Connections

First I will remind everyone to save, save, save their work before they are done so if something goes wrong you don't have to start over....

As I read this material and watched the video on Chevak and others my mind raced.  I have long been interested in how things where done in the past and have respected those who survived this and other harsh climates.

 I remember one of many white-outs while I lived and worked in Chevak,  I got word that the girls basketball team was over due from Hooper bay.  People gathered at the school as the VHS got the word out.  People brought their snow machines, extra fuel cans, food, blankets and modern gizmo's like my GPS.  Suffice it to say the first mission was unsuccessful and we almost lost a couple other people.  The next morning a local man with much experience found the team and got them home safe just using the blueprint of the land in his head! The team and Coach did what they needed to to survive until help arrived as they had been taught.  I looked at my GPS and laughed to myself.

I also got to spend time with my students and Native Alaskan colleagues in a true "sea week"  5 days out in the tundra, making camps, winding around rivers by boat, hunting seal, visiting old village sites, listening to stories of a way of life not so long ago, yet so different.  I was like a sponge, soaking up all I could and wishing I had a notebook, then realizing one is not needed if you listen. I wanted to share everything I learned but, had no audience as my students where their with me and had heard the stories each year I was told.  I went back the next year too and enjoyed it even more, listening and learning things I was not sure when I would use but enjoying my opportunity.

I now have the chance to share some of the knowledge I learned!  After Chevak I taught only Business and  Finance, now I am finally teaching science and can't wait to share some of the stories I was told as the topics arise.  I was worried I could not remember enough to speak to them, however, the resources I have already found in Teacher's Domain have given me the confidence and information to bring them forward.

This is the current site of Chevak (with my old buddy Gin, the dog)

 This is the old site of the village, it was getting to small and the water level was making it unsafe.  There are many remnants of the sod huts and old tools used there.  I'm sorry to not remember the spelling of this grand place...