Nome reading teacher accepted into Stanford Ph.D. program to study Indigenous education

A Nome reading teacher will spend the next five years at Stanford studying how Indigenous knowledge and Inuit values can be built into school curricula.

Kastyn Lie, a reading teacher at Anvil City Science Academy and a Bering Straits Native Corporation shareholder, has been accepted into the Stanford Graduate School of Education's Ph.D. program in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education, specializing in Race, Inequality, and Language in Education. Her research will focus on multigenerational teaching models and how Indigenous knowledge and Inuit values can be embedded in school curricula, grounded in her role as Program Coordinator for the Taiguağuurugut "We Read" literacy program in Nome.

Lie graduated from Stanford in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Education, then earned a Master of Arts in Teaching Elementary Education from the University of Alaska Southeast in 2026. She also serves as head volleyball coach for the Nome-Beltz Nanooks and is a current Caleb Scholar. Her honors include the Beringia Settlement Trust Tim Towarak Memorial Scholarship in 2022; in 2025, BSNC nominated her for the Alaska Federation of Natives Lu Young Youth Leadership Award. She also owns Kastyn's Cakes and Bakes.