One month down!

When I was getting ready for school this morning, I happened to look up at my wall calendar and realized that this week was my 4th week in Alaska!

Who would have thought the time would fly so quickly...and tomorrow is already September.  

This last week has been a great week and I am finally starting to get comfortable and into a routine of planning and teaching.  I am also getting to know the students better and I am in awe of their brilliance!  There have been many moments this last week where they surprised me with their knowledge and wit.

We had a staff meeting today and I learned that our total enrollment(K-12) for this year is 248, which is up from last year.

After school today our school hosted a cross country meet. Seven schools flew into Kwethluk during the day and we had three races(elementary, junior high, and high school).  There were nearly 130 kids from Kwethluk, Newtok, Akiak, Tuntutuliak, Atmautluak, Akiachak, and another that I cannot remember).  I helped out by recording times.  It was great fun to see community members and teachers from other schools out supporting the students!

The sports scene is a little different than I am used to in the midwest.  Unfortunately, Kwethluk does not field a football team.  We do, however, have a volleyball team, which I have been asked to help coach this year! The head coach is our secretary and asked today if I would be interested in assisting.  I was also intrigued to find out that due to the low number of students, volleyball is co-ed here! She said the season begins in the middle of September so I will keep you informed on how that adventure begins!

Above is a picture of the district and some of the schools in the district.  Akiak and Akiachak are not in LKSD, but they are up river from Kwethluk.  This next week we do not have school because of the District-Wide In-service in Bethel.  The entire KAMS(Keta'cik and Aapalluk Memorial School) staff will fly to Bethel on Tuesday afternoon and stay until Friday.  The first year teachers will stay in Bethel until Saturday for one extra day of in-service! I have to say that I am quite excited about traveling to Bethel and getting out of Kwethluk for a little while.

I am sure I am forgetting to mention little things and go into details about where I am. Please feel free to ask any questions you have about where I am and what specific things are like here.

I think now I will head home and enjoy the rest of my Friday night!

Have a great weekend. :)