Quyana to Staff at Mount Iliamna School! Mt Iliamna has been on a path of change since last school year; positive changes that reflect the philosophy of Re-Ed, but changes that have also required a great deal of flexibility and compromise amongst the Mount Iliamna School staff.
As principal I have witnessed a transformation within our school; staff members are constantly thinking about how to reach out to students and families, emphasizing how to plan for student success, focusing on collaboration and team building, and always looking at challenges as opportunities for positive growth. It is not uncommon to overhear conversations amongst staff and hear, "That is so Re-ED" or "Thanks for helping out with our student." Mt Iliamna has always focused on structuring for success, but as is true with all good programs, there are opportunities to make it even better and that is what the Mount Iliamna School team has done. Thanks to an awesome staff of teacher counselors who are doing even more great things for students!
- Sue Schade, principal
Quyana to Stacy Miller at Mid-Level Language Arts Curriculum Department! Stacy Miller is a phenomenal asset to the Language Arts Department! She is very energetic and delivers new information with a smile, and patience. Stacy is always readily available, and attentive to the needs of teachers and students. She is very knowledgeable of curricular resources and the middle level philosophy. We appreciate all of her hard work and dedication! Thank you, Stacy!
- Hanshew Language Arts Department, colleague
Quyana to Natalie Clark at Lake Otis Elementary! My granddaughter Zhamirah is a student in Mrs. Clark's second-grade class and she comes home almost every day with some bit of wisdom that she has learned from her teacher! Thanks to Mrs. Clark, Zhamirah loves all her subjects and she especially loves Mrs. Clark. I would like to give her a BIG thanks for her cheery attitude, her love of children and for being a great teacher for the second-graders!
- Nadine Price, teacher and parent
Quyana to Philip Fleckenstein at Steller Secondary School! Showing appreciation for Philip's persistent work to challenge students as well as the laws inhibiting the freedom of educators all over the country. If 51 percent of American high school teachers thought and worked the way Philip does, there would be an education revolution tomorrow! Continue your mission and eventually education will be what it should be! P.S. live long enough for me to get rich.
- Ocean, student
Quyana to Vickie Starr, Edgar Deleon-lopez and Gary Greenland at Transportation! Many thanks to this dispatcher and bus drivers who were so kind in helping me try to locate a missing item that turned out not to have been left on the bus at all. We appreciated your efforts and professionalism.
- Chris Tower Zafren, parent
Quyana to Jessica Winn at Clark Middle School, Team Galileo! Jessica collaborated with her language arts teaching partner and entered The National Cassini Scientist for a Day Essay project. Students were required to research and then write a 500 word persuasive essay, using a compare and contrast organizational structure, to convince the scientists of NASA's JPL to select one of three targets for study: the moons Hyperion, Titan and Rhea, or the planet Saturn. Twelve of the team's 132 completed essays were selected for entry. Of the 12 submitted, three earned Honorable Mention recognition. As a result the entire team will participate in a national video conference with NASA scientists on Thursday, January 19th. Jessica has much to be celebrate!
- Arthur La Rue, peer
Quyana to Keith Meisel at Service High School! Thank you for being an awesome teacher and helping students understand that no matter who you are, you have potential.
- Matthew Markiewicz, community member
Quyana to Senora Carolina Carr at West High School! I would like to thank Senora Carr for bringing energy, enthusiasm and humor to the classroom and for being a tough and demanding teacher. My daughter tested into third year Spanish at Cornell after having Senora Carr for four years in high school and felt well prepared for college level language classes and for studying abroad in a Spanish speaking country. You broadened her horizons and gave her a valuable skill. Thanks!
- Cady Lister, parent
Quyana to Dan Sage at Wendler Middle School/Applied Technology! Many thanks to Dan Sage, who has joined the Science Olympiad Competition this year for Wendler. Dan is busy building, guiding, motivating and dedicating numerous Saturdays to help our kids succeed. I don't know how we could have done it without him! When I thanked him again today after training, his comment was, "it's for the kids!" That's what being a great teacher is all about! Thanks Dan!
- Linda Nagel, peer
Quyana to Alpenglow Elementary Staff and Community! Thank you to the wonderful Alpenglow community for a warm and gracious welcome into your school. As the administrative intern under Principal Patrick Garrity I have been given essential guidance and understanding from a caring and hardworking group. From the outset I was encouraged to learn and grow and can now appreciate the grand benefits of co-operation between professional educators, focused parents, guardians and students. My time with you has been invaluable and I will miss you when my internship ends. I will carry with me the lessons learned.
- Sharon Canadine, administrative intern
Quyana to Tasha Barnes and Janene Schoenborn at Wendler Middle School! I would like to give a BIG Quyana to Janene and Tasha for helping me make a good lesson GREAT! At Wendler this week we will be having some VIPs at our assembly, and in preparation for this event we prepared a wonderful, exciting and inspiring lesson for our students to experience. I could not have done it without them. they both took time out of their busy day to help me out. I truly appreciate them more than I can say.
- Nadine Price, peer
Quyana to Johanna Utterback at West High School Highly Gifted Program! I would like to thank everyone involved with West High School's Highly Gifted Program. My daughter, Amelia Haddad was a program participant for the 2010-2011 school year as a freshman. The course work was outstanding and challenging. The counseling services of Ms. Utterback and Ms. Friar were tremendously helpful. We are now living in Cypress, Texas, a suburb of Houston that has one of the best school districts in Texas. Even so, the quality and standards of the coursework here are inferior to what Amelia had at West High School. She is currently taking a number of honors courses that certainly do not measure up to the instruction she was receiving at West High School. The Highly Gifted Program, its teachers and administrators are certainly to be commended on a fine program. Even the instruction Amelia received at Goldenview Middle School was superior to what she received in Texas before we arrived in Anchorage. The Anchorage School District as a whole is a superior school system to anything we have experienced in Texas. Best regards
- Carolyn Haddad, parent
Quyana to Keif Mayers at Information Technology! Our recent Assistive Technology trainings were successful in large part due to Keif Mayers’ efforts to support and collaborate with the Assistive Technology department.
Our augmentative communication device trainings were dependent on specialized PC software being available for each attendee on Apple Computers.
Keif worked tirelessly and even attended the beginning of our AT trainings to be certain the ASD Citrix solution was a success. His dedication and energy is very much appreciated.
- Craig Holmes and Assistive Technology Dept.
Quyana to Jeanne McDonald at Abbott Loop Elementary! As a second year teacher, I wanted to improve my classroom lessons to best help my students be successful. Having Jeanne McDonald as a mentor and friend this year has been a blessing. She has helped me find fun interesting ways to help my students improve in reading and writing, but even better in all academic areas. My mid-year results show growth for every student, and much of that growth can be contributed to having a wonderful mentor to discuss ideas, successes, and failures with. Jeanne is a wonderful asset to Abbott Loop and a wonderful mentor for me.
- Connie Jones, teacher
Quyana to Marci Milwicz at Abbott Loop Elementary! I would like to thank our sixth-grade teacher and math specialist Marci Milwicz for all her hard work getting Math Whizz up and running at Abbott Loop. Marci has used a lot of her free time to make sure that the students at Abbott Loop are set up and ready to use this program to improve their mathematical understanding. As the math specialist at our school Marci is always willing to help with any math related questions that may arise. Marci is a wonderful asset to Abbott Loop and we are blessed to have her.
- Connie Jones, teacher
Quyana to John Fredricksen at Wendler Middle School physical education! "Mr. Fred" is not only a very funny and entertaining teacher, he is also an exceptional classroom manager. And this is with a gym full of 100 or so middle school students. You'd think a two-time national college wrestling champion might be too intense for this age group, but the students think Mr. Fred is great! Along with his longtime co-worker and department chair, (the saintly) Nadine Price, John Fredricksen creates a fun, re-energizing, and productive environment for students at our school.
- Kris Cassity, teaching assistant
Quyana to Sonny Seguro at Tyson Elementary! Mr. Sonny not only has a well maintained building at Tyson but also goes out of his way outside of school. On a cold Alaska night, Mr. Sonny pulled over to help a young man that got his car stuck in an intersection after hours. This commitment to our youth and our community is why I have a great appreciation for all that he does. Thank you, Sonny
- Josh Muehlenkamp, peer
Quyana to Ken Blake at Clark Middle School! Mr. Blake worked with the Neighborhood GIFT program at Clark over the holiday break.
Mr. Jim MacKenzie, Director of Development and Communications, wrote, “Your hard work this past week for our Neighborhood GIFT outreach was incredibly appreciated!”
Your patience and willingness to always go the extra mile on our behalf throughout the two days of set-up and distribution was simply amazing. You even came back to work after an already long day to help us bring back up the sound system after the power outage. Thanks to you and your staff, we were able to smoothly manage an event that served almost 1,600 families an involved more than 800 volunteers in an effort to provide toys and a holiday meal to our neighbors in need.
- Anne Olson, supervisor
Quyana to Ms. Leandra Wilden at Clark Middle School! Ms. Wilden is an awesome teacher. She always makes sure you know how you’re doing in class. And if your not doing so well she helps you get back on track. She also makes sure you are being challenged in class. Ms. Wilden also makes sure you’re OK so if you’re ever looking sad she makes you feel a lot better.
- Tiani Beaman, student
Quyana to Tyson Elementary School staff! Kudos to all of the wonderful staff at Tyson. Our community, students and district are very fortunate to have such a dedicated and caring group of professionals working here. They are committed, strong and dedicated to the service of all kids.
- John Kito, principal
Quyana to Dave Williamson at West High, Roxann Berry at South High, Mike Martinson at Chugiak High and Robert Arms at Romig Middle School! I wanted to thank and recognize these ASD employees who displayed their talents as members of the Anchorage Symphony in their recent performance of the silent movie double feature, "One Week" and "Safety Last." It was an enjoyable show that was further enhanced by the symphony’s accompaniment and interpretation of the on-screen films.
More importantly, I was proud to see on stage so many current and former Anchorage School District members who directly influence our students everyday. They truly are an amazing group of educators and I appreciated the opportunity to enjoy their special talents outside of the daily working environment.
- Brian Hosken - parent, peer, supervisor, community member
Quyana to Bobby Besch at Hanshew Middle School! Mr. Besch has been doing an outstanding job teaching technology courses for many years at Hanshew. His respect for students and obvious enjoyment of teaching at the middle level is the real key to his success and evident to anyone who enters his classroom. Bobby Besch reminds me why people should become teachers. Thanks for continuing to educate our students.
- Renee Helie, parent
Quyana to Kathy Egle at the Maintenance/Grounds Department! We would like to thank Kathy Egle for working with Aquarian Charter School's Traffic Team and the Municipality of Anchorage to problem-solve so that our congested parking lot is both safe and efficient during the winter. Her willingness to examine the process and assist in finding a solution has been outstanding! Such a great example of our community pulling together!
- Sue Forbes, principal; Donna VanFlein, parent and Jodi McLaughlin, parent
Quyana to Susan Kooce at Huffman Spedial Education! Mrs. Koonce is a hard-working teacher who truly cares about all her students. She does everything to help her students succeed. With all her help, my boys have grown so much. I appreciate all that she has done for my boys.
- Shelli Lewis, parent
Quyana to Lou Ann Clark at Alpenglow Elementary! Ms. Clark started working with our son a few months ago. He is in first grade and school has been very challenging for him both this year and in kindergarten. His difficulties stem from Sensory Processing Disorder, which result in developmental delays and deficiencies.
In the short time she has worked with him, Ms. Clark has achieved the impossible -- she has made our son have fun at school. Ms. Clark has managed to see past our son’s difficulties and outbursts and recognize the creative, loving individual inside. She has found ways to encourage and help our son succeed and for this my husband and I are incredibly grateful.
- Kym Van Arsdale, parent
Quyana to Danielle Riha at Alaska Native Cultural Charter School! Ms. Riha is wonderful with my son. She works with him at his level and has really taken the time to get to know him and his learning style. She shows compassion for her students and really reaches out to help them with their work when they need it.
- Ginger D Hall, parent
Quyana to Carleen Ulbrich at Trailside Elementary! Over the years I have dealt with several differnt teachers. In my opinion and the opinion of two of my kids Mrs. Ulbrich is one the finest fifth-grade teachers in Anchorage. Her contributions are far too many to put here. She has a patience and understanding with her kids. She has 30 students in her classroom, and to walk in there you would never know it. She shares a love of books with my girls. Mrs. Ulbrich is someone who will stick out in the minds of my girls for years as someone who cared, gave them oppurtunities to grow and enjoy school.
- Tina Bolsinger, daycare provider
