Rural Alaskan Environmental Education Program

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The University of Alaska Southeast proposes a three-year project to develop and implement the Rural Alaskan Sanitation Education Program. The project establishes a centralized educational center at the UAS Sitka Campus, as well as a system for dissemination of curriculum to teachers and students in remote villages throughout the State. The program is modeled on the recommendations of the Federal Field Working Group on Rural Alaska Sanitation Problems and represents a cooperative effort of secondary/postsecondary educators, Native leaders, and those State and Federal agencies responsible for environmental sanitation programs in the State of Alaska. The program addresses a critical public health need, throughout Alaska and other rural settings, for sanitation technicians and environmental scientists. It is designed to establish cultural awareness of the linkage between the environment and public health, engaging village youth as agents of change. The program will provide a cross-disciplinary curriculum in an articulated 2+2 tech-prep format for grades 11-14. Curriculum components encompass an academic core (math, written and oral communications, social science); laboratory science (chemistry, microbiology, geology, climate) and systems technology (hydraulics, mechanics, electronics. Students will complete a systematic program leading from secondary diploma to postsecondary associate degree, along with field experience necessary to achieve technician certification under Alaska regulations for operation of water and wastewater treatment, distribution, and collection systems. An academic and career counseling program, based on professional mentoring and service learning, will assure that students completing the program are prepared both for transfer to baccalaureate degree programs and for transition into the workforce in rural Alaska.