Survival of My First Semester

Well, it's official!  I've survived the first semester as a 7-12 Teach-A-Little-of-Everything Teacher.  So, I guess to end the year of 2009, I'm going to try and sum of my thoughts and experiences.  Bear with me, this entry might jump around a lot...

Middle School

Okay.  Now, let's just get this out there.  I never imagined myself as a middle school teacher.  In fact, I moved to Alaska to avoid having to take a middle school job in Colorado.  Well, now I'm in Alaska, and guess what I teach?  MIDDLE SCHOOL (well, high school too...but that's another section).  And not only do I have to teach middle school, but I'm not just teaching them science.  I'm also their PE/Health teacher, AND their math teacher.  I guess the biggest difference between teaching middle school here and teaching middle school in Colorado is class size.  I teach (are you ready for this?)  12 middle school students.  Yeah, just 12.  Not too shabby.  Although sometimes it's a little overwhelming, it's not awful.  It's a learning experience for both them and me.  Fortunately, they don't hate me.  We just get tired of each other.  It works both ways I guess.  They've figured out the routine with me.  Next semester, I will only be teaching science and PE/Health with them.  Oh, they play the most ridiculous form of kickball I've ever seen.  It's like kickball/tag/dodgeball.  It's funny as hell!  I love watching them play!

Picture clarity is poor because the gym lighting is poor...but this is the MS kids playing kickball.

High School

This is what I thought I was going to be teaching when I moved here.  High School Science.  But, alas, I only teach one science class...out of 6.  I also teaching high school health and a high school elective, which this semester was Current Issues in Science.  There is about 22 high school students.  We're a little top-heavy in the school right now, with more high schoolers than elementary school students.  Overall, the high school students are pretty good.  Just like any other high school, there's always a few that are tougher than the rest.  There's a few that I struggle with.  There's a few that I feel like I've connected with.  Every day's a different battle.  The hardest part about teaching the high school is the lack of curriculum for the classes I teach.  There is technically a curriculum, but it is very old and outdated.  Current Issues was an interesting class to teach.  I let the class become student-guided.  They picked topics that were interesting to them, and we discussed and researched them.  One topic we spent a lot of time on was Pebble Mine, the local gold and copper mine that is being developed just upriver from us.  Their final project for that unit was to write letters to either Governor Parnell or the Alaskan Congress/Senate members.  So far, we've gotten two responses back:  one from Parnell and one from Senator Lisa Murkowski.  It shows that a little interest and hard work will give even a high school student a response!  

In and Out

Alright, there's two ways into or out of the village if you're traveling by plane:  Via Dillingham or via Anchorage.  When I first arrived, I came from Dillingham, directly from inservice.  We fly on small Cessna-207s.  They seat 7 people and some luggage (and luggage can be stored in odd places in the nose and tail of the plane).  They're pretty small...well, really small.  And they can be a little scary at first.

Cessna 207 (I didn't take this picture...found it on the web)

The other way in or out is via Anchorage.  Only one bush airline flies directly from our village to Anchorage: Dena'ina Air Taxi.  He flies a slightly bigger plane:  A Navajo two-engine plane that seats up to 10, and gear that can be stowed in various places including the wings and nose.  I just flew with him to Anchorage, on my journey home for Christmas.  He charters flights throughout the Nushagak area, so we left Koliganek, and dropped off most of our passengers in Levelock (another village in Alaska).  Because it was just me and one other passenger, I ended up sitting up front with Josh, the pilot.  He gave me a headset and we talked throughout the flight.  He pointed out the different villages as we flew by.  Unfortunately, it was pretty dark, so I can't say I saw much.  We also flew by the volcano and both decided it would be cool if it erupted right at that moment.  (Yeah...I'm a weird science teacher, that shouldn't surprise you.)  You could smell the sulfur coming off of it!

Dena'ina Air Taxi (also didn't take this photo)

Weather

Sunrise, at 10am!

Our weather has been weird apparently.  I don't have much to compare it to, so I can only tell you what I see, and compare it to what everyone tells me it's usually like.  We had hardly any snow when I left Koliganek for Christmas.  We've had two crazy storms that came from the east.  Our storms that come from the east bring in warm winds.  It melted all of our snow, turning it into a nice slick layer of ice!  But to make this ice, you have to have wind.  Very fast wind!  We have had gusts 50-60 mph.  One storm had gusts up to 80 mph!  Whew!  Talk about blowing your feet out from under you!  Temperature wise, we've been all over the place.  Since the first day of fall, we haven't really had temperatures above 40.  In December, we had a few days below 0.  Last week, we hit -35.  Then this weekend, it went from -35 to +20, overnight.  That temperature change, in addition to the crazy wind, snapped my satellite cable!  Right in half between the two houses!  This picture is of the sunrise.  Yes, I was awake to see the sunrise!  It helps that the sun rises around 10am.  The sun also sets about 4:30 or 5pm.  The longest day of darkness was on Monday, so now it will start getting lighter!  Hurray!

Christmas Holidays

We finished up the semester with Santa's Workshop, a Christmas Program and Potluck.  Santa's Workshop is the typical junk that we all had in elementary school and could buy for our parents and grandparents.  It gives the community a chance to go shopping for each other though, which is good, especially since not all of them have the ability to leave the village.  For the Christmas Program, all of the classes either sang songs, did a play, or had a game show.  It was a lot of fun.  The whole community came to watch the kids preform!  I also talked to a couple people about their traditions regarding Slavi, the Russian Orthodox Christmas, which begins January 7.  One of the men in the village was making stars for what begins as a giant festival of sorts.  From what I understand, there is a lot of caroling and feasting, and traveling between the villages, usually by snow machine.  Because so many of the people have families in the neighboring villages, this lasts several days.  I was told many times that I should really be here to see this event, but unfortunately, I do not return to the village until January 9, two days after Slavi begins.  Everyone in the village was very nice as I left tonight, wishing me a Merry Christmas.  Even people I didn't know were giving me hugs and wishing me off.  It was nice.  I also was given a jar of fireweed jam to take home with me to share with my family by one of the parents of my students...we'll see if I share though.

Next Semester

Next semester I'm teaching a whole different array of classes.  I'm still teaching middle school science and PE/health.  I'm also still teaching high school science and health.  I'm going to pick up the journalism/yearbook class, as well as another science elective, that has not really been set in stone.  We'll see what happens.

Well, I think that's it for now!  I'm really excited to go home to see friends and family for the holidays in Colorado!

Frozen Fabulousness

Snow in my front yard

Today marks the first “big” snow of the season!  Pretty exciting!  And it warmed up today too!  It’s been right around 0˚F for the last week.  Today it was above 30!  Whoa!

My "back yard"

Last week, Rick and I took the high school kids out to the dump to talk to them about waste and how it relates to their community and where it goes.  Then we took them to the stream, where the dump water run-off leads to.  The stream was completely frozen.  Of course, the kids immediately started skating on it.  I wish I had my camera!  Then we took them closer to the river, where the stream leads, trying to make the connection between trash and water.  However, playing on the ice was much more fun!  The next day, we took the kids back out, and watched one of them set a trap.  It was pretty interesting.  We found a wolverine skull on our way.  Also cool.  One of the students picked up the skull, looked at me, and said, “Do you need any souvenirs for you friends or family back in Colorado?”

Side Note:  They bet on when the rivers freeze up here.  Depending on what river, depends on how much you can win.  The Nushagak River (the river I live by) usually has a winning pool of more than I make in a year apparently!  Crazy!

Dillingham

Last weekend, I flew to Dillingham to take the Praxis I.  That was the first time I have left the village since I got here in August.  We left on Friday and came back on Saturday.  It was the longest test ever!  It was actually 3 tests:  Reading, Writing, and Math.  Just to stay licensed in the state of Alaska.

One of my classes is Current Issues in Science, and they decided they wanted to learn about mining, due to the Pebble Mine Project.  Pebble Mine is potentially the world’s largest producing gold mine in the world (nation...world...I don’t remember.  It’s big!).  The problem is that it is located at the headwaters of the Nushagak River, as well as 2 other rivers, and right next to Lake Iliamna.  The Nushagak has the world’s largest salmon runs, which is important for the subsistence lifestyle up here, as well as commercial fisheries and business.  Anyway, that class wrote letters to local state representatives about their opinions on Pebble Mine.  We got a letter back from the governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell.  That was pretty cool.  It’s actually a raised-seal, and self-signed (we analyzed it).  I’m going to frame the letter for them, because I think it’s a pretty big deal for kids here.

Freezing Rivers and Tundra

Local Religions...

There's two churches in Koliganek.  A Russian Orthodox church and another Christian-like church (sorry for whoever's reading this, but I'm not quite sure what Christian sect the church is affiliated with, nor will I probably find out).  Most of the Natives in the village attend the Russian Orthodox church.  The other church is run by a former, retired teacher.  From what I understand, not many people attend his church.

This last weekend I got invited to a wedding! She's the mother of one of my high school students. The wedding was held at the Russian Orthodox church, with a big reception afterwards.  The service was interesting.  First off, please note, I really dislike churches, due to my own past experiences.  So going to this was a big deal for me.  When you walk in, men stand to the right, women on the left.  There are only a few chairs, for the elders.  The Russian Orthodox church smells very strongly of incense.  There's pictures of religious icons everywhere.  As the church leaders come in, they all kiss the icons that are on the main podiums and make the sign of the cross with their hand.  The service is given through song and chant.  Everything is said in threes.  Crowns are placed on the bride's and groom's head at one point, as a symbolic gesture.  It's quite a long ceremony (over an hour, I believe).  At the end, everyone lines up to kiss the cross the priest is holding and congratulate the bride and groom.  If you're not a member of the church, you just shake hands and continue on your way.  (Now...on a personal note:  This was definitely a very religious ceremony for me.  In terms of my comfort zone, it was definitely not where I normally feel "okay."  So, all in all, I survived, didn't burst into flames, and walked out without crying.  That's HUGE for me!)

After the wedding, there was a reception at the school.  I'm pretty sure our whole village came, as well as most of New Stuyahok (the village just south of us, which is where the groom is from).  There was a buffet feast, completely with salmon, turkey, ham, chicken, beaver, mashed potatoes, potato salad, agutak, pie, etc.  Everything was very tasty (beaver tastes like roast, for future reference).  Afterwards, there was a dance, but I headed home for the evening.  It was a Sunday, and wanted to avoid any trouble (which was apparently a smart idea).

I don't know much about the other church.  Honestly, I'm not interested in finding out more (if you know me, you understand why).  Besides, the man who runs it is gone for the winter, so I'm not sure there's a lot to learn right now anyway...

Students in the Bush

The first question I was asked for the first month that I was up here was "How are the kids different?"  And depending on the situation, would depend on which "kids" they were talking about.  Sometimes they were talking about kids in Colorado, other times it was kids in Alaska.  The kids in Colorado and the kids in Alaska are not too terribly different.  It's just different circumstances that make the kids different.  When it comes down to it, they're still kids.  Their work ethic isn't much different between the two places, they have relationship problems with the boy/girl friends, some of them have great home-lives and some of them don't, and they love sports.

Because of the circumstances of the high schools in the villages, there are a lot of students who live in other villages that come up to our school because there's no high school in their village.  They stay with extended family or live in boarding homes while their here.  The boarding home parents get paid for taking in kids, of course, and they usually have kids of their own at home.  They also have the right to send the students back to their homes if they get out of hand up here.

Education up here is very focused on the SBAs, which is the state-mandated test (similar to the CSAP in Colorado).  The SBAs here though are much more important to most of the students, staff, and parents than the CSAPs ever were for anyone I knew in Colorado.  I guess that is definitely a major difference between the two places.  Don't get me wrong, everyone knows it's important to pass your state-mandated test (CSAP, SBA, whatever) because of No Child Left Behind...but in Colorado, that's as far as it goes.  In Alaska, the students have to take an exit exam to graduate high school, which is taken for the first time at the end of 10th grade.  They are tested on reading, writing, and math, and the material is supposed to align with the Alaska state standards, which funny enough, is the same idea with the SBAs.

Most of the kids here are very technology savvy, too.  Our school district is a Mac 1-to-1 school, which means every middle school student has access to their own Mac laptop (although they cannot take it home).  Every high school student has a Mac laptop that they can take home, after they pay a $40 fee.  They end up with a lot of skills using the different programs.  We use a program called Remote Desktop to monitor the students while they are working.  We can take control of their computers, freeze their screens, or just monitor them.  Pretty cool!

All in all, the students in the bush aren't much different than students in the suburbs of Colorado.  They have their issues, but their kids...what kid doesn't have problems, right?

Ready for Winter?

Canned Goods

Lots of Frozen Meat!

It's been like Christmas around here...in September!  Unfortunately, I've been funding it all.  Oh well, it'll be well worth it in a few months.  I've been busy ordering and receiving things I'll need for the winter.  My first big purchase was food!  Kind of important for survival, I would say.  I spent a little over $1800 ordering food online through Span Alaska.  I also had my mom do a lot of shopping for me down in the lower-48, getting mostly canned goods, sugar, spices, baking products, etc.  She spent a little over $300 and then shipped it all flat-rate (I actually paid for it, she just did the work for me).  So what do I have to show for it now, two weeks after I ordered all that stuff?  Mostly full cupboards!  I'm still waiting on a few things that were back-ordered, but most of it has come in.

My New Coat!

I also ordered my big winter coat, gloves, and winter gear.  Thanks to my wonderful SHR staff this summer, I got some of it from REI using my $100 gift card!  I also did some shopping from Cabela's and through the Under Armour website.  I'm now the happy owner of a micro-down coat with coyote ruff, big thick gloves, tons of Under Armour Cold Gear (long underwear, gloves, hat), and wool socks.  My friend who also teaches in Alaska is sending me her boots because she bought new ones this year.  My dad gave me his thick bib-converalls that he didn't like for hunting, because they were "too hot."  I'm pretty excited for the snow now...well, as soon as those boots get here.

And now for the toys.  I ordered a MacBook Pro through my school district.  We get an educator's discount, as well as the offer to have it split and taken directly out of our check over the course of the rest of the year.  It's like an interest-free loan.  We can order anything off the Apple website.  I got my Mac, a new iPod touch, and a Time Capsule (it's the wireless internet device, but also a backup device.  It has 1 TB of memory, which is a ridiculous amount of memory!).  I also ordered my Wii.  The Wii was part of my weight loss self-bribery awhile ago, but after I signed my contract to move to Alaska, I post-poned buying it.  (If I lost 20 pounds, I could buy a Wii and the Wii Fit).  Now that I'm here, I bought the Wii, the WiiFit, and the Wii Active.  I'm still waiting on my WiiFit and Wii Active to come it, but I love my Wii so far!  It's so much fun!  I even got it connected to my internet!  I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not, or if it will just mean that I will not be able to save any money!  HaHa!  It'll provide some good entertainment, I'm sure!

Post Office Predicaments

The Post Office here is quite different from anything you've ever experienced in the Lower-48.  First off, imagine for a second your neighborhood post office.  Most likely, it's open Monday-Saturday, with hours that resemble something like 8am-5pm and is staffed by at least 2 people usually.  There are strict rules for P.O. Boxes and picking up packages, especially if you have insured them.

The blue building in the middle is our post office in Koliganek.

Now, when you get to my quaint little village, you have to toss that idea right out the window.  Our Post Office is a small room that is also in the Village Council building (at least I think that's what the building is called).  It is run by one older lady named Lucy.  The Post Office is only open 11am-1pm during the week, and for an hour or so (if you're lucky) on Saturdays.  The building itself is open from 9am-4:30pm.  Right now, there is not enough PO Boxes for everyone in the village, so I still use the school's PO Box.  Needless to say, if I have to actually go to the post office for anything, I have to go during my lunch break.  And I have to wait until the school picks up their mail to get anything of mine (which is once a week).

Getting packages or large boxes, well, that's completely different too.  All packages are left in the large open area of the building.  As long as it's not a COD (Cash-On-Delivery) package, you can just go grab your box from the open area when you have time.  Okay, I know what you're probably thinking.  "Don't your boxes get taken if they're just left in the open?!?!"  Well, no.  There are less than 200 people here.  Everyone is pretty honest.  It wouldn't take long to figure things out I'm sure.  COD packages have to stay at the post office until you pay Lucy for them.

Lucy is quite the character.  She's nice, but sometimes seems a little cranky (I always try to give her a smile and tell her to have a good day).  She couldn't figure out who I was for awhile.  She asked me every time I came in if I was Victor Green (one of the other new teachers in the village, who is old enough to retire.  I'm pretty sure I look nothing like a "Victor").  I think she's figured me out now though....after all, I'm the only blonde girl in the village.

Welcome to Alaska!

I’ve been here a little over a month so far, and so much has happened!  I finally got my internet hooked up at home, which means I can finally get this blog rolling!  This first post is going to be a long one, so be prepared!  But I want to make sure I get anyone and everyone as caught up on my life as possible!

Moving to Alaska from Colorado was quite the ordeal.  I packed up the important things in my life into 10 Rubbermaid tubs, 4 large flat rate shipping boxes, and the box I shipped my TV in.  I shipped most of my stuff in July to Alaska, while I was still working at camp.  I spent around $600, just on shipping.  And that doesn’t include all the things I’ve forgotten and had to have my mom send me!

A fountain in downtown Anchorage

I embarked on my journey to Alaska on August 5th, at 9:30pm MST.  I finally arrived in Alaska at 1:30am, and had to kill time at the airport until Wal-mart opened at 6.  Once 6am rolled around, I got my rental car, went to Wal-mart and placed my first COD Bush Order.  That was...uhh..an experience.  I realize now that there were some things I should have got that I didn’t, and of course, there were some things I didn’t need because my house already had them.  Oh well.  Live and learn, right?  I drove around Anchorage the rest of the morning and early afternoon until I had to be back at the airport to catch my flight to Dillingham.  Once I got back to Dillingham, the superintendent picked me up, drove me around town a little, and the drove me to the hotel.

I stayed in Dillingham until August 12 for inservice.  The first 2 full days (Friday and Saturday) were solely for new teachers.  On Saturday,  a lot of the people from district office with boats took us out on Alegnagik Lake.  We had salmon over the fire, hot dogs, and I got my first taste of agutaq (Eskimo ice cream, which is made of fresh blue berries, sugar, and crisco).  Ummm, let’s just say it’s not my favorite dish, but it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever eater either.  Maybe it’s an acquired taste.  I can say that I enjoy the salmon here, and if you know me at all, I hate fish.  We had Sunday off.  Then Monday through Wednesday, all of the returning staff joined us.  Monday evening we had a BBQ, complete with a dunk tank.  Because I was wearing running clothes, I got volunteered to be dunked!  What fun!

We left for our villages on Wednesday afternoon.  It was pretty cloudy and rainy when we got to Koliganek.  Rick (one of my fellow high school teachers, who has been a life-saver all summer long) showed me to my house, and even brought me my luggage that came on the second plane later that afternoon.  He toured me around the village after we went to the dump (let me tell you, the dump is quite an experience!).  I got all unpacked that night (had to, needed to find my bedding!).  And we started working in our classrooms on Thursday morning.  I think Vicky and I (Vicky is the other high school teacher) worked all through the weekend, trying to organize and set up.

We started the school year with a half-day and a community pot-luck.  It was nice to get to meet so many people!  I’m teaching so many grades and subjects, it’s almost crazy.  I teach Middle School Science, PE, Health, and Math in the morning, followed by High School Physical Science, Health, and Current Issues in Science in the afternoon.  Because Middle School is 7th and 8th grade, the math class is actually two math classes at the same time.  So, that’s 8 preps, and it’s only a 6 period day!  I have to do weekly lesson plans, and that helps me stay organized.


As far as the village goes, things are pretty laid back here.  It’s very small and quaint.  I enjoy it.  Everyone drives around on 4-wheelers.  Prices are pretty high though.  Gas is $6.25/gallon I believe.  We have a store in town, but things there also cost a bit.  I spent $60 on 6 items when I was there last.  I just placed my big bulk order though, so I shouldn’t have to shop at the store very often (between my Span order and the shopping my mom did in the lower-48, I’ve got over $2,000 worth of groceries on the way!).

Very yummy blueberries from the tundra!

The people here are also very nice!  I’ve been invited to go berry-picking already with one of the local ladies.  It was so much fun!  And I’ve been given lots of wonderful gifts in the form of fresh salmon, moose burger, and fresh veggies.  The are truly wonderful people here who take care of each other and take pride in their community!


Well, I guess this is long enough.  I’m really enjoying myself here in Alaska so far!  Even the weather is cooperating so far (mid-50s to 60s usually, usually sunny).  Oh, and right now, its sunny from about 7am-10pm.  Pretty awesome!