Inservice in Unalakleet

Last week all the teachers in the Bering Strait School District went to the village of Unalakleet (YOU-nuh-luh-kleet), where the district offices are, for a week-long inservice.

For new teachers like myself, the inservice was focussed on the district's reading program, Success for All.  The program is a scripted program (not unlike the primary levels of Saxon math), and has some similarities to Junior Great Books (especially in the amount of discussion it leads the kids into), so I think I'll like it.  It does also have a strong component of virtue education that's a bit too secular for my tastes, but I certainly value the effort the program makes in helping kids learn what behaviors promote good social functioning.

Unalakleet is a village not much larger than St. Michael, but with a much different feel.  The roads are paved (already), and there are a few stop signs!  There are two stores, not just the AC, and their AC, while in a much older building, is larger and has a larger selection.  Unalakleet (UNK) has two restaurants and a coffee shop/bakery, too--a pizza place called "Peace on Earth" and a hamburger joint called "The Igloo".  (Some Yup'ik, by the way, do refer to themselves as Eskimos, so one does occasionally see references to Eskimo things.)  The coffee shop/bakery is called "Cool Beans."   The restaurants are quite expensive, though--$30+ for a pizza, $10 for a hamburger.  No hotels, though--at least not as far as I'm aware.  The children there are also much more used to outsiders than our kids here in St. Michael.  The school is right by the beach which is much more accessible than the beach here at St. Michael, and is a great place to walk, pray, or just sit.

The school in UNK

Looking towards downtown UNK.  Notice the paved road.

The beach and Norton Sound

Since there are no hotels, we all bunked in the classrooms at the school.  As far as that goes, the accommodations were quite adequate.  The provided air mattresses for each of us, so we didn't have to sleep on the floor, exactly.  The shower situation, however, was a different matter--8 showers for 200 BSSD employees made finding a time that a shower was open quite a challenge--it reminded me of summer camp.  They fed us all in the school cafeteria--not fancy, but plenty, and more variety than I'll probably get here.  Most people thoroughly enjoyed the availability of things like fresh fruits and vegetables.  As for me, I discovered that I don't mind drinking powdered milk--which is good, considering the difference in price out here between that and the liquid stuff.

The weather the first few days was beautiful, sunny, and for anyone who'd been in Alaska for a few years, downright hot (near 75°).  It started raining mid-week though, as you can see in the pictures above.  We did get to have one bonfire on the beach before the rains set in.

The other thing that fascinated me in UNK was the chance to get to know the folks who will be teaching on Little Diomede Island--the only part of Alaska that you actually CAN see Russia from.  They get to take a chopper out to the island!  As the saying goes, though, I'd be glad to visit, but to live there?  I think that would be way too remote, even for me.

We also played cards most nights.  I learned Euchre, which is a simplified version of Sheepshead, the game I learned to love as a Jesuit in St. Paul.  It's fun, but I do miss the "full version."  Nice that there are so many card players in St. Michael, though--it will come in useful when the winter sets in.

So a good inservice overall.  Soon I'll blog about how THIS week is going.

AMDG

Tim