affiliates
Summary 2023 — Alaska
State Contact
Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom
590 University Ave Suite 2
Fairbanks, AK 99709
P: 907.479.1213 x5
E: alaska.agintheclassroom@gmail.com
Website
Innovative Programming
Students at the Effie Kokrine Charter School (which incorporates Native Alaskan cultural values) successfully ran a 252 plant site hydroponics system. Students and staff from our office developed and tested a new microbe based fertilizer in this existing system. New curriculum for alternative fertilizer is being developed and will be available through the AK AITC website in spring of 2024. In May of 2023, the Effie Kokrine students participated in a build of 12 hydroponic grow towers that were given out to community members in need.
During the fall of 2023, we worked with the McKinney-Vento Foster Care program at the Fairbanks North Star Borough School district to help them run and maintain their LettuceGrow hydroponic towers. We presented a hands-on workshop where students and their families built 10 hydroponic grow towers that went home with them to grow food in their homes.
The process of starting a new hydroponic deep water culture system was inspired by issues faced with the large NFT (nutrient film transfer) system that is at Effie Kokrine school. The new hydroponic system, which involves a large storage shelf and sleds in a recirculating system was so exciting that we received requests to work with village schools on the north slope of Alaska to install it and work with their middle school students. The first of these visits was conducted in December of 2023. 8 students and 2 teachers from two north slope communities participated in the week long intensive where they learned about plant and soil biology as well as hydroponics.
Major Program Impacts or Outcomes
Getting calls from around the state to both present programs about hydroponics and agriculture has been a great move forward for Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom. We have explored partnerships with Farm to School and other community agriculture groups as part of these outreach efforts.
Holding the intensive in Utqiagvik in December with students set us up for working with districts around the state and gaining interest in our online resources.
Program Leader Biosketch
Mel Sikes is the state coordinator for Alaska and has worked with the AKAITC program since Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District (FSWCD) was chosen as the coordinator in August of 2013. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Unity College which she received in 1990. She has been an environmental and natural resource educator since 1988. She has developed programs that have trained countless teachers on using interdisciplinary hands-on activities to help students to connect with their world. She has been with FSWCD since the fall of 2010 and her duties there include managing all the education projects at the district, overseeing and instructing for the afterschool program, instructing Project Wild/Project LearningTree/Project WET and other natural resource educator workshops, planning and managing outreach community events, Project Director of a large USDA Community Foods Project Grant as well as other education grants, sitting on the state Food Policy Council governing board, and developing new natural resource education lessons.