Senior Hoodie Fundraiser

If anyone is interseted in helping out my seniors raise money you can either donate or buy a sweater or both using this link. When you buy the sweater you can pay extra for shipping and have it shipped straight to you. They should get to you just after the start of the new year.

https://www.booster.com/nissenior



Also sorry for the lack of updates. I have so many things to post on but just don't have the time. I am finishing 2 of my masters classes and just went to bethel with middle school robotics.

School's Out 5K

I meant to get to this post much sooner but I am really far behind. Too much blogging for my master's program.

Anyway, at the end of the school year another teacher and I decided to start a running club and to end it with a community 5K. We had a few kids show up for some of the practices but not a lot. Even with just a few kids we had a lot of fun. On the night of the 5K we only had one other adult that wasn't a teacher but tons of happy kids. Almost every one of them ran the kids 1/2 mile and the 5K, even kindergartners. They were so cute and they all finished. Here are some pics from the race

As you can tell we wore the kids out so much they just collapsed. lol. 

 Here is a big wall of snow. We had to run a little farther just to get to a spot where we could actually climb up. Some of the parts were far too steep.

Before I left the community caught a beluga whale. Our cook gave me a piece to try. Let's just say it was an experience to try it but not something I would do again. It is really fishy tasting and I am not a fan of seafood. 

Prom & Graduation

So I am slowly posting things that happened at the end of the year.

Prom looked AMAZING this year!! Many first year teachers really took a lead. They handmade all of the decorations. I helped in putting them up, but they really did all the work in making the decorations.

                                                     

        

Usually we have the same blue gossamer. This year looked so different, in a good way. I think the students really liked having something different. They all loved the decorations and looked like they had a really good time. The next weekend we had graduation. It looked really nice. We had a banquet for parents and graduates the night before. We had steak, ribs, fruit, salad, veggie trays, marshmallows, pretzels, chips, and chocolate for dipping. Then we had cake and ice cream for dessert. It was about $3,000 including the freight charges. But it was worth it because everyone had a great time and had plenty to take home. We ordered 2 cakes one for the night before and the other to celebrate after the ceremony the next day. Unfortunately they spelled a couple of names wrong. It costs about $75 for a full sheet.  Below is a picture of the gym for graduation. It looked great!

I still have another post I need to create about our 5K run. Hopefully I will get to it before the end of the summer. I have already had a week at home. I'm currently getting ready for a trip to Bali in the middle of June.

Science Fair & Trip to Fairbanks

So this is a little late but near the end of March I was able to take 3 students to Bethel for science fair. I took two 6th graders and a 4th grader. They did so well and loved every minute of it, as did I. We went swimming twice and launched rockets and did many other activities. Here is a pic of them with their rockets.

They also worked really hard on their presentations and it paid off. The 4th grader in the back got 1st place in elementary. The 2 in the front got 2nd and 3rd place for middle school.

Directly following science fair I went to Grant and watched them board a plane with another chaperone. I was staying in Bethel a little longer so I could catch the night flight to Anchorage and then continue on to Fairbanks for training for a program. The PREPARES program has been great for my 7th grade students. We have been learning about how climate change is impacting their villages. We are partnered with a Hawaiian school. At the conference we got to meet with our partners and experience sites that our students might get to experience next year. We first went to the Open North American sled dog race. During this event there as also a parka parade and fur auction. 

Another really cool thing to see was the ice sculpture competition. So many great sculptures but since I am a science teacher I will leave you with this one.

One of my favorite places was Chena Hot Springs. We had plenty of time to soak. It was super hot. I only lasted like 10 minutes. This might be a too much info but it was really weird using the toilets. Some of them had water from the springs. When you sat down you could feel the heat. It was a really bizarre experience. 

I also got to see a bear and reindeer!! The bear was at the culture museum. So not a live one. But the reindeer are real. We went to a scientists personal reindeer farm. We got to feed and pet them. However they were terrified of us. The scientist studies permafrost. His experiment is so easy but so cool. All he does is drill down about 5 feet and put a pvc pipe in. Then he takes plastic tubing, seals one end and fill it with water and some dye. He places the tubing into the pvc pipe and lets it sit. You can then pull it out and see which layers are frozen. I want to have my students do it.

Last, I have to share a picture of us leaving. Being a bush teacher we always have totes. We were each given a tote with supplies for next year. It filled the van and we were piled in the back.

This was such a GREAT trip!! I can't wait to bring students next year!!

Running

I have been attempting to run outside. In the last week I have probably tried it about 4 times. A few of the days were far too windy and cold, plus I was super busy anyway. Nali has been my running buddy. She absolutely loves it!!

Nali smelling the ice on the beach. A few weeks ago they caught a few belugas.

I have had to get some gear. I have shoes called icebugs. They are waterproof and have built in spikes. They work great for the ice roads. I have windproof leggings and a a jacket with windstopper. Usually I wear tall thick socks and just a long sleeve 1/4 zip top underneath the jacket. For my head I just wear a headband and if it is extra cold I use the hood on my jacket.











The views on my run have been spectacular. I usually get a very beautiful sunset. I always have to run after school so I usually don't get out until 6 or later at night. Last light is about 7:20 pm.

 Here is a video that I forgot to post. About 3 weeks ago I was in Anchorage for the RTI conference and I took Nali with me. On our way out Bethel was super cold and her poor legs were freezing up. So I got her some booties. Rita (a co-worker and my roommate for the conference) took an awesome video. You can decide how much Nali liked her gift.

On another not while in Anchorage there was a 7.1 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter located about 160 miles away. I was on the 11th floor of the Hilton in downtown Anchorage. Rita yelled at me and I literally jumped out of bed. She says Nali was dead asleep and sat up a little before the earthquake, she knew it was coming. Our room shook like crazy! The toilet water slopped out of the toilet and all over the floor. I must be crazy because I thought it was kind of fun. I mean that is after I realized our building was still standing. The room shook for probably 2 minutes. It was very eventful.

This year has been crazy. Fork 3 weeks we had unsafe drinking water, I experienced an earthquake on the 11th floor, and now we have had a TB outbreak. Can't wait to find out what is next!

So many things, so little time...

I have been so busy. Coaching, teaching, chaperoning, and taking classes online have led to a crazy semester.

Our school sent high school students to perform at AFN. This is a gathering for Alaska Natives. They have meeting and discuss what is going on and then they celebrate with Eskimo dance at night. Our high schoolers did great!!

Next came Halloween. Nail just loves Halloween. This year she was a Dinosaur and I was a worker at Jurassic World. It was so much fun. So many students and staff participated this year making it so much fun. It was tough to choose the best costumes. I remember my first year very few outside of the elementary participated, and now we have quite a few middle and high schoolers joining in. I also remember that no teachers really dressed up my first year. Even I didn't. This year I don't think there was a teacher who didn't participate. 

I stole this pic from Kelly's Facebook. Thanks Kelly!!

This year I was also helping the seniors try to raise money for their class. We had asked for a popcorn and slushie machine on donorschoose. Here is the popcorn machine in action. We had a lot of fun playing volleyball and selling some concessions to try to raise money.

A beautiful day for cross country skiing. This was the sunset as we headed back. It was a great weekend right before a headed back for Christmas.

I torture my dog. Nali had to deal with some dress up during New Years. Doesn't she look happy? I had a great time at home for Christmas and New Year's, but it was far too short. I wish it could've lasted longer.  

When Whitney and I returned from Christmas Break this year we had a surprise, a huge pile of snow in our doorway. It was so much fun shoveling it all just so we could get our stuff inside! NOT!!

I think I am starting to get settled back in now. As soon as I returned I left 2 days later to chaperone high school basketball at a tournament in Scammon Bay. I was gone for about 5 days. Then about 2 weeks later all the staff at Toksook Bay travelled to Anchorage for the RTI conference. This was my 3rd year going. I learned some very great things here that I hope to use in the classroom.

I'll leave you all with a picture of Nali stealing my seat. She doesn't look guilty at all. lol