Published Jun 2, 2023 by Staff reports

The Nanooks hockey program will be at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the 2023 Great Lakes Invitational this season. The 57th annual tournament will take place on December 28-29, 2023, and will showcase three Michigan schools and the Alaska Nanooks. 

The 'Nooks will kick-off the GLI with a battle against the Michigan Tech Huskies and Michigan State versus Ferris State will follow. The winners will play for the GLI Championship the following day while the two losing teams will battle it out for third-place. 

"We are excited about the opportunity to play in such a historical tournament like the Great Lakes Invitational." Said head coach Erik Largen, "We are honored to be one of the guest teams and can't wait to compete for a trophy during the middle of the season."

Published Jun 2, 2023 by Pam Dunklebarger

Food and good health are inextricably linked with numerous studies showing that food patterns including lots of fruit and vegetables lead to best health. If you can’t get them from your own garden, buying seasonal fruits and vegetables is recommended for getting the most nutritional benefits. You may also use frozen or canned as these retain many of the nutrients and beneficial plant compounds. University of Alaska Fairbanks research has shown that berries, fresh or frozen or prepared as jam or fruit leather, are all nutrition powerhouses.

Whether fresh, frozen or canned works best for your budget and cooking style, adults should aim for about 1 ½ cups of fruit and 2-3 cups of vegetables per day. Currently in the U.S., only about 10-12 percent of adults meet the guidelines, with even fewer children getting recommended amounts.

Berries are nutrition stars in the produce section. In both clinical trials and population studies many types of berries — including strawberries, raspberries and blueberries — reduce risks for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, being overweight and dementia. Eating strawberries twice a week has been linked to lower blood sugar levels as well as many other health other benefits.

Published Jun 1, 2023

The summer season is upon us and parents may be looking for ways to occupy their children’s time out of school.

In that spirit, the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) is offering a series of summer kids camps to give youth an opportunity to pursue their passions.

A total of 95 camps are being offered this season, covering subjects from bugs to basketball to cooking to rifles.

Published Jun 1, 2023 by Brian Gong

The University of Alaska course catalog lists more than 95 occupational endorsement certificates and associate degrees explicitly designed to qualify someone to be job-ready—without a bachelor’s degree—in diverse, specialized areas such as air traffic control, applied behavior analysis, and construction management. Many of these programs include or explicitly prepare students to take industry certification programs. These college programs reflect the use by many employers of hundreds of specialization certifications for hiring, assignment, and promotion.

A corollary of this specialization is that there is no single body of content knowledge—Algebra II, for instance—that all students must learn to be college- or career-ready. It is also clear that many college students value obtaining the evidence of specialized skills that employers value.

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States and their partners should work to reflect and direct the educational waves of the future. Those who tackle the challenges to develop more relevant learning targets, more valid assessments, and more credible outcomes that are useful to students, colleges, and employers, will not only empower their graduates, but will make state and district standards, curriculum, assessment, and accountability more powerfully relevant than they have been for generations.

Published Jun 1, 2023 by Emilie Springer

“In a Time of Change” is an extended arts, humanities and science collaborative examining change in the boreal forest through narrative.

The collaborative, a large group project coordinated through the University of Alaska Fairbanks, started in 2007 as a way to bring together people in these fields and consider transitions experienced in the environment.

“Boreal Forest Stories,” which opened at the Pratt Museum on Thursday, May 25, is the sixth in a series of special exhibits sponsored by the collaborative.

“We took on a new theme and expanded group of participants to focus on different narratives on the boreal forest,” ITOC Director Mary Beth Leigh with the University of Alaska Fairbanks said.

The show includes the work of 44 contributors, visual artists, writers, educators and performers and organizations like the Folk School Fairbanks and North Star Ballet.