The Alaska Miner Spring 2024 20 Alaska Resource Education unveiled a new and creative program this spring, awarding scholarships to two Alaska teachers, to advance their innovative approaches to teach the importance of Alaska’s resources to their students. Those two winning teachers were honored at the Fairbanks convention. Jennifer Cooper is a home school mother and teacher, with children in second to sixth grades. But beyond her own family, she leads homeschool and creates unique learning for 30-50 similar aged children in her expanded home school community. Jennifer plans to focus on exploring the jobs and opportunities in Alaska and would like to show the importance of mining in our community and environment. She plans to use the scholarship for educational materials as well as field trips. The second winning teacher, Heather Bogardus, plans to teach a new unit for the Earth & Space Science, and Natural Resources classes at North Pole High School for approximately 125 students That program has limited funding for providing students with opportunities to interact with industries and professionals outside of the classroom. Being able to immerse students in the environment around them increases student engagement and their ability to retain and transfer knowledge between content areas. Heather plans to spend the scholarship on mineral educational materials and tools, as well as a field trip to the Kinross Fort Knox Mine. Alaska Resource Education awards pair of teachers Teacher Heather Bogardus, above, with Beki Toussaint of ARE, Deantha Skibinski and Lisa Cassino. Home school teacher Jennifer Cooper, below, plans to expand ARE programs to home school students.
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