UAS to Host Alaska College Track 2 Premiere

The one-hour documentary will be followed by an open discussion about the transition from high school to college.

Juneau, Alaska

Date of Press Release: October 10, 2007

The University of Alaska Southeast will host the premiere of Alaska College Track 2. The one-hour documentary will play between 7 pm and 8 pm on Wed. Oct. 17th in the Egan Lecture Hall, immediately followed by an open discussion about the transition from high school to college, with panelists including UAS Chancellor John Pugh and High School Counselor Frank Coenraad. The event is free and open to the public.

The Alaska College Track series began in 2004 as a local companion to a national PBS College Track series, which explored equal access issues in the American educational system on the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. The local version was told through the viewpoint and struggles of first-generation college students from Yakutat, Craig, and Hydaburg as they made their transitions from villages to college campuses.

Alaska College Track 2 reacquaints viewers with the students from the original series. It shares how one student used the heartbreaking loss of her brother to reassess her goals and get back on the college track. The documentary takes viewers from UA campuses in Juneau, Anchorage, and Fairbanks to show how cultural identity and traditions are helping rural students stay in school. The documentary raises issues such as the High School Qualifying Exam, cultural differences, and the expectation gap between high schools and post-secondary educators.

Alaska College Track 2 is a KTOO-TV production with funding from First National Bank Alaska.and the University of Alaska Foundation using funds provided by BP/ConocoPhillips