As we wrap up the academic year, the school board wants to thank many people for their contributions to tackling the unanticipated challenges faced by the school this year. We want to start by thanking our superintendent, Roy Getchell. Roy’s tireless quest to make thoughtful decisions and communicate effectively is a major asset to the Haines School. Our amazing staff have risen to the challenge by preparing lunches, coordinating supplies for use at home, and promoting learning despite limited face-time and little time to prepare. Thank you to our leadership team (Rene Martin and Kim Sundberg!), Sam McPhetres (technology wizard), food service team led by Lisa Flory, teachers, paraprofessionals, custodial/maintenance staff, and office staff. The school’s response to supporting learning in the COVID-19 world was truly a team effort. Our students and their families have also done an excellent job adapting to this new and sometimes challenging approach to learning; your enthusiasm and continued effort was paramount to the success of these efforts. The school board also would like to acknowledge the incredible efforts of Alaska Power & Telephone, with a special shout-out to Jesse McGraw and Phyllis Sage. AP&T provided Internet services to our families and increased our staff’s bandwidth to engage with students online, all with little lead time before our online learning efforts launched. Thank you to the community of Haines for your partnership for the good of our students. We look forward to collaborating in the near future to plan for the 2020-2021 school year.
Shelly Sloper, on behalf of the Haines Borough School School Board