In-Service

Seriously, have you seen a more beautiful cafeteria? It looks like a beautiful European cafe. The school feeds us well: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner...and snacks. I thought the Cafereteria was so pretty because in the winter time, it would be so dark, but we were told today that we get Northern Lights ALL THE TIME, so its never truly dark. That sounds awesome. 

(We also have a cool Moose mural dedicated to sustainable hunting practices on the outside of the cafeteria: https://www.fws.gov/fieldnotes/regmap.cfm?arskey=23997)

Rep. Don Young stopped by, which was kind of amazing. Most politicians are based out of larger cities, but he has been based out of Fort Yukon for his entire political career. He came up here over 60 years ago to coach, but ended up teaching 5th Grade and loved it here. It is very inspiring. 

We had some locals stop by to tell us about growing up in the town. I liked the story the Elder told us about seeing a "refridgerator" for the first time when he was growing up or the fact that nowadays that they wear regular clothes instead of the furs. They brought some salmon. The salmon here is a LOT oilier than it is down south. The locals also do some amazing smoked fish. They had canned it with jalapenos and onions, so it was sweet and spicy. The local Magistrate also came by and told us some of the history including some of the cultural norms. It was very helpful to hear about some assumptions that we might have and that they might have about us. 

This week it was just the teachers who were new to the district, so there was a lot of paper work, mandated trainings, and introductions to different curriculums & resources. Next week, teachers from all over the District will be here. Sounds like there are 3 teachers and a Teacher/Principal in Venetie, there are 3-4 in Arctic Circle (They are hoping to hire a preschool teacher so they can have a preschool this year. There is a preschool here, which means if we stay my son can go next year) and some from other sites. 

Got to explore the school a little bit. There is a stocked library (http://www.friendsofsclm.org/used-book-sale/used-books-to-fort-yukon-school) but no Librarian. There is a big supply closet full of butcher paper and miscellaneous art/sport supplies. The classroom is nicely stocked too and the District says they can get anything that we might need. I have been reading through the different curriculum teacher books to start to get ready. I am excited each student gets an Individual Learning Plan, which I think is awesome and should be done at every school. My class list had 9 students, which includes 2 sets of twins! Getting excited!