Welcome to August!

August is my favorite month of the school year. Many people disagree with me, but please let me explain my thinking. First, I love school. School is awesome. There are traditions, new friendships, challenges, accomplishments, Friday night football, robotics competitions, and innumerable other activities that make public schools unique in every community. That doesn’t even […]

Fairbanks Facility Planning

We hope that your summer is off to a great start! While we’ve just begun this summer, we’re actively working to prepare for our shared future. In Fairbanks, our schools are a great source of pride in the community and we are grateful for the support our residents provide year after year. In order to […]

CLASS OF 2021

Yesterday was the last Monday for Fairbanks High School Seniors. If they began as kindergartners in our district, that would mean it is the last of roughly 468 Mondays spent as Fairbanks Panthers. That is over 1.3 years of Mondays enjoyed as students in our schools. Yesterday definitely felt different than all others though. This […]

Teacher Appreciation Week

As with many things and the people we owe appreciation to this year, there is not much we can do for teacher appreciation week that will truly capture the work our teachers have done to support our students and families. With that being said, I will start with thank you. Thank you for first and […]

State of the Schools – 2021

Last week, I had the opportunity to virtually share our State of the Schools. I truly appreciate those staff and community members that took time to learn about the work that is happening across Fairbanks Local Schools. Below is the information that was shared during the presentation. I apologize for the lengthy read, but there […]

The Homestretch

Welcome back Fairbanks! We are excited for our school community to be rejoining our campus over the coming days. There are 37 days of school left in the 2020 – 2021 school year. I typically am not an “end of year” or “winter break” countdown person. However, considering everything our school community has been through […]

A Shot of Hope

This past Saturday was a very important day for Fairbanks Local Schools in our journey through the COVID-19 pandemic. 106 Fairbanks school employees were part of a vaccination clinic that was the largest conducted so far by the Union County Health Department. Approximately 850 Union County K-12 school employees received their first dose of the […]

Need Counselors? Yes, please!

Good afternoon! This week we are celebrating and honoring our school counselors (and licensed social worker) for everything they do for our schools. This is a reboot from last year’s post. Enjoy!! Schools are living and breathing organizations. They are made up of many different human beings that bring a unique perspective to every aspect […]

Mission, Vision, and Portrait of a Panther

In June of 2019, the Fairbanks Board of Education, Treasurer Aaron Johnson, and I met. This was early in our relationship together. At this meeting, the board set strategic priorities for our district, with the first being developing a unifying mission, vision, and strategic plan for Fairbanks Local Schools. Being new to the district allowed […]

What a Wild Ride

Happy New Year’s Eve! Many of us are ready to turn the page on 2020. It has been a year that has seen political, social, and economic shifts that some people do not experience in their entire lifetime. We managed to cram that all together during a global pandemic. It has been a wild ride! […]