Daily Sitka Sentinel

May 6, 2020, Community Happenings

UAS-Sitka to Help Support

Community-Virus Battle

The staff and faculty of UAS-Sitka Campus have taken steps to support community needs as Sitka adjusts to life under Alaska’s shelter-in-place mandate by taking stock of campus resources.

Operations Supervisor Greg George began canvasing employees to create an inventory of relevant materials that could help in case of a COVID outbreak – personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, and even a canopy event tent. 

“We now have supplies ready and waiting for the city to request if ever they have the need,” said interim Director Math Trafton. “Already Health Information Management and Certified Nursing Aide Professor Darcie Ziel has donated 10 N95 masks and 20 isolation gowns to the Pioneers Home.”

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is coordinating the response to the novel coronavirus, and while the materials would most likely be used by SEARHC, Trafton also noted that UAS-Sitka Campus would ship materials if DHSS deemed it necessary. 

‘‘UAS Sitka recognizes we are all in this together, and that by working together Sitka will get through this difficult time,’’ Trafton said. 

MEHS Graduation

Thursday at 1 p.m.

On the Website

Mt. Edgecumbe High School will hold a virtual graduation 1 p.m. May. 7. The annual ceremony is being held online due to the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To see the graduation ceremony, go to the MEHS website, mehs.us.

A full listing of graduates, photographs and the afternoon’s program will be published in Thursday’s Sentinel.

Rerouting of

Gavan Hill

Trail Proposed

The Sitka Ranger District is proposing to reroute the Gavan Hill segment of the Harbor Mountain/Gavan Hill Trail beginning with a survey and design this year followed by construction in 2021, or when funds become available.

A project description can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57790 on the internet along with a project area map.

Email comments to comments-alaska-tongass-sitka@usda.gov with “Gavan Reconstruction” in the subject line. Comments also can be faxed to 747-4253 or mailed to Perry Edwards, District Ranger, 2108 Halibut Point Road, Sitka, AK 99835. Comments must be submitted by June 1.

Contact project manager Mike Mullin at 747-4274 or michael.mullin@usda.gov for more information.

Kindergarten

Registration Open

Online kindergarten registration is still available on the Sitka School District website on the Baranof Elementary School page, sitkaschools.org/page/3326. 

Parents are asked to register as soon as possible so the district will know how many students to plan for next year and to be able to create balanced classrooms, a news release said. 

Children who are 5 years old on or before Sept. 1 are eligible to attend kindergarten. 

Donuts & Diplomas

For Eighth-Graders

The annual Rites of Passage Ceremony for Blatchley Middle School eighth-graders may look a little different this year, but staff members plan to honor the class just the same.

On Friday, May 22, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. BMS staff will be in front of the school holding Rites of Passage certificates and an individually wrapped donut  for each member of the class.

‘‘We ask that eighth-graders and their families pull up to the front of the school where they will be greeted and  cheered by staff and receive their certificate,’’ the school said in a press release today. ‘‘We know this is very different froml proceedings but wanted to do something to honor our eighth-grade students.’’

Safe Stores

Initiative Set

The Sitka Health Summit Coalition, in partnership with the Sitka Chamber of Commerce, the State of Alaska Division of Public Health Nursing, and financial support from Sitka Legacy Foundation, is collecting information on the needs of local businesses as part of the Safe Stores, Shoppers and Workers initiative. 

The goal of the project is to support businesses in reopening and operating safely during the pandemic by providing information and some free supplies customized to the needs of each enterprise.

 Business participation is completely voluntary – the Health Summit will provide assistance, not directives. 

To make this project as helpful as possible, organizers are asking store owners, managers and employees to complete a brief online survey at sitkasafestores.com. Survey responses will be accepted until 5 p.m. May 11. For information, contact Doug Osborne at 738-8734, douglaso@searhc.org.