Teacher Training In Mountain Village

    Last week all of the teachers had to go to a two day teacher training. There were several different lectures to choose from I picked Step up to Writing, Smart Board, and Saxon Math all of the classes were helpful and I learned a little from each. After the trainings we would sit back and watch movies, play basketball or walk around the village. One of my co-teachers likened it to summer camp. In many ways it was. Sitting around talking about whatever, eating candy, watching movies, and sleeping on an air mattress. All that was missing was a campfire and sing songs. It was for the most part a relaxed atmosphere which made the trainings more fun and helped me get more out of them. I was able to shoot some pictures while I was there, but unfortunately I didn't put my memory card back into my camera before I left so I had to borrow Molly's which already had a lot of pictures on it so I had to be more selective than I would have been. But with that said I was still able to get some good shots.

 One of the two stores that Mtn. Village has. They also have a larger AC store. Which has a lot more stuff, including fresh fruits and vegetables.

 The AC store, we kept going back, compared to our store in Marshll this was like Wal-Mart

 The cemetery was up on the hill hard to capture on film, beautiful in person

 A wolf fur over $500

 Fox, otter, mink and one other I cant remember ranging in price from $75 to around $200

 The first law enforcement I've seen since I have been in the bush

 Very classy fixture, I am guessing prom 1987

 Sitting around waiting to go home Molly, Me, Susan, Steve, Hope

 Molly has a slight fear of flying (actually it is an EXTREME fear)

Molly and Nicole practicing their we're crashing face. 

    Overall it was a good trip and I think that all of the teachers learned something from their sessions. I learned that it is important to bring ear plugs because you never know who is going to be sleeping in your room and singing you a snoring lullaby all night. I also learned some things I hope to implement soon in my classroom.

Track Meet in Alakanuk

     A few weeks ago I chaperoned the one male student that was running in the high school cross country meet held in Alakanuk. What this means is I got to go see my friend Jana. She is a 5/6 grade teacher in Alakanuk. It was fun to go and see her classroom (it made me really appreciate mine). She teaches in a much older school. They are starting to build the pad where her school will be built. If I remember correctly it is supposed to open in 2013. I had a good time chatting with her and her teacher friends. They rocked the dance floor during the Friday night dance. I think the teachers danced more than the students. Overall a really good trip. The one major bummer was that the boy that came from Marshall wasn't allowed to run. Since he was only in junior high they wouldn't let him. They gave several different excuses, I think they were afraid that a junior high student was going to beat one of their high school student and they couldn't let that happen.

 Climbing into the plane getting ready to leave

 Our airplane shadow

 On the ground in Alakanuk

 One of the stores in Alakanuk

 A very cool old boat, not sure I would put it in the water in its current state

 Apparently smoking is a problem in Jana's class (not really)

 Jana's smart board, mine is safely packed in a box

 Morning of the run

 Getting the course set up

 The front of Alakanuk School

 The boys started off the day

 How they entertain themselves in Alakanuk

 The girls turn

 I caught this picture without Jana knowing, she saw it after the fact. She'll probably be upset that I posted it but it is too good not to.

     I had a really good time in Alakanuk. It was nice to see Jana, and talk to someone who is facing some of the same challenges that I am. I enjoyed seeing another village and getting the opportunity to see the similarities and differences, I hope to see others soon.

Marshall From the Air

     Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to Alakanuk to take photos of the high school boys and girls cross country meet. Lucky for me it was a sunny afternoon when we left and I was able to take some pictures of Marshall. I labeled a couple of the pictures to give everyone a better idea of the layout of Marshall.

Beautiful Marshall, Alaska

 Looking Down River

 Marshall school and Track

Check out all the boats on the river bank

Marshall looking up river

     Hope this gives everybody back home a better idea of how Marshall looks. Love you guys.

Berry Picking

     Since I arrived at Marshall, several different people had approached me telling me that I should take my elementary students berry picking. I wasn't sure what this would entail or where I should go, but with the help of my teaching partner Mary we took our classes out picking berries.

We were planning to walk around the community to pick berries, but when Mary and I got out to the front of the school all of the students had already piled into the school van.

 Students getting out of the van

 Students splitting into groups. Notice the guy in the back, that is our school counselor Steve and yeah he's holding a shotgun

Looking for berries

 This is what we were after

One student actually picking berries

A lone flower on the tundra

 Mary is a 4/5 teacher she is helping me stay sane up here

 Photo op on the rocks

 I had to get one more picture with Steve and his gun

 Beautiful hills that surround us

 Mt. Pilcher

The bucket can also be used for a hat

Where the Yukon splits to go around the island. The Yukon is in the back and the Poltese slough is in the front

Piling back into the van to go back to school

      The students that went berry picking had a great time. The plan was to take the berries and make some Eskimo ice cream. However the ride home was about twenty minutes and by the time we got back to the school the students had already eaten all the berries. Overall it was a great trip. Next year we will go sooner so that there is more berries.

District Track Meet in Marshall

     Last week Marshall School hosted the district track meet for the elementary and middle school students. Overall it was a success, there were some minor hiccups but for the most part things ran smoothly. One major bummer was the cold wind and rain. The entire time the students were running the wind howled and it rained sideways. Now before you say "duh its Alaska, of course it's cold" right now it is sunny and 54 degrees at 8:30 at night. Even though it was cold the students braved the elements and ran good races. Marshall had two students race and they each placed in eighth place in their races.

Teams were arriving while we were still teaching so they had to put their stuff in the gym

Nicole running the store during the dance

Cody in his Kilt, one of the students told me, "he dresses in woman's style"

Breakfast the day of the run

This was the first lag of the race

And there off

Students huffing and puffing in the cold

My friend Jana, she was wearing a bag over her walking cast. Unfortunately the bag had holes in the bottom and by the end of the meet her cast was pretty dirty and wet.

 

 Two of my fellow teachers, Mary in the front and Susan in the back

      After a few cold hours of standing in the rain the teachers went inside the school and had a great lunch and laughed for about an hour straight. We will all have to get together again soon. We had a great time.