Quiet Times Sometimes

This is a picture of some of the pumpkins that were in the class pumpkin contest. The Pumpkin with the grass hair won the annual prize for the best pumpkin. My daughter's class had won the contest this year.

Our community had just had a loss a couple of days ago. My childhood friend's Dad passed away from cancer. It's been so quiet here and I have been feeling for the family. I can remember when my own father died. It's so sad to experience it again, especially for a friend you care about.

When there is a death in our village, they have a viewing at the family's house. The graveyard is an island separated with a lake and slough, so I am trying to figure how they are transporting to the grave site. The weather has been so warm, and the ice is extremely thin to travel on. The families from Kasigluk, AK and Nunapitchuk, AK ,although close, had to come in with the airlines. There is no road system connected to the villages because it's tundra country. We have to travel by boat in the summer and snowmachines during the winter. Unfortunately, during this season they travel with the airlines, and it's not cheap. My deep condolensces to the family of the Nicholai's here in Atmautluak, and I think of you in my prayers.

Morning Snow

On Saturday morning my daughter called my name "Aan!", she was so excited that she scared me. I looked up and she said excitedly "Aan Snow!" I have never been so excited for snow since I was a child. My daughter had reminded me of how wonderful and exciting it was to have the first snow pack in the fall. Brings back so many fond memories of my childhood. I especially remember the smell of fresh air after it snowed.

It's so exciting to see that our kids are motivated and willing to work hard to succeed. Today, I had the pleasure of speaking with a teacher about one of her students who is working hard to get her Math phases up. She is almost at parr and will be ready to take Algebra I probably in the spring. When I hear about student success coming from teachers it motivates me to do my job better and focus on kids that need that extra help to get them at a proficiency level. I want to be as positive as the teacher I had talked with today, because sometimes I need encouragement and support when nothing seems to be going right.

Arrii Has No Email

This is Arrii, and she's in 3rd grade transition. This is when she transitions out of a Yup'ik all-day to English-all day. Anyways, during our after school program she was uninterested in checking her email so she decides to draw a huge face on the board. Sometimes it's good to keep scratch paper and crayons on hand so that kids like her can draw while the bigger kids are checking their email after tutoring.

I wanted to mention how long it took me to make that movie and what flaws after so many revisions I noticed. First of all, I forgot to credit the song I was using in my imovie and it was by Matchbox Twenty "How Far We've Come". Also, I didn't write down Cauline's name in my credits at the end of the show. I had more pictures in it but I had to cut down two or three because I couldn't upload them due to size. It was enjoyable and I had fun putting it together for about five weeks.