Sara Irwin-Goodreau: VYC Board President, Member since 2009
Sara has lived in Valdez for 46 years, initially coming up for construction of the Alaska pipeline. She and her husband found Valdez to be a great place to live and to raise their three children. Sara's son Matt was in the first Valdez Youth Court training group. Sara has found that Youth Court was a great opportunity for youth to make an impact on their community, learn the justice system and also become acquainted with police officers, court officials and other youth court members statewide in a positive way. Sara has served on the VYC board since 2009. |
Bart Hinkle: VYC Board Treasurer, Member since 2010
Bart has lived in Valdez since July, 1999, when he began work at the Valdez Police Department. He has served as Chief of Police since February, 2016. Bart is a proponent of Police Officers being actively involved in the community they work in. In addition to the Valdez Youth Court Board, he is on the Valdez Consortium Library Board of Directors as well as a member of the Police Professional Advisory Committee. Bart is an avid sports fan and enjoys coaching basketball, where he has served as the Valdez High School Varsity Boys Assistant Basketball Coach since 2015. |
Cynthia Shidner: VYC Board Member since 2019
Cynthia is a proud member of 2 Alaskan communities: Valdez and McCarthy. Her favorite activities include hiking, playing pickleball, laughing with friends, running and reading. Cynthia has been a teacher in Valdez since 2005, first with the FOCUS (Chuguach Extension School) program and then as a district-wide gifted/talented teacher and Kindergarten teacher at Hermon Hutchens Elementary school. Both of her sons were involved in VYC and both graduated from VHS. Cynthia has volunteered with VYC since 2009 and has attended United Youth Courts of Alaska conferences in Kenai, Juneau and Homer. As a teacher and VYC volunteer, she is inspired by educational settings in which students teach each other and take leadership roles in their communities. The Youth Courts of Alaska provide these opportunities for restorative justice, student leadership and mentorship. |
Karla Hallgren: VYC Board Member since 2020
Karla has worked with the Division of Juvenile Justice since 2008, and with Valdez youth in this capacity since 2018. She has worked in communities across Alaska including Bethel, Anchorage, and the Mat-Su Valley. Karla was a youth volunteer of the Fairbanks Youth Court as a child and it helped spawn a lifelong love of law and restorative justice. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to assist with Youth Court as an adult an hopes it continues inspiring compassion and civic responsibility for generations to come. Karla enjoys backpacking, skijoring, rock climbing, raising chickens and board games. Linnea Kelly: VYC Board Member since 2022
Linnea was born and raised in Valdez and participated in Valdez Youth Court as a volunteer in 2010 and 2011. This experience contributed to their interest in law and passion for restorative justice. Linnea is currently a law student at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They have previously worked as a legal intern at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, focusing on with discrimination, confidentiality, housing, and estate planning matters. In May of 2022, Linnea will be joining Troutman Pepper LLP as a Summer Associate. Linnea enjoys running, trying to keep houseplants alive, and reading endless mystery novels. While they love living in the city, they look forward to spending time with their parents in Valdez each year (especially during blueberry season). Bryan Vincent: VYC Board Member since 2022
My name is Bryan Vincent. I am married with 3 very active kids, two boys and a girl. My boys are ages 13 and 11 and my daughter is 9. I have lived in Valdez with my wife since 2004. I work full time at the Valdez Fire Department, which is a job I find very rewarding. I enjoy being able to work in the community and help our fellow community members. My wife is a high school teacher, and so we feel very connected to the community and to service. Together we are very active in the community and look for ways we can volunteer, which right now means a lot of helping coach and chaperone youth sports, as well as volunteering with our Church and any other places we can.
I have always known about the Valdez Youth Court, but am pretty new to seeing how it operates. Recently our 8th grade son was appointed to the Youth Court and has been very excited about what he is learning and he hopes that his work there will make a difference in Valdez. I am impressed with the quality work these young people do there. Alan Steed: VYC Board Member since 2020
Alan first came to Valdez in the summer of 1992 to work for Stan Stephens Cruises as a deckhand on glacier tour boats. He spent 3 summers working for Stan before leaving to gather the knowledge and experience to obtain his captains' license. In 1995 at age 23, he received his license and began a career driving many passenger vessels including SCUBA diving, ferries, whale watching, dinner cruises, and pilot boats. He always knew he wanted to come back to Valdez and after almost 20 years he returned in 2013 to work again for Stan Stephens cruises as captain. But the work was seasonal. In order to remain in Valdez year round, Alan obtained a CDL and worked for the State of AK DOT plowing snow seasonally on Thompson Pass as well as working on the Prince William Sound Pilot boats as needed. In 2016 Alan took a full time job as a pilot boat operator servicing the ships coming in and out of Prince William Sound. He still drives glacier/wildlife tours in his off time from the pilot boat operations. Alan has two daughters aged 22 & 20 who both attend Baylor University in Waco, TX. He enjoys skiing, snow kiting, and fat tire biking in the winter as well as hiking and mountain biking the rest of the year. He really enjoys the community of Valdez and in addition to being on the VYC board he sits on the Valdez Ports $ Harbors Commission. Kate Goudreau: VYC Board Member since 2020 Kate is a life-long resident of Valdez, leaving for college and various jobs but always considering Valdez "Home". She is currently raising her 11 year old daughter here and working at the Valdez High School as the College and Career Counselor. She is an active member in the community, serving on various youth boards such as Valdez Torpedoes Swim Club and Little League, while also helping coordinate Valdez Gold Rush Days. She has been on the VYC board since 2020 and enjoys hearing from the kids about their work, especially about their yearly travels to the Alaska Youth Court summit in various communities around the state. The passion shown by the Youth Court members really solidifies her involvement and the wonderful things it does for the community and restorative justice. In her free time, Kate enjoys hanging out with her family involving various outside activities, spending time at the Silver Lake cabin, or dreaming up travel plans. She can also be found at the tv cheering on the Atlanta Braves or her alma mater Gonzaga Bulldogs..... Go Zags! |