Ptarmigan Hall Residential Staff

Ken Essex - GILA Director of Residential Life

By CARL ROSE
Staff writer

“I am a complicated individual.” said Mr. Essex.

In 1990, Ken Essex was planning to participate in a motorcycle road race in Memphis, Tennessee. He separated his shoulder just before the race. On Sunday morning, he got up and could barely get out of bed. His friends unloaded his motorcycle for him and helped him get into his leathers and helped him go out for one practice run.

When he finally decided that he could race with a separated shoulder, he decided to enter his race because if he finished in the top three he would win the regional championship.
Even though he was in considerable pain, he still decided to give it his very best effort. He had first place during the first three laps of the race, but as the pain got bad he slowed down. He still took third place and won a place at the championship.

“No matter what it takes physically or mentally I will do what I have to in order to get the job done,” said Mr. Essex. “The most surprising thing about GILA is the high level of ability of our students.”  
Mr.  Essex was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 29, 1956. His parents are Philip and Effie Essex; he has three siblings - Marilyn, Charles, and David. His wife is Clarice Essex, the counselor at Ptarmigan Hall. He has three step children.

Mr.  Essex has his bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and his bachelor of education and masters of education from the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Mr. Essex said his reason for coming to GILA was making life better for all students. It is what he wants to accomplish here at the school.

email: ken.essex@galenanet.com

Ben Blasco - Residential Hall Administrator & Varsity Wrestling Coach

Ben Blasco came to Alaska looking for the great adventure and a place where you truly feel that you make a difference in a young person’s life. He has found both here in Galena.  He was the Residential Hall Administrator from the fall of 2004 to the spring of 2006. He went back to the lower 48 to be with family for a year.  Now Ben is back “home” in Alaska. He originally came to Alaska from Pennsylvania, where he had worked with college students and residence life since 1997. He received his undergraduate degree from Thiel College in western Pennsylvania and masters degree from Youngstown State University in Ohio. He enjoys the outdoors, sports, weight lifting, meeting new people, and having a good laugh. Ben says he really enjoys getting the opportunity to work with so many different young adults. He also states that it is a true honor to get to know each of them even if it is a little bit. He says, "The greatest hope is to make a difference in their lives."

Ben started playing sports in the 7th grade with wrestling.  He participated in Varsity Football and Wrestling in High School.  He was a three sport athlete in college,  he played four years of Football, four years of Wrestling and four years of Track & Field.  He was a NCAA All American in Wrestling.  He coached Football and Track on the collegiate level.  He stresses the importance of a “team player” and learning to be a good sportsman in all aspects of your life. He believes and know that it is not so much the winning and losing but what we learn from each of these events and how they impact our lives. 

email: ben.blasco@galenanet.com

Karrie Pavish Anderson

MUSIC & ARTS PROGRAM

Karrie is from Anchorage, Alaska. She has a Bachelor of Music degree, and she is currently working on producing her own album. KPA has worked at GILA for seven years. Karrie says, "I love observing teens grow musically & personally throughout the year.  It's very rewarding to see a student who can't keep time on their instrument be able to lock in a tempo with a band.  I also enjoy finding ways to empower teens to step out and do something artistic that they've never done before;  witnessing character growth as a result of that brave step is exciting.

Karrie loves to go berry picking with her brother, sister, nieces and nephews during berry season in Galena, and then during the winter, bake the berries into delicious treats for Galena potlatches & church cover dishes.  Karrie enjoys being with the people at Galena Bible Church where she leads Sunday morning church music. 

In the gorgeous, warm, Galena summers, Karrie and her husband Patrick take four wheeler rides, traipse in the wilderness and take their dog Sabbath to the Dunes to play in the Yukon River.  Karrie enjoys photographing the natural beauty found in Galena.  One of her favorite things in the world is singing and hearing people's stories. Carrie's song writing is greatly inspired by these stories. Karrie is known for her singing and song writing.

Karrie has some advice for GILA students, "Make connections with Galena community members including elders as soon as you can; be regularly involved in sports, music or arts programs - there's so much to do here that there is no reason to be bored!  If you start to think "I'm bored," make your own day interesting by calling a community member for checkout, going for a walk, taking in one of the activities planned by our residential staff.  The sky's the limit!"

"When it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

email: karrie.anderson@galenanet.com

Maria Wieczorek

Hall Manager

Maria Wieczorek is the Hall Manager of Ptarmigan hall. Maria is from Cedarburg, Wisconsin. She went to West Bend West High School Class of 2001 & University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Education and a Minor in Youth Programming  & Camp Management, Class of 2005. Maria has finished her second year in 2010-11. Maria enjoys playing tennis, reading, going for walks and hanging out with friends. Maria feels that she is famous for being dependable and always there. Make the most of your time here, it will go fast despite the grumbling. "The students and the diversity they bring to the Residence Hall, as well as just being here. Each day feels like a dream come true, for I have always wanted to live in Alaska," says Maria.

email: maria.wieczorek@galenanet.com

Clarice Essex

Residential Life Counselor

By JESSICA PEPPER
Staff writer          

On April 3, 1997, Clarice Essex joined a group of high school kids as a chaperone on a trip from Nunam Iqua to Chevak for cultural heritage week. After their arrival, Clarice and the kids went a snow machine trip to the sod houses outside Chevak to hear Yup‘ik stories told by the elders.

As they traveled to Chevak on the snow machines, the weather was awful - almost a blizzard. The group consisted of five machines, all pulling sleds full of kids.
After listening to the stories from the elders, they all started to head back. Along the way, they got lost in whiteout conditions without any gas, food, blankets, or even a radio. To protect everyone from the elements, the elders in the group dug a hole in the snow for everyone to sit in and put the snow machines up around it to create a barrier. People started complaining of cold and hunger.

Luckily, Clarice has excellent instincts and support skills. She pulled out a space blanket she had handy with her and covered everyone the best she could giving calming advice and reassuring words, managing to maintain a level of calm relatively well. After ten hours of huddling in their makeshift shelter, they finally heard snow machines in the distance. They were being rescued. A Black Hawk helicopter from Bethel was sent using infrared cameras to find the group after they were reported missing. Clarice says in times of terror such as this, “Put aside your own fear and focus on how everyone else is doing.” 

Mrs. Essex, 54, was born on June 26, 1957. She is the new counselor in the dorms this year. She is the daughter of Gerd and Clair Whitmore of Tacoma, Washington; her parents later moved and now reside in Norway. Clarice has one brother named Thor Whitmore.
She and her husband Ken Essex, also new in the dorms, have three children and two grand kids. Their sons are Aaron, 34, a police officer, Scott, 30, a welder, and Kevin, 26, a sergeant in the Marine Corps. Aaron has a 5-year-old son named Brady and Scott has a 9-month-old named Reed.
Mrs. Essex has attended Stout and Eau Clair Universities of Wisconsin, receiving her bachelor’s degree in child development, family life and community resources along with her master’s degree in K-12 guidance and counseling.
For many years she has been a counselor for various schools including Hooper Bay, Pilot Station, Alukanuk, as well as working at Sparta High School in Wisconsin and as an online counselor for the state of Minnesota.

Mrs. Essex decided to come here because she has always thought it would be cool working in a boarding school environment and has been interested in it since first hearing of it in 1997. Working here, she hopes to teach the students better ways to cope with stress and live healthier lives.
The kid’s ability to adapt to their new surroundings stands out most to her. “How quickly the students get to know the staff and feel comfortable in their new surroundings. It’s awesome!” she said.

email: clarice.Essex@galenanet.com

Vera Mountain

Residential Advisor

Vera Rose Mountain is a residential advisor who lives here in Galena. She is originally from Nulato, Alaska. Vera Rose had some college into her life and she has been an R.A here for a multiple of years. Vera enjoys helping students learn life skills, she enjoys witnessing young students turn into young adults.  And she also enjoys the beauty of Alaska because I was born and raised here in this fine state. Vera Rose's hobbies and interests are beading, sewing, quilting, reading, watching the soap All My Children, Golden Girls, and Law and Order. Vera Rose was a Desert Storm Vet before becoming an R.A here at G.I.L.A. Her advice for GILA students is to finish what you start. And lastly Vera Rose's favorite motto is "Hey Hey Hey Fat Albert Here."

email: vera.mountain@galenanet.com

Anthony Kyriakidis

Residential Advisor

Anthony Kyriakidis came from Buffalo, NY to work at the GILA dorms as a male RA. Anthony graduated high school in the spring of 2004, and graduated college in the spring of 2009. Anthony has been working as a male RA for two years, now going onto three in fall 2011. Anthony loves to get to know teens from all over the state of Alaska and getting to play video games with them. The things that Anthony enjoys doing are Xbox 360, studying the Bible, listening to music, football, snow machining, and talking. Anthony's hobbies are football, and writing. His favorite bands are Emery, Haste the Day, As I lay Dying, and August Burns Red. His favorite games that he plays are Halo Reach, Halo 3, Gears of War 2, and Devil May Cry 3. Here's a little advice Anthony shares with you "When life gives you lemons you make lemonade and give it to those who are thirsty."

email: anthony.kyriakidis@galenanet.com

Alex Wieczorek

Residential Advisor

Alexander Wieczorek is a male Resident Advisor at the Ptarmigan Hall Dorms, this is his first year. Alex is from Grafton, Wisconsin and he has a B.A. in German from North Central College. Alex likes the cold weather, video gaming, and students' perspectives about his job. His sports and interests are shooting sports, halo, COD, chemistry, and German. Alex is infamous and famous is being creepy, he's just cool like that. Advice for you is "Don't be afraid to be who you are." His favorite motto is "You usually get what you pay for."

email: alex.wieczorek@galenanet.com

Justin Lowenthal

Boy's Hall Manager

By GABE SIMPLE
Staff writer

When Justin Lowenthal was around three years old, he walked into the bathroom and saw his dad shaving. Justin asked his dad what he was doing.  His dad said that he was taking off his beard. After his dad finished shaving, Justin told him to put his beard back on.
Mr. Lowenthal is the son of Larry Lowenthal and Judy Moody. As a child, he spent part of his time with this father at his house just south of San Francisco and his mom in Redding, Calif. He spent most of his life in California.
Working here in Galena would make this the longest time he spent outside of California.   He is the boy’s hall manager at Ptarmigan Hall. He enforces the discipline rules around the campus. He said that this job was the biggest he’s ever had. He said that he came here for the the experiences and GILA was a chance to make a real cool career move.

email:justin.lowenthal@galenanet.com

Adrian Johnson

Residential Advisor

By Leo Ewan
Website Designer

Adrian Johnson is a female R.A. here at GILA; this year will be her 3rd year. Born and raised in Willow, Alaska.  She chose to become an R.A. at Gila because she loves the community, the kids, and it reminds her of home.  Also Its close knit where everyone recognizes everyone and it’s a safe.
Adrian did ballet for ten years but now she enjoys reading, snow go riding, hanging with her husband, and taking pictures and scrapbooking.
During the winter of last year, Adrian and Gunnar were driving in town and was charged by a moose causing car damage to the outside of the car but it still runs fine to this day.

email: adrian.johnson@galenanet.com

Gunnar Johnson

Residential Advisor

email: gunnar.johnson@galenanet.com

Megan Blasco

Residential Advisor

email: megan.blasco@galenanet.com