SEALASKA HERITAGE TO HOLD VIRTUAL SUMMER CAMPS ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ARTS AND MATH ACROSS REGION
Program open to middle school students in Southeast Alaska in six communities
May 25, 2021
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will offer summer academies to middle school students in Southeast Alaska with instruction on science, technology, engineering, arts and math, an approach known as STEAM.
The academies, offered through SHI’s Opening the Box program, will be offered in Juneau, Wrangell, Sitka, Hoonah, Klawock and Angoon, marking the first time it has been offered in multiple communities.
The STEAM curriculum includes real-life situations to help students learn and activities that provide hands-on lessons for students, an approach that makes education interesting and fun.
SHI will also incorporate culturally-relevant themes into the curriculum. For example, Sitka students will work with Sitka Tribe of Alaska to test local shellfish for toxins. Hoonah students will make halibut hooks and fish with them. Angoon students will make bentwood boxes, and other students will use three-D printing to create formline design molds for chocolate.
“Through STEAM, students create, explore, make and problem-solve through place-based, hands-on activities and through a Native world view,”” said SHI President Rosita Worl
The year-round program will be delivered in-person to students in grades 6-8 from June 7-12 in Juneau, Wrangell and Sitka and from June 14-19 in Hoonah, Klawock and Angoon. The registration deadline is Friday, May 28.
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 social 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: For media inquiries, contact Amy Fletcher, SHI Media and Publications Director, 907.586.9116, amy.fletcher@sealaska.com, for more information about the academies, contact Paul Leininger, STEAM Project Coordinator, 907.586.9112, paul.leininger@sealaska.com