By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
If Sitka re-started a centralized community recreation and activities organization – similar to the discontinued Community Schools – what would it look like?
How would it be funded?
How would it benefit Sitka?
Those are among questions Sitkans can help answer Saturday.
The Sitka Community Recreation Initiative is having a kickoff and open house noon to 2 p.m. this Saturday at Blatchley Middle School.
The free event includes “supervised kid fun,” a basketball “bump” tournament, and pumpkin painting and coloring. The Sitka School District asks the public to follow mitigation measures under the “high” risk level, including wearing a mask.
Young soccer players run through drills on Moller Field in this file photo from April. Now run by a volunteer group, the program was once coordinated by Sitka Community Schools. A group of Sitkans is working to revive the organization. The group is hosting an event at Blatchley Middle School Saturday. (Sentinel file photo)
Those attending will be asked their views on what a centralized parks and recreation program would look like. A survey is available through:
tinyurl.com/sitkacommunityrec or photograph the QR code in the ad on Page 5 of today’s Sentinel, and follow the link.
“It may not be community schools,” said Andrew Friske, the point of contact for the Sitka Community Recreation Initiative. “It could be to get things unified and connected and to have a clearing house schedule. We have so many great programs. It would be good to have a solid initiative to take advantage of the facilities we have.”
Friske is residential and activities principal at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. He also coaches youth basketball as a volunteer. He said he was encouraged by Bernie Gurule, the academic principal, to attend the Health Summit, where various initiatives for improving the health and wellness of the community are proposed.
Friske’s pitch to “revive a sustainable community schools program for adults and youths” was one of the top two proposals selected by the dozens who attended the summit.
And Friske found himself at the helm for the next step. The group received $2,000 from the Sitka Health Summit to run meetings, get the word out, and hold an open house.
He’s getting support from the community but is hoping many Sitkans will weigh in so the end result is something the community wants, whether it’s a city, school district or independently run program.
“I know there’s a lot of support out there,” Friske said.
The Community Schools program was reduced during a rough school district budget process several years ago, then came back with much smaller budgets in various forms, including contracting out the program. The budget for the current fiscal year is zero, the School District said.
Friske, who’s working with five others, said the group knows funding will be a big issue as the initiative takes shape, but for now organizers want to see what ideas are out there for a quality centralized recreation program. One of the survey questions asks participants to elaborate on “successful recreation models elsewhere.”
It is unclear what funding would be needed for any program, what is available from various sources in town and outside, or how much can be supported by user fees.
“We’ve been researching programs from the Lower 48, and Alaska,” Friske said.
One of the goals at this time is to continue work, take information from the public, and “bring forward to the city and Sitka School District a different proposal for community schools and parks and recreation,” Friske said. “Our goal is to hopefully create a sustainable program for the management of youth and adult activities and managing the city facilities.”
Friske stressed the value that such programs add to a community, particularly one hoping to attract new families with the expansion of SEARHC and the expected arrival of a new Coast Guard vessel.
“It adds value,” he said. “You need these things. With COVID, people are in a holding pattern, and people want to get out and start socializing and meeting new people.”
At a very basic level, even if no new programs were offered, a centralized program for scheduling and coordinating would be helpful to the community, and let adults and kids know what’s available here, he said.
City public and government relations director Melissa Henshaw is attending the work group’s meetings, to keep city officials updated, answer questions from the city side, and help get the word out about the Saturday open house and the survey.
“It’s been an interesting process,” she said. “I’ll be curious to see where it goes.”
“I want to see where it goes, what they come up with and how their idea is funded, to provide the appropriate resources,” City Administrator John Leach said.
“I want to hear from the community,”said School Superintendent Frank Hauser, “and see if there’s a role for the schools to play in that.”
Sitka Tribe of Alaska, various teachers and parents have been participating in this initiative, said Kari Sagel, community engagement specialist for the Sitka School District.
“It’s a vision of sports leagues, after-school activities, opportunities to use facilities, pools, culturally relevant classes – it’s a pretty big umbrella,” she said. “We don’t have that vision completely – it will be completed by community input.”
Sagel, the former Blatchley librarian, said she remembers when money was more plentiful, more activities were offered after school and “kids didn’t have to leave school – there were so many activities.”
Sagel and Friske, and other group members, are realistic enough to know that funding will be an important part of the discussion but Sagel added that combining the resources of separate organizations with similar programs could be a start.
Those with questions may call Friske at 738-3141, email at andrewf@mehs.us or talk to him or Sagel (752-7323) at Saturday’s open house.
