Earlier in August Cameron visited a rocketry camp in Juneau put on by Bob Vieth of the Juneau Economic Development Council. Leading up to the camp's climax- a solid hour of consecutive launches of students' rockets- the kids visited an airport control tower, learned the physics of flight and simulated their rockets on computers. We think a similar camp would be a perfect fit for Southwest; campers in Kodiak could perhaps even set off their rockets from the Kodiak Launch Complex, where full size rockets with satellite payloads routinely launch.

Bob also conducts STEM teacher workshops, which have been a great success in Southeast and Southcentral, and which we'd like to bring to our region. The first, Engineering is Elementary, teaches engineering design and problem solving at the elementary level with real-world challenges in a creative, hands-on way. The second, SeaPerch, tasks 4th-12th grade students with building their own, fully operational, ROVs (SWAM conference attendees got a first-hand look at this in the Hotel Captain Cook pool in 2011). We hope to find teachers from each district to put on a region-wide training this school year.

SeaPerch would pair especially well with our own ocean science curriculum, which we continue to develop with teachers. Currently, we're getting the most interest from Kodiak, but we think this program, which sends students out into their communities to study their local beaches and screen them for shellfish toxins, would work well all over the region, and we are looking for teachers from other districts to collaborate with.

Port Lions is overlooked destination spot, with several hunting and fishing lodges, pristine waterfalls tucked away in spruce-filled coves, beach combing, and sea kayaking through the still, blue waters of Kizkuyak Bay. The town on the north coast of Kodiak was founded in 1964 by the displaced inhabitants of Afognak, which was destroyed by a tsunami after the Good Friday Earthquake. The community was named in honor of the Lions Club, for their support in rebuilding and relocating the village. The village of 204 nestled in Settler Cove receives twice-monthly ferry service in the summer as part of the Alaska Marine Highway System. In conjunction with the community's airstrip, the ferry link lets residents and tourists travel to and from Port Lions quickly and reliably. Along with passenger access, the ferry also translates to cheaper transportation for goods, which helps hold down the cost of living.

Port Lions is also looking to the future with a new grant-funded project.  The school and community at large are participating in the Kodiak Island Borough School District's shellfish beach monitoring program, developed with SWAMC's support. The program will equip teachers, students and community volunteers to collect samples from beaches to screen them for paralytic shellfish poisoning. It promises to educate the community about safe shellfish harvesting, while introducing students to marine science and collecting the baseline data needed to establish a commercial mariculture industry, a new possibility to diversify Port Lions' consistently strong fishing and tourism industries. Promoting safe shellfish, and alerting the community when it isn't safe, is especially important because, as in many other villages, many Port Lions residents rely on subsistence shellfish harvesting. Most residents lead a fishing and subsistence lifestyle, and in 2010 15 residents held commercial fishing permits, slightly down from 18 permit holders the prior year.