Napakiak is still busy, but nothing very interesting has happened recently. I was in Anchorage almost 3 weeks ago for a quick conference. I attended a great session with Anita Archer. I also experienced the earthquake! I was enjoying my last night in the city when suddenly the power went out and the ground started to shake. The earthquake was a little less than 200 miles SW of Anchorage. The street lights were out and many people in my hotel evacuated the building. The alarms were going off until 4AM. That was the second earthquake I felt. The first one was when I was a sophomore in college and there was an earthquake in Virginia, although I barely felt that one! The one I felt in Anchorage lasted for about 1 minute! When I got back to my hotel room I noticed that all of the drawers on my small dresser were open! I surely didn't leave them that way. I was staying on the 8th floor.
My time in Anchorage was over in the blink of an eye. We didn't get there until Friday evening and then left Sunday at lunch time. I took a trip to the mall and did some grocery shopping while I was there. I also managed to see the former Miss Alaska, who auditioned for American Idol and was on TV, sing one night. However, since I wasn't in Anchorage very long I didn't have a chance to take many pictures. Here are some from the air...
and from the conference center balcony...
Mountains!
Every weekend has been busy here. Last weekend I went to Bethel for a second year teacher training. The weekend before that we had a fiddle dance for 12 hours of the weekend! We are trying to raise money for student sport teams to travel. The next 3 weeks our school will hold basketball tournaments and I am in charge of organizing the selling of concessions. We sell things like soda, candy, soft pretzels, and nachos. I will also be traveling to 2 other villages as a chaperone for the girls basketball team. I'm excited to see what other villages look like. AND guess how we will be getting to these villages?? Yes, we will be driving on the frozen river!! Planes are very expensive and the school district is allowing us to use school vehicles to drive on the river. It will be an adventure.
The days are going by fast. Spring break is less than 4 weeks away!! I'm so excited to go to Hawaii. After spring break we will only have 10 more weeks of school left! I'm starting to think about things I want to do this summer and places I want to visit. I haven't made a final decision yet on next year and if I will be returning to Alaska for year 3. I have a formal observation next week and will likely have 1 month to decide if I am returning.
It hasn't been very cold here. On Saturday the sun was shining and it was in the mid 30s! It was really nice because there wasn't any wind. It felt like a winter in Pennsylvania! However, it is super icy here! The roads are very icy and of course the river is, too. I took a walk to the post office last week and I had to wear my ice cleats. I still almost fell a few times even when I was wearing ice cleats! One of our teachers went out for a walk last weekend, fell on the ice, and cracked his head open! You definitely need the correct type of winter gear here.
My class has been Skyping with a class from Slatington, Pennsylvania. So far, we have done it two times and we have one scheduled for next week. It's so fun! We are learning all about Pennsylvania through a 1st grade class. In return, we are telling them things we do in Alaska and what our state is like. My favorite part so far was when one of my students explained how we ice fish! It was perfect. Some questions our Pennsylvania friends asked were, "Do you have a McDonalds?" and "Do you guys have a GameStop to buy games?" The questions were so cute and the PA students were so surprised to find out we didn't have a McDonalds!! We are doing a valentine exchange with this class and they are sending us Girl Scout Cookies! My students have never tried a Girl Scout Cookie. It will be an exciting day when those come in the mail. I'll be sure to document the experience. :)
I want to stay thank you to Wynnie's Aunt, Jill, for sending me such a lovely, unexpected package in the mail!! As always, it's exciting to get a package in the mail here in Alaska. My students were so excited when I told them we got some treats in the mail. I told them we could enjoy them during our Valentine's Day Party on Friday afternoon. We wrote little Valentine thank you letters to her and put them in the mail today. :)
It's going to be very busy here until spring break. We will be having the basketball tournaments, I will be traveling, the school will be having another fiddle dance, and we have to give a special test! Each passing day is one day closer to Hawaii. :) I will try to update maybe once before spring break!
Here's some exciting news! I had a Penn State article written about me!! The link is below if you are interested in reading.
Porter is still in puppy mode. I bought him this little basket for his toys while I was home and now he treats it like a toy. He also gets out of his crate somehow and enjoys running around our house destroying things! He got to enjoy the blizzard. :)
This is newsworthy in rural Alaska...
and a Bethel sunset.
We celebrated the 100th day of school last week! Here are some pictures from our classroom and outside the school.
