Eat. Run. Sleep. Repeat.

Views from a village run:) 

Everyone has their own way of unwinding after a long day; something that can help them recuperate and de-stress. My personal favorite is to go for a run after school, especially in Alaska where I get to see incredible views along the way. Running, in my opinion, is a great way to spend time reflecting on the day and getting out any frustrations. Last year when I moved to Pilot Point, I had been excited to have the opportunity to coach cross country because I thought it would be fun to inspire students to take up running as a hobby. While I wasn’t able to convince my three eligible students to run, I had been able to chaperone the jamboree in Naknek. It was such a fun experience, and in starting the new school year in Nondalton, I was hesitantly excited at the thought that I might get to attend as a coach this year. 

Luckily, my wish came true and I had nine students who signed up and joined me after school everyday for practices! While our sporting seasons are shorter than average high-school seasons, my students followed through and came to all of our practices. Many of them had not run cross country before, but at my request, they agreed to give it a try. Without much complaint, they ran all the paths I created around the village, ran sprints in the gym, and they absolutely hated loved me for all of the 1-minute ab exercises I had them do (I gave them a taste of the Insanity workouts!). While I don’t know that they would say running is their favorite thing, I think they all enjoyed our time together as a team.

A great night for the
Newhalen River Race!

After a few weeks of practice in the village, some of us were able to take a ride across the lake to run in the Newhalen River Race. Considering this wasn’t a school sponsored race, I was happy to see how many of my runners chose to hop on a boat with me and run a hilly three mile course. This event was especially fun because younger students who aren’t eligible to be on the team (7th grade and below) joined us and were able to run shorter courses with other students their age. One of the third graders from our school came in first in her age group! 

Off they go!

Finally, their hard work was rewarded and all nine of my athletes were cleared to travel to Naknek for the jamboree this past weekend. Last Thursday, we boarded two planes and made our way south. Once all of the teams arrived, the students were able to walk the race course to get a better feel for it. Shortly after, the girls were the first to run and off they went! I was a proud coach as I watched all of my runners giving it their all. Regardless of their time or the place they came in, all of them did their best and proved to themselves that they could complete the course! I was beaming ear to ear as I watched my one normally sluggish runner come barreling through the finish line. All of the athletes seemed happy to have the race behind them and were ready to spend the next two days visiting with their friends from other schools. 

Some of the final
bridge creations

On Friday, professors from the University of Alaska led team building activities for all of the students. They were placed in groups and asked to use limited materials to create a bridge and a tower, both of which would be tested for how much weight they could hold. This task was a lot harder than it looked, but the students came together and had some awesome creations. Later in the day, they were paired up and asked to make a basket to safely house an egg as it plummeted to the ground. It was a fun, but long day and all of the students were eager to go to the dance that was held that night. There is also a community pool across from the school we stayed at, so many of the students took advantage of that during their free choice time. 

At the same time that the students were happy to see friends they don’t see often, I was eager to have time to catch up with teachers that I rarely see. Honestly it was just nice to have some adult time in the midst of being surrounded by students 24/7. Then, before we knew it, Saturday morning came and it was time to head back to our home villages. However, the weather did not want to cooperate, and only some of the teams were able to fly home that day. Nondalton, and five other teams were “weathered” overnight, something our students were more than happy about because it meant watching movies in the auditorium all day and spending the night splashing around in the pool. As much as I wanted to sleep in my bed as opposed to a hard classroom floor, I was glad to see that my students were having a good time.

Riding co-pilot is my favorite!

On Sunday, I was awakened by the sound of heavy rain hitting the school and I feared that we would not get home. However, the rain slowed and with the help of a larger plane, we were able to make it out of King Salmon. My students and I were glad to be on a bigger plane and I quickly claimed co-pilot seat as we were flying with one of my favorite pilots. Our flight was uneventful and thanks to a powerful tail wind, we made it home in record time. Being able to shower in clean water (Bristol Bay water is kind of icky) and sleep in my own bed brought a great end to a busy, yet fun few days spent away from home. While I enjoyed the chance to travel and was proud of my runners, I am happy to be home and content to stay in my quiet little village for a little while as I recover from this trip! 

**As most of the students were enjoying the activities on Friday, two boys and two girls from our district packed up and flew down to Unalaska (yes it’s a real place) to compete in the regional cross country meet. On Saturday we found out that all four of these students had done well at regionals and will be able to travel to Anchorage to compete in the state cross country meet! We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that all of these students continue to run their hearts out! 

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

A great way to start a weekend

While I find it hard to believe, it seems that three weeks of school have passed us by in Alaska. Our first few weeks have been four day weeks as teachers have had in-service days on Mondays. Thinking of all that has happened in a matter of twelve school days is enough to make my head spin. From getting new students and having visits from the dentist and public health nurse to a visit from the President, this school year is shaping up to be one very crazy whirlwind!

First of all, it has been both stressful and exciting to get my schedule in place and get the kinks worked out. As a special education teacher, I have ten students on my caseload ranging in age from pre-school to seniors. This may seem overwhelming, but for me it is a fun variety of personalities to interact with each day. Due to having ten students at such different age and ability levels, I am currently working in a pull-out environment. This means that instead of having all ten students for the whole day, I remove them from their general education classes throughout the day to work with them on their specific IEP (individualized education plan) goals. The stressful part of this process has been trying to make sure that I am working with each student for the hours that are required by law for their unique IEP while also making sure I don't take them from their classes at a time that is inconvenient for their general education teacher. Thankfully, I have some very flexible co-workers who continue to work with me as I try to develop a schedule that works for my students and their needs. I will cautiously say that after three weeks, I have finally gotten a solid schedule in place that is working out for everyone in the school. However, I know that this schedule could change at any minute and I will just have to adapt and just go with the flow if that happens.

Out for a ride in Iliamna :) 

Another aspect of teaching special education in the bush is that I am the one who tests students and develops their IEPs. This requires using a special (non-user friendly) program that I am becoming more familiar with by the day. I began working with the program last spring, but it's a lot different doing it on my own as opposed to having my mentor sitting next to me to answer questions and offering advice along the way. While there are other special education teachers in the district, four of us are new to working with the program, as is our new special education coordinator, so it can be tough at times. We have all been working through it together and I have been thankful to have two very helpful veteran special ed. teachers who have answered many questions as I try to become more comfortable with using this program.

Bear Creek Trail in Iliamna

All of the technical stuff and paperwork aside, getting to work with my students has been so much fun. I am enjoying having students in different age groups and getting an understanding of which skills I need to work on with each student. Most of my lessons go by smoothly and without issues, but there's a special time in my day that both excites me and makes me anxious. Every afternoon, I work with three pre-school students for an hour and these little ones keep me on my toes! One of my students likes to run out of the room any chance they can get, one is very feisty, and the third watches the other two in awe and helps me clean up their messes. It is such a funny little group and they have such different personalities that I love learning about. The part that makes me anxious thought is that one of the students sometimes has meltdowns (and by sometimes I mean every single day) and I need to take precautions to make sure they don't harm themselves, the other students, or myself. My patience is tested daily and at the end of the session I am usually physically and emotionally exhausted. While it may not seem like it to most, we are making progress with each day and this knowledge is what gets me through some of our tougher sessions.

Six Mile Lake in Nondalton

As much as I enjoy learning about my students, I feel like I have hardly seen some of them I'm the past two weeks. We have had some visitors in the village including a health aide, the dentist, and a public health nurse. This has caused many disruptions for all of us as students were being pulled left and right each day this past week. Other students have been absent because of a cold and case of strep-throat has been getting passed around. Another one of our students, along with a few others from our district, was invited to go to a local village to meet President Obama when he visited Alaska last week (everyone's opinions aside, this was an incredible experience for students in our school district to be invited to take part in). Due to all of these events and absences, we haven't been able to get into a true routine yet, but we are all doing our best and doing what we can to keep students on track.

Nondalton from Six Mile Lake

One routine that I have been able to get my students into is daily cross country practices. I am excited to say that I am coaching cross country this year and have a group of about eight students who come to practice each day. They might complain sometimes, but they continue to show up and bear with me as I learn to coach this sport for the first time. Students need to be in eighth grade and up to be eligible to travel to the sporting jamborees, but we also allow younger students to practice sometimes. I've had students in third grade asking me if they can come practice with us! I have really been enjoying working with our older students, especially those who I don't get to see often throughout the day. In two weeks I will be heading to Naknek with the team to attend the cross country jamboree. Last year I was able to chaperone this event, but I am looking forward to be attending as a coach this year. 

Blueberry picking in Iliamna

While work is a huge part of my life out here, I have also been able to enjoy some relaxing weekends filled with fun adventures. Two weekends ago, I was able to get out and pick blueberries on the tundra with Sam and some of our co-workers which was a lot of fun. We spent an entire day picking berries, riding around on Hondas, shooting guns, and we even had a nice lunch cooked over a fire we made by a lake. Sam and I have also been able to visit with other friends who work in both of our schools and it has been great to catch up with everyone and hear about their summer adventures. I continue to feel blessed to have ended up in Nondalton with great co-workers and to be close enough to Sam's village where I have found even more people who relate to the joys and challenges of living and teaching in the bush. I enjoyed my time in Pilot Point, but I have to admit that I feel much more content and at home where I am living now.

This year has gotten off to a chaotic start, but I am enjoying every second of it. I can tell that there will be struggles along the way, but getting through each challenge will hopefully help me grow and learn what works and what does not. I am continuing to try to be less panicked when the schedule changes or students are pulled for different reasons. Each day is a learning curve for all of us and my motto continues to be "take it one day at a time". One thing I know for certain is that I will never complain that I have a boring job!