Unalakleet Days
So my dad is a genius. Before leaving for Alaska he bought me wire cutters to take in my suitcase... to cut the zip ties so I could unpack the Rubbermaid bins I had already mailed! Did I think of such a smart idea? Of course not! I would have arrived at my house, and probably tugged at the zip ties a few times before eventually trying to gnaw my way through them and then giving up and just chucking the bins out the window. He's a thinker, my dad. I also received a beautiful rabbit fur hat, which will be wonderfully cozy and warm this winter (that I may have already used once or twice because August is windy!). He also sent me with a brand new Kindle Paperwhite, which has been AMAZING. I totally recommend it if you're a reader and find yourself with free time on your hands. So basically, I had everything I needed to survive in Northern Alaska.
And all those farewell Alaskan presents are just great and all, but my mom is actually the best ever at giving gifts. I know it's rare that mothers have such talent, but mine is quite exceptional at discerning exactly what her oldest daughter hopes and dreams for; a brand-spankin-new wand toilet scrubber of her very own!!! Complete with a supply of extra scrubbies! This is something I've always wanted, and has been at the top of my past several birthday wish lists. I finally have it now! ;) Despite her gift-giving skills, she really is fabulous.
Back to the adventures at hand:
So teacher inservice has been an experience so far. All the village schools in the district were flown in to Unalakleet, the district head, for workshops and trainings. The new teachers came for three days last week, and then all staff is here for four days this week. The most exciting thing about this adventure was getting to fly in the district plane! We all met at 7:30am at the school, piled into the school truck and various 4-wheelers, rode out to the air strip and watched as the plane landed and rolled towards us. We had to help unload supplies and groceries for the village from the plane before then loading our over night bags and back packs in the front and wing compartments.
We piled into the 9 passenger plane and were on our way! The view of Brevig on the way up was beautiful!
Here's a better one of the school (red) and my duplex (blue) from above:
It's about a 5 minute walk. It's so much better than the hour or more it usually took to commute into the Bronx for work last year!
On the way there for the second week of training, I sat in the co-pilot seat! The dials and buttons are fascinating; I would love to learn what they all mean and to fly myself someday.
In Unalakleet, our days were filled with workshops on Cultural Standards, Common Core Standards, new ELA and Math curriculum, certification details, insurance meetings, and all the logistics about being a teacher in Alaska. Although my brain now feels like mush at the tail end of the inservice, it was all good information and I'm glad I was able to meet teachers in other schools and network a little bit to know what resources I will have available throughout the year.
Because Unalakleet was hosting all 15 schools in the district (our district is geographically bigger than most states...), and is a fairly small village, we were told to bring a sleeping bag and given an air mattress upon arrival. We set them up in the classrooms, by school site.
And all those farewell Alaskan presents are just great and all, but my mom is actually the best ever at giving gifts. I know it's rare that mothers have such talent, but mine is quite exceptional at discerning exactly what her oldest daughter hopes and dreams for; a brand-spankin-new wand toilet scrubber of her very own!!! Complete with a supply of extra scrubbies! This is something I've always wanted, and has been at the top of my past several birthday wish lists. I finally have it now! ;) Despite her gift-giving skills, she really is fabulous.
Back to the adventures at hand:
So teacher inservice has been an experience so far. All the village schools in the district were flown in to Unalakleet, the district head, for workshops and trainings. The new teachers came for three days last week, and then all staff is here for four days this week. The most exciting thing about this adventure was getting to fly in the district plane! We all met at 7:30am at the school, piled into the school truck and various 4-wheelers, rode out to the air strip and watched as the plane landed and rolled towards us. We had to help unload supplies and groceries for the village from the plane before then loading our over night bags and back packs in the front and wing compartments.
We piled into the 9 passenger plane and were on our way! The view of Brevig on the way up was beautiful!
Here's a better one of the school (red) and my duplex (blue) from above:
It's about a 5 minute walk. It's so much better than the hour or more it usually took to commute into the Bronx for work last year!
On the way there for the second week of training, I sat in the co-pilot seat! The dials and buttons are fascinating; I would love to learn what they all mean and to fly myself someday.
In Unalakleet, our days were filled with workshops on Cultural Standards, Common Core Standards, new ELA and Math curriculum, certification details, insurance meetings, and all the logistics about being a teacher in Alaska. Although my brain now feels like mush at the tail end of the inservice, it was all good information and I'm glad I was able to meet teachers in other schools and network a little bit to know what resources I will have available throughout the year.
Because Unalakleet was hosting all 15 schools in the district (our district is geographically bigger than most states...), and is a fairly small village, we were told to bring a sleeping bag and given an air mattress upon arrival. We set them up in the classrooms, by school site.
This communal set up would not have been the absolute worst thing ever, except the village of Unalakleet had just issued a water conservation order which quickly turned into a full blown water crisis due to a leak in the village water tank. The little water that there was, was also ice cold. So showers were completely out of the question, and flushing toilets were only an occasional convenience. Towards the end of our stay the situation has improved slightly- the showers are now lukewarm and the toilets almost always reliably flush. With 15 schools' worth of teaching staff it has definitely been a memorable situation.
The weather has generally been cloudy and occasionally rainy, but I did catch a few rays of sun light to get a walk on the beach in. There were many treasures to be found on the shore! I was told that Unalakleet's beach is known for its sea glass, but I couldn't find a single piece!
I can say though, that living and working in the same room and building as your school staff gives lots of time to bond! And to quickly discover that Brevig has quite a few champion snorers among our small team.
But tomorrow we go home! We fly back to Brevig to start (or continue) our back-to-school planning and classroom-organizing!
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