Guess which longtime Valley newsman has a new job at the Mat-Su Borough School District.
Superintendent Randy Trani announced a new position at the August 5 school board meeting. It’s called Community Relations Coordinator. Trani says that one Public Information Officer and a couple of part-time staff could not keep up with all the stories to tell about staff and students across a district this size.
The job went to Jeremiah Bartz. It’s a familiar name in the Valley. Bartz spent decades in newsrooms. He was managing editor at the Frontiersman most of those years. The Mat-Su Sentinel bought the Frontiersman in June.
Mat-Su School District Public Information Officer John Notestine welcomed Bartz to the team.
He says that Bartz brings a tremendous level of experience and expertise to the role. He’s excited to have Bartz helping tell the school district stories and highlight the great things that teachers, staff, and especially students are doing.
Bartz has covered the first day of school many times in his career. But this year, Bartz wrote his first day of school story with a district badge instead of a press pass. The title is “Thousands of MSBSD students and staff celebrate the first day of the 2026-27 school year.”
At Goose Bay Elementary School, Bartz found a building packed with returning and new families.
Principal Ayla Wade told him: “Just tons of positive energy. Full building, full parking lots, full classrooms. Lots of families coming back, lots of new families.”
The theme at Goose Bay this year is kindness. Wade told Bartz that she and her staff know that kindness matters every single day. Their goal is to see the ripple effects that kindness can have.
Staff at Knik Elementary School laid out train-track graphics from the curb to the front door. A balloon arch hung over the school entrance. The school theme this year is “all aboard.” Bartz reported that the principal dressed as a train conductor. She greeted the nearly 400 students who walked under that arch.
Bartz caught sophomore Kaydence Seymore working the school coffee shop before the bell at Redington Junior-Senior High School. Seymore told Bartz that she likes seeing all the faces and getting to know everybody who walks past.
Redington has a new principal this year. Matt Swalling marked his own first day leading the building. He has been with the district for 26 years. He told Bartz he wants kids in class learning right away so they go home excited about the year ahead.
Bartz says that this new chapter as the district Community Relations Coordinator feels right.
He said, “During my days writing for newspapers, my favorite parts were telling the stories of members of our community, and featuring local schools, activities and athletics. It’s a perfect fit for me.”
You can read the entire article “Thousands of MSBSD students, staff celebrate the first day of the 2026-27 school year” article on the district website at matsuk12.us. You can also find Bartz’s weekly coverage of schools and sports there.
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Emily Forstner reported this Page Two article and yours truly, Lee Henrikson produced it. If you have an idea for a Page 2 topic, please email us at page2@radiofreepalmer.org.
That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on Friday, August 14, 2026.
Image credit: Frontiersman