The Raven's Call

Welcome to Raven's Call, your digital newsletter to keep you up to date on all things Raven. This quarterly newsletter via SMORE will have an overview of highlights from each of our 6 Raven offices. Within this electronic version​ of our newsletter,​ you have easy access to your local office news and resources by clicking on links within each section.

​We are looking forward to another successful year and hope you will share​ pictures of your learning adventures with your local offices to be included throughout the year.

If you have questions, please contact Maegan, mmascagno@yksd.com.

- Raven Homeschool

Welcome Back!
I hope you have had many wonderful summer and fall learning experiences. I also hope you are recharged and ready for a great homeschool year. I am so delighted that you are part of our amazing learning community here at Raven.

All signs point to another incredible and productive homeschooling year. Our skilled and devoted team has been working diligently to enroll new families, order needed materials and connect families with local homeschooling resources. And, our much-appreciated family liaisons and veteran homeschool parents have been welcoming families and sharing opportunities. We have been planning other exciting events and programs for the school year.

Family & Advisory Teacher Assignments
With Raven’s growth and the addition of new advisory teachers we know that some families have experienced a change in advisory teachers. Moving families is difficult without causing imbalances and inequities. We are eagerly looking forward to supporting you in your homeschooling efforts. Thank you for understanding that it can take a few weeks for a family to acclimate to a new advisory teacher.

New Staff
Each year brings positive change and growth. Raven has grown and we have some new additions to our staff. We are delighted to welcome them! ALL of our staff work hard to make homeschool a positive experience for ALL.

Your commitment to ensuring that Raven remains a celebrated and successful homeschool is awe-inspiring. Together, I know we will make this school year one of growth and achievement for all children.

It is an honor and privilege to serve you and your children. We care about each of our families and we hope to continue to build a relationship with each of you so we can provide the very best support for your homeschooling efforts.

Lastly, I want to extend a personal invitation to each of you to attend our Raven-wide Parent Advisory Council meeting on October 30th at 2:30 pm. These are held quarterly. We live-broadcast them on Facebook and we send out the recording to all families afterwards. We value parent input and have multiple ways for you to share your ideas and influence the work we do each day.

Happy Homeschooling!

Kim Bergey

Raven Homeschool Director

The new administrative assistant in our Eagle River office is Adriel Mathew. You have likely already met her, either in person or over the phone, but if not, she is looking forward to the opportunity to do so in the near future. She has lived in Alaska over 25 years, grew up in a homeschooled family, and loves the outdoors, crafting and spending time with family and friends. She is looking forward to providing quality assistance to Eagle River.

Sharon Chevalier is the new advisory teacher at the Eagle River office. She has had various jobs over the years from a restaurant owner to an EMT, but she’s settled on teaching for now. She has a bachelor’s in Elementary Education and a Master’s in Multicultural, Multilingual Special Education. She has a love for cultures and languages, as well as homeschooling. She homeschooled all her children from K-12.

My name is Thomasina Tall from Chevak, Alaska. My favorite hobbies include exploring nature, attending UAF sports events, and beading. I went to school at the University of Alaska Fairbanks pursuing a degree in education. Upon completion of my certification, I taught for a year in Chevak and quickly learned that I love living in Fairbanks! I am back in Fairbanks as a Raven Homeschool teacher and I am excited to be a part of Raven staff and get to know my students and their families!

My name is Liz Agnew, and I am very excited to join the Raven Homeschool team this year. For the past 16 years, I’ve been an elementary gifted and talented teacher and reading specialist here in Juneau.

When I’m not teaching, I love to be outdoors either sailing, fishing, skiing, biking, or hiking with my dog Taiya. When I’m not outside, I love to read, paint, or play the oboe or English horn. In fact, you might see me performing with various musical ensembles including the Juneau Symphony and Taku Winds.

I look forward to getting to know you this year and supporting you and your family with your homeschool journey.

Hi, I'm Debbie Davis, and have lived in a number of places here in our great state, including Interior Alaska, St. George Island, and the last twenty plus years, here in the Valley. In my free time I teach music lessons, play in ensembles, quilt, and love being outdoors with friends. I am not new to homeschooling, having taught my son for seven years. I am so happy to be returning to the world of homeschooling and look forward to working with you!

Hi, I am Jacob Hale. I recently moved from Georgia and have spent the last 13 years working in special education, a field I'm truly passionate about. In my free time, I enjoy exploring the great outdoors—whether it's hiking, skiing, or visiting national parks. I love bringing my dog along for these adventures, as he always makes the experience more fun. I'm also a proud uncle and enjoy spending time with my family whenever I can. Balancing my love for teaching with outdoor activities and family keeps me energized and grounded.

Hi, I'm Jousette McKeel, a mostly lifelong Alaskan and educator. I have been teaching across the state since 2005, from NW Arctic School District to the MatSu School District. Now, I am excited to serve the families of Raven around the state. When I'm not teaching, I enjoy hiking, being outdoors, and being with my family. I am looking forward to working with and growing alongside our Raven families.

What is the Alaska Performance Scholarship?

The APS provides an opportunity for Alaska high school students to earn a scholarship to help cover the cost of an Alaska postsecondary education.

Eligibility requirements for APS include:

• Alaska residents who graduate from an Alaska high school (public, private, or home school);

• Take a rigorous curriculum,

• Earn minimum of 2.5 GPA OR Meet qualifying score on college/career entrance exam

The APS can be used at any participating college or university in Alaska, or for approved career and technical education programs in the state. Click here for more information on participating Alaska postsecondary institutions.

Alaska residents who graduate from an Alaska high school (public, private, or home school), in 2011 or later and meet the qualifying requirements are eligible for an APS award.

Changes to the APS:

In June 2024, the Governor signed key legislation aimed to improve access to and utilization of the APS. This legislation enacted several changes impacting eligibility criteria for the Class of 2024 and beyond:

• The new APS legislation removes the standardized test score requirement. Students in the Class of 2024 can now become APS eligible by meeting a minimum GPA requirement OR minimum test score requirement, as long as all other requirements are met.

• The new legislation extends the term of use from six years from the date of high school graduation to eight years.

• The new legislation expanded the high school curriculum qualifying options. More details will be provided on this as we learn more

Hard-copy planners provide a better monthly and weekly view. This is key to staying on track week-to-week. Recording in physical planners is more time-efficient. To correctly record an event on a digital device, we measured an average of 16 steps, requiring 52 seconds. To record the same event in a physical planner, we measured an average of 4 steps, requiring 14 seconds.

"Digital planners" come with an overload of distractions. How often have you picked up your smart device to do something specific, only to get distracted by some message, alert, or other app? For this reason, paper planners are gloriously dull.

Also, research shows that writing with a pen/pencil activates the regions of our brain that manage thinking and planning. Typing with finger tips only activates the “language” areas of our brain.

Four Critical Moments to Use Your Planner

There are some obvious times you should use your planner. For example, scheduling an appointment or a meeting.

In addition, there are four critical times you should use your digital (or paper) planner. We call them "anchor points," and they include:

Anchor Point 1: New Year, New Semester, New Season

The first phase of maintaining a planner is to enter all known and repeating dates, these are usually established at the beginning of each new school year, semester, or season.

These can be things such as:

• Sports practices and games

• Holidays

• Days off school

• Key school events (i.e. Prom, ACT/SAT testing)

• Work schedule (as soon as you receive it)

Do this at the beginning of the school year, semester, or extracurricular season. The earlier you put these events in your planner, the better. It may take time to set this up, but the benefits are worth it! You'll always know what's going on rather than feeling in the dark.

Anchor Point 2: Sundays

The next anchor point is at the beginning of the week. First, take a look at your week ahead. Do you have any tests coming up? Special events? Appointments? Get familiar with your week at the front end to prevent surprises. Then, coordinate with your family during a Sunday Meeting.

The Sunday Meeting is a 5-10 minute activity that family members hold together to review everyone’s schedule for the upcoming week. This time is used to get everyone on the same page. If there are schedule conflicts, it can be addressed during this time.

Click here to learn more details about how to setup and run your Sunday Meeting.

Anchor Point 3: In Class

As soon as you receive a calendar or syllabus, enter: key dates, large assignments, projects, tests, and final exams in your planner.

In class, assignments should be entered in a digital (or paper) planner as soon as they are assigned. Just be careful to not get distracted by other apps and messages.

The following steps outline how to enter school-work in a digital planner:

1. Select the due date/time.

2. Enter the event title using abbreviations. This title should identify: the class subject, type of assignment, and materials needed. (See recommended abbreviations below.)

3. Add the details of the assignment to the details/notes section. This can be the page numbers, problem numbers, the handout referenced, etc.

4. Add guests, if appropriate. This could be project team-members on a project or your parents.

Anchor Point 4: Getting Ready for "After School"

Sometime towards the end of the day, or even on the way home from school, check your planner to see what you have to do for that evening. It is also a good idea to check it again, when you are "done" with homework, to make sure you took care of everything.

1. Digital reminders should only be used as a back-up.

2. We get so many digital "pings" and "reminders" that it's very easy to tune them out.

3. A weekly/daily routine of checking your digital (or paper) planner is critical to keep you on top of due dates and other obligations, without last minute pressure or stress.

Naomi Oudin, grade 2, won 2 blue ribbons for acrylic and watercolor paintings as well as a blue ribbon and Judge’s Choice for her woodworking cutting board project at the AK State Fair.

Elijah Oudin, grade 5, won 2 Blue Ribbons at the AK State Fair for his woodworking and wood burning projects.

We can’t wait to see what the next chapter holds!

Greetings!

After six wonderful years as an advisory teacher in Eagle River and Wasilla, I am excited to embark on this new journey with Raven Homeschool. My new role as the organization’s Parent-Teacher Math Technologist is intended to serve and carry out parameters of Yukon Koyukuk School District’s MACSS (Math and Computer Science for Students) grant. In short, this will allow me the opportunity to provide complementary mathematics support to our Raven families in a variety of ways.

Site visits: Starting in October, I will be dedicating two-day visits to each Raven office on a quarterly basis. These visits are tailored to the needs of each site, and I look forward to working more with the folks in Anchorage, Delta, Fairbanks, and Juneau, moving forward.

Workshops: Parents can expect to attend an event that is dedicated to addressing their mathematics instructional and curricular needs as home teachers. My goal is to provide them with some helpful tools that may augment their current approach to teaching math in a homeschool setting. Student-focused events will center on practices that make math more meaningful, engaging, culturally relevant, and fun.

Clubs: With the support of advisory teachers, I am exploring the opportunity of establishing Raven as a center for Math Kangaroo, an enrichment program that focuses on preparation for an international math competition. Please reach out to me at sduby@yksd.com or 907-249-1306 or your advisory teacher if your students would like to get involved.

Family Consultations: Just like an ILP meeting, the goal of these sessions would be to supplement your family’s mathematics homeschool plans, starting with your current approach and exploring options for enhancement. If interested, please reach out to your local admin assistants to schedule a time with me when I am visiting your office!

Zoom sessions for virtual consults are also available.

1-1 Tutoring:

During my site visits, and recurring over Zoom if requested, I will be available for up to 1-hour tutoring sessions per interested student. Middle and high school students will be prioritized, but I welcome all grade levels. Contact your local office to reserve a session.

Technology Tutorials: Math instruction is more innovative than ever with the advent of recent technology applications, as well as accessibility to artificial intelligence programs. Deliverable in either consultative or workshop format, my plan is to show you what’s possible in the current math tech landscape. Please notify your office if this is a preferred topic during my site visit.

Most importantly, I look forward to building new relationships with Raven families around Alaska! Having a choice in education has been a passion of mine for a long time, so my hope is that you will find value in dedicating extra time and attention to the subject of mathematics. Stay tuned to your office’s weekly newsletters for details on my upcoming visits.