inservice in mountain village

Sunday afternoon the plane came around one o'clock to take all the new teachers and our Instructional Leader (the district's title for principals) to our district headquarters.

The mighty Yukon River is a cloudy river full of silt.

It was a rainy day and district policy requires us to always dress for weather when flying.  The planes are not heated.

Our charter flight made one stop in Pilot Station to pick up more teachers and their IL before our  destination.  When we arrived it was important to unload the plane quickly so that it could go on its way.

The district has about thirty new teachers this year.  Teacher training is hosted by the school at our district headquarters in Mountain Village.  We all were assigned classrooms and given cots for our four night stay.  Meals were served in the cafeteria and showers were in the locker rooms.  (Thanks Mom for making me participate on the swim team for all those years.)  That first night our big event was a trip to the village store.  Checking out each village's selection is a common practice and highlight of travel.

Our days were scheduled full of district specific training and information.  We had special sessions explaining the curriculum, Constructed Meaning, CHAMPS, and many many others. 

Each of our evenings had a scheduled activity to acquaint us with the district culture.  Monday, it was a hike up the village mountain.  Tuesday brought a boat ride on the Yukon through to the clear water.  Wednesday, our final evening, we were joined by local drummers and Yu'pik dancers.

It was drizzling on Monday evening but the rain let up enough for a scale up the hill.  

The Yukon is about a mile wide.

Our curriculum director, Mike, was one of the week's "camp counselor".  He brought s'more supplies and quickly had a fire going for roasting the mallows.

 

Tundra flowers.

A few kids joined our walk up the mountain.

The big building with the blue roof is the school.

The rain let up just enough on Tuesday to make for a beautiful boat ride.  I was bundled up with a down vest, down coat, my rain coat and life vest.  It took me back to middle school and my back brace.

Heather, myself, and Liz are three of the four new teachers in Marshall.  We had a fantastic time on the water.

Liz found a good spot at the front of the boat.

There were three boats in our party.

Liz, enjoying her boots.

My raincoat hood flew off quickly, as did my knit hat.  The best one was my coat hood that pulled tight.

We saw a loon, a fox, a [dead] beaver, a moose and her two calves, a bald eagle and its nest.  It was so incredible.  It was really neat to spend the time on the water and gain a slightly better understanding of my students' lives.  Fishing and travel on the water is such an important part of their everyday that I have rarely experienced.  This was a great beginning to my understanding.

Our final evening, Wednesday, we were lucky enough to have the local drumming and dancing group perform for us.  It was a small representation because many of the usual group were out fishing.  Most villagers along the Yukon practice subsistence living.  Meaning, they hunt, fish and gather to store food for the winter.  There is also commercial fish processing, but it is strongly regulated.  There are only certain times and certain days each community is allowed to fish for financial profit.  This is called commercial fishing.  When it opens everything else stops.  We were pretty lucky to have the group that we did for the drumming and dancing.

Each dance tells a story.  This may have been the dance about berry picking.

One of the district's Instructional Leaders (district titles for principals) performed her first dance a few years ago, she shared that dance with us.  Her Assistant IL drummed her song, as he did for her first dance.  It was the story of school teacher.  The first dance is a big deal and much ceremony goes with it.  It is really a winter activity so I will have to share more about that then.

The next day, after a full day of sessions, our plane came to to take us home around 6:30pm.  We stopped to drop off another school's delegacy along the way.  Liz spotted fourteen moose from our plane, I only spotted four.  It was a nice evening for a ride.

We were all very happy to be home in our village.