Bye George

Its hard to believe that my first year of teaching is almost over.  The year has flown by!  Unfortunately that means there is loads of work to be done before the end of the year (including finding housing for next year).  Between getting in the last few possible snow machine rides of the year, grading like crazy, and figuring out fun end of the year activities to do, I've been keeping busy. 

Last weekend I was able to help out with the First Annual Bethel Unified Invitational (sorry Zach if I got the name wrong!) or something like that.  It was an invitational special olympics event.  This was my first experience with intensive needs students, and it was a blast! We got to play tennis in the lobby, we had a basketball tournament, there were track and field events, and even an obstacle course.  And of course, Bethel came away with the W; but everyone had fun, and that was way more important. 

The Discovery Chanel was here too.  They've been taping a new season of Flying Wild Alaska (following Era airline which has a major hub here in Bethel) and some of the participants for the olympics were on one of their flights so they decided to stop by.  Maybe you'll be able to hear my loud voice yelling in the background.  Narrating movies and books on tape doesn't sound like a terrible summer job. 

In classes, the students are clearly ready for summer (even more so that me I would say!).  Their attention spans have decreased (as if that was possible) and with it being light until after 11pm, they're all tired in the morning.  In physics we have been talking about light.  For angles of incidence and reflection we shot a laser at mirrors that student teams had to arrange based on a self-made scale drawing of the classroom to hit a target.  It was a little more difficult that I had anticipated, and I ended up being challenged to hit a target on top of a locker in the hallway!  In physical science we have been talking about thermal energy. We played around with conduction (rods of different metals but same length to see which got hottest fastest) and convection currents (dyed water of different temperatures, heating elements in water with a headlamp to cast the shadow of the currents, etc).  In life science we did a comparative dissection of ptarmigan (a bird) and a human (no, we did NOT dissect a human).  It was a great wrap up to our study of human body systems and they really enjoyed getting to cut something open and see what the structures looked like in real life. 

This summer is starting to take shape as well.  I'm taking a course called Alaska Alive that I have to take to be re-certified after next year for the first 3 days after schools out.  Then my parents and brother are coming to visit for a week.  Then I'm taking a Bears of Admiralty Island class for a week outside of Juneau (on Admiralty Island of course).  Finally its home to the farm for a couple weeks before going to Pittsburg for a Robotics class at Carnegie Mellon University and Cleveland for 4th of July weekend/week.  Then a road trip to visit Calvin in New Orleans for 10 days (including the couple of days on either side driving around).  Finally a couple weeks back at the farm before returning to Alaska and Bethel for the start of school next year!

PS check out the shutterfly site, it's got some new pictures of Camai.  Also, I'm going to try to find a way to upload a couple videos of the dances (Mark, if you have any suggestions, let me know).  I also have some pictures of NYO (Native Youth Olympics) and Special Olympics, but let's be honest; don't hold your breath until they're put up.  I'm not exactly the quickest poster of pictures.

Camai (pronounced as if the C was a J), an annual dance festival held here at the high school, was last weekend.  Nearly every village I could think of had a dance team or five!  To the non-culturally aware, many of the dances may have seemed similar if not the same.  But of course they were all unique and special in my eyes.  I'm working on posting some pictures here, so there will be an update this weekend (promise mom!) with pictures of people dancing in native attire.  Sunday I volunteered and got in for free (normally would have cost $10) so I missed some of the dancing while I was working, but for the most part it was pretty similar to Friday.  Our high school JROTC team did both a step and a rifle drill for the show.  There were also people from all over the WORLD.  There were some dudes juggling, some people dance-fighting, and all sorts of crazy fun stuff.  Not to mention the native crafts for sale.  Unfortunately, there wasn't really anything that caught my eye (except a seal skin coat for $1,500). 

This week we've been building instruments in Physics as a wrap up of sound waves.  In my other two classes we've had review and tests.  Next week is SBA (Standards Based Assessment) testing from the state.  4 out of the 5 days next week the kids will be testing all morning, and will likely be burnt out.  That means life science gets to watch Osmosis Jones as a prelude to the immune system!  As for physics and physical science, we'll see what I can come up with. 

We now have light from about 7.45 am until 10.45 pm (give or take) and every 10 days we gain an hour of light.  The beauty of all the light is that we can go riding around on our snow machines late into the evening, catch ptarmigan, hunt rabbits, and just tool around.  I'm going to try to make a 'manaq' stick (for ice fishing) to use this weekend.  We are all thinking about 'sleeping out' aka going camping this weekend.  Not to worry mom, I've got a bivy, -15 degree bag, a 20 gauge shotgun, and a pocket knife.  What's the worst that could happen?  For this summer I've applied for scholarships for two classes (Bears of Admiralty Island here in Alaska, and a class at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy in Pittsburg).  We'll have to wait and see if I get them, but I've got my fingers crossed. 

That's all for now,

George.

First off, shout out to one major sector of my readership currently celebrating Pa'pa's birthday in Tahoe!  Wish I could be there, but alas I now have a real job and can't just take off whenever I want. 

How do you convey a week of heavenly sunshine and sand in a blog?  I don't think it can be done.  Thus my issue with writing this blog entry.  My roommate Ashley and I went to Kona (the big island) Hawaii for spring break.  The moment we stepped off the plane, the people we were staying with gave both of us leis and whisked us off for a seafood lunch/dinner.  The rest of the week flew by, mostly filled with tropical weather, sunshine, beaches, and swimming.   Some of the highlights were deep sea fishing with Barnacle Burr (their neighbor and a boat captain), attempting to paddle board standing up for 2 hours, and of course the obligatory Luau.  The luau was awesome!  There was of course the pig in the emu pit, but also all kinds of other fresh seafood and delicious fruit (which we don't get in this neck of the woods), everyone got shell leis, and the entertain was sweet too.  The dances were from all over the Pacific Islands, and included dances from Hawaii, Samoa, Vanuatu, and even New Zealand.  The show culminated with a fire dancer putting on quite the show; he was throwing and flipping sticks with fire at both ends, weaving them in between his legs, and lighting his tongue on fire multiple times.  Really brave, or really stupid.  The jury is till out on that one.

There are pictures being uploaded to facebook as we speak, and once they're done there I'll upload them here too (promise!).  I hope you especially enjoy the ones with the beaver skin loin cloth.  While I may have made it too big, I think the workmanship speaks for itself.  Don't worry, it was a gag gift. 

As far as the time back in Alaska since then, we've been processing caribou meat that Brad got.  He shot two the last day of spring break and so they've been hanging in our smoke house, curing.  This last weekend we processed 4 of the quarters into steaks, stew meat, and burger.  Sounds pretty easy, and to be honest its somewhat mindless work, it's just time consuming.  Brad is going to give the first one he shot away (in keeping with local tradition), so we may or may not have to process that one.  The first of any type of animal you 'catch' you're supposed to give it away to elders, needy families, etc.  Thankfully he got two, or else we wouldn't have gotten any! (For those of you from Alaska reading this, thinking that you can't get two after January, that is not the case.  You are allowed two in the season, and can only get 1 before the new year.  There is no rule against getting both AFTER the new year.)

This week is the final week of the quarter so things are a little hectic with trying to get make up work graded and in the grade book.  I can't believe there is only 1 short quarter left!  End of May and I'll be done with my first year.  I'll also be taking a class in Anchorage at the end of May, then in June my mom, dad, and brother are coming to visit!  It'll be cool to show them around to some of the highlights of the biggest state in the Union (sorry Texas).  Other than that, summer plans are pretty lax, but I'm sure I'll spend some time in Cleveland visiting old friends, in Iowa and Texas visiting family, and in New Orleans taking Calvin's new boat out for a spin.  And of course, time on the farm!

Well, that's all for now.  Peace out cub scout.

PS. next year I will (tentatively) be teaching 4 periods of 7th grade Life Science, and a double block of Physics first semester and Robotics second semester. Just in case you were curious.

This entry doesn't need much of a preamble given the title gives little to the imagination.  We got hookah coals.  For those of you who do not know what a hookah is, it is a Middle Eastern tobacco pipe, as seen here and describe here.  We ran out of coals over a week ago, and since one of our selling points for visiting us from Atmau, we had to make some homemade coals for Caitlin.  The process seemed simple enough, though running out into the snow to break off a twig from a tree, cut it up, bake it to get the moisture out, and burn it into a coal seemed more difficult than expected.  Apparently you are supposed to take the bark off before baking, so I had to once again run outside (no hat, gloves, shoes, or coat) and start again.  After all that work, they were far less than satisfactory and left our kitchen smelling of a camp fire.  But we have real coals now, so we're good. 

Today we had a shortened day due to weather.  While it is far from cold (it's snowing! and about 32F), the gale force winds made it impossible for some of the buses to run.  With a smaller than usual student population, and increasing wind strength they canceled school after 1:30.  The snow is literally flying sideways and has the speed of paintballs.  Walking home was not fun, but thankfully Ryan found Matt and I before we had gone too far and gave us a ride. 

Last Saturday, Kolin (another teacher) and I went out caribou hunting at Three Step Mountain.  It was an all day affair full of (mis)adventure.  My backpack came unzipped (without my knowledge) and I lost some gear - shotgun shells, extra gloves, etc- and had to turn around.  Deciding to retrace my steps, I got stuck going up a small bluff of powder and spent an hour digging myself out before Kolin came to the rescue.  While we never found the missing gear, it was not enough to dampen our spirits on our quest to provide in the subsistence way.  After restarting our excursion, the bungee cord on my snow machine holding my backpack and our extra fuel broke (again without my knowledge).  So once again I had to turn around and thankfully found both of the items not too far away.  We finally made it out to the herd (not really following a trail) and were preparing to leave the machines after a short drive to some bluffs when Kolin almost flipped head over heels on his snow machine.  He hit a rock, and broke a piece off his machine that keeps the shocks from over compressing.  Leaving the machines we had to creep up on the caribou which were already on high alert from another group of hunters.  Skiddish and fast, getting close enough to shoot a caribou was not easy.  Local knowledge says that if they start to run you're supposed to clap and whistle to confuse them until they stop to listen.  Imagine two white guys creeping through the tundra clapping and whistling.  I laid down while Kolin crept forward to get a better shot and part of the herd broke off and ran literally 20 yards from me.  It was tempting to throw the 2.5 lb ax at them, but wounding a caribou is a $1,000 fine, not to mention I don't have tags because I haven't lived here for a year yet.  Long story short (too late!), Kolin's gun jammed, and his 45-70 with no scope made hitting them difficult.  So he jumped on my machine and chased after them to get closer, dismounted, and took a couple shots (and another jam) to take one down.  Just as he hit it, the weather took a turn for the worse with winds whipping, snow blowing, and the temperature dropping.  Field butchering it was a long process resulting in frozen hands and ending in a long drive home in the dark.  But, while I lost a couple rounds of ammunition and some old gloves, the meat more than made up for it. 

Lastly, today we got our contracts to sign and I signed mine right away.  I'm official for next year!  Sorry mom, but I won't be teaching at Eleva-Strum next year. 

T-30 hours to Hawaii for spring break! 

George

Some of my more frequent visitors have been persistently querying of my next entry (cough, MOM, cough), so here it is.  We'll start with the non-school related aspects of life in Bethel.  First of all, you have likely noticed the complete lack of pictures on my blog.  This is due to two things; my camera lens won't zoom, and my camera is large and valuable and I don't particularly like the idea of taking it outside for snow machine rides in the sub zero temperatures.  My apologies.
We went to a friend's house for dinner last night and enjoyed a great meal of homemade gnochi (sp?), an Italian pasta dish with various sauces.  Then we went to a benefit concert for Kids in the Kitchen headlining Heatherlyn from Minneapolis.  She was really good, and one of the roommates got the cd, which means it's only a matter of time before it is on my iTunes.  Kids in the Kitchen is an after school program for youngsters (elementary kids I think) and their parents to learn about healthy food choices and the life skill of cooking (sounds right up my ally if only I weren't so busy!).  She played a lot of songs by other people (like Jack Johnson) that she changed into her own key and rhythm (I guess that's why she's a 'song artist' and not a 'song writer').  After the concert and 3 cups of strong coffee I FINALLY finished my fur mittens and hat at 4am!  And yes, they are quite warm in the -38 windchill weather.  
Ryan bought an agar so we can go ice fishing, though we didn't get out this weekend.  Perhaps next weekend we'll be eating fresh pike and black fish for lunch and dinner.  Also, one of our friends, Kolin, got a snow machine of his own so now we'll have someone to go caribou hunting with too.  AND I was invited to go along with someone on their 70 mile trap-line, and though it didn't pan out this weekend (Friday working concessions at the basketball games all night, and Saturday devoted to mitten making), hopefully it won't be long until the opportunity arises again. 
The last couple of weekends we've gone to Atmau to pick up Caitlin and bring her back to Bethel.  She's another new teacher, but isn't planning on staying another year.  For her it's always nice to get out of the village and into the 'big city', and for us it's nice to see other new teachers we wouldn't normally get to hang out with.  We're just waiting for her friend C.C. to come too.  Atmau is only a 45 minute snow machine ride away, and its a fairly smooth ride across the tundra which makes great riding with great views.
Other than that, life in Bethel is going great if just 'normal'.  Spring break is 2 short weeks away, and already I can hear the waves pounding on the Hawaiian beaches calling my name.  Ashley and I are going to Kona (the big island) and staying with some of her family friends who live there.  We were able to split a cheap flight (with a companion ticket for $100 on Alaskan Air), and not having to pay for lodging will allow for ample spending money for the touristy stuff (including an all night beach laua!). 
School wise, everything is going smoothly.  Everyone (teachers and students) are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the beloved week off known as spring break.  However, with that brings nearly the end of the 3rd quarter of school, so everyone is feeling the pressure of deadlines and standards left to be met.  Just another of the many challenges of teaching I guess.  My students took a MAPS test (to track their level and progress throughout the year) and we're going to be looking into the data in our inservice next Monday, so that should be interesting.  I just wish this data would have been available in the beginning of the year (but it will be for next year).  My physical science kids enjoyed our Newton's Laws Day where we build balloon rockets to shoot across the room on string and from the floor to the ceiling.  We also got to go outside and play a little wiffel ball (Newton's Laws in action!) and shot a toy bow and arrow at the white board.  The life science kids enjoyed making models of the digestive system out of rubber tubing, gloves, balloons, and valves, complete with a nasty concoction of blended pilot bread, old lettuce, gummy bears, and soda to act as the chyme (partially digested food stuffs).  The physics kids liked using the circuit boxes to figure out for themselves the properties of resistors in series and parallel, and are looking forward to making a generator out of magnets and copper spools soon (but not until next chapter). 
I have my last formal observation on Wednesday, which will happen to be a review day for their test on Thursday/Friday, so hopefully they'll be able to flex their mental muscle and show the administration how much they've learned the last 3 weeks.  The observations are pretty standard, with the administrator sitting at their computer taking notes on literally EVERYTHING education related (levels of questioning, amount of lecture, types of learning styles addressed, which sex is called on more often, amount of time cooperating with other learners, etc.).  It's not a scary process, but for some reason I always get nervous and want it to as well as other lessons do, but there's always the chance that something could go terribly (and embarrassingly) wrong.  Our contracts come out the first of March, and (knock on wood) I'll get to stay another year.  We'll see if they want me.
Last night Brad and I had a great discussion, while I was hopped up on coffee and furiously working on my mittens, about cultural relevance in the classroom.  It all boils down to relating what the students are learning to their culture and what is important to them.  It seems like an easy thing to do if you think of it like that, but in reality there are many more challenges.  Bethel is a town of 2 predominant cultures blending together, but both incomplete.  There is the obvious, what we will inaccurately call 'white' for lack of a better term, culture that values what you know (resistors in parallel add as inverse ratios for example), and wants to send kids off to college for further education.  Then there is the other obvious, what we will inaccurately call 'native' for lack of a better term, culture that values what you can do (rewiring a house or surviving for a week in the frozen tundra for example) and wants kids to remain a part of the community.  Neither one is right or wrong, better or worse.  They're just different.  And in that difference they are conflicting; that conflict shows up in the classroom.  National and State Standards for Education are primarily set by the (nationally) dominant 'white' culture, valuing what you know and higher education.  However, here, many of our students are culturally 'native' and will stay in Bethel their entire lives, never wanting or needing to go to college or seek a 'professional level' job.  Though I have no personal experience in the area, I posit that being culturally relevant in a small village of 150 people all of native descent would be easier than being culturally relevant to two conflicting cultures in a 6,000 person town with all sorts of cultural identities.  A lot of my students are culturally mixed or are themselves conflicted as to how to culturally identify themselves.  And this of course makes it hard as an educator to make culturally relevant activities.  My mentor, Lori, is coming up in 10 days and we're going to hopefully talk about these issues and come up with a 'solution', as if one actually exists.  'Education' loves to change based on current research in the field and the most up to date best practices, but that can have the ill-effect of diminishing the longevity of potential solutions.  As with life, there are rarely ever cut and dry, easy, fix-all solutions or answers.  I guess you just have to do your best with what you've got, and hope for the best. 

So today I took a sick day (which lucky for you means I got to update my blog as well as get some much needed rest).  I've discovered that it is quite difficult to teach a classroom of 7th graders for an hour and a half each period when your throat is too sore to swollen, much less get their attention.  Of course, this morning my head also felt as though a wrecking ball was being swung against my temporal lobe, so that didn't help either.  So now to catch you all up on the events of last weekend and this week thus far...

Friday and Saturday and Sunday of last week were occupied by the much anticipated Kuskokwim 300 dogsled races.  In fact, there is only 1 Kuskokwim 300 (K300), but also two shorter races as well (the Bogus Creek 150 and the 60 mile Aniak Dash).  The start/finish line is conveniently located 300 yards from our porch, so it was only a short walk for hot cocoa and a bathroom.  The weather got down to -71 (according to some reports) with windchill so needless to say we were bundled up to the max.  Watching the sleds start off two at a time was cool to see, but after they were done there wasn't much to do.  Two of my roommates drove the snow machine down to another village to follow the racers, but turned back because it was so incredibly cold.  Also due to the cold, I don't have any pictures.  Just google it or look for the Kuskokwim 300 facebook page and you see some good pictures. 

This week in school my Physics class has started basic circuits which is exciting.  Its one of the hardest topics (in my opinion) to fully grasp but I managed to dig out some old circuit boards and wires so we're starting that tomorrow.  Life Science (7th grade) is finishing up bone/muscles/skin and moving on to other body systems next week (we'll be building models of the digestive system with straws, hoses, balloons, and alka-seltzer to model digestion).  Physical Science has finally moved from Chemistry to Physics so we've spent the last week working on speed, velocity, acceleration, and graphing motion (students had to write stories pertaining to two motion graphs that made sense of what could have possibly been going on).  Tomorrow we're starting Forces and Newton's Laws with some balloon rockets, toy dart guns, and hopefully balloon propelled bottle carts. 

Which brings us to today.  Waking up with a sore throat and throbbing head made it easy to stay in bed (aka the couch) until about 10.  Then I woke up and watched tv.  But, there comes a point when there is only so many reruns of How I Met Your Mother and CSI you can watch (sorry mom, still not up to date on my daytime soaps like General Hospital and One Life to Live).  At that point, I figured it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself for feeling bad and get some lunch and go to the store.  Lunch was a delightful Subway foot long and a half hour of eavesdropping.  Its hard not to listen to other people's conversations when there are only 3 of you in the entire restaurant.  And it actually made me feel better.  It was a JV (Jesuit Volunteer- think Peace Corps and Mission Trip rolled into one) and someone who was in charge of the JVs.  She was asking questions about recruiting and what to look for in future applicants.  I couldn't help thinking to myself what it takes to make it out here and be happy.  I came up with only a few things.
 
1.  Open mind.  There are things here that you just have to get used to.  For example, freezing cold weather, minimal daylight, and food that isn't really all that enjoyable all the time.  But other social things are important to face with an open mind as well.  You will have to teach kids who have the reading level of 2nd graders.  There will be students who think an education is a waste of time and don't ever want to do anything.  There will be students who have FAS which comes with a whole host of 'side effects' which make classroom management difficult.  There will be.... you get the idea.  Which leads us to number 2...
2.  Self Sufficient.  Not necessarily in the 'I can start a fire with two sticks, build a trap to get food, and quarter a moose in under 2 hours'.  More of a 'I can depend on myself and don't need constant directions or management'.  If you aren't a self-starter and don't have a hard working attitude, you need not apply.
3.  Live for the Stories.  The experiences you can have here are unlike any other.  From eating Stink Head (fish heads fermented in the ground for weeks/months) and Agutuk ('eskimo ice cream') to getting to see dogsled races and basketball games where "if you score 40 points, you're going to win", visiting villages of 300 people, and experiencing the culture, there are stories you can acquire here that rival those from anywhere else in the world.  But you have to an open and willing participant. 

If you have these qualities and think you have what it takes, what are you waiting for?  I'm sure we'll have some positions open up, or if not, you can volunteer as a JV.  Or just move here and sub/freelance/subsist/have a radio show.  We'd love to see you around.

George

I'm quite aware that it has been a dreadfully long time since my last attempt at blogging.  This is a feeble attempt to remedy that. 

Christmas break was quite refreshing and relaxing, even though I was in the air for a good 25% of it.  Here's a list of the places I went (including layovers, just to make the list look more impressive):
Bethel, Anchorage, Seattle, Houston, Minneapolis, Eau Claire WI, Iowa (Aimes area), back to Eau Claire, Chicago, Raleigh, New York City, back to Raleigh, Back to Eau Claire, Minneapolis, Phoenix (with a plane full of Auburn fanatics), Seattle, Anchorage, Bethel.

It was great to spend time with my immediate family (for the first time in almost 5 months) and my dad's side of the family (for the first time with all of us in something like 6 years!), and of course my girlfriend and friends in New York.  Call me sentimental, but that was all I truly needed this Christmas season (though the gifts were great too). 

Not having to work gave my mind plenty of time to run through what I wanted to do when I got back for my classroom, as well as get some ideas on what lab/demonstrations/activities/builds I wanted to do with my students.  My first day back in Bethel (the Sunday before we started back up again) I cleaned my storage room, rearranged my classroom, got new workbooks for my 7th and 8th graders, and decided to skip to Ch. 32 with my Physics kids.  In my 7th grade class we're starting Human Body Systems (for each system we are making a life-sized model - spaghetti for the veins, balloons for the lungs, pop bottles/paper towel tubes for the major bones, etc).  In 8th grade we're starting Forces and Motion (basically re-doing all my physics demonstrations and activities to a lesser level), and in Physics we are starting Electricity and Electronics (Van de Graff generators, circuits, and -hopefully- making a 'generator' with spools of copper wire and magnets). 

My robotics team won second place in the District Competition for the Project portion (a portable kidney dialysis machine the size of a pager), but our season ended there.  However, Ms. Coplin (the 8th grade robotic coach) and her team made it to the State Competition which is this weekend, and she has been out all week so I have been helping coach her team after school.  The new semester has also brought with it new clubs, and mine is a 'Mad Science' club (Van de Graff generator/shock machine, Oobleck, and whatever else I -or you!- can think of).  I'm always looking for new ideas on what to do, so if you have any PLEASE leave them in a comment, or email me or something.  That goes not only for my club, but also for my other classes too!

This weekend is either going to be spent camping/hunting, watching JH basketball games, or finishing my fur mittens.  Either way, I'm looking forward to it.  As great as break was, it's always nice to be home and get back into the swing of things. 

Next weekend is the Kuskokwim 300 (a dogsled race and mandatory qualifier for the Iditarod) so that's something to look forward too as well.  All in all, things are going great, break was just the right amount of relaxation and travel, and I'm happy to be back. 

That's all for now.

George

P.S.  Blogging more frequently wasn't a New Year's resolution for me, but that doesn't mean I won't try to do it more often.

Well, one semester is (almost) done here in Bethel, Alaska.  It seems like the semester has FLOWN by.  Between the early mornings and late nights the weeks sometimes drag on, but when you look back it seems like just yesterday I was anxiously awaiting my first class in D-10/D-12A (which caused a lot of confusion for my 7th graders when the door sign didn't match their schedule).  Now my room is literally plastered with student work and pictures from all over the world (thank you Outside Magazine).

I'm anxious to get to Wisconsin and see my family for the first time in 4 months.  I fully anticipate a gauntlet of questions from Mom, including the ever present "High/Low".  I'm hoping for some combination of fajitas, lasagna, and McDonalds/Wendy's/Taco Bell for the first week I'm back.  Its odd.  I've been thinking about all the things I most want to do when I get there, and all I can think of is hitting up the fast food restaurants and dodging the malls and traffic. 

Well here at 'home' (sorry mom), we've been trying to get an invite to go Caribou hunting, but every weekend we're able to tag along with someone with tags the weather acts up.  Its been cold here for a while so the river is frozen over near us, but down river still has thin spots and even open water.  Upriver there is still some overflow that hasn't frozen completely, so that rules that direction out too.  We've been on more unsuccessful rabbit hunts too.  I guess its just not our time of year yet.  The snow machine has been invaluable though.  Just being able to have my own ride home from school at night and not have to walk the 1.5 miles in the dark in 30mph winds with -30 windchill has made me feel so much better.  However, the cold is making me sick (my bed has a leaky window right by my face when I sleep, so I need to take care of that). 

As far as Christmas gifts go, I've sort of resigned myself to the fact that numerous pairs of wool socks and some cold gear will be in the stocking.  Which is great, since I'll be able to postpone washing clothes if our lines freeze up (like last weekend), or we run out of water (which has happened only once thankfully).  However, if a thermos does not end up in my stocking, I will most certainly be buying one of those.  There are few things one wants more on a long snow machine ride than a hot cup of ___________(some sort of delicious warm drink).  Plus, now that I have my bivy (tent for 1) and my -15 sleeping bag, there's been talk of a long ride to a village or tundra camping. 

Other than that, not much is going on around here.  We've had a number of Saturday Markets lately, but people are hard to buy gifts for (fur hats just aren't for everyone).  There was a folk music concert at the cultural center by a band one of the teachers is in.  It was a "foot stompin good time!".  The school had the annual Christmas Concert last night too.  The only downside is that Hot Cross Buns was stuck in my head all night afterward.  Friday is our staff Christmas party (fun? perhaps? we'll have to wait and see!), and the 3 days of school the next week are all review/exam time.  The semester is winding down... and I was just getting in to the swing of things!

For those of you who have no interest in teachery stuff, you can stop reading.  For those of you who do, please keep reading. 

After nearly a semester here in the Alaskan Bush, I've learned quite a bit about the education system (the good, the bad, and the ugly).  Nearly every experience I have had has underscored the role of family and culture in education.  Our school has a graduation rate of around 50% each year.  Those are students who have been in the school since 9th grade and graduate within 4 years.  While those numbers do not reflect the number of students we graduate (often students will take 5 years), it signifies an issue.  The problem is that education isn't seen as a precursor to successful.  Many of the students don't believe going to college is important, necessary, or even an option.  Many of the students will go on to trade schools or into clerical work because of the numerous opportunities here.  However, as beneficial as these opportunities are, they also pose a risk.  Students can afford to be complacent and still come out of high school with a job that pays well enough.

Culturally, the families of students extend far beyond those in their immediate household.  One of the many benefits of the raised importance of family is that there are ways to get family members to motivate students.  However, the importance of family leads many students to refrain from going to college for fear of leaving loved ones.  Imagine living your entire life within a community of 350 people, most of whom are second cousins or closer in relation.  Leaving everything you've ever know for a huge city with streets, stop lights, traffic, bars, shops, gangs, and new people can not be easy.  So many students choose not to go to college. 

Don't get me wrong here.  I understand that college isn't for everyone, and some don't have the aspirations for going to college or beyond.  Many are content with their lives will be, and that is to be commended.  To know what you want to do with the rest of your life at 18 is more than what most can claim at 40.  My biggest fear is that students who COULD go to college, could WANT to go to college, will not because they didn't want to try harder as a freshman.  Or they won't go because they just never considered it.  It would not be fair to expect all students to go to college, but to close the door of opportunity for themselves is just short of a tragedy. 

Student motivation is a constant struggle that most teachers face.  What do you do with students who genuinely don't care or want to be at school?  There is only so much lighting things on fire, playing with gooey nasty stuff, building, and dissections a guy can do.  This year they may not start to care about school.  All we can do is continuing trying and hope that if not this year, some time they will realize the real value of education.  And when that moment comes, they will have gleaned even the most meager of morsels of understanding and knowledge from our class to build upon.  At times it feels like hope is lost.  But you go home, eat, unwind, and the morning always seems hopeful.

UPDATE:  This was not intended to sound down on the state of education, or on the ability of teachers to motivate their students.  It may be an uphill battle, but the ones most worth fighting usually are

November 18th is a date that I will never forget.  It is a day that I can remember the loved ones who have passed away, and a day that I take to reflect on things.  It's like New Year's Day for most people.  Resolutions are made (to be a better person, to make those you care about proud, to do the hard, right thing), and toasts given (if just to yourself).  I wish I could be home today, to spend the afternoon with my mom and dad who both lost someone dear to them on this day.  Perhaps, now that they (we?) live much closer to Iowa, spend the day with my dad's side of the family to remember the grandfather I never had the pleasure of knowing.  Regardless, it is both a sorrowful and joyous day.  Sorrowful in the pain that the 18th of November has caused so many people, but joyous in the remembrance of the life those people led.

While I was thinking about life today, it came to me that perhaps one of the greatest things you can do in life is to make those you care about proud of you.  It's great to hear people say 'Oh, we're just so proud of you' when you graduate high school, and again when you graduate college.  Other's pride in your singular accomplishments is nice to have acknowledged.  However, I think it is their pride in your mundane, day to day, non-accomplishment driven life that speaks the most.  Their pride in who you are, what you do, and what kind of person you are, especially when there is no immediate or personal benefit (like a diploma or a job). 

My Uncle Mick (though really my 'great uncle' he was certainly more of an uncle) was a man who brought joy to many people.  He was constantly joyful and could make even a stern, straight-laced headmistress laugh at the drop of a hat.  His band(s) made people's wedding days that much more memorable.  I'll never forget the times at the Nag's Head with all the family around.  He could really make people laugh. 

I never got to meet my dad's dad.  But from what everyone who ever had the opportunity has told me, he was quite the man.  Kind, generous, and 'a down to earth, great guy' seem to come up the most.  I like to think of him as the friendly neighborhood shopkeep meets Bob the mechanic.  I have no idea if he was mechanically inclined, but it just seems to fit. 

These men were real men.  They didn't need to drive fast cars, spend loads of cash, or talk a big game.  Their character and personality said it all.  And certainly now that they're gone, their children carry on their legacy.  I have no doubt my dad is the man he is today because of his father.  And that Mick's kids are the caring, considerate, selfless people they are today because of the man he was.  This is not to say that they didn't have their faults (no one is perfect, after all), but they were able to overcome, persevere, and let their actions speak for themselves.  They are men that I look up to, and hope not to disappoint.  I'm sure they're both looking down, poking each other in the ribs, and saying 'look, I told you my ______________ (fill in a family relation) was the (hardest working, best, funniest, manliest....) __________________ around!' 

To Mick's family:  I am thankful for having been able to know Uncle Mick.  You guys are some of the best people a person could ever hope to know, much less be able to call family.
To Jerry's family:  I know he'd be proud of you all for the people you have become.  I know you have shaped my life for the better, and he had some influence to that effect.

I guess even though we've lost these two great men, we're still quite the lucky family.  Our lives were touched by each of them for the better, and they have been able to leave their marks on the world through us. 

I love you all,

George.

P.S.  Oh yeah, I bought half of a snow machine (well, a whole snow machine, I just paid for half of it) with my roommate Ryan.  Pictures to come. 

P.S.S.  I couldn't find any pictures online of Grandpa Jerry Helfenstine, but here are some of Uncle Mick (some throwbacks too!).  I'll include the link at the bottom.

UPDATE:  My cousin Mark shared a link with me of lots of Grandpa Jerry's pictures.  Here it is:

Grandpa Jerry

Uncle Mick

http://www.colinpheasantmusic.co.uk/photos.htm