Math Curriculum
Discussed at PAC
Sitka High School will hold a joint Parent Advisory Committee and a math curriculum meeting 6-8 p.m. Jan. 20 at the Sitka High library.
Math book samples being considered for use for the Sitka High School math program will be reviewed at this meeting. Former Sitka High math teacher Lyle Sparrowgrove will also be on hand to discuss USA Core Math Standards. The public is encouraged to attend.
ANS Meeting
Set for Today
Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 4 will meet 6:30 p.m. tonight at the ANB Founders Hall. A short Roberts Rules of Order training will take place at 6 p.m. before the meeting begins.
All are welcome. Those with questions may call Jean at 623-7355.
Karate-do Taught
Traditional seito shito-ryu karate-do classes will be taught on the SJ Campus at Allen Hall in the blue studio on the second floor 7:30-9 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays beginning Jan. 20.
Ages 14 and older are welcome. For more information call David at 518-669-0461.
Space Open in
Youth Orchestra
Students are invited to register for the Sitka Youth Orchestra through Community Schools.
While any orchestral musicians will be accepted, the orchestra is specifically looking for musicians to fill openings in viola, cello and clarinet.
General requirements for orchestra membership are: string players must be at least the fifth grade and reading music; wind, brass and percussionists must have completed at least two years of music study.
The cost of class is $45 and scholarships are available upon request.
Rehearsals are being held on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon and will run through March 29, with a final performance scheduled in the Performing ARts Center on march 30.
Call the directors, Jan Lovett at 747-3653 or Barbara Rocheleau at 747-6843, for more information.
Fish and Chips
Benefit on Tap
The Blatchley Middle School jazz band will have a fish and chips benefit dinner at the Elks Lodge 5 p.m. Jan. 19.
Tickets are available at the door and cost $15. To-go meals will be available for football fans and others. The band is raising money to support their trip to Moscow, Idaho, for Jazzfest.
A dessert auction and live music by jazz band I students are planned. Events held at the Elks Lodge are for members and invited guests.
SEARHC
Starts Site
On Lifestyle
SEARHC recently launched Healthy Living Southeast, www.HealthyLivingSE.org, an online, lifestyle magazine that aims to provide readers with information on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
One of the SEARHC core values is to promote “healthy lifestyle choices among the people in Southeast Alaska,” SEARHC said. Healthy Living Southeast is one of the tools offered that may help readers know and understand healthy choices. Included are stories and articles about program successes, people who are making a difference, health tips, healthy recipes (traditional and not so traditional), special events and changes that affect the way SEARHC provides a service.
SEARHC will be regularly adding new content. Notifications of new content will be posted both on the SEARHC Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/SouthEastAlaskaRegionalHealthConsortium as well as on Pinterest, http://www.pinterest.com/searhchealth.
SEARHC Hires
New Chief
Nursing Officer
SEARHC has hired Brad Langdorf as its new chief nursing officer.
His responsibilities will include direct administration of nursing services at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital, leading the Nursing Executive Council and consulting on practice, program development, quality management and budget for Mt. Edgecumbe Nursing Services.
Langdorf holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and is working on his master’s in health care administration. With more than 25 years of healthcare experience in not-for-profit and for profit hospitals he has progressed in his career from an emergency room nurse to a director, to the CNO position.
Langdorf served as CNO for more than four years with LifePoint Hospitals in 50-bed and 89-bed hospitals. In his last role as CNO with Lander Regional Hospital in Wyoming, he provided care for the local Native American population and worked with Indian Health Services in the region.
‘‘He is looking forward to living and working in Sitka and SEARHC looks forward to all he will bring to the organization,’’ SEARHC said.
Card of Thanks
The family of Ellen Hays is thankful to so many people who shared stories, sent notes and letters, came to the services and were very understanding of our limited knowledge about how to hold the services. It was a very emotional time. Losing a mom, Gramma and wife, devastated us. Each of us had special memories that she had created for us and that place is empty without her.
Ellen came and lived in Sitka for the last 9 months of her life. It was a struggle for her to live with the torture of dementia and Parkinson’s, but there would be wonderful days also. She would sing HMS PINAFORE songs (thank you Mary Jones), open a meeting (thank you ANB); remembered hymns and many friends. She visited with one of her remaining brothers, Fred Hope and niece Lisa Killinger, who stopped by to visit often and bring her treats. Herb and Polly Didrickson were life-long friends; Jan Garcia from Seattle and Marie Olson from Juneau were close friends, and it would have meant so much to her to know you were here. She was well cared for by her Pioneer Home favorites Kelly and Darcie as well as her SEARHC doctors, Matt Taintor and John Baciocco.
Thanks to the National Park Service for allowing Andrew Hope’s regalia to come out of display and to the staff for attending the ceremonies. Tom Gamble did a great job with his first official duty as ANB President at the Founder’s Hall and we appreciated his guidance along the way.
Special thanks to Rosita Worl (SEALASKA Heritage Foundation), Ed Thomas (Tlingit & Haida Central Council), Ethel Lund (SEARHC President Emeritus), and Mary Jones (ANS Grand President Emeritus) who came from out of town to remember and celebrate Ellen’s life.
Most of all we are thankful to have had her with us those final days.
To anyone we may have unintentionally left out, your generosity, kind words, support and prayers are greatly appreciated.
The family of Ellen Hays:
Karen Coleman,
Kendra Pountney and Family,
Jerrick Fulkerson
Hames Center
Open MLK Day
The Hames Center will be open on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Jan. 20, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch spin is at 12:15 p.m.
For more information, call 747-5080 or visit hamescenter.com.
Former Blatchley
Gardeners Sought
The Sitka Community Greenhouse committee is seeking those who have leased plots at the Blatchley Community Garden to share ideas about improvements and expansion of the community gardening in Sitka at an informal tea to be held at the Sitka Westmark dining room 5:30 p.m. Jan. 15.
For more information call Kerry at 752-0654.
ORCA Group to
Serve Youths
The Outdoor Recreation and Community Access Program of SAIL is starting a new group focused on serving youths in the community.
ORCA is an adaptive sports and recreation program that aims to promote inclusive recreation for Southeast Alaskan’s who experience disabilities.
The program currently includes a few different groups. Sixty and Over Activities and Recreation offers opportunities for seniors to get out hiking, kayaking, and remain physically active. Adventure Club meets on Tuesday afternoons, is open to any person 15 years of age and over with a disability, and includes activities like kayaking, outdoor skills, gardening, rock climbing, cooking, yoga and other special events.
Youth Adventure Club is open to youths ages 7-14, grades 2-8. The first activity will be Feb. 12.
‘‘After years of serving adults, we want to offer opportunities for youths to spend time outside, be involved in the community, and engage with their peer group in an environment that encourage healthy risk-taking,’’ SAIL said.
Activities will vary from month to month, but the focus is on socialization, team building, and fun.
SAIL will hold an open house 2-4 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Hames Center. Youth of all abilities, ages 7-14, and their families are invited to try out the rock wall, play games, meet the staff and learn more about the program.
Those with questions or who have an interest in volunteering may contact Alli Gabbert, ORCA program coordinator, at 747-6859 or
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PAC at BMS
Blatchley Middle School will hold a PAC meeting in the BMS library 7 p.m. Jan. 22.
Topics of discussion will include the math review and update and health.
Carol Potrzuski will offer a presentation on the reading program.
Homeless Connect
Work Session Set
The Easter Group will hold a Project Homeless Connect work session 12:30-2 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Sitka School District Board Room, (300 Kostrometinoff Street.
The Easter Group works with other service providers in Sitka to end extreme poverty and empower people. Project Homeless Connect committee members and people interested in planning for the Project Homeless Connect event, Jan. 29, are being encouraged to attend.
For more information, contact 747-4109 or
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Sitka Greenhouse
Meeting on Tap
The Sitka Community Greenhouse and Education Center committee of the Sitka Local Foods Network will meet 5 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Sitka Unitarian Fellowship Hall, 408 Marine Street.
The public is invited. Parking is available behind the hall on Spruce Street.
Reports will be heard from committee members on possible building sites. For information call Kerry at 752-0654.
Fish for Lunch
Local coho salmon will be served for lunch Jan. 15 at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School and Blatchley MIddle School.
Jazz Festival
To Welcome
Trombonist
The Sitka Jazz Festival has announced that trombonist Alan Ferber will perform at the festival Feb. 6-8 at the Sitka Performing Arts Center.
For the last four years, Ferber has been recognized as one of the leading trombonists of his generation in Down Beat Magazine’s International Critics’ Poll and Readers’ Poll. He has released five albums as a bandleader, all of which blur traditional boundaries through an intriguing mix of influences. The Wall Street Journal affectionately describes his music as “somehow both old school and cutting edge.”
Ferber’s newest release, ‘‘March Sublime,’’ features stunning new music for big band and has been nominated for a 2014 Grammy in the ‘‘Best Large Jazz Ensemble’’ category.
His music draws from a broad stylistic base considering the array of artists with whom he has closely worked such as: Esperanza Spalding, Harry Connick Jr. Lee Konitz, Dr. Dre, The National, Kenny Wheeler, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and many more.
Now in its 19th year, the Sitka Jazz Festival works to bring professional jazz musicians from around the world to the island community of Sitka to teach, inspire, and perform. The Festival strives to teach music appreciation, skills, history, artistic expression, and cross-cultural understanding through jazz in a supportive environment. Visiting artists and local educators provide clinics in jazz history, jazz theory, and jazz improvisation, as well as a variety of individual instrument and section-specific workshops.
For more information please visit www.sitkajazzfestival.com.