Sitting on the doorsteps of the Governor's Mansion
View from inside the Juneau-Douglas High School.
Emily and I wearing traditional SE Alaska Native hats.
Beautiful art in JDHS.
Absolutely fabulous! You would need to see this in person to absolutely love it. I think every science teacher would want one in their classroom... but, they are about $200,000.
This has been the theme of the year for me; it keeps coming up in my master's course and in the world in which I live. There is no Yup'ik word for science. However, everything the Alaska Natives traditionally did was science from the way they made their kayaks and kuspuks, and even ikmiq (sp). The fact that there is no word for science says a lot to me... they just DID science... it wasn't something they read about in books. It was survival... it was self-reliance.
Last week my students made Yup'ik masks of their own. Above is a photo of the masks on exhibit in the Juneau museum. Below is a photo of my students and their masks :) Cute.
A traditional kayak. Amazing.
Douglas Island across the way.Well, Emily and I have made it to the Math and Science Conference in Juneau, AK. We have had an absolutely fabulous time thus far. In all of my years in Alaska (soon to be 25), this is my first visit to our state capital. It is amazing to me how though we are a large state by area, we are small in numbers... it is definitely less than six degrees of separation the more you network! SE Alaska is not only different than the flatland tundra of Chevak, but so different than my hometown of Anchorage, as well. The mountains surround you, and they are so steep. And, the trees decorate the mountains from the bottom to the top. It is absolutely beautiful. Today one of our workshops was on Yup'ik Science at the local museum. It was so cool to see so many artifacts that we could identify with. I was really pleased because our tour guide has been all over AK for the last thirty years so he didn't just know about the Native cultures from books- he had been there so he really KNEW. It was also neat to have lived in a village for two years now and then to be able to identify the artifacts and have personal stories connected with them. This was definitely one of the highlights of the conference so far. Tonight we hope to visit Mendenhall Glacier... I can't wait!
Hello! You do not know me. My name is Sharee Ferguson. I currently live in Texas. I am a certified teacher looking for a job. I found one teaching in the village of Akiachak, AK. I was researching teaching in a village and came across your blog. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about living in a village in Alaska. My email is shareebee53@hotmail.com. I would love to talk with you. I found your blog very interesting and informing. Thank you so much! :)
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