FAIRBANKS — The Alaska Native Education Association and Jeannie Nelson are encouraging Alaska Native students to pursue degrees in education and seek jobs in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District and across the state after graduation.

Nelson has been a longtime advocate of hiring more Alaska Native teachers. With more than 21 years teaching experience in Tanana, Barrow and Fairbanks and nine years’ experience with the Fairbanks Native Association’s Board of Directors, Nelson reaches out to students pursuing degrees in education because she believes it will help build a more diverse work force in school districts across the state.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District also stands behind the effort and is committed to recruiting, hiring and retaining a diverse work force. This commitment and many others are part of the district’s 2009-2011 priorities.

In 2007 and 2009, the school district hired more than nine Alaska Native teachers, which is more than in years past, said Clarence Bolden, executive director of human resources for the district.

“We’ve certainly been a partner in trying to attract more Alaska Native teachers,” Bolden said. “I think the relationship between the school district and many Alaska Native groups has steadily been improving.” Bolden credited that improvement to many efforts, including a recruiting roundtable established by the district in which educators and community members brainstorm how to attract more education majors.

“We’re constantly receiving suggestions on how to improve our outreach to a wide variety of communities,” Bolden said.

Diversity among faculty and staff in school districts is crucial to a positive learning environment for students.

“Students identify with teachers,” Bolden said. “When we have a diverse work force, there’s a better chance for positive outreach to the students, and we think it will help students perform better in the classroom.”

Nelson will speak with Alaska Native students at 4 p.m. Friday in the Rural Student Services Office on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

“Jeannie Nelson and many of the other speakers we have at Rural Student Services provide students with a realistic idea of what lies ahead for them,” said Colleen Angaiak, an adviser for Rural Student Services. Rural Student Services works directly with students from Interior villages during their first few years of college to help them transition. The program helps students meet specific degree requirements, obtain scholarship funding and adjust to campus life.

“It’s important for older students to have contact with new and younger students in programs like education because there are many hoops to jump through with that degree,” she said. “It’s also important to know there are countless organizations like the Alaska Native Education Association and our local school district working together to create more diversity in the field.”

Contact staff writer Rebecca George at 459-7504.