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Time Flies


Oh boy! So, this is long overdue. I’m not even going to count the days. I’m just going to apologize now for my hiatus from these blogs. I could make up some excuse and say I’ve been working and jut got too busy. Blah, blah, blah. To be honest, I’ve been having a grand time spending my weekends away from the computer screen. The months of February and March seemed to fly by. So much happened, but I’ll be sure to hit the highlights of these months. But FIRST. Can I just say how exciting it is to have the sun back?! The sun has been creeping back into the sky for a while now, about 10 minutes more everyday. Soon I’m going to be sick of it. Already its presence is starting to affect me. Currently, the sun begins setting at around 10pm. However, it won’t be long until we’ll be back to 20 hours of fun in the sun. It’s not too bad with blackout curtains but it does influence your sleep cycle. Not to mention, kids stay put ALL night and show up to school exhausted. Anyways, back to the highlights of February and March. February is called "icicle time" or Kusrugaqtugvik in Inupiaq. Take a look at these icicles hanging off my roof on front porch.

The basketball season has come and gone. My village of Shungnak had the opportunity of hosting the middle school tournament and it was a full house. Consequently, my front yard became the snow machine parking lot. Teachers worked shifts selling concessions. We had nachos, soda, candy, and even hamburgers! Yes! Hamburger patties. We didn’t have lettuce….or tomato…..or even any condiments. (it was a plain patty with bread), but hey, for bush Alaska this was a real treat. Our middle school boys placed 3rd and the village had a great time rallying behind their team. The high school had the chance to fly out of the village to participate in a tournament leading to the state finals in Anchorage. The game was broadcast over the internet so we let the student body watch part of the game in the gym during the day.

I’ve got to put a short plug in here about Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day was absolutely crazy. I should have known a holiday revolving around receiving candy would be nuts. The halls were filled with students swapping their favorites: air heads, suckers, nerds, and chocolate. It was odd as a teacher to receive Valentines from students, especially students that I didn’t even see. 1st and 2nd grade students were coming to me and dropping off candies. It was very sweet and a wonderful experience.

Wildlife! One of our culture experts, Raymond, shot a wolverine back in February and invited a village elder, Mildred, to come in to teach students how to skin it. Let me tell you I would scream like a little girl if a wolverine started chasing me. They are A LOT bigger than I expected. Mildred and Raymond told us that these animals are fast, sneaky, and mean. I discovered technically they’re a type of badger, but definitely not a Hufflepuff badger. Mildred told us a story about why the wolverine’s paw was white. She said that a white paw is the mark of a thief. She said this wolverine must have been stealing and was caught “white handed”. Wolverine fur is highly cherished by Eskimo women. It is used in creating ruffs for parkas that outline the hood. A finely skinned wolverine fur will fetch close to $1000 if done properly. Almost a week later, a lynx was caught in a trap outside the village near the river. Lynxes are absolutely gorgeous and gigantic cats. Again, I would probably scream bloody murder if this thing was chasing me. I also had the chance to see some ptarmigan, small white birds about the size of a chicken. I’ve eaten ptarmigan soup and it was neat to see an uncooked beautiful flock pecking away and searching for bugs in the trees and snow. I’m dreading the comping apocalypse of mosquitoes. Supposedly, they hatch UNDERNEATH the SNOW. You’ll step in snow and be able to see hundreds of mosquito larvae just pulsing underneath the white snow dunes. Yup, not ready for that. I’m definitely not a bug guy.

Many of you have asked me about Lego Club! I want to thank you for your support as many of you donated old Lego sets to me for my kiddos to use. I’m posting a picture from our school newspaper. It has been a huge success. One day, there were around 25 kids in one room playing with Legos, magnets, and Play-Doh. It’s a great time for kids to express themselves creatively and socially. Lego club is only once a week, but kids ask me almost everyday about Lego club. The students most enjoy making Lego people out of various parts and then creating a house/snow-go/boat for them to live in.

Over Spring break, I flew back to Anchorage to take some Praxis tests needed for my teacher’s certificate. My mom also flew up to see me for a few days and we decided to take a road trip to Seward, Alaska. The trip was about 3 hours through snowy mountains. Seward was beautiful. The weather in Anchorage and Seward was around 37 degrees. This was a heatwave for me and freezing for my mom who was bundled up everywhere we went. What can I say? Negative 40 degrees puts "cold" in perspective, haha. Seward had the sea life center where we saw sea lions, otters, crabs, fish, and puffins. The puffins were my favorite as their exhibit let you walk in experience them flying around you.

Our school has recently started a reading program twice a month that encourages parents to come in and spend time reading with their kids. Though our second event wasn’t as well attended as our first day, kids without parents were paired up with older students from the high school. It’s always great to see the older students reading with the younger ones. We’re hoping this can make a difference in our community by giving parents the opportunity to practice for reading with their children at home.

The month of April will be 4 weeks of state and district testing. We have visitors coming from all over the place: ski teams, the coast guard, a film crew, music teachers, and counselors. It’s going to be a crazy time until May. Thanks again for your prayers and messages of encouragement.

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