We are Now Perennial...

by Ashley

It's been awhile, since the last post. I suppose that's the normal rhythm of things; a lot of writing up front, after a major life change, which gives way to sparse updates, as you develop new norms. (If you're really in the mood to read, here is our first post from Kaltag.) Although, in this case, I'd say the delay in posting has had more to do with a deficit in available energy that can be devoted toward the motivation to write.

First, I shall follow up on the Juneau post. Jadyn has settled in to college life rather well. She's doing well, and enjoying, her classes, and is also enjoying having a room all to herself; something she hasn't had since she was 2 years old. She also has a job now, working for the campus IT department, helping staff and students with tech problems. She keeps in touch with us on a regular basis, filling us in with the adventures she's experiencing. Most importantly, she seems happier than we've seen her for quite some time. I am so glad she's figuring out who she is, on her own, and discovering that maybe her parents weren't as biased as she thought they were, when they said how amazing she is. As for the rest of us still here in Kaltag, we've adjusted to the new norm of only five people in the house. It's definitely not the same, and I know that Thanksgiving is going to be tough without Jadyn at home, but we're doing well. However, I know we're all looking forward to being together again for Christmas, which isn't too far away.

This past Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of our arrival in Kaltag. In many ways, it was weird to think that it's only just now officially been a year. It really feels longer than that. But as with any milestone, it's fun to reflect on all that has been learned and experienced within that time, and for us, it's been a lot. We have definitely settled in to village life, coming to appreciate the slow pace and quiet atmosphere here. So much so, that our city trips have become almost overwhelming, surrounded by noise and an abundance of crowds. We've also come to know most of the villagers rather well, and it seems we have become a staple presence for many of them. It's funny how that seemed to happen in such a short time, but then again, Philip and I have always been routine creatures. We are usually the family you can set your clock to. Philip has also been a consistent presence for many things outside of school: loading and unloading the planes that come, helping deliver groceries to the co-op, helping out with random things around the village, and being the go-to contact person for anything connected to the school. He and Josh have also gotten pretty good at the hunting and fishing. We now have a deep freezer stocked full of fish and grouse that they've collected, as well as moose meat that the locals have given to us. It's been very enjoyable, being able to provide ourselves with wild meat and berries, hunted or harvested by us. It certainly helps save on groceries as well.

Winter is also starting to set in, and we're still excited every time it snows. We're due for our second snow storm, potentially delivering 3 inches of snow, and we're eagerly looking forward to it. Avery's commentary below adequately conveys our excitement, I think.

I've been fascinated with watching the changes the river goes through, from season to season. Right now, the river is at its lowest point, which made for some really beautiful, desolate shots on a chilly evening. It also allowed Philip and I to recover some of the lures they've lost! This is the fishing spot along the bank, that Philip and Josh will go to. As you can tell, the river is beginning to freeze. And just yesterday, we began to see large sheets of ice floating down the river.

There are still plenty of times though, where it still seems crazy, us moving here. And yet, we still feel the decision was the right one. We don't regret it, and at this point, we're still looking to stay here until Avery graduates, 4-5 years from now (depending on whether she decides to graduate early or not). Be that as it may, this year has gotten off to a tough start, all having to do with our school situation. I believe I mentioned at some point that this year, we would be starting out with mostly new staff. Philip and I were the only returning teachers, since our K-4 teacher moved on with her military husband, and our SPED teacher transferred to another school in the Aleutian Islands. Our principal also finished out her 1-year contract, and returned to her home state at the end of last school year. All last year, we maintained a student population of about 26 students. We were told that a new teacher would be hired, and the posting would be available for the maintenance job and principal's secretary as well.

Then, for reasons unknown to us, the job posting for the teaching position was no longer available. At first, we thought it had been filled. Then, we found out that they had taken it down, in order to fill positions at other schools that were considered higher needs than us. However, by the end of the summer, all other schools were fully staffed. And yet, the teaching position for us was never reopened. We repeatedly inquired with the district, telling them that we had a person who was willing and able to teach on our campus, and yet we continued to receive vague responses. They now were telling us that our projected enrollment wasn't going to be high enough to justify hiring another teacher. So we were told to wait and see how the numbers shook out when enrollments were certified. The decision was then made that I would move down to teach the K-5 class, Philip would remain the high school teacher, and we would all split teaching the 6-8th class.

Well...this year, our student enrollment has maintained around 24-25 students. Even though we graduated 5 students last year, all of last year's students returned, and we picked up a few more from Fairbanks or other villages. Our school staff for the 2024-25 school year is currently comprised of the following:

• 2 general-ed teachers (Philip-High School and myself in K-5)

• a new SPED teacher

• a new principal

• 3 aides

• a custodian

• a cook

To put that in perspective, with a very similar student enrollment last year, our staff was the following:

• 3 general ed teachers (K-4, 5-7, 8-12)

• a SPED teacher

• a principal

• a principal's secretary

• a maintenance person

• 4 aides

• a custodian

• a cook

In other words, we had four more staff members on campus last year, to divide the workload. We still don't have a maintenance person, so the responsibilities for that position are split between Philip and the principal. That involves going to the plane every day, during school, to pick up anything that might be delivered, or any passengers who are staying at the school for various district programs. It also includes refilling the fuel tanks for the year, both at the school and teacher housing; clearing the steps and ramp during winter; hauling trash to the dump; basic repairs around the school; maintaining the reverse osmosis systems at school and teacher housing; and of course, anything else random that pertains to system functions and mechanics. Our cook also doesn't show up most days, which means our principal or our SPED teacher are the ones in there preparing breakfast or lunch any given day. The middle school teaching split ended up where the principal teaches math, the SPED teacher teaches ELA, I teach science, and Philip teaches social studies, P.E. and the elective, which for this year, is culinary science. In case it's not obvious, this is a significant increase in workload, compared to last year. Not to mention the fact, any time the middle school and high school students are combined into one class, it becomes more about keeping the peace than actually teaching.

We are exhausted. It is constant running, from the start of the day to the end of the day, and with the maintenance work, it doesn't really stop at the end of the school day either. We have appealed to the district, negating all the reasons that were given to us, about not hiring another teacher. The response now is that for budgetary reasons, they will not be hiring another teacher this year. It's been quite frustrating, feeling like we've been lied to and given the runaround. Yet, despite our skeleton crew, district expectations remain the same, always citing, "best practices" and bureaucratic mandates, regardless of time restraints or physical limitations. Funnily enough, this extreme circumstance has actually allowed me to break out of my tendency to comply with unrealistic standards. I've had no choice but to cut loose the things that take a lower priority, because there's simply not enough hours or energy in any given day. There is also the issue of compensation. Most teachers don't like to make this a personal point of focus, but the reality is, we have all picked up a significant amount of extra work, compared to last year, and yet there has been no adjustment of compensation. The infamous, "other duties as assigned" doesn't apply, because we are all literally filling in a salaried position, with most of us teaching in an area outside of our certification. Also, the state of Alaska recently passed a bill that removed the cap on years of experience for out-of-state teachers. This doesn't really impact me, but it impacts Philip substantially. Since it just rolled out, no one really knows how this district will implement that for next year's contracts. But...there is going to be a conversation on what terms will be necessary for next year to be a successful one, academically for the students and professionally for the staff. How that conversation goes will largely determine the trajectory for us here in Kaltag, with this district.

It's tough to say that, because obviously, it's not all about the money. It is a significant factor though. More importantly, there are gains for our students that could be made, that are seriously impeded right now, simply because there aren't enough bodies on campus to give them what they need. And although there are many positives that are still developing, especially compared to where things were last year when we first arrived, it's painful to feel the impasse of our limitations. Especially when it seems like the district would rather turn a blind eye to problematic situations, instead of having authentic and constructive conversations about what the village schools actually need. Philip and I feel that at this point, the district needs us here more than we need them. Hopefully, that will allow us to negotiate a better outcome for this school. What's sad about all of this is that I expect this standard of operation from your larger school districts, particularly in the lower 48. I really thought that in a system like this, with small village schools in rural areas, there would be more room for creativity and authentic connection. Nope. Federal and state funds always end up dictating the conversation for those in charge, and it's the low ones on the totem pole that feel the sterile effects most keenly.

But...to keep the balance with all that negativity, here are some positives. The decision for me to move down to the K-5 class was actually one that I welcomed. My certification is EC-4, so this age group is my area of expertise. Last year's 5-6 position was outside my comfort zone. I felt like I was making things up as I went, constantly creating a scope and sequence from scratch, trying to figure out how to teach an almost middle school age group, that was performing like lower to mid elementary, a uniquely frustrating demographic. My class this year has been energizing for me. I have eight students: 2 first graders, 1 second grader, 3 third graders, 1 fourth grader, and 1 fifth grader. Yes, that is quite the spread. What's funny is that the district purchased a new curriculum this year for reading: Amplify's CKLA. This is a Tier 1 (think students with no reading deficiencies) program, designed for single-grade classrooms. It is not, in any way, designed for multi-grade, Tier 2/3 classrooms. You can imagine how humored I was at the end of last year, when they announced they were going to roll this out. In our, "training" sessions with company reps, even they were stumped as to why our district was using their curriculum, telling us they weren't sure how we could make it work in the setting that we have. So, after an entire summer, and after our district reading and curriculum specialists put their heads together, they came up with this brilliant plan: All K-5 teachers would teach the kindergarten curriculum to all their students, so they could expose them to the language and content, building for successive years ahead.

I shook my head in disbelief. Teach kindergarten curriculum to 3-5th graders? That was the moment that I knew I'd be going off-road in my classroom. I looked over the testing data for my students, and talked to last year's K-4 teacher, to get a feel for where the students were. I then began studying this new curriculum, to see how advanced it actually was. I won't go into too much detail (too late!) about all of this, but suffice it to say that this reading curriculum is split into two main components: knowledge and skills. Knowledge covers literature, science and social studies topics, and focuses on comprehension and vocabulary. Skills is still basic phonics, handwriting, phonemic awareness, and complex spelling patterns. What I ended up doing is teaching the second grade knowledge curriculum, with the first grade skills. My reading centers are where I do most of my differentiation for any students who are more advanced. Then I figured I would adjust if the material seemed too easy or advanced for the whole. It's actually worked out beautifully. The kids are seeming to grasp the content faster than I expected, and their attitudes are pretty great. Of course, that's a stated expectation of mine in class; I am never to hear them say they're bored, and they always have to check their learning attitude. We've been working on the importance of challenging oneself, and at any time, if a task is too easy, find a way to push it, and make it a challenge. We've also talked about embracing mistakes and learning from them. I told them that I'm actually disappointed if they aren't making mistakes, because then I know they aren't really trying. An important observation I made in last year's 5th-6th class was they were terrified of making mistakes, and to an extreme level, they'd pretend not to care, rather than put themselves out there for correction. So I'm trying to establish positive outlooks towards learning with this younger class, in hopes of paving a smoother road ahead.

Already, I'm seeing significant gains, not only academically, but socially as well. The kids are doing more things for themselves, and they're asking more questions. They think about problems longer before asking for help. And our silent sustained reading time finds every student actively engaged in a book for the entire 30 minutes...either reading it, or talking about it with another classmate. I soak up the wins in my classroom, because it helps balance the rest of the crazy that has been this year. It also helps that our small staff team this year is a good one. The new principal and SPED teacher aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and do what needs to be done, and we laugh a lot with each other. I can't imagine trying to navigate this year with any sort of tension or apathy among the staff.

So...that's been our school year, in a fat nutshell, thus far. Our kids are continuing to do well. Avery has joined the high school class, and is already working on advanced material that is able to challenge her. That girl is amazing, she really is. Emily is looking to finish most of her high school credits this year, while also earning some college credit, so that next year, she'll be able to enjoy a relaxed senior year. She's currently considering joining her big sister at UAS, or potentially sticking with her Texas A&M plan. She still has time to decide. Josh is doing well in his freshman year, being able to participate in the high school CTE programs to explore his potential interests. He recently attended a welding camp in Fairbanks, and although he decided welding isn't of particular interest to him, he learned that being away from home wasn't as scary as he thought it would be. But it's bewildering to me how fast they are all growing up. I knew as soon as Jadyn left for college, the next several years would snowball. We've all found ourselves looking at old home videos and photos, reminiscing about our years together as a family, perhaps our way of making time appear to slow down. We've grown a lot together these past two decades, and I've loved it all.

Our favorite mountain trail

The old bridge

Faint northern lights

Faint northern lights

River sunrise

Wake up view

Clash of colors

Hunter's Moon

Snow capped in the distance

Picking crowberries

I realize this post was long, a byproduct of going so long without an update. The next post will come from the kids since their turn is long overdue. Thanks for sticking with this one until the end!

Just for fun, a photo documentation of the evolution, within one revolution, of Philip's hair.