Educator Cross-Cultural Immersion

03/06/2025

Share Your Thoughts About Alaska Studies Today!

On May 29th-30th, the Alaska Humanities Forum will host the Alaska Studies Educator Summit, bringing together 40 educators who are invested in strengthening the high school Alaska Studies class. To inform this gathering, we are conducting a community-wide survey to understand the current state of teaching Alaska Studies, identify ways to better support educators, and bring more voices and experiences into the Summit.

The survey contains 10 questions and should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. All information you provide will remain strictly confidential. The survey closes on March 14th.

Share your thoughts through the survey today: https://loom.ly/H93AwxY
Or visit the Summit webpage to learn more: https://loom.ly/9Icvm6M

The Alaska Humanities Forum is bringing together 40 educators who are invested in strengthening the high school Alaska Studies class.

10/05/2021

Free NYO virtual coach training coming up! Especially great for teachers who are new to AK, PE teachers, or anyone interested in teaching or coaching NYO. Hosted by the Kyle Ḵaayák'w Worl, wellness coordinator at Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

There are two date options this year:

Monday, Oct. 11 & Tuesday, Oct. 12 - 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
OR
Saturday, October 16
10:00 am-3:00 pm (AKDT)

Sign up: https://tinyurl.com/2021NYOCoach

Questions? Email Kyle at: [email protected].

05/12/2021

ECCI is back for this summer! Help us spread the word. Applications are due May 23. https://www.akhf.org/ecci

Program contact is Emily Lucy at [email protected]. Reach out to her with any questions!

03/20/2021

Tonight at 8 PM on Zoom:

Microinteractions: Affirming and Challenging Values and
Identities of Learners with Carie Green, Associate Professor at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks

This is a part of the Critical Issues in Refugee Education series, sponsored by the Refugee Educator Academy and Center for Learning in Practice.

Register here!:

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Critical Issues Workshop with Carie Green: Microinteractions: Affirming and Challenging Values and Identities of Learners. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

08/21/2020

Got any Alaskan recipes to share, for new-to-rural-Alaska educators seeing their first moose meat, caribou, fresh salmon, berries, etc?

(PS C3 is a sister program to ECCI - same main themes and ideas, but for educators moving to rural Alaska from the Lower 48.)

Our Creating Culture Competence (C3) program works with communities, Alaska Native organizations, and school districts to support newly hired teachers in rural regions. The C3 team is compiling recipes to share with teachers that center around Alaskan subsistence foods such as berries, game meat, and various fish. Please share a recipe and support teachers new to Alaska and rural communities! You can email your recipe to Jazmine Camp at [email protected].

06/09/2020

https://blacklivesmatteratschool.com/teaching-materials/?fbclid=IwAR1hB4WfqA5VVql9oPn8yWc8psaSfQVALeUdEa6QiEc_xKxYwIdMy5JoMXQ

Announcing the 2020 Curriculum Resource Guide The national Black Lives Matter At School coalition’s brilliant Curriculum Committee worked this year to bring you lessons for every grade level …

05/06/2020

As we reach the end of the school year (WHEW), here's something positive and fun to put on your radar.

Story Works AK and the Forum are hosting Story Circle sessions for educators and community members every Tuesday for the next four weeks. The purpose of these circles is to introduce people to the concept of Story Circles and give them the tools to share it with the students/youth they work with.

In these Circles, the participants may not know each other or they may be a group that collaborates (through work or community) in other ways. After attending an info session, you're also eligible for a $200 Kindling Conversation stipend if you decide to host their own Story Circle. If you're interested, you can register here: https://storyworksak.org/educator-community-member-story-circles/

PS They are also hosting youth-led Story Circles every Thursday. Youth can learn more and register here!: https://storyworksak.org/youth-story-circles/

**To attend the upcoming free Educator and Community Member Story Circle on May 5th (3-4:30pm AK time), please register here.** What is an Educator & Community Member Story Circle? Story Circles are opportunities for small groups of people to gather together to listen and share thoughts and stories....

03/20/2020

Hello, ECCI alumni!

Anyone interested in helping some of our new Humanities Forum staff practice interviewing teachers for our C3 program? It would involve role-playing for an appx. 1-hour phone interview, where you pretend to be a teacher in the Lower 48 who has applied for a teaching job on the North Slope. The less you know about the region, the better the practice it will be for our staff. ;)

We can't pay you directly but we can thank you in gift cards.

If you're interested, please email me at [email protected] or PM me.

Thank you! Sending positive thoughts to all of you this week and for the weeks ahead.

11/05/2019

We've compiled some great final projects from this last grant cycle - take a look to get some inspiration, or to look for yours! :)

The Educator Cross-Cultural Immersion (ECCI) program is an experiential program to help public school educators in urban Alaska better serve their Alaska Native students, communicate across cultural differences, and incorporate Alaska Native Ways of Knowing and Learning into their classrooms.

10/21/2019

“It was on the last day of the camp that I had my ‘aha’ moment,” she said. “The way I was avoiding going back to the language class is exactly the same behavior I see in my students when they’re struggling in class.”

Anchorage high school math teacher Ellen Piekarski reflects on her experience at DIG Afognak camp during summer 2018, and on the parts of it that still resonate with her on a daily basis. Check out her new article on the AKHF Stories blog:

High School math teacher Ellen Piekarski reflects on the impact Educator Cross-Cultural Immersion had on her classroom.