Parent Profile

By: Jesse

Leslie Swenson has lived in Nome for 10 years with her husband and three kids. She graduated with a degree in psychology. Later on she spent 8 years teaching adults how to use computers.

Mrs. Swenson joined the A.C.S.A parent board mainly because her daughter Rachel attends the school. Her parents were involved with her education, so she is trying to be involved with her kids’ education too. The main thing she wants to do is to help Mr. Hindman and Mrs. Leeper to give the students the best education they possibly can. She thinks the best way to do this is to plan ahead and try to answer some of the questions about how the school is run before these questions become problems. She usually enjoys being on the board. Sometimes there’s a lot of hard work to be done and this can make it hard to enjoy. She enjoys the board members the most because they are such talented people and are dedicating their time and effort to make the school a better place.

She’s been involved with other boards so she has experience. She was either the vice president or the president for all of the six years she was on the Nome Preschool Board of Directors. She also serves on the Education Committee at the church she attends and has experience there because she’s spent 8 years on this board. She’s the secretary on the School board. She writes down the minutes and then posts them on the school website so parents are able to see what the board’s doing. And of course she helps the other board members to make important decisions to help run the school.

My Years at ACSA

By: Megan H

My first semester at the Anvil City Science Academy was the hardest. I was in 6th grade, 1999-2000. I couldn’t quite get the “swing of things.” Everything was different from my old school. At ACSA we organized folders for all our schoolwork and we have a unique math program where everyone moves at their own pace instead of as a class. Everything was different. Even though I didn’t have a very good time my first year, my second and third years were better.

I remember some of the field trips my class went on my first year, in 6th grade. During the fall season before the snow came, our class would take hikes back on the old gold company roads. I remember one specific trip when we walked a short distance back to a pond that we unofficially named “Andy’s Pond”, after Andy Lean who went to school with me my first year. My class collected fish, aquatic bugs, and water samples for chemical tests. What made this trip “interesting”, was that in the bushes we discovered a headless dog infested with maggots.

The only other really interesting thing that we did was build rockets. Everything had to be precisely in the correct position or they wouldn’t fly straight. We launched them in the school courtyard.

My 7th grade year was a little easier because I knew how everything worked and we seemed to be more organized.

About two or three weeks into the school year, our class went to Salmon Lake for an overnight campout. We played strange games that involved sticking your foot in a bucket and throwing beans at each other. After the games some of the class the their visiting family members climbed half way up a mountain near the cabins that we were staying at.

One of the new things we did during my second year was join Mr. Irelan’s after school Tae Kwon Do program. We trained all year doing high kicks and sparing, then in February my team, who included, Brad Mahoney, Chase Madden, Ramon Ponce, Asaaluk Irelan, and me, went to the State TKD Tournament. Brad, Chase, and I brought home two gold medals each and Asaaluk and Ramon each brought home one silver and one bronze. We all qualified for the nationals in Tampa, Florida.

My third and final year was completely different because we doubled the size of the school and added one more teacher to the staff, Mrs. Leeper. We also had a strict schedule to follow for our classes instead of like the years before where we just did what-ever class we felt like doing in whatever order.

Out of all my years at the ACSA I think that my 7th grade was my favorite year because we tried new things.

Student Profile

By: Shane Madden

Banner is a sixth-grade student who attends the Anvil City Science Academy. His favorite subject at this school is Math. “The journals are kind of fun, but they take a long time,” says Banner. During the school day, if he gets some free time, he likes to play on the computers. “Playing games on computers is fun, because you don’t have to do school work,” he says. From the previous years of school, his favorite teacher was Mrs. Penttila. “She always encouraged us to read, read, read,” he laughs. Banner’s favorite movie, is the Matrix. He likes the TV Show “Ripley’s Believe it or Not,” but he also likes to watch the NFL. His favorite football team is the Dallas Cowboys, who he says, “They have been doing bad, but I still like them.” Banner is going to stay at the Anvil City Science Academy for another year, maybe even until he is in 8th grade.

Reading & Keyboarding

By: David & Jenelle

Reading and Keyboarding is a 50-minute class, taught by Mr. Hindman. It’s split up into two 25-minute periods.

During Sustained Silent Reading (S.S.R.) we read Accelerated Reader (A.R.) books. After every book we finish, we take an AR test, which is a series of multiple choice questions that relate to the book. Each book contains a certain number of points. Every individual in the class has to read a designated number of points based on the results of their STAR test. Every person is required to complete one SSR project every quarter. SSR project choices include web pages with a book report and illustration, crossword puzzles, newsletters and mobiles.

During our 25 minutes of keyboarding we practice our typing skills on a computer program called Mavis Beacon. Once we reach +40 adjusted words per minute we no longer have to keyboard, instead we work on individual projects. Projects may include doing anything from writing newspaper articles to making web pages.

At the ACSA, most students look forward to reading and keyboarding. Most prefer reading, but some also enjoy keyboarding. To help parents keep track of their children’s reading progress, quarterly STAR test results are sent home.

Mr. Hindman, the Science Guy

By: Ben Peterson

Mr. Hindman teaches Science in the larger classroom. Science is the one of last classes taught in the school day on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays.

At the beginning of the year the class went on a camping trip to the Girl Scout camp. On the trip the class collected aquatic organisms and did water tests. Later on in the year a few students went on a fishing trip with the high school fisheries class. On this fishing trip we caught male and female salmon. Then we cut them open and took the eggs from the female and fertilized them with the male sperm. Later on in the year about 10 students went on another field trip out onto the sea ice. On the ice, they collected krill, plankton, crabs and shrimp. They brought those organisms back to the class for the other students to see. They also brought water samples back to the class to test.

In our regular class we have been following the JASON project all year. The JASON project is a learning program that has many different learning skills in it. This year the JASON project has been studying the Arctic and Antarctica. We have taken notes and have done experiments relating to the Arctic and Antarctica. One of these experiments we have done was, we took temperatures at different heights in the gym to see if hot air really rises and hot air really rises. Another project was we made some gak (slimy gooey like stuff) which we put on a slant to imitate a glacial movement. What we came up with is that the steeper the slant, the fast the glaciers move. Overall, science is a fun class with many things to look forward to.

 A New Perspective for Students

By: Melozi

Picasso, Rembrandt, Monet, and of course, the students of the Anvil City Science Academy, are great artists. The students are taught by Mrs. Leeper.

ACSA’s art program is one of the best and is fun. The kids get to find specific areas of art they are strong in like drawing, painting, weaving and carving. This year, we have done negative space, upside down , and perspective drawings which have taught us how compare the spaces inside or outside of a specific thing.

We have also had a chance to do skin sewing and block printing this year. Overall, art is a lot of fun.

 Accelerated Readers

By: Benjamin

At Anvil City Science Academy students have SSR everyday. SSR is sustained silent reading. Students have to read 30 minutes each and everyday.

To choose a book, we have to pick a book at your reading level or higher. For example: if your reading level is 3.0 you have to pick a book with a reading level of 3.0 or higher. Each book has a reading level on its binding.

We sit on pillows instead of sitting in our seats. Mr. Hindmans mother sewed the pillowcases and Mrs. Peterson stuffed the pillows. We are not allowed to use them for pillow fights and we can only use them during SSR. We can also sit anywhere and if we do not put them away in their proper place we will get them taken away for a week or more.

After we finish a book we have to take an AR, Accelerated Reader, test. The test has multiple-choice questions that refer to the book. It is a computerized test and it is part of your grade. The tests will vary, depending on the books.

We also have to do a project after we finish a book. The project choices are to create a newsletter, crossword puzzle, mobile, or a book review web page. Every quarter you can't just do one type of project for every book you read.

Every quarter, all the students take the STAR test (Standardized Test for Assessment of Reading). In the test you are given sentences with a missing word in each sentence. At the bottom of the screen, they give you four words that you can use to fill in the blank. Then at the end of the test, your reading level is determined.

This program is an important part of the Charter School. Our school has a wide variety of book sizes and types to fit the wide range of abilities and interests of students.

 Wet ‘n Wild

By: Javier

Here at the Anvil City Science Academy we take pride in our swimming activities. The students at the A.C.S.A go swimming every Wednesday. Mrs. Peterson, Mrs. Ford & Mrs. Olson are our lifeguards. We have to do a couple of laps when we get to the swimming pool to warm up. Sometimes if were lucky we get free time, or we have swimming classes. We play games like sharks and minnows, volleyball, basketball, or just do laps. But most of the times we learn how to save people that are drowning or panicking, we also learn new kinds of strokes and some times we race. Then after an hour and half of swimming we hit the showers!

It's a History to Me

By: Ramon

History class here at the ACSA is a very fun and interesting subject. The history teacher is Mrs. Leeper. Mrs. Leeper always makes her classes very fun; this is why most students like history class. History class is usually in the afternoon, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The students kicked off the year by watching a movie on Benjamin Franklin, then they took notes, answered questions, and then wrote a biography on him. This was the introduction to the students about biographies. After this, every student was required to do at least four biographies on anyone they wanted to. This was the first history assignment of the year. The biography assignments lasted for about the whole first quarter. When this was over, Mrs. Leeper then introduced the students to the “Revolutionary War”. The way the students learned about the war was to read a section of a packet that was given to them and write an outline for the packet. This assignment also lasted for a whole quarter. For about half the third quarter, they were also taught about the “Westward Expansion”, in this subject, the students learned about the Louisiana Purchase, Louis and Clark, Sacajawea, and such things. With this done, the students made a huge drawings that combined History and Art. The students made a mural about the their history subject. These murals were displayed in the conference room at the last open house. For the rest of the quarter, the kids picked something that had to do with the Arctic regions and were assigned to research the subjects chosen and display their work on the bulletin boards that are setup throughout the school. According to most kids, this was the funniest project done in History. During the last quarter, the students are learning about the U.S. government and how it runs.

I think that History class is taught very well at the Academy and is a fun class. Also Mrs. Leeper is a great working teacher that just loves to work with the students, “Mrs. Leeper is a very fun teacher to work with”, says David Laffoon, a student at the Academy. I’m very sure that any student that attends the Academy next year will like History along with the other classes.

"A" is for Apple

By: Katie & Rachel

If you know your A, B, C’s then you can spell, right? The Anvil City Science Academy has three different levels of spelling, A, B, and C. Level A is for learning the basics of spelling. Level B is an intermediate level. They spell words like justice and injury. Group C is the advanced level. They spell words like pejorative and juxtaposition.

Spelling groups B and C are taught by Mrs. Leeper. Mr. Hindman teaches group A. The students take a pre-test on Tuesday, and a post test on Thursday. If you get 100% on Tuesday, then you do not have to take the test on Thursday, you get to have free time on the computer while everyone else is taking their spelling test. Thursday is also the day when the new lesson for the next week is introduced. Spelling is a great class that can improve your future.