At the start of last night’s Nome school board meeting, retiring board member Barb Nickels was recognized for her six years of service—while new member Brandy Arrington and returning member Jennifer Reader were sworn in.
But Arrington wasn’t the only new face around the board table in the Nome Elementary School library. Jane Tidwell is a senior at Nome Beltz, and she will be attending all future board meetings as student council representative. In addition to the usual principals’, business manager and superintendent reports presented at the meeting, Tidwell offered her own report on behalf of the students—which detailed the athletics, dances and community service activities that Beltz students have been engaged in.
“Cross Country finished out their season a couple of weeks ago and on both the boy’s and girl’s teams, people got selected to represent Nome Beltz at States,” said Tidwell.
Last night’s board meeting also highlighted a few key collaborations with community organizations in Nome. Kaley Overby is a counselor at Beltz, but she’s also the community engagement advocate for Nome public schools. During public comment, she offered a summary of all she’s been working on with students—and the list was extensive.
“Two big things that have been happening: We have youth that have been attending the Sitnasuak Elders and Youth Committees, and also, Sitnasuak has donated to send youth leaders down for the Elders and Youth Conference that’s going to be happening next week, and we actually are presenting in one of the workshops,” said Overby. “The youth are going to be presenting about the programs we have offered here in Nome.”
Overby also recapped the youth leaders conference in Unalakleet earlier this month, and the community night she held at Nome Elementary, which saw attendance from almost 10 community agencies to share resources on youth and early childhood development.
These various initiatives for community engagement are tied to an earlier climate survey of the student body—recognizing that the more caring adults children have in their school environment, the more successful they will be.
Human Resources Director Shawn Arnold reported total enrollment numbers at the meeting—of particular interest now as state funding for the year will be determined by numbers over the next few weeks. Nome Public Schools budgeted for the year based on a population of 700 students. They’re now at 704, a little ahead of last year’s 701, with two students returning this semester from Mt. Edgecumbe, a boarding school in Sitka that some students and families have chosen as an alternative to education in Nome.
Board members expressed gratitude for the contributions of their partners. Jennifer Reader echoed the unanimous sentiment.
“I would like to say thank you very much to Nome Eskimo, Sitnasuak, and Kawerak for all of their partnerships they’re doing with our students,” said Reader. “It’s astounding how much support we’re getting from them.”
The next school board meeting is a work session tentatively scheduled for Monday, October 20 to review the results of this year’s audit.
