Learning – Whether Virtual or In-Person – Depends on Energy Workers’ Efforts

August 13, 2020

In a typical year, kids would be spending their last week of summer vacation outside in the beautiful Alaskan weather.  They’d be shopping for school clothes with their parents, getting haircuts, checking in with friends to compare schedules and see who has classes together.

But 2020 isn’t a typical year.  This year, Internet connectivity is more important than school clothes.  A webcam won’t care if your hair is cut or a little shaggy.  Zoom class sessions will allow students and their friends the chance to hang out…virtually.

But it is a good time for a reminder that energy workers across Alaska (and America as a whole) are hard at work, providing you and your students with dependable electricity, heating sources for your home, garage or whatever your virtual classroom is housed in, and reliable (and fast!) Internet connectivity to help students engage and learn.

Oh, and those laptops, tablets and phones that provide the lifelines to the educational experience?  They’re made up of dozens of critical minerals – the same ones the USA relies on China for currently – as well as gold, copper and other mined products, and oil- and gas-centric components as well.

Here’s to an amazing school year for all of Alaska’s students, whether you are being taught virtually all year, or have a chance to get back into the classroom.  May your quest for learning be life-long.