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            The holiday season is often a time where people look to others and find different ways help those less fortunate. The spirit of giving wasn’t lost on the second and third graders of North Star Elementary School as a handful of classrooms teamed up to host a school-wide food drive. Marilyn Kreta is a second grade teacher at North Star and said the idea for the food drive came from the students after learning about Kodiak’s community.
            The students decorated boxes, made posters and wrote their own announcements about the project to read in other classrooms around the school. Kreta said the project was both a great opportunity for the kids to learn about helping others, but also an interactive way to hone their writing, public speaking and math skills.   
            The food drive wrapped up last week, and all total the classes raised about a dozen packed boxes of food, which was divided evenly between the two local food banks. 

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            A former finance director for the Kodiak Island Borough School District has been recognized for his work at his current job. Dave Jones, who is the assistant superintendent for instructional support for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District was named the 2012 School Business Official of the Year by the Alaska Association of School Business Officials.
            The award recognizes outstanding service, innovative plan design and implementation, and other exemplary business practices within school business management, according to Melody Douglas of the school business organization.
            She said that among Jones’ many accomplishments is helping to spearhead the process that led to forward funding of all Alaska school by the legislature a number of years ago.
            Kenai Superintendent Steve Atwater said the district was thrilled to have Jones recognized for his long career in school finance.
            Jones began working for the Kenai Peninsula School District in 2007. He manages non-instructional operations including finance, human resources, information services, facility planning, custodial care, transportation, food services, warehouse, purchasing, and risk management.
            For the 10 years prior to that, from 1997-2007, Jones was director of finance for the Kodiak Island Borough School District.
            In response to the award, Jones said he was honored to be singled out by his peers, but added his accomplishments were the result of teamwork.

Steve Heimel/APRN
            You can add the name of NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenko to the list of top Obama administration officials not sticking around for the President's second term.  The Commerce Undersecretary for Oceans and Atmosphere told her staff today [Wednesday] that she'll be leaving her job early next year.
            Lubchenko helped lead the administration's response to the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico and is responsible for fishery policies and marine mammal management, as well as the National Weather Service. NOAA's support for expanding quota share programs for allocating fisheries has been controversial in Alaska. She has been a professor of marine ecology at Oregon State University since 1977, and a longtime advocate for science and science communication to the public.
            Lubchenko is a former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has been part of President Obama's science team.

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            Last Saturday’s first-ever Santa Run was grounded by some seriously bad weather. In calling off the race, organizer Joe Bailor of the Chamber of Commerce noted Saturday morning that sidewalks on Rezanof Drive were mostly unplowed, and while Mill Bay Road was plowed of snow, there was still slush and ice everywhere. That’s in addition to the sideways rain. He described the conditions as too dangerous for a fun run.
            The race has been rescheduled for this upcoming Saturday, December 15th. Bailor took an informal poll about the start time, and the consensus was to keep it at 11 a.m. at the high school. Registration starts at 10.
            He says that just in case the weather gets crazy again on Saturday, the back-up race date is the next day at 2 p.m. Give Bailor a shout at the Chamber of Commerce for more information.
            The Santa Run is a “theme race,” where participants are encouraged to dress up as Santa Claus, Mrs. Clause, one of the reindeer or any character from the season. Proceeds from the entry fees will all go to charity. So, as Bailor says, “Come Run for a Claus.”