Leaving on a jet plane

Sun peeking through the clouds in Elim

A week without students is a week spent traveling and recruiting, and lordy moses did I ever!  Before heading out I was sort of surprise ambushed with the news that I would be teaching a course, and in turn was tasked with recruiting for it.  Needless to say, this trip had a little more added pressure than last time.  My first stop was in Elim, which is located between mountains where the air currents can really get ripping.  Turbulence doesn’t sufficiently describe what I experienced; I was tossed around with my white knuckles clutching the bottom of the seat saying involuntary Hail Mary’s until we finally landed.  Luckily, the trip over was not a harbinger of bad things to come during my stay.  While every village I’ve been to is picturesque, Elim may take the cake.  It is the perfect combination of ocean, seaside cliffs, and lovely, tall, glorious trees.

Elim K-12 School

Drying salmon for the season

Overlooking Elim

My day was spent bouncing from room to room to present and convince students to sign up for my class.  Poor kids didn’t know what hit them; I think my unbridled enthusiasm and pep shocked them into applying for my Careers in Education course more than anything.  Success!  One of the students had just gotten back from a NACTEC session, so she showed me the ropes and gave me the low-down on Elim.  In spite of her help I still stuck out like a sore thumb; it’s hard to imagine getting lost in a school comprised of only two hallways, but yep, I’m that girl.  One teacher noticed my lost puppy look and came to my rescue, inviting me over for dinner and a quick jam session (of course I brought my ukulele!).  During travel weeks I pack enough food to last me the trip, and without access to a refrigerator or microwave my “meals” generally consist of granola bars, beef jerky, and almonds.  The prospect of a real, justifiable dinner was the very best gift imaginable.  I’ve always appreciated the simple things, but being an itinerant emphasizes just how much I value a warm meal, a comfortable bed, and a private shower.

In villages the district owns housing for teachers located directly adjacent to the school, which is utilized by most staff members.  A quick knock on the kitchen wall served as the dinner bell, and other teachers came to join in the festivities.  It was a feast the likes I’ve never seen in Alaska!  I was treated to a gourmet BLT on homemade bread, with romaine, tomatoes, and thick slices of bacon.  I was served oven roasted beets, caramelized leeks with summer squash, and a garden salad to boot.  Now to understand just how special this meal was, here is some background.  Nome has 3 grocery stores and is fortunate enough to receive ample shipments of produce, but the quality is sometimes questionable at best.  Thanks to an organic farm in Washington, this teacher receives weekly shipments of the best organic produce, which can be sent to even the most remote villages.  It blew my mind that such fantastic and diverse produce could exist in a village without a grocery store!

Local biker gang!

The playgrounds are always full of kiddos!

My school visits are always short, lasting only one overnight, so it was time to leave before I knew it.  The secretary was also flying out that day, but for a very different reason.  Her family has been in Elim for generations, living off the land and fully embracing the subsistence style of living.  Disturbingly, a company from the lower-48 has been conducting testing in the mountains surrounding the village, analyzing uranium deposits in the rock and determining the financial viability of extraction.  This woman was flying to a conference to plead her case of protecting this land, discussing the irreparable damage that excavation could cause for the ecosystem and people of this region.  While this company only sees dollar signs, a whole community hangs in the balance.  I can’t even begin to imagine what this radioactive material could do to the fish, caribou, streams, and drinking water, not to mention the utter destruction of the landscape.  Come on people, didn’t anyone watch Avatar?!  I can only hope that her pleas do not fall on deaf ears; the business mindset truly disgusts me sometimes.

Cliffs of Elim

My next stop was in Koyuk, and after having students from this school attend both of the first two sessions at NACTEC, I was surrounded by familiar faces.  What a good feeling to walk into a place where I actually know people!   There is only one plane that travels from Koyuk back to Nome, so I spent an extra day in the school.  This allowed me to deliver my spiel, and still have ample time to visit and observe classes in a more informal way.  I read stories with kindergarteners, traveled Google Earth with a 3^rd – 5^th grade Social Studies class, and was interviewed by the Journalism students.  Even with the hundreds of observation hours I’ve logged, the dynamic teaching and quality of education I witnessed in each classroom still left me impressed and inspired.  I enjoyed the bicultural class most of all; students were busy sewing beaver, raccoon, and seal skin mittens, and making traditional wooden masks used during dancing and ceremonies.  Each mask had a wooden bite-piece on the inside, so that it could be held against the face by biting down, eliminating the need for unsightly strings laced behind the head.  Students were also tying knots in a huge net hung across the length of the classroom, sized to catch beluga whales.  I so want to be enrolled in this class.

The cemetery on the hill in Koyuk

Koyuk K-12 School

Materials in the Bicultural Classroom

The morning routine was also an unexpected treat.  Students begin their day with breakfast in the cafeteria (freshly baked blueberry coffee cake, yum!), and many of the village elders join in for meals.  After some free time in the gym, students find their seat on the bleachers with their homerooms, and the principal delivers the morning announcements like a pep rally.  A few brave students volunteer each day to lead the pledge of allegiance, and the principal relays all of the typical daily messages to students face to face, as a whole school.  Two students had a birthday when I was there, and we all joined in a rousing rendition of “the birthday stomp” to celebrate!  Students were dismissed with a school cheer; I guess one morning they even had a frozen t-shirt unraveling contest!  I used to enjoy the televised morning announcements in Averill Park, but dang this was awesome.  I left feeling energized, and really included in the school community.  I think every school should start the day off like this!

Morning Announcements in Koyuk

 

My flight back to Nome was smooth sailing, but certainly not the typical airline experience.  I realized that I should expand on this a little more after my mom inquired as to whether it gets tiring going through bag checks and security each time I travel.  Quite frankly, the airports here are little more than a runway (and a bedraggled, packed-dirt one at that!).  Flight times are flexible to say the least as destination itineraries may be combined for efficiency, and depend on who and what needs to go where.  About an hour before your estimated flight time, you personally call the pilot with the school radio to find out where they are currently in route to, and to provide an update on current weather conditions.  You then anxiously wait by the radio to hear the “touch-down in 10 minutes” warning, when you are whisked away by truck or 4-wheeler to the runway, which is the highest point in town.  The only security to speak of is in providing your total weight with baggage.  Once the plane lands it’s a hop out of your vehicle and onto the aircraft, and away you go, flying into the great (usually fogged over) blue yonder!

71 miles on this baby!

Musk Oxen on the Nome-Teller Highway

Hard to see, but I saw a herd of 30+ Reindeer

Muddy roads lead to a muddy truck!

 

Once home, my traveling didn’t end.  This weekend was the annual Cultural Festival in Teller, only a 71 mile drive from Nome.  I am admittedly directionally impaired, but this was one road-trip I couldn’t get lost on; I followed the Nome-Teller Highway for the full time, and each rare instance of oncoming traffic was accompanied by a friendly wave.  It was also the perfect time for a trip, as this road was recently grated so the notorious potholes were not an issue, and in a few short months it will be inaccessible due to snow.  Definitely not a road that gets plowed in the winter.  The drive was beautiful, with plenty of flora and fauna to feast my eyes on.  Once there I was invited to attend the potlatch dinner, which easily fed over a hundred people.  In Alaska, potlatches are gift-giving festivals, having been traditionally tied into the economic systems of indigenous people.  Elders ate first, followed by the out-of-town performers, clearly showing the respect and value these folks have earned.  I was lucky enough to enjoy some moose heart stew and muktuk (whale meat and blubber) for the first time.  I was the only white person in the place, but I was welcomed just the same.

Potlatch, yum!

Fork full of muktuk!

 

Following the meal was the dance performances, and I was blown away.  Students from all over the district were flown in to perform, and it was amazing seeing them in this capacity.  I always loved watching my students in NY during their theater productions and athletic events, but this was a whole new experience.  My students were dressed in traditional costumes and performed Eskimo dances in their native language.  Each dance told a story about building an igloo, hunting migrating birds, or friendship.  Huge drums made of stretched seal stomach and willow branches were used to provide the back beat.  I could feel each song in my core, and am still awe-struck.  I feel so privileged to have been able to attend such an event!  Teller was beautiful, and having now been to 6 out of 15 villages in the district I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed each and every one, especially because they’re each so different.

My first glimpse of Teller

Teller K-12 School

Eskimo drumming (the stick hits the bottom rim)

Eskimo dancing in colorful kuspuks