Sitka teacher Bridgette Reynolds was recognized at Our Cultural Landscape, Sealaska Heritage Institute’s 2026 culturally responsive education conference, earlier this month (8-6-26).
Reynolds received SHI’s Distinguished Educator Award, which recognizes teachers who integrate Indigenous knowledge into their lessons. Reynolds teaches science, technology, engineering, and math at Pacific High School. She’s also an adjunct professor at University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, where she leads dual enrollment courses for rural students across the region.
She looks to validate her students’ existing knowledge of math and science.
“Science is just stories about data, and our data keeps getting more exact and more exact and more exact,” Reynolds says. “But as we look back, — the stories we’ve told, our understanding of things — we’ve always been doing science wherever you are.”
Reynolds says practices like constructing ocean-going canoes, managing fisheries, and creating natural paints are all rooted in thousands of years of science. Reynolds says she ties these ideas into her lessons so students can see themselves in the things they’re learning.
Jamie Shanley is SHI’s language and primary education director. She says the award highlights teachers like Reynolds who are transforming their craft to weave Indigenous techniques into their classrooms and their communities.
“Teaching is a very hard job, and it is undervalued in many ways. Sealaska Heritage really wants to uphold our educators,” Shanley says.
Principal Matt Groen says Pacific High School’s place-based, hands-on approach fosters learning outside of the classroom. He says Reynolds champions inclusive and innovative education.
“She’s always constantly challenging what education should be,” Groen says. “Is it reaching all learners of all backgrounds? Is it relevant? Is it rigorous? Is it taking students to that next level? And are we helping our students make that transition into adulthood?”
Groen says these ideas have been staples in Reynold’s classroom since she joined the Sitka School District over a decade ago.
