New Teacher Inservice in UNK

Before I moved to Alaska, many people wanted to know if it was an actual school district I was teaching in. To clarify, BSSD is actually a school district in the L48 sense of the term and not a DODEA/Government-run English teaching school/BIA concoction. The similarities abound, but the differences are glaring. For instance, we have a new teacher orientation/inservice just like any other school district in the country. However, we live in bush Alaska so we have to fly to our district office for the inservice. :-) Most the Gambell staff is new this year, so the district had to charter a plane entirely for us (and the 2 or 3 Savoonga newbies). By bush plane standards, it was a big plane!


Whenever teachers visit another village overnight, usually they sleep in a classroom at the school (unless a kind-hearted teacher takes pity upon the visitor). At huge inservices, this custom is crazy! All the new teachers in the district stayed in Unalakleet classrooms on air mattresses, and walked across the hall for meetings all day. I can't even imagine the October Ed Conference when the whole district comes for meetings at the same time!



Unalakleet is a pretty village complete with trees and a huge AC (store). There's a salmon cannery and you can go fishing whenever you want . . . you could go hiking around the tundra and through the trees, or you could go four-wheeling/snowmobiling out farther should you so choose. The options are nearly limitless there, and of that I am jealous. Gambell has its own charm for sure, but it's hard not to be jealous of the outdoor opportunities in the UNK area.




Overall, we had a good time in Unalakleet. I met a lot of people face-to-face finally, and it was nice to meet a lot of new people too. I am starting to feel at home with this district already, and it feels good. Time to get back to Gambell, though, and put my new BSSD knowledge base to work. School starts in 10 days!

-Megan