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Yippie!
I have a companion to join me as we're off to the
Yupiit District via Craig Air to
visit their three sites! Chery Bradley, an
outstanding technology teacher trainer specialist
from the Anchorage School District, is joining me!
This is part of the TLCF grant! She also brought
with her many totes filled with books and hands-on
activities that are thematic with each tote's
topic. We are leaving them behind in each village
as we travel! These totes are made up of Alaskan
books written by Alaskan authors, a variety of
manipulatives to go along with the themes, and
information sheets for enrichment.
More to come
about our adventure together so stay tuned!!!!!
With foggy
mornings this time of year and flexibility in our
schedule since we chartered with Craig Air, Chery
and I decided to fly in the evenings to go between
the Yupiit sites rather than the morning. At one
point in our planning of this trip I had mentioned
about using a boat to get us from site to site. Joe
Slats advised over a month ago after having their
first frost that maybe that would not be such a
good idea. Chery was happy for that
one!
Scroll
to the bottom or click here to get to the three
Yupiit sites
Akiak,
Akiachak, and Tuluksak.
I thought I'd
include a couple pictures taken in between and
while in the air: Larry catered to our every need
and made us feel like a couple of queens!
A bird's eye
view of Akiak!
Let's
see Akiak !
| Let's
see Akiachak
!
| Let's
see Tuluksak !
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page.
Kilbuck
Elementary in Bethel, Alaska is the largest
school on the Western Delta housing two programs.
First there is the Elementary Program headed by
Gerry Kimsey that serves grades 3 through 6. In
addition there are the Yup'ik Immersion classrooms
for grades 3 through 5 that make up part of the
program! All together there are over 500 students
that go to Kilbuck for their education.
Kilbuck has a
very special place in my heart for I taught there
for over ten years. It is a school that is rich in
diversity of culture. As I travel to various
villages this year I keep seeing students that I
once knew or actually taught because they lived in
Bethel before!
Let's
see a 5th grade class at Kilbuck!
Let's
see Roy Corral at Kilbuck Elementary in Bethel,
Alaska!
Let's
see Margaret in Kilbuck !
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page.
Mekoryuk!
Who would think? On an Island that is surrounded by
ice for half of its life, there is a village that
is thriving on its local commodities. Reindeer,
Musk Ox, and most recently Halibut are three of the
island's biggest attractions. Why the reindeer meat
that they harvest is even USDA rated! No problem
with refrigeration! In addition, the Cup'ik culture
is still very much alive throughout the village
with carvings, mask making, and talented basket
weavers that represent the crafts that have been
passed down from generation to generation.
As I showed
up with my little portable iBooks, I was greeted
with smiles and enthusiasm from everyone! Mekoryuk
had many visitors at the same time and Lanay Raines
and her staff made each and every one of us feel as
if we were the most important guest of all. Her
generosity and catering to our many needs was that
of a four star hotel! We actually wanted to get
weathered in so we could enjoy their hospitality a
little bit longer!
Ha ha ha (;
The fellow
travelers had agendas of their own while visiting
the island. First there was the Alaskan known
Photojournalist, Roy Corral, who presented many
slide shows to folks of all ages. He has such a
great story about life, his life, and his family...
why he's simply captivating to listen to as he
talks about the adventures he's been on while
working with photography.
Speaking of
photography there happened to be another
photographer on the island at the time for it was
school picture day! He did have to stay a bit
longer than planned but it wasn't due to
weather.
I've known
the third traveler for many years now. Kathy
Baldwin actually goes out to Mekoryuk quite often
for she is the site ILL (Itinerant Language Leader)
and travels to Mekoryuk many times throughout the
year.
Many of the
pictures that were taken still exist in Mekoryuk
but are long gone from my files so I do not have
nearly the sample I would like to show you so you
too could enjoy this wonderful secret of Nunivak
Island!
Let's
see Mekoryuk !
Roy
Corral and I left the others behind to continue our
journey on to Toksook Bay, Alaska. Just a
quick flight over the sea and we are on another
island, Nelson Island. After crossing the open
water we flew over beautiful rolling hills of
tundra that cliffed off into the sea. I stared out
the window hoping to see a musk ox. As we landed in
Toksook Bay there was the bay in front of us and
tundra mountains behind us. Beautiful - oh, but
muddy! My goodness! Snow followed by warm
temperatures left the roads and paths of this
bayside village quite mucky! I still can picture in
my mind a young lady driving her four wheeler ever
so slowly down the muddy road, holding her clean
laundry ever so tightly so the clothes wouldn't
fall into the mud.
Now this site
believes in a healthy life style! Prior to muddy
roads, these folks would walk daily - I mean the
exercise way! Now with the muddy roads they chose
to do aerobics. Everybody is welcome to join in so
I did! These teachers have got to be the overall
best physically fit group of folks in LKSD!
Let's
see Toksook Bay !
Some how I
missed getting a picture of Alan Fininfrock. Well,
I guess he'll just have to organize a fiddle dance
so I can return to Toksook Bay all that much
sooner!
Roy's
visit to Bethel is a BIG hit as he convinces us all
that we should become
photojournalists!
Let's
see Roy Corral at Bethel Alternative Boarding
School (BABS)!
Let's
see Roy Corral at Mikelnguut Elitnaurviat Primary
School (ME)!
Let's
see Roy Corral at Bethel Regional High School
(BRHS)!
Let's
see Roy Corral at Kilbuck Elementary in Bethel,
Alaska!
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November
1st, the start of a new month and a new adventure.
This time I am off to some of the closer villages.
They refuse to be called Tundra villages so I shall
call them our river neighbors! Pam Yancy
& I shared a charter with Craig Air. She was
dropped off in Napaskiak as I continued on to
Napakiak. I connected with Pam the next day
and then overnighted in Napaskiak. I could
type on and share my detailed experiences with you
but since I am still 4 site visits behind on my web
page, I shall keep this one short!
I would like
to make a special thanks to Diane and Donna for
sharing their home with me while in Napakiak. Donne
cooks a mean spaghetti dinner!
I would also
like to say an extra thanks to my friends, Mike and
Nelly Husa, for inviting me over for dinner while
in Napaskiak! In case his name sounds familiar to
you, he is our LKEA president. He use to be known
as one of the Kwethlulk Giants back when he taught
in Kwethluk and later he was known as the King of
Kong (Kongiganak) when he taught in Kong. Can you
guess why?
Let's
see Napakiak
!
| Let's
see Napaskiak !
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After
a day spent in the office to try to get caught up
from previous travel as well as plan for the
upcoming travel, I was off to Quinhagak.
Well at least that is what I planned. Then ERA
cancelled the Quinhagak flight, ah, but not the
flight to Eek so I thought I'd fly anyway and go to
Eek a day early. Then while flying, the weather
cleared and we did land in Quinhagak! That was the
start of my day, that is after I voted, for it was
also Election Day. After school that day the
Century 21 Program had students busy in the school
right up until curfew! The computer lab, as it is
in most sites, is the popular place to hang out!
They had the election up on various web sites, TVs
on, etc. The room was buzzing with excitement as
people of all ages gathered around and talked about
this year's still unsolved mystery! (Well, as of
11-16-00).
Because of
the excitement and maybe I should mention the
inclement weather, we didn't get out and take
pictures of the village. This is what we did
photograph:
Let's
see Quinhagak !
With
winds blowing and small planes not flying, I
thought I'd be staying an extra day in Quinhagak.
But ERA Aviation safely landed and continued their
scheduled flight, so my job continued as planned!
Next stop... Eek.... where I was met at the
airport with a big smile from Dan Walker and
plastic trash bags. He warned me of the muddy road
we had to take the four wheeler and cart down to
get to the school. All of my computers and gear
would be covered with mud by the time we got there.
And so it did happen! Once inside the school, Wow!
I was met with a sign that welcomed
Suzi
Orange... even written in orange.
I thought this was so special. One day is not
enough for this group. As with many of the sites,
they were "Gung Ho" about anything I had to share
with them!
I would like
to extend a special thanks to my ol' dancin'
buddies, Dan and Angela Walker, for sharing their
friendship and home with me while I was there! Here
comes a big
Orange
Hug for Eek! I
would like to add a big thank you to my new
computer buddy, Lonnie, for my beautiful hand made
orange earrings she made for me on my second trip
there this year. Talk
about talent... creative is this gal's middle name
and boy can she apply it to technology!
Let's
see Eek !
Now
to get to my next destination, Tuntutuliak,
I had to actually fly back to Bethel to turn around
and fly back out to the coast. No problem, my
husband and I arranged an airport date and visited
with eachother for about one hour before flying
once again.
Tunt is
another one of the Delta's best kept secrets. As a
coastal village, they are one of the few that
actually have trees! They have boardwalks rather
than roads. Now boardwalks.... let me tell you,
they are more like major highways. The boardwalks
are well groomed and wide enough for two four
wheelers to pass eachother going opposite
directions. One of the best parts I observed were
the road signs: Stop, Yeild, and Speed Limit signs
keep folks driving safely; Although, I know a story
about a responsible adult taking a visitor to the
airport and popping a wheely! A special thanks to
Rita and the staff who were very helpful, super
flexible, and great to work with!
Let's
see Tuntutuliak !
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