This village-raised Alaska teen is winning state and national awards

BETHEL – More than 550 miles from Anchorage, on an island in the Bering Sea 30 miles off Alaska's west coast, sits the fishing village of Mekoryuk and its tiny school.

There, part of a class bigger than normal this year with four graduating seniors, Jayne Hanna shines. But then, she stands out across the whole country.

Hanna, 17, just earned a big honor, named as the nation's top senior in terms of college and career readiness by ACT Inc., the education and college testing nonprofit. The distinction is a mouthful: National ACT Student Readiness Exemplar, and it comes with a $4,000 scholarship.

On top of that, she's won two BP Alaska-sponsored scholarships totaling $14,000 after being picked by a statewide principals' group. The college she plans to attend, Biola University, a Christian school near Los Angeles, is offering a scholarship as well.

She's a straight-A student who scored 31 out of 36 on her college readiness ACT test. The national average is just under 21. She is an athlete, the top finisher among the smallest Alaska schools in the 2016 state cross-country 5K championship.

At her graduation in the village earlier in May, Hanna stressed how being from a small village shouldn't hold anyone back.

"We can still achieve great things," she said in a later interview.

Mekoryuk, the only community on Nunivak Island, has about 200 residents, most of them Cup'ig, an offshoot of the better known Yup'ik language and people.

All through school, she took advantage of programs that offered camaraderie with other high achievers: film academies and a semester away, robotics challenges and speech competitions, said Walt Betz, principal of Nuniwarmiut School in Mekoryuk.

"We're way out," he said. "We have very few resources. But it is the way we use them that allows her to get to this point."

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As a sixth-grader, Hanna was taking high school classes. By the start of ninth grade, she had finished all local science and math offerings. Her high school, with just 11 students this year, has no math or science teacher. It's too small for that. Most years just one student graduates, or none.

Hanna took higher-level courses by video teleconference with a lead teacher in Bethel and elsewhere, plus online college classes through the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

For this spring's British literature class — taught over video — students were assigned a one-page paper on the classic "Frankenstein" from the perspective of the monster just coming to life.

Hanna wrote a five-page exploration of the monster's psychological peaks and valleys as he discovered his senses, said teacher Paul Conti.

"I wanted to take it to a publisher," he said of the paper.

Hanna said the video classes are essential but require more of a conscious effort by the student.

"You need to check in with yourself to make sure you are paying attention," she said. "Just because it is so different. There's a screen in front of you instead of an actual teacher in the room."

A local teacher is present but doesn't take the lead, and may even be teaching another class.

She plans to major in math and return to the region as a teacher.

"Math teachers are what are most needed in the village," she said.

It's important to take advantage of opportunities even if they make you uncomfortable, Hanna said.

For her, a semester at Bethel Regional High School was like that. She had never lived away from home until the Lower Kuskokwim School District STEM Ready Academy, the track for science, technology, engineering and math. Various district academies allow village students to test being away from home and take more challenging courses.

"It helped me so much and prepared me for college more," Hanna said.

She comes from a home that puts high value on education and religion. Her parents, Nathan Hanna and Sandra King, share a teaching job at the school, and her father is pastor of Mekoryuk Covenant Church.

About half of the village residents are members. The parents tag team at both school and church.

Hanna has taught Sunday school and helps her mother lead the church youth group.

"She has set a good example," her father said. He is from California, and Hanna's mother is from Mekoryuk. They have a younger son, Arthur.

Hanna embraces where she comes from, a place with ever-changing ocean views, rich in reindeer and musk ox, seal and salmon, wild greens and berries.

"Just last night, I was excited to go out and see the ferns were growing," she said one morning in May.

Her favorite food? Probably seal intestines, she said.

"It sounds weird but they are really good," she said. They are well cleaned, then boiled and cut into small pieces.

When in the village, though, she misses some comforts.

"Running water. Showers in my own house, little things like that," she said. Water is hauled to the home. A small, 100-gallon tank costs $40 to fill so everyone must conserve.

Her advice for village kids is rooted in culture.

"Be confident in your cultural identity," she said. "Learn about your culture. It's a big part of who you are no matter where you go."

She was part of a multimedia journalism program that sent her to Bethel to cover events including the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race and the Cama-i Dance Festival.

With a classmate, she created an online presentation from Mekoryuk about Island Jubilee, an annual church revival that is dear to her.

At a school district film academy, she wrote and starred in a short, funny movie called "Bethel Date" that took place at the Alaska Commercial Co. store's Taco Time eatery.

Her robotics competitions got the attention of the national education organization ACT, especially how she had to work long distance when she was in Mekoryuk and her teammate was in Bethel.

"Jayne Hanna is a master problem-solver and go-getter, particularly when it comes to keeping connected with her Robotics team, the Sunchasers," her biography for the ACT scholarship says.

Vicki Nechodomu, who worked with Hanna on a number of projects as a Bethel-based journalism teacher and robotics coach, said the student's cool head and good nature were evident during a tough moment in one team competition.

"The robot was not working, and they were rapidly trouble-shooting the wiring in the hallway. It was an intense time crunch, and stress was definitely high," Nechodomu wrote in an email.

Two young girls stopped by to check out the robot, unaware of the pressure.

"Despite the poor timing, Jayne gave them her full attention," Nechodomu wrote. When they called themselves nerds, Hanna told them that being a nerd was awesome. She asked what careers they were interested in and told them they could do whatever they set their minds to. Be awesome in class, she told them.

"She connected them in such a meaningful and inspiring way," Nechodomu wrote. She'll do the same, as a teacher.

Hanna says she is grateful for all she has, for parents devoted to serving others, for those who support her, for life in a beautiful coastal village, for God.

"I focus on doing my best to give back to the community," she said.

In her experience, living on a remote island teaches resourcefulness and creativity. That isn't a barrier to success. Obstacles, she said, only make you stronger.