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Kristin Cook is the new culinary arts teacher and has helped bring the program back. Students in her classes are starting with the basics.

It’s an idea that was tossed around as a group of Mat-Su Borough School District principals met ahead of the 2026-27 school year. Teeland Middle principal Brandt Bowen heard it and immediately loved it. Now, every Tuesday Teeland staff and students are taking a little break from Chromebooks and Promethean boards. Less screentime, more hands-on activities.

The foundation for all elementary sports is built on priorities such as opportunity and participation. That, coupled with the district staff’s teaching and coaching philosophy. has allowed programs to continue to grow and helped those involved thrive.

The Saroma students kicked off their two-week stay in Palmer Sept. 14 with a welcome assembly hosted by Palmer Junior Middle School. Students from both the Saroma and Palmer delegations were introduced.

Career and technical education is vast with rapid growth throughout the Mat-Su Borough School District. On the final Friday of the Alaska State Fair, the district gave fairgoers a glimpse at some of the opportunities available for local students in CTE during its annual Career and Tech Expo at the Matanuska Valley Credit Union Event Hall on the state fairgrounds.

Clovers club members walked groups of students through the entire farm to freezer process, explaining exactly what it takes to prepare a farm-raised turkey for a spot in the freezer or the next turkey dinner. And it was hands-on. Students participated in stages of the process, such as plucking the feathers and cleaning the bird.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Hemenway, a 1982 graduate of Wasilla High School, was one of 125 people who were killed inside the Pentagon when hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the building.

Zorn Allen, Kamoori Moore, Adam Corneliussen and Conner Zundel are now on college teams after finishing their careers with the Warriors and graduating as part of the class of 2026.

The afterschool programs through the grant have been in place as schools such as Burchell High School and Valley Pathways School. Now Redington is on the list of schools that can offer quarter-long classes that are worth a semester of credit.

Burchell is among MSBSD schools that use ABLE, a credit recovery program that gives students the opportunity to catch up and earn credits at a more rapid rate.

Maddisen Lukin was one of hundreds of parents across the Mat-Su Borough School District bringing their child to their first day of kindergarten as she walked her daughter Sophia through the doors of Tanaina Elementary Thursday morning.

Those staff advisors are mentors. Each student is paired with a mentor from their first day walking the school’s hallways to the chance to walk across the stage and receive their diploma on graduation day.

It’s a tradition that’s spanned more than two decades, since Thompson’s first, first day of school as a kindergarten student at Pioneer Peak Elementary. Thompson is 29 now, and is in her seventh year of teaching in the Mat-Su Borough School District. But to Beaulieu, Thompson will never be too old for donuts and a picture on the first day of school.

The average Mat-Su Borough School District student now has access to a variety of education options to help meet their academic goals. There are traditional, correspondence, online and hybrid models, and the academic options continue to evolve. But there is a particular program that has stood the test of time. iTech.

Goose Bay Elementary principal Ayla Wade stood in front of her school Thursday morning with two rows of staff members behind her to greet parents and students as they made their way inside the building for the first time officially this year. Thousands of students and staff members across the Mat-Su Borough School District celebrated the first day of the 2026-2027 school year.

After partnering with Thrive Mat-Su, Northgate’s shoe drive is now part of a major event that serves hundreds of families throughout the Mat-Su. 

About 40 FFA members participated in the third annual Palmer FFA Blue Jacket Jackpot, showcasing cows, pigs, sheep and goats.

It’s a tradition that spans nearly two decades, starting as a simple school supplies drive and evolving into a festival-like atmosphere to help celebrate the back to school season. 

Colony students now have three different avenues that can lead them to their academic goals while remaining within the walls of CHS. There is traditional in-person, which includes well-known favorites such as advanced placement, career and technical education, fine arts, world language and JROTC. There is also iTech, and now Accelerate ASU.

But for those who don’t know, what exactly is CTE?  The strategy is simple. Provide opportunity in career-based education. It’s hands-on, detailed and tailored to prepare students for college and the workforce. 

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