"October is Hard"

Many people told me "October is hard" when it comes to living and teaching in the villages. It's hard because Permanent Fund Dividends mean many students leave for extended periods of time to shop in Bethel or Anchorage. It's hard because alcohol follows the money into the village. It's hard because student motivation dwindles as the effects of that alcohol disrupts their lives. It's hard because weather can be cold and rainy which limits access to the outside world. For me, I've found it hard because things I felt optimistic about at the beginning of the year seem to be unravelling. 

Last week, a good day for attendance in the high school would be when 20 of 39 students showed up. Most days, we had about 15 students. It's frustrating that there is a disconnect between students wanting to do well in school, and actually showing up. Some of the brightest students in our school showed up one or two days last week and on that day wanted to make up all the work they had missed, which is just not a possibility in most classes. I really enjoy my students as people. They are kind, adventurous and funny. Unfortunately, very few of them place any value on education. Or if they do, their parents don't. 

When I first arrived in Tuluksak, I was told by people that this is a "broken" village, and that it is the "most dysfunctional place in Alaska." I don't think I would describe quite like that, but I can understand how it earned those reputations. Even people who have lived here most of their lives recognize the dysfunction. The Yup'ik language teacher at my school will proudly say how all of her children so far have "gotten out," meaning they have moved out of the village. Some of my students have the same goal. Those who want to stay, are not able to articulate what they see themselves doing in the future. 

It isn't very difficult to trace the roots of this dysfunction. A systemic elimination of culture by the government, regulations that made subsistence practices more difficult, mandated schooling that ended seasonal transient lifestyles, the introduction of drugs and alcohol, availability of modern media that depicts Native Alaskan lifestyles as backwards and no job opportunities to replace the lost hunting and gathering "jobs." What is difficult is to try and think of a viable plan that could improve life in the village. I believe one of the first steps would be eliminating "dominant culture" schools and the non-native teachers who occupy them. 

I don't see any changes happening soon, so I will continue to do the best I can to provide my students with the most relevant education I can. 

Some Good and Not-so-Good Things

I like to end on a high note, so I'll start with the not so good.

Two weeks ago our school had a lock down. We have not yet had a drill practicing lock down procedures, so I'm thankful for the practice I had at North Star. There was a man in the village, likely intoxicated, who was going around shooting at people with a shotgun. At one point he came uncomfortably close to the school. My class and I sat in the corner of the classroom in the dark for about 45 minutes until the State Troopers arrived in the village to assist the Village Police Officers (VPOs) in apprehending the man. Thankfully no one in the village was hit/injured.

Yesterday I was supposed to fly to Anchorage to go to a conference on building resiliency in students. I was really excited; had my sub plans ready, dog sitter ready, big empty bag to fill with Anchorage groceries ready. A"series of unfortunate events" resulted in me still being in Tuluksak. First, our plane was on weather hold so we missed our first flight out of Bethel. Then when the planes were able to fly, the one sent to Tuluksak did not have enough seats for everyone. By the time the plane came back for the remaining 3 of us and we got to Bethel, the last flight to Anchorage for the day, that our colleagues had made it on, was overbooked.  So the three of us spent about a half hour in Bethel airports then booked a last minute charter flight back to Tuluksak. The ultimate bummer.

But! There has been some good stuff happening in this crazy part of the world. I am the student council advisor (at least until our last remaining members become ineligible--a story for another post!). Student council has been helping with planning "Fun Friday" activities where the high school spends time doing "fun" stuff Friday afternoons in an attempt to encourage students to attend. So far, student council has made pizza and cookies for the rest of the high school to enjoy while we watch  movies. I really like getting to spend time with students outside of academic settings, and some  have been really helpful when planning these activities. Here's some photos:

Pizza Chefs!

Student Council made the dough the night before and then all students at Fun Friday chose their toppings.

They turned out delicious! 

We ended up making over a hundred chocolate chip cookies.

After just one burnt batch figuring out how to use the kitchen's ovens, the rest came out perfect!

Our clean up crew did a great job too!

We had lots of cookies, so we wrapped up some with thank you cards and gave them to school employees.

I have my Leadership class make flyers for Student Council meetings. I enjoyed the "simplicity" of this one :)

Here are some more photos of October in Tuluksak:

This is the school's main mode of transportation for people and supplies. Unfortunately, vandalism (especially in the form of rock throwing) is a common past time among children in the village, and the school's vehicles are tantalizing targets. 

My cozy house :) Also occasionally the victim of the rock-throwers

My "yard." Complete with view of fuel/water holding tanks and other teacher housing. 

The Alaskan sky does some beautiful things. I have yet to wake up to see the Aurora, but I plan to next time its around.

Going to school on a clear morning a few weeks ago. Mornings are much darker now. 

One good thing to come out of my failed trip to Anchorage were some pictures from the bush plane. The Kusko (Kuskokwim River) was exceptionally still on this flight. 

The sun was setting on the way back from my brief visit in Bethel. It lit up the delta nicely.