‘It Has to Be Possible’: Educating Gifted Students in Small Town Alaska

Growing up gifted in rural Alaska can be a struggle. It can be tough to find the challenging courses you need, and the advising to get you planted firmly on a path to college. Education Week sent a video team to Alaska to chronicle the work of educators and community members who are trying to build solid pathways for their brightest students. We found intriguing work going on in the city of Nome, a town of about 3,500 people on the Norton Sound. Kastyn Lie is a senior at Nome Beltz Junior/Senior High School and a college-aspiring student. School leaders tell us how tough it is to assemble the resources they need to offer a rigorous course of study to students like Kastyn. There’s no program for gifted students in the Nome school district.