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A
Brief Look at Chinook History... |
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| In 1968, the largest oil field in North America was discovered at Prudhoe Bay. Population boomed in Anchorage! The boom continued into the mid 80s as the oil fields were developed and construction began on the Alaska pipeline. The story of Chinook is intertwined with the population trend of Anchorage at a certain time. The population of Anchorage, reported as 82,833 in the 1960 census, grew to 126,385 by 1970. By 1985 the population had almost doubled to 248,263. Population growth dipped during a recession in the mid to late 80s, but by 1999 it had rebounded to 259,391 people. | ||
| Chinook School began in the fall of 1969 even before the school building was completed. Chinook students came from Campbell and Sand Lake Schools' territory. That was before Bayshore, Gladys Wood, Kincaid and Klatt Schools were built. Dimond High School was only 2 years old. Most houses both north and south of Dimond Blvd. weren't built yet. Chinook School, then in far south Anchorage, was named for the warm wind from the south, and brought a new way of teaching to south Anchorage, a kind of open school. | ||
| Chinook students spent the fall 1969 semester at Campbell School, double shifting with Campbell students. Some classes were held in the early morning to afternoon, and some classes met in the later afternoon and evening. By January 1970, the doors opened at Chinook School. The building was smaller then with only the 2 pods on Dewberry Street. Pod 3 on 88th Ave. was added in 1971, and the 4th and final pod was added in the early 80s. The cafeteria was added in the final addition in 1996. In 1970, Chinook was crowded with only the 2 pods and 150% of the normal number of students for its size. Ocean View School opened farther to the south in 1971 to relieve some of the crowding. | ||
| The pods had no walls inside and were designed for 6 classes each. More than 6 classes were packed into each pod during the early years. It truly was an open school, with different multi-age activities going on everywhere you looked. The school remained all open until 1974. At that time, parents were given a choice between open optional and a the more traditional classroom. Chinook continues to have an open optional school-within-a-school, but its now open to the entire school district through the lottery system. | ||
| Until 2000, the school mascot was the roadrunner. Students used to run laps for exercise, inside the school in the winter and outside in the warmer months. In recent years, people had forgotten or never knew about the running tradition of the school, so it was decided to change the school mascot to the chinook salmon. |  |
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Please feel free to suggest additions and other changes to this account of Chinook history. References include:
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