Alaska Distance Education Consortium

Please join us this year for the very popular Christmas Tree Ship / Storytelling series!

The Christmas Tree Ship series is right around the corner and already filling fast.  Can’t you just hear the jing, jing, jingling?  The award winning Christmas Tree Ship series is being offered this November 17^th – 21^st and December 1^st – 19^th for students of all ages.  All programs feature the art of storytelling through the context of Great Lakes Maritime history and align with National and State Language Arts standards.  Age appropriate sessions are available for students in k-12 grades.

·         Christmas Tree Ship Series: Story Time (K – 3) – In this program for little ears, listen to the reading of Jeanette Winter’s book, “The Christmas Tree Ship.”  Participants then make a storytelling ornament that helps them share Great Lakes maritime history with friends and family.  Ornaments for each participant are included in this program.

·         Christmas Tree Ship Series: The Art of Storytelling (4 –  – Hear the story of the famous “Christmas Tree Ship” through song in this program by singer, songwriter, and storyteller, Lee Murdock.  Participants them become the storyteller through a windowpane storyboard of their own.

·         Christmas Tree Ship Series: Creative Writing With a Historic Perspective (9 – 12) – Step back in history to write a story of your won about this historical maritime event, the “Christmas Tree Ship.”  Use the resources provided by author Rochelle Pennington who has written two books about the famous Christmas Tree Ship.  Creative writing is easy and fun with Rochelle’s tips and guidelines!

Many have booked time and again over the last 5 years and each year the program has booked to capacity.  For those of you that haven’t booked a program in the past we invite you to join us at the 2007-08 pricing of only $95.00 per session.  Ornament kits for each student are included in the $95.00 pricing and are mailed directly to you. To accommodate the increasingly large numbers of bookings we’ve added additional sessions this year.  Programs are filled on a first come, first serve basis, so please book your session today by contacting Gaye-Lynn Clyde by email at clyde@mpm.edu, or by calling, 414-278-6146.

Thank you for your continued support of our Passport Distance Learning Series programs!

MPM Distance Learning and Education Department

From today’s TR Daily:

ALASKA COMMUNICATIONS COMPLETES CREST DEAL

Anchorage-based telecom services provider Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc., has completed its acquisition of Crest Communications Corp., which operates a fiber-optic communications network linking Alaska to Oregon and Washington, for $70 million in cash.  In addition to the Crest network assets, Alaska Communications expects to begin in January providing fiber-optic network service through its own network linking Alaska andOregon.  Separately, Alaska Communications reported a 0.8% year-over-year revenue increase for the third quarter of 2008, to $101.3 million; the company’s operating income for the most recent quarter came in at $12.1 million, down from $17.8 million in the year-ago period.  Alaska Communications common stock was down nine cents per share today, to $9.14.