In 2007, an alumni parent,Sandy Matthews, provided acar and the funding forAtheneum students to convertthe car to fully electric power.This exciting project becamethe foundation for our studiesof all kinds of energy fromlocal and Native Alaskan vil-lage resources to worldwideconcerns. Atheneum stylestudy of all sides and issuesled to controversial ideasabout extractables, renew-ables, and a 2009 trip to theleading country in the world tobe off of oil, Iceland. With theimmediate relevance and im-portance of this discussion inour state and world today,Atheneum has incorporatedthis study into our sciences(well ahead of our new chem-istry textbook that claims tobe green!). We added tutori-als, two-week intensives, andindependent studies to sup-port this topic. Last monthwhen an Atheneum parent,Steve Poirot, was asked why acompany interested in install-ing solar panels in Louisianashould partner

(cont. pg 5)

Atheneum, Today’s Renewable Energy School

Atheneum Extends Educational Program to Village Schools

In the summer of 2006, Kevinand Lydia led a group of Atheneum students and alumnion our first canoe float trip onthe Kuskokwim River in the inte-rior of Alaska. (We had com-pleted two different summerfloat trips from Eagle to Circleon The Yukon in past years).Putting in at McGrath, we arrivedin Aniak two weeks later. Thetrip was full of adventure and theexperience brought us to passby several Native villages. What

we didn’t realize at the time was

that this trip was the beginningof a new adventure for theschool! The next winter we be-gan a relationship with the Idi-tarod School District whoseheadquarters are in McGrath.The district includes sevenschools and 150 students alongthe Kuskokwim and Yukon Riv-ers, spanning some 400 miles.All seven schools are

(cont. pg 5)

Atheneum School

an Independent School for grades 6-12 in Anchorage, Alaska

Special Edition15 yr. Anniversary

◊

Spring 2010Annual Fund

Q.E.D.

Students in Nikolai, AK, working ontheir illustrated map of The Iditarod Trail with Lydia Ossorgin (03-10).Nikolai is the first Athabaskan villagecheckpoint on the Iditarod Trail. Above: Working on Geodesic dome in The Renewable Energy classare Seiji Takagi, 8th grade and Brooke Poirot, 12th grade. Below: Theconverted to fully electric 1968 Datsun Roadster taken for a spin by Linnaea DeVelice Ward (2007) and Austin Johnson (2009).

Spring Intensive inIceland 2009

Guest LectureSeries

Iceland PhotoCollage

Atheneum is In-vited to LouisianaApril 2010

From the Pens of Students

From AlumniFrom A Parent

RememberingFriend, Bill FowlerA Thank You

Inside this issue:

Special Interest:



Atheneum on theHistoric Iditarod Trail



What is music?



Partnering With BP toinstall solar panels on topof office buildings in thelower 48



Preparing Students toStudy the Latest Technol-ogy and the Classic Texts



Seminars on The Kus-kokwim and Yukon Rivers

1920 W. Dimond Blvd.Anchorage, Alaska 99515tel: 907-344-2533Fax: 907-349-3975Email: athenaeum.school@gmail.orgwww.atheneum.orgWe are forever grateful to

Ted Collins

of Alaska and Oregon. Our relationship with Tedgoes back to The Alaska Paideia Project dayswhen he was a student at Steller SecondarySchool. Ted approached us several years agowith a generous offer to help us build our website and to keep us up-to-date with the latestmarketing trends. Thanks from all of us, Ted!And as always, Happy Trails!

Atheneum’s mission

is to provide young people with the opportunityand means to initiate and develop their own education. Students and faculty dis-cuss original texts of literature, poetry, music, and history; reenact crucial scien-tific experiments and mathematical demonstrations; strengthen the integrity of body and mind; and travel to destinations celebrated for their historical and cul-tural significance. Every course of study challenges the students and faculty toconsider the principles of their learning and the relevance of these principles totheir lives. In this way the program inspires the practice of not only the intellec-tual virtues, but also personal and civic responsibility: the lifelong refinement of community and self.

Our students

represent the full spectrum of capabilities and interests, andat Atheneum they develop these to the fullest. Small classes, individualized studyplans, and a program that instills reading, writing, speaking, listening, and rea-soning skills, and health of mind and body ensure a complete preparation forcollege and a life of continual growth in learning.

Atheneum School

his guidance, we decided to renta van and small car to take 13students all over the country onour own. We were so graciouslyaccepted everywhere we went!We went from huge green-houses to hydrogen fueling sta-tions, from geothermal plants tothe Blue Lagoon, a resort heal-

ing spa in the ―tailings‖ of a

geothermal power plant. Wetraveled from large , affluent,futuristic cities out to small re-mote fishing villages along gla-cial coastlines. When we visitedPresident Grimsson at his resi-dence, we were shocked to findthat there was no security , we just went up to his house andknocked on the door! This coun-try has no military or militaryAnother superhero Atheneumparent,

Meade Treadwell

,paved the way for us to visit Ice-land last year. He arranged for us

to meet Iceland’s President when

he was here in Anchorage speak-ing at the World Affairs Council.After his speech, PresidentGrimsson met with a group of Atheneum students about thepossibilities of geothermal powerhere in Anchorage. He also in-vited us to visit him at his resi-dence if we would come to hiscountry to see the geothermalpower in use there. We were veryexcited as we learned more aboutIceland. Meade loaned us bookson the Viking Sagas, helped ar-range travel, and met with in-spired parents and students. With

Atheneum Travels to Iceland to Study Renewable Energy March 2009

Atheneum students with President Grimssonat his residence in Reykjavík, March 2009.Top (Left): Parent, Mrs. Diana Jensen; Author Nancy Lord;David Hoffman (rt). Bottom (Right): Alumni/Businessman,Chris Miller who holds a photo of himself as an Atheneumstudent; Poet, Gary Holthaus; Alumni/, Austin Johnson; Afri-can American Leader, Cal Williams.

budget. They pride themselves on going from a largely oildependent country 40 years ago to a nearly self sufficient,peaceful, sustainable country now. Iceland provided manysuch remarkable advances and visions for Atheneum stu-dents to seminar late into the evenings.

Atheneum Lecture Series

In 2007, friend

David Hoffman

started a lecture series that became a fastand favorite event among students and staff. The purpose was twofold; tointroduce the school to a variety of community leaders and to introduce stu-dents to people who were passionate about what they were doing! We havehad wonderful speakers such as mountaineer

Charlie Sassara;

civic entre-preneur

Eleanor Andrews

;

author of

Fifty Miles From Tomorrow

WillieHensley

; Alutiq mask carver,

Perry Eaton

;

Dr. Al Wong

, a leading UCLAphysicist and many other inspiring speakers. This year we have been veryfortunate to welcome parent

Mrs. Dianna Jensen

who prepared a wonderfulorganic raw foods meal for all of us to enjoy; Poet

Gary Holthaus

introducedfellow writer

Nancy Lord

who spoke to us about writing; alumnus /businessman

Chris Miller

who talked to us about development and recruit-ment; Alumnus/Entrepreneur/Adventurer

Austin Johnson

who talked to usabout his incredible trip to Sweden to meet and speak with people in cuttingedge development in the Renewable Energy field; and

Cal Williams,

an Afri-can American community activist who talked to us about his early and morerecent experiences in the civil rights movement.

Photo Collage from our trip to Iceland. Students who participated in the Atheneum to Iceland Intensive: WenYin Metcalf, Seiji Takagi, SavannahEchols, Chris Cullinane, Keenan Troll, Nicholas DeMolina, Brooke Poirot, Timothy Treadwell, Austin Johnson, Janelle Coy, Stephen Burgoyne, and Siena Jensen and Katrina Burgoyne (alumna). Teachers and Atheneum founders, Kevin Holthaus and Lydia Ossorgin led this trip.

Atheneum Invited to BP inLouisiana

Steve Poirot, activist Atheneum parent, hasorganized our next energy project for anintensive this spring. BP leases a largebuilding in Louisiana on top of which theyplan to install solar panels. When Steve told

them about Atheneum’s renewable energy

programs, they were excited to involve theschool in their installation. We will helpdetermine the financial benefits and costs,measure the energy potential, brainstormabout possible uses of excess electricity,and write proposals for grants. Lead stu-dents will be flown down to do studies onsite as well. We are excited to provide an-other hands on, real world project of suchmagnitude for the students!

From the Pens of Students

Rain, sleet, snow and wind sums up our trip toIceland. Throw in a volcano, nice people, and a

long van ride and you’ve hit the nail on the

head. Between all of this though it was anexperience that will live on in our lives to be-come lasting memories. The sights wereunique on that island smaller than Texas, aswere the sounds. You can look out the windowand see farm houses and waterfalls, the seacrashing and energy plants. When you openthe window though it is a whole new world. Asyou kink your neck hoping to identify the birdsflying above you, just listen for their cry andyou can call them as the Icelanders do. Icelandis a paradise for photographers and outdoors-

men…if you have the right gear. You could be

on top of a mountain swimming in a hot riverunder a bright blue sky, only for it to hail andsnow ten minutes later- quite an experience.You need the right lens if you want to shootfar, and you need some water protection foryour camera. Gear is crucial in the land of snow and ice.We are Alaskans though and we toughed it out.(Sure we lost some stuff here and there, wemade it back in one piece!) At the end of thetrip some lived by the slogan on a hat at the

tourist trap, ―Iceland, been there done that!‖

Some may think this while others hope to re-turn. Whatever the final idea about this trip is,I believe that we can all come together to saywe had a great trip, made new friends, anddiscovered a self sustaining paradise.-Timothy Treadwell, Class of 2009

We Need Your Support!

In these difficult economic times, all of our independent schools arestruggling. Many people are not looking for options, or are not aware

of Atheneum’s financial assistance

program. Our best marketing is

always your “word of mouth” and it is

more important than ever this year.Our enrollment is below survival without your financial donations.Please spread the word and give tohelp us build up our numbers and continue providing amazingeducational opportunities for enthusiastic students!