Random pictures as we leave

 Russian Orthodox Church

This church was built in the late 1800's. Influenced by early traders from Russia, this church is very common in current villages, though priests are in short supply. The doors are never locked and villagers encouraged us to go in and check it out. Services happen usually less than once a year. There were 9 folding chairs in the back of the church.

Fishing shack used in the summer salmon season

The cannery closed several years ago-a blow to the community

Al & Sue's house

Bollo's house

A fishing bunkhouse used during the summer salmon season

Whale vertebrae

View driving into the village

Sunset over the bay

Another view of the school

Village home with an outdoor "steam"

View of the village

View of  Ugashik Bay from the front door of the school

  

Al's boat

There are many boats scattered throughout the village that will not go to sea again

            

We had a special dinner in the school library one evening. The picture doesn't do Matt's "mood lighting" justice. See the cardboard fireplace that the students had made during the holidays? Matt even had a laptop with a video of a crackling fire in the hearth. Wish we could see it in the picture!

  

      

Good bye to the volcano

Boarding the plane at Pilot Point

We left on a much bigger plane than I came in on! There were 6 seats on this monster!

Taken today on Kauai, where we'll stay for a week!
We are spending every penny we made subbing in Alaska-ha!

Friends

     What has made this Alaskan experience all the more special are all of the wonderful people we had the good fortune to meet. I wish I had pictures of EVERYONE, but here are a few photos that might explain why we fell in love with Pilot Point, Alaska.

First & foremost were the students we were fortunate to meet. What they lacked in numbers, they more than made up for in enthusiasm and personality! 

We went in early several mornings & made our students
oatmeal for breakfast

Al & Sue

We love our new friends, Al & Sue! Yes, this is the Al & Sue of the evening drive around the village. It is the Al & Sue who provided us with our first ever chance to "take a steam" in their home. Though a summer salmon boat captain by trade, Al keeps himself busy all winter long with a plethora of jobs. He is the school cook who introduced us to moose kabobs, cioppino (a spicy spaghetti with salmon), and bannocks. He meets each plane that lands at the Pilot Point airport. He delivers the mail from the planes to the post office and hand-delivers all the UPS and commercial cargo that arrive. Sue says it is hard for them to ever get away because they have to find so many people to take care of all of his jobs!  Sounds a little like Mayberry, doesn't it? Sue works for the tribal counsel in the village office & organizes the winter community carnival. 

Check out the wolf on the wall above. It was ill and wandered into town a few years back. Al shot it and skinned it himself. That's something you don't see hanging in many Lincoln living rooms. And Sue is well-known in the village for making fur hats. They are hard-working people who welcomed us into their home and hearts. We've invited them to come see us in Lincoln. Hope they take us up on it!   

Bollo, a village elder, is quite the character. He was a regular at Sunday church services.

 Tabitha, a health care aide at the village clinic, makes Alaskan beaded hair clips as she waits for patients. Beautiful!

Trips to the post office were the highlights of the day. Actually, the mail plane only comes on Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday IF the weather permits. Jan, the village postmistress, always had a smiling face and had our mail on the counter before we got all the way in the door. And now might be the perfect time to thank those of you who sent us special packages. The treats and your thoughtfulness were LOVED by every single one of us! Thank you, Judy Duzan, Mel Duzan, Ruth Sloot, Martha Davenport, Allison Fleetwood & Ruth Pasquale. 

      The first box we opened had a bag of M & M's that had split down the center. A group of us were gathered around the kitchen table where I had opened the box and we began gobbling down the scattered candy out of the bottom of the box like we were starving refugees. Get a grip, teachers! It is amazing how good something tastes when you can't swing by the store and pick one up whenever you want.

What snacks we did not scarf down before Doug & I left, were left behind for those still there to enjoy. (Well...except for that bag of Abe's Carmelcorn that fit just perfectly in my carry on bag)

We crossed paths with Mike & Tracy on a regular basis . You'll probably recognize Tracy as the Village Healthcare Practitioner and our native drum lesson instructor. After church last week Mike, Doug & Matt went out to the quarry to shoot things. I'm not sure what they were shooting. Must be a guy thing...I know the Grossmann's Halloween pumpkin was one casualty. Mike works for the village & like Al, wears many hats. The day I took his picture, he was gathering trash to go to the village incinerator. Nice people. 

And the most important people of all are our friends the Grossmanns. They took us under their wings, answered endless questions, and made the whole experience a JOY!

Matt is a wonderful teacher! 

The school

Cupcake snack at the end of the day

We are still amazed at this school. Though they only have 10 students, the 2 teachers do a phenomenal job! Our friend Matt has 6 students ranging from 1st - 3rd grade. He has one student who is full of energy and proudly announces, "I'm ADD!" to anyone who enters the room. Go back and check some of the previous pictures. You'll spot him right away! I love him, but he takes a tremendous amount of teacher time to be kept on task.

5th grade math class

 Troy, the teacher we are temporarily replacing, has 4 students - one 5th grader, one 8th grader, and two sophomores. Now there's a spread of ages and interests to bring together every day! Science and Social Studies are taught as a group while the students receive the remaining classes online from a variety of teachers across the district. It is a constant process of checking what is required of each student, assisting with homework, and making sure assignments are all faxed to the appropriate instructors. You need a secretary to keep up with the paperwork! 

Working on some Valentine art

My teacher friends will appreciate this-They have Alaskan common core checklists down to a science and are on top of it every second! These guys are no slackers!

Needless to say, the school is HIGH TECH! The older students all have their own laptops and the younger ones can operate the classroom computers like pros! Both Doug and I have OFTEN said, "Who can come up here and show me how to work this thing?" 

Student council meeting with 1/2 the club

The school also faces the constant fear of closure which is a justifiable concern. Population in this village is not increasing and families are becoming more and more transient. The teachers work very hard to provide experiences and activities for the entire community, often working many, many hours after the school closes (which I know many good teachers in Lincoln also do,) but this effort is a real struggle for survival. I do not know what schooling will be available to the handful of children left if the school should close next year. It breaks your heart!

Proud of their heritage

And while these kids may seem very sophisticated in some ways, they are also very sheltered. Last year a younger student asked, "Are turtles real?" If you have never left your village and not been exposed to the rest of the world, many things probably don't seem very real.

Native Alaskan Drums

One of the parents of an elementary student approached us and asked if we would be interested in her teaching the junior high & high school students (all 4 of them) how to make an authentic Native Alaskan drum. She would provide all of the materials and each student (and the lucky teachers) could create their own drum. She has a keen interest in Native Alaskan culture, though she is not a native herself. (In fact, if you've been following the blog, you will recognize her as Tracy, the Healthcare Practitioner from the clinic.) After the older kids become familiar with the process, she wants to return and with their help, teach the same lesson to the younger students which include her 2nd grade son. We jumped at the chance!

The supplies included bentwood frames, large pieces of dusty, dried rawhide and long rawhide strips for lacing. Doug spent 2 hours punching holes around the edges of the rawhide one evening with a leather punch. The next morning all the rawhide pieces were placed in warm water to soften. The kids drug their feet at working with such messy materials, but once they got started, they had a ball and they took the job every seriously.

Note:  Materials alone cost $50 for each student. The traditional method required a stretched walrus stomach or the lining of a whale's liver. Hard to believe, but those materials were just not readily available. We used rawhide taken from cattle. Whew!