The Islanders

Nelson Island School

I work at Nelson Island School.  It is called an "island" because there are rivers  - the Alaguchik and the "riveen" - on both sides of us leading to the ocean, creating an island of land.  Hence, we are the Islanders.  The image of a hunter in a kayak, spear poised, is emblazoned on all Toksook Bay wear and walls. 



 

The school was built in the 70s when the open-school model was popular and everything is built around a central common area.  In it are several artifacts and murals that have been built or donated by the community and depict life in the area.

 

Fish Trap

An impromptu singing/drumming session after school in the Commons.



                                                                                        Mural of native dance.



Mural of successful seal hunt. 

The other day, a father of a student brought around some beautiful seal skin hats that he was selling - for $350 each (apparently "a good deal"!)

 

Mushing sled.

Seal fur pouch.  Raincoat of seal intenstine. 

Where I hang my hat! (and mud boots and coat - and soon, my mittens).





I have had this hanging in my classroom for several years, and now have it over my desk.  It was my grandma's first teaching job offer - at a grand salary of $126.32 a month! She later had to quit the position in order to get married, since teachers at that time could not be! I love looking at that letter!

 

We're Bringing Culture Back

Nelson Island School works very hard at making sure students do not lose their cultural identities while being exposed to our Western ways - Western teachers, English language, commercialization, etc.  We have adopted a dual language program, so that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, a majority of speech should be in Yugtun (pronounced youkton, meaning Yupik in Yupik!). The pledge, lunch menu, and announcements are all done in Yupik, as well as greetings to each other (which is about the most I can handle right now - Wagaa - hello!).  And quyana (koi-on-a) - thank you!

Every Friday elders from the community come to the school to speak to the students about different subjects, then dance with them for about 15 minutes.  Today they spoke about the importance of an education, and to stay away from drugs and alcohol. The elders speak in Yugtun, while the students take notes in English. When it was time for dancing, I jumped right in with the high schoolers, but quickly moved to the back of the room when I was again reminded what an uncoordinated clod I was.  But seriously, the movements are fairly straight forward - it's more learning the sequence they are in, so I should be able to pick this up after several Fridays. 

These aren't the greatest photos - but you get the idea.  There will be dance festivals with costumes I will get pictures of later in the year.



Talking



Dancing



Drumming



Another Beautiful Walk to School

The sunrises have been incredible (well, not today when it was raining sideways!).  I am really enjoying walking to school... Of course, ask me about this again in January!

Enjoying the Views

Just wanted to share some scenic photos from the Toksook area.  A couple of Sundays ago it was beautiful and sunny, so I walked up to the top of the hill past the wnd turbines (where it WAS very windy, by the way!).  The view down to the water was gorgeous!

  

This last is a small cemetary leading down to the water.

The other morning I had a stunning sunrise walking to work, and this morning the moon above the water was incredible.  I just know these photos don't do it justice.





A Little Appreciation Goes a Long Way

I am a big believer that if you enjoy where you work, you will give it your all...  One of my goals as administrator is to build team camaraderie, and make all the teachers feel valued and want to come to school on a daily basis.

A couple of years ago when I was a new teacher at Burchell High School, someone slipped me a little welcome baggie - full of basic essentials, like erasers, stickies and gum.  It was greatly appreciated (especially about mid-year one day when I was in desparate need of some breath freshening!).
So I set about to put together some "Teacher Survival Kits" for my own staff here. 

Before I left Wasilla, I gathered items - many from the dollar bins at Target, and more from the clearance racks at Michaels.  I brought it all with me in a tub unassembled.

I printed the tags out on white but backed them with school-themed paper. They said:

             Teacher Survival Kit
Rubber Bands – To STRETCH your mind
and remind you to be FLEXIBLE.
Chewing Gum – To help you STICK TO IT.
Band Aids – To help HEAL the hurts.
Tissues – To wipe away the fears (and tears).
A Paper Clip – To help you keep it TOGETHER.
An Eraser – To remind you that everyone makes mistakes.
Post It Notes and Pencil – To jot down your best IDEAS,
and remember COMMUNICATION is key.
Highlighter – To remind you to highlight the POSITIVE.
Stamp and Pad – Give PRAISE abundantly.
Laffy Taffy – Because a sense of HUMOR goes a long way,
and Trail Mix – Some days will be nuts, but remember:
             Tomorrow is a NEW DAY.

 And on the back had "Have a Great Year.  Remember - My Door is Always Open."  I wrote their names on the little "chalkboard" on each can - and I think they came out really cute.

For the class aides, of which there are many here, I filled small clear plastic bags with Lifesaver and Starburst candies with the tag:

Welcome to a New Year
at Nelson Island School!

Remember – you are a huge LIFE SAVER!

Here’s that extra BURST
of energy for when you need it!

I’m really looking forward
 to working with you! – Andrea

Hopefully, a small treat will start to set the tone for a great school year!





The Grand Tour

Wow, what a week! I haven't been able to post because I've been putting in fifteen hour days at the school - - - More on that later!



Back to the grand house tour I said I'd post. The house I am living in is one unit in a tri-plex which was built in the former elementary school. All of the units have very strange layouts, but are fairly spacious (mine especially). In them are a mix of normal, average furniture (a couple of dressers, couch, etc.) and then some very odd pieces that have obviously been brought over from the school.



As you walk in the main door you look right into the bathroom. But first, I tried to make the entry area right inside the door a little welcoming and purposeful. I took a multi-drawered thing and put it across from the door to hold the hats, scarves and gloves that I will soon need on a daily basis. Then I took a wood shelf unit and made it into the place to hold all my very muddy shoes and boots.   Because of the constant rain in Toksook, the streets are thick with mud.

 

Straight ahead as you walk in is the bathroom – then turning to the right is a long corridor off of which is the kitchen. 

It is nice and new with lots of counter and cabinet space. There is also a big pantry room with an extra full upright freezer and lots of shelving (one obviously being an old metal school book shelf!). 



At the end of this long corridor, I made a little eating area to grab my morning breakfast. 

Turning left from the breakfast table, straight ahead is my bedroom.

 To the right – a dining room with a very new slate-topped dining table.



To the left of the dining area is another long corridor that is my living room.  It has my “filtered view” of the ocean (as I look past one boarded up house and about a dozen others in not much better shape).  The odd door with the metal panic bar is a remnant from the old school days.  I have a brown curtain on its way to hide that lovely item.

"Filtered" Ocean View from Living Room Windows

The living room is so long that I was able to create a little work space at the end for my projects (since I always have something going on in that regards  - right now it’s crocheting, but will usually be a quilting project).  Who else can claim to have a school-grade kidney-shaped table in their home??

At the end of the living room is another door into a smaller bedroom.  That is my “office” and storage area for all the tubs I used to get everything here.


View from Office Window

And that is where I live –1200 square feet in all its glory!  Not too shabby!



Ready, Set, Wait - - -

August 1, 2012

My official first day of school as an Assistant Site Administrator.  Yay, I’m ready!! I’ve worked hard for this day to arrive. Bring it on – I can do anything! I choose my clothes carefully – not too dressy, sort of professional casual, make a lunch and water bottle, and walk the quarter mile in the blowing rain (a daily occurrence – both the walking to school and the rain), excited to get to work. Yep, me and the custodian and maintenance men.  Wait, what I am supposed to do??  My principal is in Anchorage at a dual-language conference.  So, I tour myself around the building (a couple of times), then sit at my desk.  And sit, and sit.  Hmmm…  My boxes of things for school arrive, so I get the office set up the way I like it, play around on a computer I get going (no Facebook during school hours!), tour the school again, sit looking around my office . . . Can’t wait to see how day two goes!

The Domestic Diva and They're Coming to Take Me Away (hee hee ha ha)

July 31, 2012

I avoid getting up for a while, not anxious at all to face the cleaning task at hand.  I make myself a deal that I will get the bathroom done, take a shower, and then see how the rest of the day goes.  I dig the coffee pot out of my suitcase, find the coffee, and get that going while I cover the shower floor with a thick layer of Soft Scrub with bleach, thinking there isn’t enough bleach in the world for this place.  Once the coffee is in me life is looking up, and I fly through the place like a mad woman on a cleaning mission.    I clean and clean and clean until midnight! And everything is done but the extra back bedroom.  I hauled furniture, trash, rearranged, and decorated like my life depended on it.  Those HGTV hosts have nothin’ on me!  One of my best purchases – my Bissell Steam Mop.  That little thing did an amazing job on the mud-coated floors (a mix of vinyl and laminate).

I’m just settling into my fully-made, cozy bed when sirens start going off!  I’m like Mrs. Krachett from Bewitched running to the windows to see what’s going on.  I hear someone on a bull horn (but can’t tell what they’re saying), people yelling, and four-wheelers running all over.  Should I evacuate, running out in the mud-covered streets in my pink polka-dot pajamas?  Should I hide in a back closet??  Just as soon as it begins, it ends, and I am able to go to bed.  [I find out later that that is the curfew siren, and the Village Public Safety Officer on his four-wheeler herding all the kids into their homes at midnight, which will occur every night until school starts when the time changes from midnight to nine.]

Rural Alaska 101: Patience

July 30, 2012

Mark and I left Wasilla this morning, taking 11 MORE boxes to the post office before dropping me off at the airport.  Had an uneventful, and on time, flight to Bethel.  Connie picks me up at the airport and we run down to Grant Aviation where I am to get my flight to Toksook Bay.  The woman at the counter says the flight leaves at 4:30, be sure to be back by four.  So Connie and I have a nice lunch out (ironically, at a place called “Connie’s” – an Asian American combo place where we ordered a Greek gyro!), stop by her house, and get back to the airport at four.  The women behind the counter panic because I’m so late (?), and they think the flight has left.  A call upstairs confirms that the flight has not left, and the pilot will be down to call me shortly.  Now, no one here knows that I am terrified of this upcoming flight in a small plane, and am ready to throw up at even the thought.  So I wait, and wait, and wait . . . which actually serves to calm me down.  I ask  about the flight, and they promise me that a pilot will come out and call my name – personally! I see many pilots meandering around, drinking cups of coffee – no one in a rush to go anywhere.  Finally, two and a half hours later, a pilot walks in and does indeed, call on me – personally! – because I am the only one going to Toksook.  We then add another person going to Mekoryuk, and the  airline's dispatcher who just wants to see the area.  The flight turns out great – it is a beautiful day, and I LOVE the little plane! 

Pilot and Dispatcher on 4-Seater Plane

                                              Coming in to Toksook.  Big blue building is the school. 
                                              My house is in the group of blue houses to the right and
                                                          front of the water tower - about a quarter mile from the school.

Waiting at the gravel air strip in the wind for someone to pick me up!

Upon arrival in Toksook, no one knows I am coming, but everyone (okay, well both people I meet) are super friendly, and get the school custodian Bill to come out and pick me up – in a Chevy Silverado 2500 HD – NOT what I was expecting (it’s one of seven vehicles on the Island).  However, no one really knows where I am to live, and then when the school secretary figures it’s the old principal’s place, we arrive to find it absolutely filthy.  Apparently, a construction crew had spent the summer in it, and failed to clean up before leaving.  I am so overwhelmed, it’s ten at night now, so I basically just find my bottom sheet (which takes the next two hours to find) and pillow and crash very un-ceremonially on the bed.