Back Home in the Interior

Well we said goodbye to Quinhagak and are now back in Fairbanks after are week long experience in a rural village. I have to say I want to go back someday and this experience has cemented my desire to one day teach in a rural community. Before we left I had a chance to sit down and talk to the high school social studies and art teacher about her career spent teaching in Quinhagak. I wanted her perspective because her and her husband have both been long term teachers in Quinhagak. She stated it wasn't easy, but loved her job. Her sentiments were shared by all the teachers and looking back at the staff of the Quinhagak school they all got along with each other and were there for the students. Of course there was the typical stress about standardized testing and making sure students graduate, but other than that the atmosphere of the school and the community was positive, inviting, and most importantly connected. The joy of learning was also evident in almost every classroom, the students loved to learn. With an experience like that it is hard not to develop a heart for rural Alaska and its wonderful people. If I learned anything it was that the relationships with people and the journey through life are more important than the temperature outside or your house's plumbing situation. The richness of Quinhagak is its people and once you realize that everything else becomes icing on the cake.

5 School Days Later

Well the past five days have been full of new experiences and lots of learning. Every morning we have eaten breakfast with the students and hung out in the gym until school starts. The students love to play with our hair and take pictures with our cameras. I have found touch is very important to the Yup'ik children of Quinhagak. At first it was surprising, but the three of us quickly became accustomed to having the kids up in our faces every morning. As we would find out later in the week hands on, tactile, and kinesthetic activities were preferred by the elementary students. In a way the students were learning about us through touch; we were something new and they were curious. It is not everyday in Quinhagak that a 5'10" red head female with very fair skin walks into the school. I can't tell you how many times I was told I was tall. The children would look up at me in awe as I towered over them. My height was always a way to start a conversation among the kids and adults.

Basketball, mancala, and hanging out on the bleachers are the main activities after breakfast. Nick even played basketball while sipping his required morning coffee (he needed his coffee no matter what and basketball wouldn't even get in the way of that). Our mornings in the gym were a bonding time with students and aided in our time spent in the classroom.

The highlights of the week spent in the school were the times we spent teaching and observing. We helped teach a 1st grade math lesson and P.E. lesson. I even taught a small special ed class while the teacher stepped out for a bit. During this time the principal even came in. This short special ed experience was very rewarding and pushed me outside my comfort zone. I even played middle school vocabulary bingo and surprisingly won. I forfeited my winning so the game could continue until a student won. I didn't need a soda, which I found out was a favorite reward among the students, that and candy of course. We also observed lessons taught in Yup'ik in the kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms and in the upper elementary grades Yup'ik immersion lessons. I also observed middle and high school classrooms, which was just as rewarding and learned that I liked it just as much as the elementary grades.

My favorite teaching experience of the week was teaching the P.E. lesson to the 1st grade class, mostly because we got to use the giant parachute. Just before coming to Quinhagak we had just learned, from our UAF P.E. class, how to use the parachute to teach elementary students in P.E. We played shark attack, but looking back now it would have been a good idea to call it seal attack. Also played was a game called the washing machine and of course we did the one where you make a tent with the parachute. The three of us had just as much fun a the kids.

Also during the week the three of us had the pleasure of being invited to dinner at the two young and newest teachers' house during the week. We made and brought a salad, which was appreciated. It was nice to get to know the staff of the school better through a social gathering. Other social activities we took part in were walks around the village, being invited to another school staff member's house to get a none teacher housing perspective of what villages houses were like, visiting the local store, attending basketball games, and being part of a school wide assembly. One thing you learn through these experiences about a village school is that the school and community are closely linked. Our time in Quinhagak has been a special educational experience and not to mention extremely fun.

Welcome to Quinhagak

It is Monday morning and it is time to make our way to Quinhagak. After a wonderful breakfast Nick, Ashley, and I call a taxi to take us to the airport. We get all checked in and then wait patiently for our flight. Not surprisingly our flight was delayed for a couple of hours do to wind in the early hours of the morning.   

 

Nick is shocked that our flight was delayed for a couple of hours do to weather. Ashley in her styling purple snow pants is enjoying the carefree time at the airport.

Nick looks so excited, not sure if he got enough coffee this morning at breakfast. 
I on the other hand just don't like my photo taken. On the far left is our experienced pilot.

Safe Landing

After a short flight we made it to Quinhagak where we were greeted by the principal shortly after landing. This was good because the Quinhagak airport is a bit outside the village and it would have been quite a trek with our luggage. We were comfortably transported to the school and allowed to settle in to our new accommodations, the library loft. Lucky for us we wouldn't have to pack and unpack everyday, but could safely leave our stuff in the library. Unluckily, we were informed that the library is haunted, we were willing to take the risk. The kitchen staff let us store our food in the fridge and as we became acquainted with the teachers a couple offered up their classroom microwaves for use during our stay.

 

Quinhagak Airport

The Surprise of the Quinhagak School Bus and Windmill

We got a quick tour of the school and were introduced to several teachers. It was very interesting to see a school bus among the many snow machines and four wheelers  parked at the school. The school bus was something I was not expecting to see in a rural village. The bus is used help transport students with handicaps and it is the special education teacher who happens to have a CDL to drive the bus. Also unique to Quinhagak is the well groomed gravel roads. Apparently the nice gravel roads are there because of gravel found on the coast, lucky for Quinhagak. Of course we cannot see the gravel roads being covered in snow and ice, but travel around the village was definitely smoother because of it. One last aspect of our welcome to Quinhagak was seeing a windmill. Off in the distance was a working windmill to help produce power for the village, but we were informed that it was not currently in use. I got the vibe there were mixed feelings about having the windmill in the village. It was a busy day and we jumped right in and were invited into classrooms, but more on those experience later.

Welcome to the Quinhagak K-12 school.

Quinhagak Head Start, which is right next door to the school.

Bethel

We arrived in Bethel Super Bowl Sunday.  Since we had the rest of the day and wouldn't fly out to our respective villages until tomorrow morning, we all decided to explore the Bethel area on foot. First, we would have to catch a taxi to Bentley's Bed and Breakfast to check in and drop all our cargo off before heading out into the snow covered world of Bethel.

Waiting at the Bethel airport for taxis.

A true rural Alaska taxi.

Watching the Super Bowl and enjoying being connected to the Internet again.

Bentley's B&B

Our taxi rides were all very interesting as you can see from the photo above.  We all crammed into each taxi with all our cargo. The taxi driver I had actually drove on the river to get us to Bentley's Bed and Breakfast, which was bumpy, but really cool. We arrived at Bentley's Bed and Breakfast, which is a very bright blue building. We got settled in our rooms and decided to relax a little while before venturing out into Bethel.  After watching the Super Bowl long enough to reconnect with the world via the Internet provided by the Bentley's Bed and Breakfast WiFi it was time to wonder the streets of Bethel and find some dinner. After exploring and dinner we crashed for the night in our comfy beds.

Why can't I get cell phone reception?

Dinner, with choices :)

Expensive fruit, good thing we brought our own.

Rural Alaska prices, Ouch!

Gearing up for Quinhagak

Quinhagak, AK

In the spring of 2011 I traveled to Quinhagak, AK with two other UAF elementary student teachers, Ashley and Nick. Our travel plans would take us from Fairbanks to Anchorage to Bethel and then to the Yup'ik village of Quinhagak. In Bethel we would spend the night at the famous Bentley's Bed and Breakfast (a very bright blue building, which sticks out no matter the season) before flying out the next morning on a little airplane to Quinhagak, weather permitting of course.

A Little about the Village of Quinhagak

Quinhagak is located on the coast of the Kuskokwim Bay, which gives way to the very cold, but plentiful Bering Sea. The Kanektok River also wraps around the village. The Yup'ik for the village is is Kuinerraq, which means new river channel. It is approximately 75-100 miles south of Bethel and about 400 miles west of Anchorage. You can only access Quinhagak by airplane, the only roads are the ones located in the village. Quinhagak is a Yup'ik village intent on preserving its culture. It is one of the larger villages in the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD), which is why three eager student teachers, instead of the normal group of two, were sent there. The name of the K-12 Quinhagak school is Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat and if you want to see some great visual of the school visit their Facebook page. The school was founded in 1909. The population of Quinhagak is about 700 people with anywhere from 150 to 200 of its people being students. Also located in the village is a Head Start building for preschool aged children.  To get an entertaining view of the community watch the video below that was produced by the 5th graders in 2010. This made Quinhagak a little famous in the YouTube universe.  Enjoy.