Change is in the Air
- Prof C
- Apr 20, 2024
- 4 min read
The last post I wrote mentioned the beginning of the thaw, with warmer temperatures and melting snow. That trend has continued, with temps now staying in the 40-50 degree range, which for us, feels WARM. Our daylight is now up to around 15 1/2 hours, which means, it's light outside when we go to bed around 10:00 p.m., and it's light when we wake up around 6:30 a.m. Even though we knew this was coming, the light at night has not been good for my night owl tendencies. It's hard to keep track of time and wind down in the evening. And it's only going to get worse!
A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. When we were first hired to work out here, we were told that there was a larger housing unit that our family could move into eventually, after some work was done on it. About a week ago, we finally got the key to take a look inside, to see what exactly needs to be done. We were a bit disheartened. It is indeed a bigger space, with two bathrooms and brand new appliances. It still has a nice view of the river, and is tucked a bit further away from the school, which is nice. However...there is a lot of foundational work that would need to be done before it's livable. So much so, it seems improbable that it would all get done in the short amount of time that the weather allows for such renovations. As such, we have settled our minds on living in our current unit for at least another year. Even though it's a smaller house, the quality of construction is much better. And if we've managed to live this long, with all six of us successfully sharing one bathroom, another year won't hurt. Especially since we will be minus one person after this summer.
We also made it through state testing surprisingly smoother than expected, although based on student and staff behaviors, we're fairly confident that past testing sessions were probably not executed exactly as the testing manual instructs. We actually had 100% attendance on those days, and all students sat quietly and completed their tests, with some of mine taking over an hour to complete them. I was pleasantly surprised, since academic stamina has been on the shorter side for many of our students. We're still seeing gains with those of them who have done the work, and allowed us to teach them and work with them, and we're hoping the contrast between those students, and the ones who are still resisting, will continue to help the positive trend catch on. Unfortunately, there are still some pretty tough home situations happening, and it's been heart-wrenching at times for me to see how that impacts our classroom.
However, another hopeful circumstance is just around the corner. It is bittersweet, actually. Our teaching team is breaking up next year. Our special ed teacher is moving on, to a different district in Alaska, and our K-3 teacher may be moving on as well, depending on the direction her personal circumstances take. We've really enjoyed working together as a team, and forging some new ideas and taking some professional risks together. Our daily end-of-day debriefing sessions in someone's classroom have become a time we look forward to after a challenging work day. I am going to miss that. A potential positive of this change however, is that we are getting a new principal next year. We were able to meet him for the first time this week, virtually, as well as the new special ed teacher that is coming. Interestingly enough, our staff next year is going to be predominantly male, which may actually be a benefit to our students, the majority of whom have no strong male figures in their lives. You never know how nuances and personality quirks are going to meld together until you're actually in the fray together, but the inklings we have so far make me think it's going to be a good dynamic next year. I will also most likely have my same students again next year, with a couple of additions. My 5/6 class will become the 4-7 class, based on the numbers and grade distributions we'll have. My students were really happy about that, which I suppose is a good thing, that they don't mind working with me for another round.
We also have visitors coming to Kaltag, hunters who pay some of the locals to take them out bear hunting. We haven't seen any bears yet, but we've been told they like to make their way up the river bank, and come out by teacher housing. That could just be the locals messing with us, but I've been looking more diligently every time we leave the house, just in case. A couple of my students also went to, "Bear Camp" this weekend, in hopes of hunting either a bear, caribou, or migratory geese. They told me they would bring our family a goose, if they get one. I do appreciate them looking out for us. :)
I'll end with a few pictures of our latest walk through the village and outside of it. Temps are forecast to be in the 40s and 50s for the foreseeable future, which means all this snow is soon going to be sticky mud. We've been told that hiking gets put on hold until that phase passes, so we're getting our walks in now. Today, we made it out to the bridge that leads into Kaltag, from a road that actually doesn't connect anywhere, a project once started then abandoned long ago. My students tell me sitting on the bridge and dropping a line makes for a great fishing spot during the summer, the validity of which Philip and Josh are eager to test. We've got a couple of poles that are waiting to be used, as well as a whole lure set that Josh got from our teacher who's leaving. I must say, watching the water pour from the roofs, seeing a bright sky, and hearing the birds calling more outside is definitely making us all a little stir-crazy, ready for school to be done, and for summer vacation to start. We're almost there...
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