That's It Folks

Well, as you can probably tell, Emily and I are no longer in White Mountain. We survived being chaperones but did come home Saturday night exhausted. We had a great time in White Mountain, it is the nicest rural Alaskan community that I have visited. People greeted you with a smile and a "welcome to White Mountain" rather than guarded stares. Being invited to dinners made the visit all the more special, musk ox meatloaf, caribou chili, and Eskimo ice cream, wonderful. The students were quiet at first as was to be expected, but quickly warmed up to us. I felt that I had begun to know the students, even after only a week. That would never happen in a school of a 1000. I also enjoyed seeing community members at the school everyday. At every lunch there was a table of elders who would eat with the students. That kind of community interaction is important for any school, but especially one in rural AK. I had wanted to teach in rural Alaska before this and it didn't change, in fact it made me remember why I like smaller schools. Thanks UAF and White Mountain for the opportunity to visit!

We've Been Infiltrated

Ashley The Teacher - The Students Learned About The ADF&G Aerial Wolf Control Program

Students Write The Pros and Cons Of The Wolf Control Program

Town, Up Close

Picture a school with 48 students K-12. Now picture 90+ students from Diomede, Brevig, Elim, Golovin, Nome, etc., in this same school. Finally, picture our faces as Emily and I discovered that we were listed as chaperones for the girls from Diomede and Nome. Not only is the school filled with 6 - 12 grade students, we have 7 of them staying in "our" room. Check out Emily's blog to see what we are hearing right at this very moment (for some reason this room is the cool hang out spot for many, many teens - maybe a result of how cool Emily and I are?). By the way, in addition to teaching today Emily and I got the chance to work in the kitchen as the clean up crew. Let me just say that our talent does not lie in the commercial kitchen, there may still be gallons of water on the floor from our clean up. Better go, I'm hearing the word "naked" one too many times...

Art and Ice Cream, What Can Be Better?

This Inupiaq Phrase Means: I Am From White Mountain, Of The Fish River Tribe

Emily and I learned this phrase in the Inupiaq classes we observed today. Also, the painted picture is done by a very famous artist, one well known throughout the world. Her name you ask? Emily Samargo. You may also wonder who posed for such a picture. Her name would be Ashley Hutton. This is an example of what Emily is having some of the high school kids do. In closing, I must add one very important note. I finally got the chance to eat Eskimo ice cream tonight! I have read about this dish for years and have always wanted to try it. Joanna, Jack's wife, made both blueberry and salmonberry ice cream and I tried both. For those of you not in the know, Eskimo ice cream is a whipped mixture of Crisco (at least Joanna made hers with that, not seal oil), white fish, sugar, and berries. Can't say that it's a dish that I would include at every meal, but I was so very excited to finally try it. Thank you Joanna!

Breaking The Ice (Not Literally!)

The Sound of Music

The School Itself

The Local Highway On The River

Today was a great day. The kids are getting to know us and are warming up quite quickly. We began the day with the middle school art. I also checked out the electronic keyboards in the middle school classroom. They hook the keyboards into a laptop and use a computer program to learn how to play. More art followed in a high school classroom (I may have to become an art teacher now). We had a treat in the afternoon, we joined in on the Inupiaq language lessons in the elementary school. After school I skied along the river and braved the high amount of dog feces along what was the Iditarod trail. People warned me that it was best to ski and not to snowmobile as you risked being hit in the head by flying dog poop if you were following a machine. Tomorrow 90 students from around the Bering Straits School District will show up in the morning for the big cross country races happening here. Emily and I will be doing a bit of science work and have been put in charge of subbing for the cross country coach during his pre-calculus class. Hhhhmmm, I had better go study my math now....

And Then There Was Tuesday

It was a good day. I helped Emily with her art lesson this morning and observed in the other secondary classes through the rest of the day. It was great to meet the students, lots of smiles and laughter all around. Now I am tired, no pictures today. Check back tomorrow.

This Is The Life

Clearly The Better Skiers Are In The Background.

The Town

I Can't Help Myself When It Comes To Pictures Of Sunsets

Today was a report card conference day. We didn't get to meet many students but we did meet the staff. In the course of the day we (and by we I mean Emily) were invited to do art lessons in the middle school classroom all week. We were also invited by Jack, the secondary science teacher and cross country ski coach, to come along for a ski this afternoon. Luckily he had boots that fit us and extra skate skis for us to use. The kids on the team are practicing for big cross country races that will happen here this coming weekend. Emily and I tried our best to exhibit superior skate ski skills but alas, it didn't work. The kids skied circles around us....I'm sure they are still laughing about it. We followed skiing with an invitation to eat dinner with Jack and Joanna (his wife) and their son Liam. It can't get any better than caribou chili and homemade bread after a day (ahem, an hour) of fast paced skiing. Now it is time for bed. Good night.

Sunday

Looking From The School Last Night At 9pm

Thanks For Dinner Emily

Home Sweet Home

I am writing this at 7pm and the sun is shining in the window at full force. Sunset last night was around 10pm. I can't tell you when sunrise was since I slept until 9:30am! Today Emily and I wandered around town. We didn't see too many people but those we did see waved or smiled. We looked for a trail to a reindeer corral but apparently we are directionally challenged.....we did however find the dump. We plan another outing tonight hoping to catch another beautiful sunset like we had last night.

All In One Piece

Should I Be Worried......?

Emily Wonders....Where Are
The Cars?

Coming Into Town

After waking up at 5:30am this morning we made it to White Mountain at 4pm. First it was off to Anchorage, then to Nome, then to Golovin, and finally to White Mountain. As we got off of the plane I saw only snowmobiles waiting to greet us.....not a car in sight. How I wondered, are we going to get Emily and myself, not to mention our 4 very large bags, to the school? Andy, the principal here at the school, greeted us warmly. We packed the bags and ourselves onto the sled being towed by the snowmobile and were taken to the school. The school is a beautiful and modern building, I can't wait to see it filled with students. Now it is time to sign off as Andy and his wife have graciously invited us over for dinner and we have a long commute....2 minutes by foot.

Countdown

Three days to go until we leave. We got our flight information on Monday and we will fly from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Anchorage to Nome, and then Nome to White Mountain. We leave at 8am on Saturday and will arrive at 4pm. I am excited to see Nome on the way there as I have heard about it for so long but have never seen it. Too bad we weren't there yesterday when Mackey won the Iditarod.

I've learned a bit more about White Mountain. Seems it has a population of around 200 people and was originally a fish camp. It is part of the Bering Straits Native Corporation, I believe the people are Inupiat. The school is a part of the Bering Strait School District. An interesting fact is that a federal boarding school was established in the town in 1917. This school became focused on industrial education after about a decade. In 1926 the school was renamed the "Industrial School" and it closed in 1953. Very interesting...can't wait to get to get out there.

The Beginning

About two weeks ago I learned that myself and another student will be traveling to White Mountain, AK as part of our UAF rural practicum. Prior to that we had looked through the available towns for the practicum and had chosen our top two. White Mountain was at the top of my list for two reasons: one I had never heard of the town so it had to be great, and two they were going to have cross country ski races while we were there. I was in!

After emailing the principal, Andy Haviland, I have learned a few things about the town and the school. There are 48 students K-12 in the school. The Iditarod sled dog race stops in White Mountain where they are required to take an 8 hour layover.

Anyway, clearly I have a lot more to learn. I have responded to an email from Andy asking what I would like to teach out there. I suggested anything biology related would be just fine. I also mentioned that if the students are interested I could teach a basic level German class or I could bring my violin to join in on some music. We'll see. My main goal is to go with the flow and get to know the students, teachers, and the community.

So far I know that we'll be sleeping at the school so sleeping bags are in order. I also hope to bring my cross country skis as Andy said there are trails all around town. I'll have to check on the weight and length limit for the bush plane. For now my job is to find out more about White Mountain and to come up with some fun lesson ideas.