Summer Home for Berry!

God is faithful to answering prayers. I prayed that He would provide a good place for Berry to stay in the summer and he did today. God actually provided three people. It looks like I will be going to serve at Unalakleet Bible Camp for a week. Jeff Erickson, who is the athletic director for the district, agreed to keep her outside during the day and inside at night. Myra said there is hardly any loose dogs around which is common here in Koyuk. She also said people in Unalakleet value dogs more than here.


Then Byron Bruckner, the director for Bible Camp said he would take Berry for the rest of the time I'm on vacation. His family lives in Anchorage. Berry will have to play with cats! God is so good!

It's been fun this week starting the new unit on insects. The kids are so fascinated and I love wildlife as it is so it's a great mix of passions. I purchased these non-fiction books that give great vocab, excellent descriptions, and close up photos. We read one today on ants.

Later.

New Principal!

On Tuesday we found out our new principal. We had a good guess because we knew one person who met all the qualifications and was from the District Office. Her name is Kim Hanisch and to be honest I was a little leary of her coming because she is very straight forward and honest about things. That is good thing and I'm probably thinking that this is something negative. Assumptions can get me into trouble! I've talked with other staff members and she has a lot a traits that I think I'm going to enjoy: organized, hard worker, etc. This will be her first time being a principal and our first time having a woman principal. I hope the community responds decently. I'm very excited!

I am also excited because my former mentor will be working with our school as a site evaluator. I was really sad to see her leave Golovin because she is so gifted at being a principal but I understand it was hard to be away from her husband who lives and works in Unalakleet. It will be nice to work with her once again.

There may be a couple coming from another village to teach here: Science and other. They seem to be a nice couple from what Myra tells me.

We have three more positions to fill.

Will update later.

Lack of Sleep, but fun!

Last Friday, over 50 kids earned an invite to a lock-in at the school hosted by the Solutions Team which I help facilitate. Part of the Solution Team's job is to put interventions in place to help students achieve. They earned an invite to the lock-in if they had 80% Read and Respond for the whole month of February.

A lot of hours went into planning for this night. One thing I was stressing about was finding enough volunteers. Some community volunteers say they will help but then cancel at the last moment. By the end of the day Friday, I had all the volunteers I needed. The night started at 10 pm and there were many activities to do. There were lap tops to play on, alternating gym times for Elementary (parachute, scarves, hoola hoops, frisbees, balls) and High School/Jr. High. We also had movies going in the girls and boys sleeping rooms. We had board games out but not a lot of interest. Three community volunteers with students helping made homemade pizzas. Yummy!

It was neat to see some high school students organize cooks and making pancakes for the rest of the students and volunteers. It was good to spend time with them since I do not get a chance to and am not very good with HS students. It was a very fun and positive experience.

I wasn't planning on staying the whole time (8 am Saturday) but I needed too because extra help was necessary. I'm so thankful for God giving me the strength. I slept most of the day and night on Saturday and went to bed early on Sunday. On Monday, I got up early and felt awake and not tired.

Until later when I find out our new principal.

Last of Iditarod

The last musher I saw was Thursday morning at 9am. He was a special musher because he was an educator from Unalakleet and did many inservices for us. His name was Rick Holt and we enjoyed visiting with him for about 20 minutes. It was facinating to me on how he described the lead dogs. I always thought that one dog was the lead dog and it doesn't change. Well, he put different dogs in lead positions not knowing if they would lead or not for various reasons: weather, etc. Some of the lead dogs he put in place have not been in lead positions before and did amazing. Others that have had led recently would not lead in certain conditions. Rick had to do trial and error a lot of times.

IF you would like to listen and see an interview with Rick Holt visit www.bssd.org and scroll down until you see BSSD educator starts Iditarod.

I also learned that all mushers have GPS in their sled and it is as big as a brick. They are not allowed to look or even touch it. One musher, did not listen and sent it off in an airplane. I think it is pretty funny if you ask me.

Jeff King came in second and Lance Mackey came in first two years in a row. Usually Mackey and King take turns.

I didn't do too much of the Iditarod in my classroom. It's such a shame, I know. There is a curriculum that needs to get finished.

Until later.

Hunting Day!

Romay and I went hunting today. Down at the beach there is a trail that makes a circle around willows. It's perfect for ptarmigan (like our grouse). They are white with black tipped wings. It was a little frustrating at first because I couldn't remember how to load the gun. I finally figured it out and then I kept falling through the deep snow and was a little concerned with a loaded gun, but it got better.

We saw nothing! IT was fun to just get out and let the dogs run. Kemper found a dead rabbit and started munching. Berry found a dead walrus piece. Luckily it was frozen and she doesn't stink. Then she found something brown and was flipping it up in the air and rolling on it. Romay thought it was a squirrel. She went to see what it was and it was my seal skin mitt. I guess it fell out of my parkee pocket.

Romay turned around and she said, "Look! What is that running on the river?" To me it looked like a wolverine because I didn't see a red coat to think it was a fox. Berry picked up on it and held her tight with the rope. It was neat to see.

We came home had a snack, I cleaned up, and the dogs slept. Tonight we will watch a movie again.

One more day of break then it is back to school for two days of inservice. Then on Friday we have a lock-in at school for kids who had 80% or higher Read and Respond. We will have gym and computer time, movies, homemade pizzas until Saturday 8 am. I'm not looking forward to being up to all hours of the night and then only having Saturday and Sunday to catch up. It will be nice when it is done.

Part II Fun with Romay and Iditarod

Romay and I ended the night with watching Hairspray and then a tickle contest. I think I lost but don't tell Romay that...she thinks I won. We read a chapter in the book she is reading, Soon. There are three to the series and they are very good!

Romay wanted to have corned beef hash for breakfast with eggs. I haven't had that before and the way it looked I wasn't too excited to try it but I did. It tasted better with ketchup!

We were looking the internet to see where the mushers were. Lance Mackey was ahead and then Jeff King. It sounds like they take turns every other year beating each other. We went down to by the post office about 1pm and Lance Mackey came in. It was exciting. Then Jeff came in 15 minutes later. It's a close race this year. The mushers seemed more willing to talk to the all the reporters that were there. Both of these mushers had very good sportsmanship. They each said encouraging things about each other when interviewers asked. Both of the mushers said this year the dogs seem tired and bored and it's hard to get them to speed up. Lance Mackey said something that made me admire how he mushes. He said, "It's not worth my dogs to get first if they don't get the appropriate sleep." It amazes me to see and hear these mushers put their dogs first before their own needs and I stand in awe that these dogs travel 1,150 miles.

Romay brought home 16 booties. She thinks Berry and Kemper are going to make sled dog babies.

After listening to the mushers, I left to go to the store and then came back to the house. Romay was sore so she decided not to go for a walk with me .

I went for a walk on the ski trail with Kemper and Berry. It was so gorgeous out. We've had tons of sun. Berry flushed 4 ptarmigan. I wish I had my gun! Kemper and Berry also make a great tag team to flush rabbits. I had an easy shot but not a safe one.

We ended the night with yummy stir fry and Facing the Giants Movie. We read again from Soon.

We plan on going ptarmigan hunting tomorrow.

Will write later.

Spring Break with fun kids

Spring Break officially started on Friday at 3:30. Jason and Myra left to spend time together and get some things done in Anchorage. Ethan stayed with Sandy but was in and out of the house. Romay and I went up to Corrine's (fast food movie rental place). We shared Super Nachos and curly fries. We also got a couple of movies for Saturday. I helped with Bible Study this week and it was so much fun.I was exhausted and went to bed early.

On Saturday we watched Game Plan and Saving Sarah Cain. It was nice to relax and spend time with Romay. She can always make me laugh. During the day, Ethan, Romay,Linda and the dogs (Kemper and Berry) went skiing. We went on the ski trail. It wasn't too far but man was I beat when I came back. Ethan and I watched Valiant while Romay and Linda skied more. Linda ate dinner with Romay and I and Ethan spent time with Matt and Mandy.

We had church at home on Sunday. We watched a short movie: In the Arms of Angels. It was a neat story of how a young girl disobeyed her father and got into a rock slide and how God saved her and brother. So we talked about why obedience to parents and God is important and how it protects us. We talked about God's grace, false teachers, etc. They asked a great question. "Where is hell?" I wasn't sure but I know it is real. Romay and I went skiing and packed a lunch of tuna sandwhiches, carrots, and tea. We didn't go very far until Romay said she was cold. It was super windy. We saw planes coming to drop of Iditarod things. We turned around, went back to snack on brownies and hot tea. I went to Bob's to get groceries. We'll watch a movie tonight.

Later.

Trip Update

I am so excited to tell everyone that my sister, Jessica and her great friend Stephanie are coming to Alaska for a week. We have changed our plans a little bit because they don't have as much time as I do. We will be meeting in Anchorage, taking the train to Seward, going on a whale watching, wildlife, glacier boat ride in the Kenai Fjords National Park, and go to the Sealife Center. I did this two years ago with friends who came to visit me also. I'm a little disappointed that we can't do something else but I am glad to spend time with them and share something with them that I already did.

We will then take the train back to Anchorage and fly to Fairbanks. There we will whitewater raft, visit Cheena Hotsprings, take a boat tour of a sled dog musher's place (Susan Butcher), and visit an Athabascan village. We will also visit the UAF museum where the Musk Ox farm is, go to the Salmon Bake, doctor appointments, grocery shop.

I may go to Valdez but we will see. I am a little disappointed that I will not get to do the 27 marathon hike. Maybe I can still find someone go with me.

I also had a long lost friend tell me that she has a friend who probably would love to take care of Berry in Fairbanks. I will check to see if Nome has a kennel first and then try Anchorage.

Can't wait to tell you all about it.

Ski Meet and Biatholon

Two weeks ago we had the ski meet here. Many schools from the district and Nome came to the ski meet we have hosted here before. We have beautiful trails with TREES! A lot of villages here do not have trees. So Friday it started about 2:45 for me. My job was one of the spotters. I got out there a little bit before the race started or so I thought. St. Micheal came in late so the race didn't start until after 3pm. By the way it was 10 below and blowing. I didn't dress warm enough. A spotter cheers on the skiers (3-6th graders, Jr High and High School) and makes sure they go the right way on the trail. It was really fun to get outdoors despite the cold. I haven't been outside for a while since I got sick and sprained my ankle. The sun was so nice! The skiers do not skate cross country but skate ski. It's like roller skating but on skis. Koyuk had only three skiers that were eligible. Ethan, Romay (Jason and Myra's kids) and Linda. On Saturday it was the biatholon. I'm not sure if you all know but I didn't know what one was until I got here. It's when the kids ski the trail once and then take shots with a 22 shotgun. It was colder and more wind on Saturday we decided that they would not take 5 shots but only one shot. In other years I would spot on Saturday but this time I wanted to be on the range. So I kept track of how many shots they got and their bib numbers. The kids lay on the ground and take a shot 50 yards away. The targets were on a rectangular white board.

It was very interesting to watch kids of all different ages shoot a gun. Some had a lot of experience and some had none or very little and that is why we had many adults down at the range. Some didn't even know the gun went off because they put their finger in the trigger before sighting it in. I helped the kids remember not to put their finger on the trigger before they shot.

The last hour was really cold so a lot of us were jumping up and down, doing arm circles trying to stay warm. Jason came and brought me back to school. I got on the snow machine with my clipboard and the score sheet flew away and disappeared so quick I couldn't run to get it. I felt awful for the next hour and then I was finally able to let it go. It all worked out.

I had a wonderful visit with Esther an elder I have grown to really admire. We shared Nachos together and talked about Koyuk and school when she was younger. They had school up at Haycock. It is where a lot of people used to live a ways away from where the village is now. I guess there was a big fire and it burned so people moved to where the village is now. I am sure there is more that I don't know but something I learned. Esther offered to make me a beaver hat. She made a beautiful land otter hat. It looks great on her. That was the first thing she made for herself all these years. She has been so busy making things for other people.

Romay placed and 6th
Ethan placed 7th
Linda placed 7th.

Pen Pals in WI

We've been busy writing to pen pals in LaCrosse, WI. I did this last year with the same teacher last year. First, we started with whole class emails, then we hooked up each student with a pen pal and a picture to tell a little bit about each other. Next, the North Woods International School sent a movie they created that showed and told about their school. Then the students wrote about an answer to my students' questions, something about their school, and a question for us. It was neat how they made their letter match up with their video. Their letters also had a photo of the place along with their pen pals and they showed and talked about on the movie. The first grade teacher and I are in the process of taking the photos and making the movie. It has been difficult to find the time to record and find a camcorder that picks up good sound. Hopefully we will get this finished and then at the end of the year, we will do a video conference where each pen pal will ask each other one question and answer it. It's been neat to hear the kids mention the similarities and differences as they watch the movie and the DVD.

Will update later.