Snow...

A neighbor and a couple of students joined me for a snowball fight after our first snowfall.

My roomie and some of the teachers' kids heading down the hill!

Our group photo... we hear that Anchorage has more snow than us at this point!

A sad day in Chevak

Yesterday morning I decided to attend service at the local non-denominational church. At the end of a great sermon and a time of worship the pastor returned to inform us that there had been an accident. One of the fifth grade girls had been accidentally shot by her father. This has been particularly hard on me because I met this young lady a year ago, the first time I visited Chevak. For some reason her and I hit it off right away even though she didn't exactly get along with her peers. She held a special place in my heart and we exchanged addresses before I headed back to Anchorage. When I returned to teach out here I kept looking for her and after about a week we finally saw each other again! Also, it took me about a month to realize that her younger brother was in my class. Well, their dad accidentally shot his gun in their house on his way out the door to go hunting and the bullet hit the young girl in her head. She was taken to Bethel or Anchorage where she was pronounced dead late in the evening last night. My heart is sad. Living in such a small community, death really affects everyone. Today my students are writing letters to her brother, their classmate, telling him that they miss his sister and I hope is okay. It makes me sad that this is our writing assignment today. That is where I am at right now. Keep us in your thoughts... 

Fall Pics

Me and Priscilla (check out my kaspuk!)

Some of my silly students.

Me and Henbug on the way to the airport leaving Anchorage in late September.

Hosting a community Fall Literacy night in my classroom.

One of my classes.

Me with some old co-workers and a Siberian Yup'ik dance group in Anchorage at a training.

My little bug.

Tami and I getting a dance night in before I headed back to Chevak.

Our training group... people from all over!

October is Here!

I have to start this posting by saying that I have misplaced my memory card reader so I can't post any pictures at this time ): , but I still wanted to write. I want to share where I am as it has almost been two months since I arrived in Chevak. Things are going well. I enjoyed my short and intense visit back to Anchorage at the end of September; it was SO nice to  visit with family and friends! I have to say that it was kind of nice to get back to Chevak and slow down a little bit. I was welcomed home as soon as I arrived here. I got back into the swing of things pretty quickly with a movie night at the Ulroans, a Literacy night and school reports being due. It is hard to believe that the first quarter is already coming to an end. It has been a great semester, but I am noticing that as the school year moves on my roomie and I are having less time to explore the great outdoors ): We continue to add things to our lives to keep it spicy and fun and plan to celebrate my 24th (which is also the end of the quarter) with an 80s themed party and, of course, we will be having a Halloween party at the end of the month! Before we know it, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here! I cannot believe how fast time flies! The weather is getting a bit colder here, but I have to say it felt more like winter when I was in Anchorage than it does out here; however, I am sure snow is right around the corner. I really feel like my students are learning a lot and they make me proud. I was able to watch the VP debate last night at a friend's house and I have been trying to incorporate a bit of the elections into my teaching and the kiddos just think it is so neat that I have a picture with Governor Palin. I am still following the debates as best as I can out here and I am anxious about the results. What a historical year! My master's class is going quite well though I find it more challenging than I had anticipated. I am the youngest one in the class and the only first year teacher so it has been interesting to try to keep up with all the veterans, but a great learning experience. Well, I hope to get some pics on here soon but until then I will keep writing. Hugs!

So thankful,

Misty