EDUCATORS RECOGNIZED FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE IN SCHOOLS, COMMUNITIES

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) awarded 11 educators from Alaska for their distinguished service today at its 2024 culturally responsive education conference, Our Cultural Landscape.

Seven educators received SHI’s Distinguished Educator Award, which recognizes educators who intentionally weave cultural and Indigenous knowledge or worldviews throughout their lessons and in their classrooms and who use approaches and materials that reflect Native students’ identity and values through place-based and culturally relevant practices, while reinforcing students’ capacity for extraordinary academic achievements.

One person was given SHI’s Community Educator Award, which recognizes that intellectual curiosity and achievement of knowledge are not limited to the classroom but can occur anywhere. The award celebrates achievements in teaching that honor SHI’s values of cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through community engagement or public outreach.

Two teachers won SHI’s Distinguished Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding leadership at a school, district or community level that exemplifies collaboration, and co-creation of environments that are safe, yet challenging, where success is defined through learning and meaningful mentorship.

The awards are a way to recognize educators who are outstanding in their field and who are making an extraordinary difference in people’s lives, said SHI President Rosita Worl.

“We know excellent teachers are indispensable to our society, but how often do we tell them so? These awards are our way of saying that we see and appreciate the difference they are making in people’s lives,” Worl said.

Distinguished Educator Awardees

•         Naakil.aan Hans Chester of Juneau: Chester is from the L’uknax̱.ádi clan and Daginaa Hít. He has been teaching Tlingit since 1998 and has worked in the Juneau School District since 2005. He works with the Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy program at Harborview Elementary.
•         John Hudson III of Metlakatla: Hudson has been teaching Northern Northwest Coast Native art in the Annette Island School District for 14 years. He is Tsimshian and a member of the Wolf clan. He is passionate about passing on the traditional Tsimshian art form to the youth of Metlakatla.
•         K’ah Skaahluwaa Wendy Todd, Ph.D., of Ketchikan: Todd is Haida Eagle of the Fish Egg clan of the Sculpin House from Hydaburg, Alaska. She is a Dr. Howard Highholt Endowed Professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) in the Departments of American Indian Studies and Earth and Environmental Science. She has Ph.D.s in environmental science and ocean sciences. Growing up in a coastal community unknowingly set the stage for her life as a geoscientist and oceanographer. The interdisciplinary nature of ocean science was reflective of her training in traditional knowledge and its holistic nature from childhood, leading her to choose a field of study that is culturally relevant.

•         Ronnie Fairbanks of Craig: Fairbanks has inspired Native artists on Prince of Wales Island and beyond for nearly twenty years. He always brings an overwhelmingly positive attitude that reminds his students that every one of them can do amazing things. Fairbanks is Tlingit, Tsimshian and Chippewa and grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He received his bachelor’s degree with a focus on fine arts from Fort Lewis College in Colorado. Since then, he has served as a Native art teacher at Craig High School. For over a decade he has uplifted students at summer culture camps and even took the lead for the Prince of Wales camps when COVID made taking students to Juneau impossible. His positivity, kindness and passion inspire educators and students alike, in and out of the classroom.
•         Seig̱óot Jessica Chester of Juneau: Chester is Yéil Naa of the L’uknax̱.ádi clan from Xíxch’i Hít in G̱unaax̱oo Ḵwáan. She lives with her three children, Took Isaiah John, Shákwk’ Helen John and Eex̱k’ John Charlie John. Seig̱óot has taught Tlingit language and culture in the Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy program since 2007. While working at TCLL, she has been mentored by Kaséix Selina Everson, Yaxdulákt Lillian Austin, Jigei Tláa Irene Cadiente and Kingeistí David Katzeek. Her current mentors are Geis’ Genevieve Guanzon, Yaanwaa Tláa Leona Santiago and Kaakal.aat Florence Marks Sheakley. Seig̱óot’s favorite part of teaching is hearing her students speak Tlingit with the Elders.
•         Lindsey Baranovic of Juneau: Baranovic has been an educator in her hometown of Juneau for 12 years. After receiving her master’s degree in early childhood, focusing on inclusive education, she began searching for new ways to integrate culture and child-centered learning in her classroom. Her work with SHI’s Raven Writes program has given her the opportunity to learn from and alongside amazing educators and community members and integrate these practices into her classroom.

•         Justin Pisurta Zimin of South Naknek: Zimin grew up in the small village of South Naknek, which sits on the eastern shores of Bristol Bay. A large part of his work as the program coordinator for the Bristol Bay Regional Career and Technical Education Program is to coordinate, host and sometimes teach culturally oriented courses for students throughout the region. His work follows in the footsteps of his grandfather and mother, both of whom have spent many years teaching and sharing their Indigenous culture.

•         Sam Atik’aq Gosuk of Togiak: As an educator in Togiak, Gosuk has served in a variety of positions, including special education aide, special education teacher, assistant principal, principal, Yup’ik studies coordinator and cultural instructor. During the school year he often hosts intensive, week-long survival and subsistence courses that are beloved and highly anticipated by students. He has a wealth of knowledge about Togiak and the surrounding areas, including wildlife and plant life, and he shares this knowledge with students and staff at the school. He is a wonderful storyteller and his classroom is often a place where students and staff enjoy having the opportunity to eat traditional foods that he prepares. Sam goes above and beyond to welcome new educators to the district and community. He is a strong and dedicated educational leader whom we are happy to celebrate.

Community Educator Awardee

•         Stacey Williams of Ketchikan: Williams, a Tlingit weaver, offers a variety of support to students and educators of all ages through small group, large group and individualized lessons. Private commissions, research consultations and other sales of her crafts support her efforts in cultural revitalization. She encourages each of her students to further the arts, maintain our ancestors’ path and embody the intention of “Our Way of Life.” She believes that through diligent dedication the arts were more than decorative; highly adorned utilitarian items showed elegant proof of our society prior to outside contact. She teaches that it is now our responsibility and honor to rediscover and practice the arts respectfully, thoroughly and with deep commitment.

Distinguished Leadership Awardees

•         Panigkaq Agatha John-Shields, Ph.D., of Toksook Bay: Panigkaq is the daughter of the late Chief Dr. Paul John and Martina John from the Yup’ik community of Toksook Bay. She has been an assistant professor for the past 14 years at University of Alaska Anchorage School of Education. She is the lead for a new graduate certificate in Indigenizing Education.
•         Brenda Utatak Edwards of Anchorage: Born in Fairbanks to Mike Edwards from California and Hattie Edwards, Inupiaq from Anaktuvuk Pass, Edwards always knew she was going to be a teacher, and through teaching, she learned the importance of school leadership. She believes that a school must offer a strong community culture in order to widely impact its students, strengthen their identities and increase their kindness and self-confidence.

The 2024 Our Cultural Landscape conference is offered by Sealaska Heritage Institute in partnership with Goldbelt Heritage Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution and the Association of Alaska School Boards and is funded by Sealaska and the U.S. Department of Education’s Alaska Native Education Program. The event is also sponsored by Discovery Southeast, the University of Alaska Southeast and Heritage Coffee.

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private nonprofit founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. Its goal is to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. SHI also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee.

CONTACT: Kathy Dye, SHI Communications and Publications Deputy Director, 907.321.4636, kathy.dye@sealaska.com. 

Caption: Some of the awardees at SHI’s education conference. From left: Panigkaq Agatha John-Shields, Seig̱óot Jessica Chester, Brenda Utatak Edwards, Naakil.aan Hans Chester, Stacey Williams and Justin Pisurta Zimin. Photo by Mircea Brown, courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute. Note: Media outlets are permitted to use this image for coverage of this story. For a higher-res image, contact kathy.dye@sealaska.com