Instructional Support Services
Health and Prevention Education
The Resource Center maintains an extensive lending library on health prevention education resources. Materials cover many topics, including fetal alcohol syndrome, teen pregnancy, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, and AIDS. Instructional resources to help students build healthy lives including resiliency training and communication skills are also available.
Health educators provide inservice training and provide technical assistance
to districts. The team coordinates several programs:
- Safe and Drug Free School Consortium, which assists small rural districts in becoming free of alcohol and drugs, violence, and the presence of firearms.
- Project ALERT, a drug prevention program for middle school students.
- The Governor's Student Health Conferences, a series of regional and statewide meetings held with adolescents and their advisors to promote positive and healthy behaviors.
Alaska Close Up
Alaska Close Up is an opportunity for high school students from around the state to attend week long sessions in Juneau to learn firsthand about the legislative process. Students meet with legislators, research bills, debate issues, and participate in a mock legislative session. They observe governmental processes in action. Close Up is funded by participating school districts.Special Education Services
Special education staff help districts identify and meet the needs of individual students. A team of professionals, including school psychologists, speech and language consultants, special education consultants, vocational education consultants, physical therapists, and occupational therapists are located throughout the state to provide services to nearly two thousand students each year in thirty-six districts.- Direct services include assessment and therapy.
- Related services involve Individual Educational Plan (IEP) team consultation, administrator training, parent training, pre-compliance monitoring, special education administration, targeted technical assistance, and policy and procedure manual writing and training.
- Preschool services offers resources for preschool children with disabilities, program organization and development, IEP services, inservice training, and Child Find activities.
- Program development offers grant writing, curriculum planning, program evaluation, research, and gifted and talented program development.
- Transition services provide IEP design, coordination services, vocational assessments, and guidance and counseling.
- Staff development and inservice training spans a full range of topics from behavior management techniques and teaching strategies for exceptional students to inclusionary practices and transition planning.
Rural Student Vocational Program
RSVP is a chance for rural Southeast high school students to explore career opportunities that may not be available in home districts. Students observe and practice occupational specific skills in job shadow positions in Juneau.Technology
From tutorials and applications to communications and research, a world of information may be accessed through technology in the classroom. The Resource Center offers comprehensive assistance with integrating new technologies into the curriculum.
Educational Technology Support Center
Technology support helps districts carefully design the planned integration
of technology into the classroom. Technology plans detailing district-specific
needs are developed to guide equipment purchases.
Technology support installs networks, trains staff in maintenance and troubleshooting, and provides training on integrating technology into the curriculum. Staff maintain and repair computers and advise participating districts about upgrading existing applications and hardware.
Training sessions may be chosen from a wide range of topics, allowing school districts to design site specific training programs to meet the needs and interests of staff.
Southeast Alaska Technology Consortium
The Southeast Alaska Technology
Consortium (SETC) is a collaboration between the Resource Center and
six rural school districts. Funded by a technology grant awarded by the
Alaska Department of Education, partner districts meet technology challenges
by developing effective plans and by building professional training and
support networks for teachers. Districts participate in a yearlong, staff
development program based on the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow staff development
model.
Adult Basic Education
Adult students enter with a wide range of educational goals. Some students meet individually with a tutor. Others enroll in small classes. Ongoing assessment and individual attention guide students to a wide range of educational goals.· Basic skills in reading, writing, and math
· GED preparation and testing
· Literacy
· English as a Second Language
· Citizenship classes
· Keyboarding
· Self-directed computer skills
Centers are based in Juneau and Ketchikan with outreach services available throughout Southeast Alaska in small villages as well as remote sites.
One Stop Center The Resource Center is one of the partner agencies providing collaborative services to job seekers in Juneau and Ketchikan. Among the state agencies involved are the Division of Public Assistance, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Alaska Employment Services, and Job Training Partnership Act. The Center provides instruction in basic skills and runs a job search training project for adults who are receiving public assistance.
Alaska Vocational Institute (AVI) is the school that puts people to work by providing training in three broad areas: occupational specific skills, life management/employment skills, and job shadowing. The most popular programs are Office Skills Training, Computer Training, and Retail Sales. AVI is also authorized by the Commission on Postsecondary Education to offer programs in nurse's aide, child care, and hospitality/tourism training.
New Chance This program, based in Ketchikan, is designed to assist dislocated mill workers. New Chance helps these workers successfully navigate the transition to new employment opportunities and adapt to a changing labor market in the region.
Juneau Alternative School
The Resource Center established and administered an alternative high school in partnership with the Juneau School District. Flexible scheduling, self-directed learning, and individual assistance contributed to the program's success at attracting students who were not comfortable in a traditional high school setting. Over one hundred students enrolled each year. In the second year of operation, over twenty students graduated with high school diplomas. Others earned GEDs.The Resource Center is proud of its partnership
role in starting an alternative program for Juneau's youth. The primary
responsibilities for running the alternative school have been turned over
to the school district. The Center's role in the future will be to provide
needed educational services, to lease facilities and equipment to the district,
and collaborate on alternative education "best practices."
Even Start Family Literacy Center
Even Start is a partnership between the Resource Center's Adult Education Programs, the Juneau School District, and Alaska Housing Development. The Family Learning Center serves families residing at a Juneau housing development.Through a variety of activities, Even Start seeks to strengthen family relationships,improve educational and employment prospects, and help young children become ready for school.
- Family activities include story telling, reading, music, art, and cooking projects.
- Parenting workshops provide guided discussion of topics.
- Adult education offers basic skills, GED preparation, career exploration, and introductory computer literacy.
- A literacy specialist assists in the elementary classrooms of participating families
- Home visits help parents become active partners in the education of their children.
Lifelong Learning
Staff members, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTAs), and a Jesuit
Volunteer are joined by dedicated community members to work together to
provide educational services to adults and families. Services are coordinated
with social service agencies, businesses, and other educational entities
to address skills intended to equip participants to meet challenges in
the workplace and the community.
With the addition of the Even Start Family Literacy program and a partnership with the Juneau School District to create an alternative high school, the adult education division has expanded to envelop the concept of lifelong learning. Families are served from birth through adulthood.