reach from the before-mentioned youth programs, ARE taught more students overall in 2020 — 4,966 as this is written, compared to 4,875 for all of 2019. The realization was that this new approach also freed up the ARE staff to teach anywhere, anytime, instead of relying on expensive, time-consuming travel to remote classrooms and schools. “In addition to being able to reach more students across Alaska, students and teachers from the Lower 48 have also signed up for and participated in some of the ARE pro- grams,” Ede said. The ARE’s team of five did not start out with a goal of expanding outside the state. “It was initially organic (that teachers and kids outside Alaska started participating). The Girl Scouts were a lot of the reason behind that through their connections, Girl Scouts all over the country learned about what we were doing and wanted their troops sitting at home to learn about Alaska’s resources,” Ede said. The new ARE motto is “Working Together to Change the Traditional Classroom.” The current curriculum has four levels: n Kindergarten – 2nd grade – introduction and en- gagement to science n 3rd-5th grade—scientific exploration n 6th-8th grade—understanding the world around them n 9th-12th grade—economics of and careers in re - source industries There is also a primary focus on “teaching the teach- ers” as well as providing resource materials. A select group of older students and teachers also take part in programs in the field, learning firsthand how mining works. Instead of just taking the previous training online, the ARE team embraced the technology and invented new of- ferings to increase student engagement, including: n Mineral and energy camps n Science fairs n Girl Scouts badge camps n STEM career nights n Smart Girls Rock camps One innovation online class, called Girls Rock Camp, is an eight-week program focused specifically on introduc - ing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) topics to girls, who have often been neglected. Smart Girls Rock is by design, because girls are not traditionally en- couraged to go into STEM careers, especially in grades 4-7 where girls have gotten less attention than boys. ARE has used great creativity providing simple teaching tools that help the kids learn complex concepts. “That’s one of things that the Department of Energy grant that we got last year did, was allow us to buy a lot of materials, with money that was originally planned to travel to all these rural communities around the state,” Ede said. ARE has received a $500,000, four-year grant from the Department of Energy, running from 2021 through 2024, not just to continue its current work but to expand it be - yond Alaska to the entire country. The total number of programs more than doubled for 2019. And the number of communities reached increased ninefold, from five to 48 in 2020, including communities in 16 states outside Alaska. The number of teachers involved also increased five - fold, from 60 to almost 300. The innovation for 2021 will continue, adding more
high school classes, new teacher training and STEM/ca - reer camps. The organization, which has relied heavily on fund- raising events at major conventions like the Alaska Min- ers and Resource Development Council conferences, also shifted gears in fundraising this year. For example, during November’s RDC convention, a new ARE online version of “Jeopardy” pitted industry professionals against ARE stu- dents from grades 3-6. “Going forward, there will be some effort to expand our lessons to the Lower 48 and again that ties back to our Department of Energy grant,” Ede said. “The initial grant was for only for Alaska in all 12 regionas focused on tribal energy education. The next grant starting in 2021 expands beyond Alaska and includes some effort in the Lower 48 to educate Lower 48 students and teachers about Alaska’s natural resources and specifically energy. “One of the advantages of the Department of Energy grant is that we are able to invest in supplies and materi- als and increase our effort to get materials to students and teachers and classes that make our lessons more interac- tive and fun.” A benefit of ARE’s involvement in high school class - rooms is several young Alaskans who first learned about mining through ARE are now working full-time in well- paid Alaska mining careers. ARE has created several excellent videos showcasing the impact of science and technology education for young Alas- kans, and for the companies who will someday hire them. Those stories are online at: www.akresource.org/videos.
For more about ARE, see www.akresource.org.
Arctic engineering and environmental services.
We help mines thrive.
Victor Ross (907) 352-7809
victor.ross@stantec.com Steve Reidsma, PWS (907) 450-1425 steve.reidsma@stantec.com
25
Winter 2021
The Alaska Miner
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