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If you ask the Bristol Bay Borough school superintendent, Bill Hill, about what it means to have the school building open for classes again, one word describes it best:
“We’re all really super excited about having the students back in school, he said. I think the students are excited, the teachers are excited, the parents are excited and the community’s excited. It’s a really great thing.”
That excitement is partly because it’s been a long wait. The school switched to remote learning at the start of the pandemic a year ago.
Since then, it has held small classes in the cafeteria and tried to juggle a mix of remote and in-person learning. But for the most part kids have been learning from home for a year.
Students and staff at the Bristol Bay Borough school have weathered a rough year.
The district planned for a renovation of the school building to finish months ago. The project derailed this summer when construction crews discovered asbestos in the building.
Bristol Bay Borough students at Silver Bay Seafoods facilities. February 2021.
Credit Courtesy of Shannon Harvilla
“That kind of delayed our project on the interior, explained Superintendent Bill Hill. We moved to the exterior of the school and found a significant amount of dry rot. And that delayed the exterior renovation as well. Basically derailed the project by about three months, as an estimate.”
Youth Leadership Forum slated
The virtual Bristol Bay Youth Leadership Forum is scheduled for March 23-25, 2021. Students in grades 9-12 from Southwest Region School District, Lake and Peninsula School District, Bristol Bay Borough School District and Dillingham City School District are invited to apply.
Students attending the virtual forum will have the opportunity to participate in cultural activities, learn critical work-readiness and leadership skills, and take part in presentations and dialogues focused on community initiatives, current issues impacting Native communities, and college and vocational career opportunities.
Student applications are due Feb. 26, and can be submitted online at bit.ly/virtualBBYLFapp. More information and a copy of the application can also be downloaded at www.utbb.org/calendar-of-events/2021/virtualbbylfapp and submitted by fax or email.