they should for various reasons, so they can target their needs and help them excel at home," she said.

Whicker was visiting Wrangell to pass out information on PACE, and to let people know that they are currently enrolling for the 2019-2020 school year. They will enroll students any time of the year, she said, but it is best to get as many enrollments as possible before the funding period closes in October. How the PACE program works is parents interested in enrolling their child will have a meeting with PACE, either in person or over the phone. The child will then be given the materials needed to complete their coursework, and parents will be supplied with the tools to accurately grade their homework. The parents then report back to PACE with a progress report.

"They take the curriculum and figure out how to teach it," Whicker said. "Most of them have a nice teacher guide that will guide them through, if they're not sure. Some families kind of know how to do that and some need curriculum that's more scripted for them that helps them know how to teach it."

As a public school based in the Craig School District, according to their website, enrollment into PACE is free and open to the public. PACE pays for core classes such as language arts, math, science, and others, and parents can also be reimbursed for their children taking electives. The allotment for students varies upon their grade level and the number of courses they are enrolled in.

"I enjoy what I'm doing and I'm happy to help families figure out what works best for their kids," Whicker said.

Whicker can be reached at jwhicker@craigschools.com or at (907) 225-3274. More about PACE can be found online at http://www.paceschool.net.