Veterans Day Parade
Dear Editor: Next Veterans Day we will have a parade. This year, the parade permit paperwork did not get done. More calls were made, however. KIFW’s Larry got the word out on Problem Corner. Margaret at the American Legion saw to it that we were able to bring the flags out. Dozens of Sitkans came out to show support. Thank you.
Stanley Schoening, Sitka
Scientists in Schools
Dear Editor: For the last three days the Blatchley sixth-graders have been experiencing the Sitka Sound Science Center “Sitka WhaleFest Scientists in the Schools” activities. This is an exciting time every year when scientists from all over (including Sitka) come into the classrooms and lead wonderful experiential scientific activities.
This year we were very fortunate to have Dr. Terrie Williams from the University of California in Santa Cruz come in and share much of her research on sea mammal adaptations to their environment. The students got to see amazing moving digital graphs, views of seals diving from cameras mounted on the seal along with fights for access to the ice hole to breathe. They were astounded to unroll a rope the size and length of various sea mammal intestines out the door and around the hall. They held in their hand the heart of a seal and learned how the heart is affected when the seal dives by placing their face in ice water while their heart was monitored. Dr. Williams has a gift for designing activities that demonstrate how hard our sea mammals have to work for a living. When I worried if our class size was too large, she said, “Don’t worry I have 250 to 300 students in my classes in California!”
Opportunities like this for our students are the result of a lot of work of many dedicated individuals. Jan Straley, the Sitka Sound Science Center folks and WhaleFest volunteers all showed up in my classroom to either help or check on the progress of the activities. Steve Lewis who is the coordinator of managing the logistics and preparing students for the arrival of the scientists is the back bone of the program. I look forward to hearing from him and seeing him every year.
There are many people who support the Sitka Sound Science Center’s WhaleFest every year by attending the symposium, buying T-shirts, attending the banquet and other activities but I know the Charitable Trust funds have always been an important source for this important work that is being done. I would like to say thank you to all the folks that make this wonderful event happen for our students and our community! I look forward every year to learning from scientists in the field about “hot off the press” research and marvel at how they manage to bring it into our sixth grade classroom! Gunalcheesh to everyone involved in exposing our children to the wonders of experiential science!
Patty Dick, Sitka
School Bus Protocol
Dear Editor: We would like to take a moment of your readers’ time to talk to all Sitka drivers.
We are Island Bus Company, providing the school transportation for Sitka students. We love our job and your children! We enjoy the Greater Sitka School District and their direction, the teachers and staff we work with daily, and our employees for their devotion and dedication to your children.
But, there is a problem. More and more rules of the road are not being followed completely and faithfully. So, we thought we would take this opportunity to bring them to your attention. No one wants an accident, a child or children hurt. Together we can correct the wrongs and solve these potential hazards.
First, there are more and more drivers running through the flashing red lights on buses that are stopped to pick up or drop off children. This is a serious accident waiting to happen. Bus drivers turn on the amber lights warning all drivers a stop is about to happen. That means to slow down and prepare to stop, not to try to pass or get through before the reds come on. Bus driver policy is - if there are five or more cars behind them and it is possible, they will pull over to let cars go through. An accident is not worth that gamble for a just few seconds!
We wanted to mention that our Special Education buses are different when loading and unloading students. They are a door to door service. They will signal and pull over as far off the street as possible, so traffic may pass. Not very often do they use flashing amber then red lights.
There are many bicyclists in Sitka. They are to follow the same laws as automobile drivers. Stop signs are to be obeyed- including bus flashing red stop signs; driving in between the white line and the curb (not on the white line) is correct; stopping for pedestrians and children that are loading and unloading the bus is correct.
There are yellow marked curbs for bus parking only. Autos have designated parking areas along curbs and parking lots for drivers to pick up or drop off students, or to leave their cars to go inside. We would like to suggest that we won’t park in yours if you won’t park in ours! Blocking bus areas is a safety problem, and affects bus time schedules dramatically.
A particular hazard we have noticed, is the stop signs (going in both directions) at Baranof Elementary School and Market Center. Drivers are not stopping at all, or sliding through, not making a complete stop. There are crosswalks there and it is a busy school zone! Often we have two small Special Ed Buses parked there to load and unload. Please be more careful! Watch for those stop signs.
We hope that these reminders will be taken in the spirit given. Our goal is simply safety and service above all else.
Island Bus Company, Sitka
