Alaska ICE is the Alaska Initiative for

Community Engagement, a statewide initiative of the

Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB).

Community Engagement is the intentional action of

groups and individuals working together to create healthy environments that

support the growth and education of children

and youth.

Feb. 2011 Helping Kids Succeed - Volume 6, Issue 2 Alaskan-Style! www.alaskaice.org

Alaska ICE News

Alaska ICE Launches New-Look Web SiteAs Alaska ICE marks a decade of innovative school, community and organizational partnerships improving the climate for Alaska’s kids, we are also ushering in a new online presence. www.AlaskaICE.org remains a link connecting our membership and others with great community and youth engagement news and education information.

We have transitioned to a cleaner look resembling the AASB website and reorganized our banner tabs and ma-terials in a way that you will hopefully find to be more ap-pealing and user-friendly. New to the ICE site are buttons along the left sidebar with content tailored to specific au-diences: “Youth,” “Parents/Families,” and “Communities;” school climate and community engagement sections, and much more.

We invite you to come take a look, navigate through dif-ferent pages and sections and learn more about who we are, the different collaborative projects we’ve participat-ed in, and the positive results and data that we’ve seen.

We are in the process of transferring remaining files and community photos, but are well on our way. If you have trouble locating a file or article, try the “search bar” in the upper left corner of the site, or contact us at aasb@aasb.org. Thank you for your patience in this process.

Feel free to drop us a note on your thoughts about the new site (positive or negative) at: aasb@aasb.org.

10 Years of Alaska ICE: A Vision Becomes Reality

Kids These Days radio

If you haven’t tuned in to Kids These Days radio, or visited the website, you’re

missing out.

The shows are interesting, informative, and entertaining all at the same time! And the website is chock full of web-extras related to show topics

in the form of links, video, articles, and research.

Recent show topics explored have included fatherhood,

love & family relation-ships, the value of music, foster care in Alaska, and

grandparents.

www.kidsthesedays.org

A decade of Alaska ICE actively partnering with schoolsand collaborating with communities to help kids succeedis producing positive results. What began as a small groupof dedicated individuals with a big idea has steadily growninto a broad-based statewide initiative with many partnersworking to build a strong web of support for Alaska’s young people.

Through individual and combined local efforts by adults and youth in support of healthier communities and young people, school and community climates are improving. Supportive relationships with adults in and out of the school setting are associated with achievement gains and, with our ongoing support, numerous organizations across Alaska are transitioning to a positive, strength-based ap-proach to youth development.

Ten years working proudly with schools and communities from Ketchikan to Barrow...

Clear evidence of this positive transformation is steadily mounting:

• More positive environments for youth in schools and communities,

• Increased levels of adult support for and involvement with youth,

• Improved youth outcomes in academic engagement and achievement, social and emotional learning, and risk behaviors, especially for Alaska Native students. > Continued on Page 2

www.alaskaice.org

ICE’s annual report highlights progress, partnerships, evaluation results, and lessons learned from a decade of innovative collaborations. View the 2010 Report at: www.alaskaice.org

Alaska ICE News www.alaskaice.org Page 2 of 2

Let us share the good news from your community

with others!

Send photos, stories, or event-listings to include in our newsletter and on our

website.

alaskaice@aasb.org www.alaskaice.org

10 Years of Alaska ICE - continued from Page 1

“How we use the 40Developmental Assetsto guide our actionsin classrooms and

throughout the school isjust as important as theacademic content that istaught, if we expect the

student to learnand thrive.”

- Anchorage Secondary School Administrator

The Arts Engage Students

All 60 kindergartners at aJuneau elementary school

are learning to play the violin in Juneau Alaska Music

Matters (JAMM), an innovative program that

engages families and builds school readiness skills such

as focus, discipline, self-control, small and gross motor skills, perseverance, delayed gratification, teamwork, and social emotional learning.

Connecting with Youth Through the ArtsAdults’ supportive relationships with youth are key to un-locking students’ potential, academically and creatively. Join AASB’s Bridget Smith, Lakota Murray and Annie Caulfield as they lead the 2011 Artist TOPs Workshop, a free two-day training for anyone who engages young people through the arts.

The focus of the workshop is connecting adults with youth in both school and community environments through the developmental assets framework and arts disciplines. The training is designed to give participants a thorough understanding of the assets, and a variety of strength-based tools and techniques for encouraging community and youth engagement at the local level.

Apart from the opportunity to take an in-depth look at the assets framework and its connection to the arts, and shar-ing insights and ideas with a network of artists from across the state, you will have the time and assistance to plan an arts project for your community with possible funding opportunities.

Communities that have taken advantage of this offering through the years include Chalkyitsik, Sitka, Homer, Ket-chikan, Healy, Nondalton, Haines, Whittier, Two Rivers, and more. Community arts projects range from arts camps to culinary classes, school murals to dance fundraisers, and from community engagement workshops to potter’s studios.

For more information on registering for the Artist TOPs

Cooking classes in Ketchikan brought youth and adults together for a fun, hands-on learning experience.

and creating positive relationships with youth through the arts, contact Bridget Smith at (907) 586-1083 or visit www.alaskaice.org.

Learning to Connect Through the ArtsA 2011 Artist TOPs Workshop

April 14-15, 2011Anchorage, AK

8:30am - 4:00pm

Space and funding are limited, so apply early!Please respond by March 17th.

Districts and communities with strong commitments andactive engagement over time showed the most positiveresults. AASB remains committed to building upon theseencouraging trends by continuing to assist Alaskans increating healthy and resilient communities that supportkids.

Alaska ICE looks forward to continuing established col-laborations and building new partnerships for our next 10 years as we work together to improve our school and com-munity climates for Alaska’s children and youth. At Alaska ICE we recognize that it is through the hard work and in-tentional actions of Alaskans at the local level that we con-tinue to make strides on behalf of our children and youth, and together, our shared goal of helping all of Alaska’s kids succeed will be achieved.

Sustainable community change takes time, but it is pos-sible when people and organizations make a commitment to work together. Everyone shares in the responsibility of helping all our young people succeed, and there are end-less opportunities to participate within families, neighbor-hoods, schools, youth organizations, faith communities, businesses…wherever adults interact with children and youth.

“The safer and more connected students and teachers are, the better our students do.”

- Sammy Crawford, Kenai School Board ...Chalkyitsik to Unalaska, and places in between.