FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Blatchley Students Discover Their Potential

By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER 

Sentinel Staff Writer

This week at Blatchley Middle School seventh-grader Hunter Lambdin learned how to take care of her skin in a class called Beauty 101, arrange aquatic plants and stones in a fish bowl, and apply gory horror movie makeup.

But her favorite course taken during the school’s “Discover Your Potential” week was pop a capella, where she learned to beat box. 

“I was really surprised,” Hunter said. “It’s new to me, I still have to learn a lot more and be more experienced but it’s just fun.”

And that’s what discover your potential week is all about. 

This week at Blatchley, students could pick between 85 different courses – butchering, scuba diving, sushi making, duct tape art, knitting, sign making, geocaching, boxing and many,  many others. 

“We want to offer our students in Sitka every opportunity we can to expose them to new things and new interests,” Principal Ben White said. 

Students pick four courses from all of the offerings and then take those sessions each day for four days.

“It allows them enough time to become proficient and complete projects,” he said.

By the end of the week, seventh-grader Rebecca Warren, age 12, had knit a hat and a headband, learned how to hand letter, and to play table tennis. 

“Ping pong is really fun but I’ve never been good at it,” she said. 

Now that she has a calligraphy set from the course, she plans to continue using it. 

Discover Your Potential week takes place every other year so each student at the middle school gets at least one  chance to experience it while they’re there.

The event started out as a Renaissance Fair more than a decade ago and then about eight years ago morphed into what it is today White said. 

“I talk to kids who have graduated and they cite it as one of their highlights,” White said. Blatchley Middle School has to teach math, writing and science but “students also need to know all the different and unique experiences in the world they can be engaged in  – this is one of the ways we can give that to them.”

Eighth-grader Jemar Diga, 14, learned how to sew during the week.

“I made a pillow for my brother,” he said, “It has a picture of him.”

It was the first time he’s used a sewing machine, he said. 

Seventh-grader Aaliyah Borgaard, 12, also learned to sew, and to make  ceramic plates.

The week “is to help kids figure out their passions and what they like to do,” she said. “I found my passion a long time ago through art. I brought my passion a little bit farther by learning to sew and do ceramics.”

Devin Tatro, who teaches at Blatchley, said she notices a difference between her students at the beginning of the week versus the end of the week.

There is an empowerment that happens when students step out of their comfort zones to learn something new together, she said. 

She led the pop a capella class and that ended up being a big hit. 

“Some kids had come in and never sang in front of anyone before and then three days later there they are singing in front of 300 people,” Tatro said. “It’s so cool to see that progression. It’s really a life-changing experience for some students, for some it’s the most excited they are about school.”

Discover Your Potential week takes a lot of volunteers – and donations – from the community, White said.

The school raises funds to be able to put on the courses at no cost to the students. Community members donate their time and skills to offer different experiences to the adolescents. 

 

“We want access for everybody,” White said. “We want kids to have the opportunity to experience amazing growth and do things they never do.”

You have no rights to post comments

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!