The Raven's Call
Raven Homeschool
July 2019 Edition
Dear Raven Families,
Welcome to our digital newsletter! By having the newsletter as an electronic version, offices may now include links and easy-access resources for you to click on.
This main SMORE will have an overview of highlights from each of our 6 Raven offices. To view more in-depth information from each office, you will click on the coordinating link to view their personal SMOREs.
If you would like a printed copy, please contact your local office.
If you have questions, please contact Maegan, mmascagno@yksd.com
- Raven Homeschool
From the Director's Desk:
After 25 years of service with the Yukon Koyukuk School District, I have decided to retire. My last day of service will be June 30, 2019.
I would like to thank all of the students, families, staff, communities, and the Regional School Board of YKSD for allowing me the privilege of working with such an amazing group of people and talented leadership, learning about our District's many cultures, and sharing in so many successful ventures.
As I look back over my career, I will cherish my nine years in the classroom teaching and working as a principal in Minto. The people of Minto and the Minto Flats will always hold a special place in my heart. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to serve as the Assistant Superintendent allowing me to learn, grow, and appreciate the uniqueness of each of our communities. My past fifteen years with Raven have allowed me to assist the District in supporting educational choice in the changing face of education. I will miss the daily interaction, the thoughtful conversations, and look forward to seeing the program continue to grow. Thank you for letting me be a part of the Raven family.
I will take with me many fond memories.
- Andrea Cottrell
Director of Distance Education, Raven Homeschool
Vocabulary Resource:
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- provide differentiated instruction to all students; RTI, AP, ELL, etc
- effectively support special education students
Vocabulary.com is a platform for life-long word learning that can serve students from 4th grade right up through adulthood.
Visit https://www.vocabulary.com/ to get started today!
Counselor's Corner:
Welcome to Raven!
I hope you are having a great summer already! I want to personally thank you for enrolling with Raven for the 2019-2020 school year. As your school counselor, I wanted to let you know that I am here for you.
Each year, Raven works to coordinate and provide workshops and events targeted towards high school students and students in middle school. Special focus is given to graduating seniors to assist with post-secondary planning. We provide various workshops and events throughout the year, so stop in and pick up a counselor flyer of activities from your local office. Many of the events we do will be posted on the website, within Raven’s Call, and in the counselor newsletters sent through SMORE.
SOAR Beyond Graduation!
What's beyond graduation? Many options are available for students beyond graduation. These options generally include occupational/vocational education, military enlistment, career exploration via work, college and more. Your Counselor will be a key member of your team as you investigate the options that are of interest to you.
There are many paths to graduation, let us know if you are interested in the Alaska Performance Scholarship and we can check your graduation audit to see if you are on track for this amazing opportunity.
More about your Counselor:
My name is Ryan Tilbury, and I have been with Raven from the beginning and have lived in Fairbanks for 23 years. I am fully connected in our community and statewide and will be able to help you with all your needs for your student. I have regularly gotten students placed in job shadows, internships as well as helped students find employment. My passion is working one-on-one with students to help them plan for there career after high school. It is my firm belief that students need to have a plan or are actively developing their interests and that inactivity leads to stagnation and ultimately makes it harder for them to gain good employment or go on to school at a later date
PLEASE CALL YOUR SCHOOL COUNSELOR WITH QUESTIONS!
Ryan Tilbury | rtilbury@yksd.com | 907.374.9432
Anchorage Office:
June Recap:
June was full of meetings and paperwork, then more meetings and paperwork! Each teacher has been meeting with families daily to complete enrollment paperwork and finalize ILPs. We also had a productive PAC meeting at the beginning of the month where we discussed field trips, workshops and other activities for the next school year. We wrapped up the 18-19 school year with a great end of year BBQ at Oceanview Park! Families enjoyed pizza, the playground, games, a face painter and the wonderful weather together.
Please call our office to schedule your 19-20 ILP meeting, if you haven’t already!
Summer Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 8am-4:30pm
Friday-Sunday: Closed
July Activities:
July 1st - Start of 19-20 Academic School Year
July 3rd - Office Closing at 2pm
July 4th - Office Closed
July 9th - PAC Meeting
July 31st - Teacher/Counselor In-Service
Staff Schedules:
Carmen will be out of office July 4th-5th, 12th, 15th-19th and 26th.
Danae will be out of office July 4th-5th, 12th, 15th-19th, 22nd-23rd, 26th and 29th.
Terri will be out of office July 4th-5th, 8th-12th, 19th and 25th-26th.
Office Closures:
The office will be closing at 2pm on Wednesday, July 3rd. We will also be closed all day on Thursday, July 4th.
The office is closed on Friday’s through the month of July.
For more details about our events and to RSVP, please click on our SMORE below!
Delta Office:
June Recap:
Raven Homeschool students graduated from Kindergarten on June 11th. Look out First Grade! Here they come!
We celebrated our fathers with homemade crafts for dads. Our students packed their gifts with lots of love! Go Dads!
Thank you everyone who joined us for our End of Year Party! We had a fun time! Ryan cooked great hot dogs and brats! We had wonderful food and company. The oobleck and slime were a hit as well as the sack races and other games. Thank you to the Dorshort’s for sharing their music.
Please remember to complete fourth quarter grades. June 30 is the end of our year. If you want to get started with next year classes, please re-enroll and make an appointment. You can wait to begin your classes, but let us know if you are planning to re-enroll.
We are making appointments for paperwork parties and setting up Individual Learning Plans (classes) for 2019-2020. You MUST have all paper forms signed, and have required signatures in Brightways, before any funds are established for your students.
Enjoy your summer! Read a book or several!
Upcoming Events:
July 16th - Raven About High School
July 23rd - Liewer Trail Hike
Eagle River Office:
June Recap:
June was month full of meetings, meetings and more meetings! Steve has been meeting with families daily to complete enrollment paperwork and finalize ILPs. We also had a very busy PAC meeting at the beginning of the month. During this PAC meeting we scheduled Geography Club, STEM Club, art workshops and discussed several other activities for the 19-20 school year. We wrapped up the month with a great field trip to Hatcher’s Pass and toured Independence Mine.
Please call our office to schedule your 19-20 ILP meeting, if you haven’t already!
Summer Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 8am-4:30pm
Friday-Sunday: Closed
July Activities:
July 1st - Start of 19-20 Academic School Year
July 3rd - Office Closing at 2pm
July 4th - Office Closed
July 10th - PAC Meeting
July 11th - Bear Paw Float Building Day
July 13th - Bear Paw Grand Parade
July 31st - Teacher/Counselor In-Service
July 31st - Field Trip: South Fork Hike/Picnic
Staff Schedules:
Steve will be out of office July 15th and 25th.
Kim will be working in the Eagle River office on July 15th and 25th.
Office Closures:
The office will be closing at 2pm on Wednesday, July 3rd. We will also be closed all day on Thursday, July 4th.
The office is closed on Friday’s through the month of July.
For more details about our events and to RSVP, please click on our SMORE below!
Hatcher's Pass field trip
Summer Powell receiving a Student Recognition award & certificate from the YKSD School Board
Hatcher's Pass & Independence Mine field trip
Fairbanks Office:
Raven’s June in the Rear View Mirror:
Congratulations to Natasha Anderson in her new role as the Assistant Principal for the Fairbanks, Anchorage and Delta Raven office. We welcome and appreciate your leadership!
The Fairbanks Raven Office would like to also welcome and congratulate Angi Near on her new position as the Raven Fairbanks Administrative Assistant.
We would like to congratulate Jesse Doornboos, one of our Fairbanks 2018 graduates. He was recently promoted to the management team at Sportsman's warehouse. This was an exciting day. We were thrilled with Jesse as he provided great customer service.
AK Grad Summer Schedule June 1st – Aug 31st
Monday: 3-4 pm Science
Tuesday: 9-10 am Math
Wednesday: 3-4 pm ELA
Thursday: 9-10 am Social Studies
Where: Online
Students will receive a canvas message sharing the link to the conference. Students will be prompted to download a small app to open the Zoom conference, and students will be connected to the teacher.
How: Zoom Web-Conferencing which allows students to see the whiteboard and hear the teacher giving instructions. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions.
Christina Hum
AKGrad Online Teacher
Text Message: chum@yksd.com
Call or Text 1-907-388-5583
Office: 1-907-374-9436
Looking Ahead/Raven July Events
Re-enrollments: June - September
ILP Scheduling: June – September
July 2nd - Raven Running Club
July 10th - PAC Meeting
Staff Schedules:
Natasha Anderson out of office: July 4th, 8th-12th, 15th, 19th, 26th
Chuck Backe out of office: July 4th, 12th, 19th, 26th
Cathy Walker out of office: July 4th, 12th, 15th-16th, 30th
Raven Homeschool Summer Hours:
Mon – Thur 8:00- 4:30
Friday – 8:00 – 11:30
Office Closure:
July 3rd: Office Closes at 2:00 in observance of Independence Day
July 4th: Office Closed
For more details about our events and to RSVP, please click on our SMORE below!
To Andrea,
The Fairbanks office would like to wish a heartfelt goodbye to Andrea Cottrell. It has been our pleasure to work with you, learn from you, and grow with you. While we are saddened to see you go, we are confident that you will find the same success and happiness in retirement that you experienced during your time here at Raven. We wish you the best in your future endeavors. Retirement will surely offer you many new opportunities, which we know you will embrace wholeheartedly! You are the Best of the Best.
Sincerely, Raven Fairbanks office
Raven Annual BBQ
Congratulations, Natasha Anderson!
Counselor Ryan Tilbury with recent graduate Jesse Doornboos
Juneau Office:
June in Review:
June was a nice finish to the 18-19 school year with a bit calmer pace after the busyness of the past few months. We hosted weekly “Gabbing, Gaming, & Good Times” activities for each of the various grade level groupings. Our monthly PAC meeting was well attended and we started planning ahead for 2019-20 activities. We wrapped up the month with a field trip to Safeway where we got a great behind the scenes tour of all the different departments, saw where everything is stored, learned about the ripening process for bananas, ate some tasty treats, and much more. As we close out 2018-19, we are sorry to see several of our students moving on to new adventures in other schools or other states, but we are also excited for them to get new experiences and we look forward to welcoming a whole new batch of students who will be joining our Raven family for 2019-20.
July Important Dates:
Summer Office Hours: Mon-Thurs 8am-5pm, Fri 8-11:30am
July 1st - R.E.A.D. with Raven reading incentive program begins
July 3rd - “Happy Birthday America!” Ice Cream Social
July 3rd - Office closes early at 2:30pm
July 4th - Office closed for Independence Day
July 10th - PAC Meeting & Student Activity
July 17th - Radio Station Tour
July 26th - Office Closed due to Staff Schedules
July 31st-Aug 1st - Teacher Inservice in Anchorage
Staff Schedules:
Theresa Off – July 4th-8th, 18th-26th
Joan Off – July 1st-5th, 12th, 19th, 26th
Holly Off – July 22nd-26th
For more details about our events and to RSVP, please click on our SMORE below!
Games Activity PK-2nd
Games Activity 6th-8th grade
Safeway Field Trip
Wasilla Office:
June In Review
We here in the Wasilla office were amazed to find ourselves already in the month of June. We started the month off in a whirlwind, planning and preparing for the Colony Days Parade. Thank you to our families who helped and participated in the parade. Our Wasilla Raven entry took 3rd place overall and 1st in the Family/Children/Pets category!
Families enjoyed a nice hike around Reflections Lake, enjoying beautiful scenery and weather! If you haven't done this hike yet, it is an easy hike and well worth taking. The lookout tower gave a full view of the mountains all around and was enjoyed by most; those who didn't like it, don't like heights!
June concluded with grades being finalized, ILP appointments, and things being readied for our new school year! We have planned some amazing workshops, classes, and field trips for the upcoming year. Make sure to check for emails from signups.com, which will be the platform we use for the slots to fill up. We anticipate a great 2019-2020 school year and look forward to our current families and the new ones that will be coming!
Summer Office Hours
Monday-Thursday 8:00-4:30
Friday 8:00-11:30
July Events & Activities
July 3rd - PAC Meeting
July 4th - OFFICE CLOSED in observance of Independence Day
June 10th - PAC Meeting
July 11th - Alaska Transportation Museum
July 13th - Bear Paw Festival
July 16th - Meadow Lakes Senior Center Park
July 19th - Friday Fling
Staff Schedules for July
Cynthia: Off all Mondays and Fridays
Joy: Off 1st-8th, 19th & 26th
Kim: Off 3rd-5th, 8th,. 26th, 29th
Ruth: Off 5th, 18th-30th
For more details about our events and to RSVP, please click on our SMORE below!