Betz, Madeleine D.

Madeleine D. Betz, a native of Rhode Island, came to Alaska in October 1961 to serve as school nurse at Copper Valley School near Glennallen. Though she worked at the school only for the 1961-62 school year, she maintained ties with staff and alumni. She long served as secretary of the Copper Valley School Association (the school's alumni organization) and edited the association's newsletter, "The Scuttlebutt."

Kenneth Stone (d. 1983) volunteered as photographer, publicist, and teacher at Copper Valley School from 1961 to 1964. He taught photography, oversaw compilation of the school's yearbook, and served as mentor to boys at the school. He subsequently worked as an accountant for V. F. Grace, Inc., in Anchorage, Alaska.

Copper Valley School, a Catholic college-prep boarding school, was located on a 460-acre federal land grant near the juncture of the Tazlina and Copper Rivers, about 10 miles southeast of Glennallen, Alaska. Staffed by Jesuits, Sisters of Saint Anne, and lay volunteers, it opened in 1956 with 40 Alaska Native students housed in a single building. Over the next four years a much larger complex was built in the form of seven spokes radiating from a central hub, all from donations of materials and labor solicited by Fr. John R. Buchanan, S.J. The student body grew to more than 200 students, grades 1-12, and many of the school's graduates went on to professional careers as well as positions of leadership in the Alaska Native community. With the passage of Alaska state legislation mandating a public high school for every village above a certain population, the need for boarding schools diminished, and Copper Valley School closed in 1972. The building complex burned in 1974, but at least through the year 2000, alumni still gathered in reunion at the site each summer.

From the description of Madeleine Betz Copper Valley School collection, 1960-2000. (University of Alaska, Fairbanks). WorldCat record id: 234316620