KTUU: Anchorage high schoolers share stories advocating for mental health awareness By: Derek Minemyer ANCHORAGE (KTUU) – Shining a light on the hardships of mental health through storytelling — that’s the goal of a group of Anchorage high school students. Natalie Frasier, 17, is a junior at West Anchorage High School. She said she felt that mental …

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KTUU: Spotlight on Youth: Local group of teens learning to communicate without words to include peers By: Ariane Aramburo ANCHORAGE (KTUU) – When it comes to communicating with others, there are a lot of ways. Youth like Ace Brown are part of a program with Hope Community Resources in which they’re learning American Sign Language. It’s an …

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Alaska Public Media: Alaska teens’ perspective on mental health stigma and advocacy By: Prentiss Pemberton Stigma is one of the biggest barriers to people seeking treatment for depression and other mood disorders. Mental health programs are often poorly funded compared to those for conditions like cancer and heart disease. This week on Line One, Prentiss Pemberton …

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Anchorage Press: For Anchorage teens, Story Works program enhances sense of self and community By: Naomi Cashion Live in front of an audience of about 700 people in a dim theater in the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, 15-year-old Bennett Pearce stands and begins to tell a story about his height, or lack thereof—caused by …

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Anchorage Daily News: Anchorage teens gather to develop advocacy skills Author: Marc Lester About 60 Anchorage teens and young adults gathered Monday to discuss advocacy and activism. The first Youth Empowerment Party, organized by teens, featured discussions on effective communication, how to speak with elected officials and how to hold a protest. “It’s very appropriate to have …

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Community in Unity: Youth Perspectives By Anne Hillman, Alaska Public Media – December 12, 2017 What’s it like to be a young person today? What challenges do they face? What are their visions for the future? Join us for an open conversation led by and featuring Alaska youth, and hear their perspectives on building strong, trusting, supportive communities. …

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Anchorage Daily News: We are students in Anchorage high schools, and we have something to say about education Author: Pa Ying Thao,  Maija Smith-Mclendon & Filiberto Barajas Jr. February 22, 2017   We are students from East, West, and Bartlett High Schools and we wanted to express some thoughts about recent news stories we’ve read about education. We …

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Anchorage Daily News: Alaska afterschool programs pay big dividends, but need help now Author: Ciara Johnson, June 29, 2016 What do 80 percent of women business owners in America have in common? They were Girl Scouts. That’s right, those entrepreneurs were once little salespeople practicing their accounting and marketing skills on Thin Mints and hungry grocery …

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Education Northwest: Energizing Youth To Take Action on a Widespread Community Problem By June Sobocinski, Sarah Sledge, and Ciara Johnson   This blog post comes from 90% by 2020, a broad partnership promoting student success in Anchorage, Alaska, and continues our March series on collective impact—an approach that mobilizes the community to form a long-term and permanent solution …

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Education Northwest: Drawing on Community Wisdom To Guide Collective Impact Ciara Johnson – March 2015 Collective impact involves bringing together a wide range of partners—schools, community-based organizations, government, businesses, foundations, and individuals—to address a critical community issue. Initiatives are often complex with many moving parts, and challenges include making sure that proposed solutions reflect not …

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