Thankful

View out my window, flying
on clear days are the best!

Nome is were the Iditarod dog sled
teams finish.  I just may have to get
back up here for this event... 

There was so much to be thankful this thanksgiving.  I’m continually amazed and humbled when I think about this last year.  I’m thankful for a God that continually provides for me, comforts me, and challenges me.   I’m so thankful for family and friends back home and the new family and friends that I have here in Scammon Bay. I’m happy for students that have taught me WAY more about teaching and myself then I could have ever imagined!  I was able to spend the holiday in Nome with a friend from college who now lives there with his sister and her beautiful family.  I was so thankful and blessed to be around people that I have known for a few years.  It was a great time of catching up, relaxing, and of course eating.  Nome is a beautiful place, as you can tell by the pictures! It is only about 160 miles north of Scammon Bay, yet there is no direct flight.  So I flew to Bethel then to Anchorage to finally get on a plane to Nome!

   

        

          Famous Nome reindeer that
       rides in a truck. :-)

  

My friends back yard.  Sunset over the Bering Sea.

The weekend before thanksgiving I was in the village of Marshall coaching in our districts regional tournament.  Well, we won!  First time in Scammon Bay history that the volleyball team has won districts!  I never knew how nervous a coach could get; they get a lot of butterflies! ;)   So, now we leave for the state tournament this Tuesday, which will be held in Anchorage.  This will be my first time back on the road system since leaving in August.   So I’m excited for that Starbucks latte!  The team has had such a great season, I’m excited for us to have one more trip to play some volleyball games and have a lot of fun celebrating their hard work this season.

bump, set, spike

My wonderful classroom helper made this to hang
in the gym for our tournament! 

I have spent the last few weekends traveling and coaching.  I have been having a blast getting to know the sport of volleyball and our team.   We play mixed- 6. So it is a co-ed team with 3 girls and 3 boys on the floor.  I’m thankful to be coaching with someone who knows a little more than me about volleyball. The team has been working hard. We hosted the first tournament here in Scammon Bay playing Russian Mission, Mountain Village, and Hooper Bay.  The following weekend we were in St. Mary’s and this past weekend in Hooper Bay.  This coming weekend we will be traveling to Alakanuk.  Our record is 7wins-0, so we will keep pushing it hard these next few weeks till the district tournament, which will be in Marshall in 3 weeks.  GO EAGLES!

Snow is here, not TOO much, but it’s here! Flying last weekend to St. Mary’s the tundra was still its fall golden brown, this weekend mostly all white!  Snow go’s (snow mobiles) are off and running! 

Hopefully this will give you a better idea of my travels.

Welcome October

Last week was a short week of school for the kids because teachers had in-service training on Thursday and Friday.  All the down river sites of my school district went to Hooper Bay for these trainings. (which include Alakanuk, Emmonak, Kotlik, Hooper and Scammon of course).  Hooper Bay is a village around 30miles south west of Scammon; it was about a 20min flight. There are over 1,000 people living there, so it is much bigger than Scammon.  Hooper Bay is a coastal village with a beautiful beach. They also have a large grocery store, big enough to have carts!  So I was able to get some fresh produce and treats that have been hard to come by. (yes, a grapefruit!)    

This weekend I also decorated my classroom for October/Halloween. It was so fun to have the kids walk in this past Monday morning and have a spider’s web hanging over their desks!  I told them we must have had a spider visit our room this weekend!  A little girl looked up and said, “It’s Charlotte's!”  So happy October!  Enjoy the pumpkin patches, pumpkin breads, cookies, seeds and please drink a pumpkin spice latte for me! :-) My roommate’s parents sent up a little pumpkin and harvest pumpkin hand soap so that will satisfy my craving for the season!

I’m co-coaching high school volleyball, which started up last week. We have are first games this weekend at home.  We will be hosting Hooper Bay, Chevak, and Mountain Village.  Go Scammon Bay Eagles!

Last week we also had snow on top of the big hill here!  My class was so excited! It melted away by afternoon, but it was a nice dusting. Good thing my winter parka came in the mail today!

Update from Scammon

At the rocks that over look Scammon Bay

I have been trying to get out hiking as much as possible, especially on beautiful sunny days (which we have had a few this past week). Climbed up to the rocks on the hill a few times with some students and teachers, it’s a great view of the whole village, tundra, hills, and ocean.  I also made it up to the larger hill where there is a cross placed at the top.  This cross was put here by the Russians years ago before Alaska was a state or even territory. 

Third grade is wonderful!  I’m getting into my schedule and I think the kids are too. I lost my voice for about 3 days this past week, which made teaching quite interesting.  I told them we would be learning sign language!  I’m so thankful for my classroom helper that was there to literally translate at times when my voice was nonexistent.  Also, this past week I met my mentor teacher.  Every first year teacher to the district as well as the profession gets placed with a mentor who works with our state.  They fly in once a month and check up on us throughout the other weeks.  I met Kathy this past week who is wonderful.  It’s nice to have added support from someone who understands teaching in the bush,    but isn’t a co-worker.  I’m looking forward to learning from her this coming year.

Today I spent the day out manaq-ing (fishing) with some friends.  We went up river where you could not see the village.  Beautiful doesn’t even describe it! I’m loving the fall colors. To manaq you tie a piece of string with a weight and hook to a stick.  Then you put the stick in the mud and throw out the line with some bird gizzards as bate.  Then you wait. We fished for tomcods, all together caught well over 50. I also learned how to gut a fish with my bare hands! They are slimy little things!   

gutting my first fish

my first tomcod

The Real Start

 I’ve been in Scammon now for 3 weeks!  I spent one week in Anchorage with all the new staff from the school district.  We went through a bunch of training; from how to shop in BULK to all of our curriculum and programs at the school sites.  I was soooo ready to get on the plane to Scammon Bay by the end of that week!

Scammon Bay is beautiful.  The village community has been very welcoming.  I’m learning so much everyday.  I have a view of the entire village and ocean bay from my house.  Blackberries, blueberries, and salmonberries fill the tundra that surrounds us. There is a pretty big hill (though, remember where I’m from), which the school and my house are on.  So besides that it’s flat land.  Seems like it just goes on forever, it’s gorgeous. Not a tree in sight.  There is a mountain range in the distance. (Up river, 3 hours or so by boat.) That is where I hear the best moose hunting is.

                                   

                                          Kuzilvak (koo-sil-vak)  Beautiful sunrise. 

                                                

                                                                 Afternoon flight coming in. Maybe our food?

                                             

                                                            from my "back yard" the village, river to ocean.

Blackberries!

I’m teaching third grade and have a great group of kids.  They keep me busy and on my toes, but I’m truly loving being with them.  I’m the P.E., art, music or any specials teacher for them too. (Minus Yup’ik, which is the native language, so that’s a good thing)  P.E. sure. Art of course.  Now music is my challenge.  Thankfully I’m getting some advice from my music teacher friend back in Chicago (thanks Katie!)  and my students are very forgiving and just enjoy singing with LOTS of motions to EVERY song!  

Tying to meet and get to know the community as much as possible.  There is a church here and it’s such a blessing to have.  Hoping to get involved there as much as possible.  Basketball is also a BIG deal here, so the women have open gym time every night, which has been a humbling experience for me since basketball has never been my strong suit. Plus, my height is deceiving.  But it has been a good way to meet more high school girls and adults, since I’m with the kids all day.  

Garbage Day!  My job is to hold down all the trash on our way to the dump.... 

All my roommates and my food came in! Slowly but surly it got here, box by box over the last two weeks.

On to lesson planning and hopefully fishing this weekend! 

And I'm off...

Well, I start my travel journey to Scammon Bay tomorrow morning.  In many ways this time, since I accepted the job in April, has flown by. Yet I’m so thankful for it and this year I spent at home. 

I’m all packed.   I sent up a few binds full of my winter clothes, classroom things, and apartment essentials.  Here I am drilling the wholes and zip-tying them shut!  Two of them took exactly one month to arrive in Scammon!  They had me a little nervous, but I’m pleased they will be waiting for me.  

I set out for Seattle in the morning.  I get to be with, Megan, one of my college roommates till Saturday when I will get on a plane to Anchorage. My school district, The Lower Yukon, has teacher training in Anchorage since their schools are in villages spread out across hundreds of miles.  I’ll head to my home in Scammon on the 13^th of August!

“North to Alaska, go North the rush is on…” Johnny Horton (haha, meg and jenni)

“I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus in Matthew 28:20

Wait, Where?

Scammon Bay, Alaska.

Here is a brief summary of where I will be living, from the community database.  I’m excited to learn more that I will share. ‘Scammon Bay is on the south bank of the Kun River, one mile from the Bering Sea. Temperatures range between -25 and 79 °F. Annual precipitation averages 14 inches, with 65 inches of snowfall. Severe easterly winds during the fall and winter limit accessibility. The Bering Sea is ice-free from mid-June through October. It was known in Eskimo as "Mariak," and its residents were called "Mariagamiut." The nearby bay was named after Capt. Charles Scammon, who served as the marine chief of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition from 1856 to 67. The name came into use when the Scammon Bay Post Office was established in 1951. The city government was incorporated in 1967. Scammon Bay is a Yup'ik Eskimo community that relies on fishing and subsistence activities. Most residents travel 50 miles to the north to the Black River each summer for fish camp. Employment centers on commercial fishing. Firefighting for BLM, construction, and handicrafts provide seasonal income.Subsistence activities provide fish, beluga whale, walrus, seal, birds, and berries.

(some) Frequently Asked Questions:

Wait, What?

So, how Alaska? -

Are you living in an igloo? – No

Are you taking the jeep? – Nope, there are no roads to Sca, only by plain.

How many people live there? – about 500

Do you have a passport? – No comment

Language? – The native language is Yup'ik, but they speak English.

What grade? – Not sure yet.

Are you going to be able to run there? – I hope!

Have you ever been there? – Scammon, no.  Alaska, yes.

Do you know anyone there? I have meet/know a few campers that have been at camp that are from Scammon.

Will you have 24 hrs. of darkness? – Almost! I hear the darkest day we will see the sun/horizon for about 3 hours. And close to 24 hrs. of light when I get there!

What does Waqaa (your blog name stand for?) – It’s a friendly greeting in Yup'ik.

Thanks for reading!

I'm officially moving to Alaska! (no more wishing, planning, dreaming... it's happening!)

Yes, that's right, I'm going!  I’m thrilled to be moving to Scammon Bay and to be teaching in the elementary school there.  

As many of you know, this has been quite the adventure already over these last few years as Alaska has become more and more apart of me. What I thought was going to be a one summer adventure, brought me back for another summer, and now I'm officially making the move.  I’ve never been to Scammon Bay, spent the summers in Unalakleet volunteering with Covenant Youth of Alaska at Bible Camp. (which is now in full swing for the summer!)  It has been neat to see things fall into place, going against what my thoughts and plans were.  But let’s face it; God’s timing is always better.  Pastor Judy Peterson, my college pastor, would say at the end of her benedictions ‘go with the peace that makes no sense’.  So I’m excited, lots of unknowns still, many questions, need long underwear, but with the peace that makes no sense.  

I hope that this blog will be one means of communication that I can share with my family and friends wherever you all may be.  So many of you have been such a great support already and I want to keep you up to date on the life of a teacher in the bush of Alaska. 

Much more to come, but let’s be real, no one has time to read super long blog entries.