Same District, New Job

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Well, if I'm being honest, this whole year has been a whirlwind when I take into consideration the craziness that has been this pregnancy and general life/teaching in the bush. It's been a wonderful year, but a busy one. Weighing heavily on Cody and I's minds this year was what we were going to do next year. We really love Pilot Point and have enjoyed living and working here. There are quite a few things working against us staying here for next year though. For starters, we have no childcare. Cody would have to stay home with baby, which he and I were interested in doing, but he wouldn't have any other young families/parent groups to socialize with here because our village is just so small. Also, the lack of healthcare and inaccessibility of it has been heavy on me. It costs $1,100/person to travel to the hospital in Anchorage and unfortunately our school's insurance doesn't cover health services in our village.

With these two issues weighing on us, we eventually came to the decision that we needed a change for next year. I began speaking with my district administrators about moving to one of our northern villages for next year. Our northern villages have much better, cheaper access to Anchorage and there is a clinic in one of the villages staffed by a PA that our insurance will cover. So, I proceeded through the second half of this year thinking I'd probably be calling one of these villages home soon.

Then, I found out that our district's Registrar was retiring and that they were combining his position with the position of Teacher Mentor. The district advertised that they wanted a current LPSD teacher to take the role because they wanted it to be someone who was already familiar with how we do things. I applied on a bit of a whim and told myself that the job was a total shot in the dark, especially since I heard that many others were applying too. I interviewed and tried to remain optimistic, but I had strong hunch that it wouldn't work out.

Well, I was wrong! The district offered me the position of Registrar/Teacher Mentor for next year. The position will actually be located in Palmer, Alaska, which will be a HUGE change since Cody and I haven't lived in a road system location in over six years. I will be traveling some and will still get to spend time in our villages helping new teachers adjust to life in the bush. Most of my time will be spent working remotely from our new district office in Palmer though. It'll be a huge adjustment and very different than being in the classroom, but I am super excited for this next chapter.

With all of this new knowledge, we've been adjusting to what our new lives will entail next year and starting to panic a little bit about moving with a newborn. The next couple of months are sure to be crazy. In less than a month we move to Anchorage to have the baby, then sometime before May 15th we will be moving back to Pilot Point to start the packing process, sometime in late May I am going to spend a couple of weeks training with our current Registrar, and then in June we will be relocating to Palmer. While it will be crazy, I am really optimistic and hope this will be our last move for quite some time. This will be our fourth city we've lived in over the last 7 years and I'm hoping it's the one we get to stay in and raise our child. Fingers crossed for a smooth transition!

Your turn...Have you ever made a big job switch?
Currently listening to...Good People - Jack Johnson

Videos for Teachers Interested in Rural Alaska

It's that time of the year! In many Alaskan districts (including Lake & Pen) contracts have gone out and the hiring season is getting ready to begin. As always, districts across the state are looking for quality teachers to join the ranks out in the bush. Making the decision to move to rural Alaska isn't an easy one, but there are many good resources out there to aid you in your research. One of the many great resources out there are videos. There are tons of videos out there on YouTube and school district websites. Below, I've compiled four of my personal favorite videos that I recommend checking out if you're thinking about making the leap to become a teacher in rural Alaska.

Bushed: Teaching Life in Rural Alaska
This is a four-part documentary series, and even though it is long I would highly recommend watching all four parts of it. The couple in it does a wonderful job of looking honestly at some of the challenges that come with being a teacher in rural Alaska. When I was first researching teaching in Alaska this series helped me so much. The wife from this series maintains a really great blog, which I recommend checking out too. BONUS - This family is a total success story because they still live and teach in rural Alaska!

KTUU Teaching in Alaska: Pilot Point School
This one is about us! KTUU (an Alaska news network) came to Pilot Point a few years back and shot a special about teaching in Alaska. It does a great job of highlighting the pros and cons of teaching in such a remote, small village. The teachers in it are also great, and one of them actually still works for our district just in another village. I watched this one more than once before making my decision to move to Pilot Point and found it super helpful. This video will be particularly informational if you're considering a one or two teacher site.

INDIE ALASKA: I am a Whittier Teacher
INDIE ALASKA does a lot of really amazing videos, which I highly recommend checking out. This one in particular is great because it follows a teacher in Whittier through her daily life. Whittier isn't exactly a Bush community, but it isn't exactly a normal community either. For anyone unfamiliar with Whittier, it is a small community south of Anchorage that is only accessible by tunnel. In addition to this oddity. Whittier's entire 200 person population lives in one building. This teachers story is super interesting and she has some good insight into living under a microscope, which is inevitable as a bush teacher.

First Year Teacher Adjusts to Life in Rural Alaska
I think this one is super informational because the teacher in it is a first year educator who has only been in Alaska a few short months. She discusses the intensity of being somewhere so rural and some of the difficulties that come with teaching in the bush. She addresses homesicknesses and texting her family to tell them she's ready to come home, which I think is something some new teachers don't always realize will be so amplified in the villages. Her principal also makes a guest appearance to talk about what makes teachers successful in rural Alaska.

There are so many other great videos out there, and I highly recommend you watch some of them before making the leap. As always, some of the videos you find will be from educators who had successful experiences and some are from those what had not-so successful experiences. It's important to look at all sides before you jump into such a big decision though and listening to people's firsthand experiences can be super helpful with that.

Your turn...Do you have any great video suggestions about where you live or your profession? 
Currently listening to...Heavy Feet - Local Natives 

Baby Middleton, Coming April 2018!

Cody and I have some big news to share, and we are very excited that we can finally say...

we're expecting! Baby Middleton - coming April 2018!

That's right, I am working on growing our little adventure babe as I type this post. Today I entered my second trimester and baby is growing right on track. Being pregnant in rural Alaska has definitely already been an interesting experience, as it is truly not like being pregnant anywhere else in the US. Typically, when you're expecting, you take a nice little drive to your OB once a month. When you live in a rural village though, the nearest OB is very far away.

Since August I've already taken two solo trips to Anchorage for appointments, which has been an expensive endeavor. It costs $800-$1,000 to fly from Pilot Point to Anchorage roundtrip and insurance will only reimburse me for two roundtrip flights (and one of those flights has to be my trip to give birth). As long as all looks well with Baby M, I'll probably only be going to the doctor every 6-8 weeks until I am farther along. Once I make it to the 36-37 week mark (March) I will have to relocate to Anchorage for the remainder of my pregnancy. Cody and I are currently looking at renting an apartment from the middle of March until early May.

The last couple of months have been a complete whirlwind for us. We're so incredibly excited and thankful. I can't wait to see how the next year changes our little family for the better.

Your turn...Any suggestions for a first time mom?
Currently listening to...I Don't Mind - Defeater 

We're Back!

Cody, the dogs, and I landed in Pilot Point in mid-August. We spent the days before flying back to the village in Anchorage buying enough groceries to last us a couple of months, going to doctor's appointments, and enjoying our last days in civilization. Anchorage is always hectic though, so when we finally took off it was so nice to fly low over the tundra and see the little village from above. After our busy summer and week in Anchorage, I was excited to get back to the slower pace of life in the village. I was also incredibly touched by our decorated truck waiting for us at the airport. The people in Pilot Point truly are the best.

The slower pace didn't last for long though, which is why it's been so long since I've posted. The school year seemed to begin at a breakneck speed this year. We had a handful of new students join our school this year and a new teacher too. Our school year schedule is also much different this year because our district petitioned the state to do a test run with a "Subsistence Calendar." The Subsistence Calendar is something we are trying, which involves operating a shortened school year from the beginning of September to the beginning of May.  The district is choosing to run it this way because many of our students are out participating in subsistence activities with their families from June - August and attendance tends to be poor. Also, by running a shortened school year we were able to save our budget and avoid cutting essential services and positions. You can read more about it here and here.

Somehow, in the midst of all of the insanity of the beginning of the school year, we've also been trying to make time for our own subsistence activities. We've been fishing, collecting plants, picking berries, and Cody has been taking advantage of the bird migrations and has been hunting geese and ducks. Our at-home time seems to be minimal, but that will shift a bit as the weather changes. It's already fall here on the Alaska peninsula and the winter weather is undoubtedly not far away. We had our first snowstorm in mid-October last year.

As the weather changes, I suspect some of the insanity that the first weeks of school have brought will die down too. I usually love the slow pace of fall and winter, so I can't wait to get into that part of the year. The time of laying on the couch and reading good books while drinking cocoa, or watching movies while eating freshly popped popcorn. I'm definitely looking forward to those days in the very near future.

Your turn...Is fall starting to settle in where you live? 
Currently listening to...Ends of the Earth - Lord Huron 

Taking a Steam

When I first came to Alaska back in 2010, I found myself in an odd situation. One night, I was invited over to "steam" at a local woman's house. I had no background information about what a "steam" might entail, with the exception of my own very limited experiences in the sauna at my local gym. I happily accepted though because I'd spent the summer filthy and covered in fish guts. Upon arriving at the local woman's house, I was greeted with what can only be described as an outdoor shanty full of naked women. It was a surprise, to say the least.

After that first fateful steam, I slowly learned the inner working of "taking a steam" and what it means in Alaskan culture - particularly the culture in rural Alaska. You see, in rural Alaska it is extremely common for people to have a steam bath outside of their home. The building that it is in is typically a wooden structure, almost looking like a work shed. The steam baths are heated by some sort of stove (wood, gas, etc) and on the inside they look similar to a very rustic sauna.

Cody and I have been lucky this year because our good friends, Al and Sue, have a steam in their house. We frequently go over there for dinner and drinks, and then take a steam (just the two of us - Cody and I) after dinner. We take our towels, shampoo, soap, and all of our other bath essentials with us. The steam ends up serving as a way for us to get clean, which is the normal use for steams out here in the bush. Most of my students have steams outside their homes, and quite a few of them prefer to steam instead of taking baths/showers. After getting to spend so much time "taking a steam" this year, I can totally see the appeal. There's just something so incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating about washing with a bowl of warm water, in a hot box lined with aromatic cedar logs. It's a true Alaskan experience.

If you are lucky enough to find yourself in rural Alaska and someone invites you over for a steam - you have to try it!

Your turn...What do you think about "taking a steam"? 
Currently listening to...Misty Mountain Hop - Led Zeppelin 

Pilot Point Carnival '17

In many of the villages in our district, "Carnival" is a big deal. Carnival is a weekend of fun events, hosted by the village. We'd been hearing about Pilot Point's Winter Carnival practically since we stepped off of the airplane back in August. The kids are constantly raving about it and asking us things like, "Are you going to dance with me at the Carnival dance?!" With the students so excited,  I couldn't help getting a bit hyped up about it myself.

Friday afternoon we released from school at lunchtime and then the village officially kicked off the Carnival with a kids cooking competition hosted at the school. This was probably one of my favorite events of the whole Carnival because the kids were so incredibly excited about it. The competition was set-up like the show Chopped. The kids each had a basket of "mystery ingredients" and they were given one hour to create an edible dinner meal. Each kid was assigned an adult to help them chop things, get supplies, open packages, and other safety-type things, but the adults weren't allowed to give any meal/cooking ideas. The winning dish ended up being a great curry that one of our fifth grade boys whipped up.

Other fun events that we participated in on Friday included: a poker run, scavenger hunt, dinner hosted at the school, and a dance. Our village flew in a band from the neighboring village of Kokhanok. The band was missing a drummer, but they were in luck - Cody keeps a great drum kit at our house here! So, Cody joined the band and ended up playing three nights in a row. He had so much fun getting to play with an actual band for a change, as opposed to just jamming at the house solo. The kids also enjoyed seeing Cody play, some of the littlest kiddos even got a drum lesson from him one evening. Meanwhile, I was recruited by the little girls to dance non-stop the entirety of the band's performance.

The second day of Carnival began in the morning with a community breakfast. After breakfast, there were many events planned. The first event of the day was the Air Drop. For the drop, a local pilot flew really low over a designated spot (this year it was Loon Lake behind the school), and he threw candy and prizes out of his airplane window. Everyone in town ran around the lake trying to collect the items. It was a freezing morning for the event, with temps in the single digits and waist-deep snow drifts on the lake, but we still had a blast.

Throughout the rest of Carnival we continued to try and participate in as many events as possible. We played bingo, ate dinner at the big community feast, went to the dance every night, played the raffles and cakewalks, and what seems like a million other little things. By Sunday, we were exhausted. Lucky for everyone else, there was no school on Monday or Tuesday following Winter Carnival. Unlucky for me, I had to travel for basketball early on Monday morning and didn't get to enjoy the necessary recuperation time after all of the excitement. Even with the extreme busyness of the weekend, I couldn't help but feel extremely happy that we got to participate in such a unique community event. I'm already counting down until Winter Carnival 2018!

Your turn...Does your community have any unique events that they celebrate?
Currently listening to...Move to the Mountains - Clock Opera

Adventures in Smelting

Consistently cold temperatures, sometimes down in the -20's, have been a regular part of our winter here on the Alaska Peninsula. While we do often get some reprieve, with temperatures jumping all the way up into the 30's occasionally, the cold has been regular enough to cause a deep freeze to occur on our lakes and rivers in the area. This has been VERY exciting to everyone in our village because smelting (going out and ice fishing for tiny smelt fish) is a hugely popular activity. The last few years have been poor for smelting, so the successes of this year have been much to celebrate in our tiny corner of the state. 

We have been invited out to join local families for smelting a few times, but I had been nervous about the thickness of the ice. However, last week, we were informed that the ice was 4+ feet thick on the entire road out to the smelting grounds. I figured that 4+ feet of ice was more than enough to support us out into the wilderness. 

On Friday, Melissa (the other teacher) and I decided that smelting seemed like the perfect "girls night out" activity. We dumped the husbands at home and took off on the ice road, traversing frozen lakes and tundra, to the area where other locals would be fishing. The lake where the actual smelting takes place is a little over halfway to Ugashik, which is a neighboring village that boasts only about 5 regular residents. Although you can glimpse a bit of the village from the smelting spot, it still feels very remote. 

The actual act of catching the fish was a new experience for me. Holes were put into the ice using an auger, which is typical of all ice fishing, but the poles/catching the fish seemed a bit foreign to me. For starters, you use the tine of a fork and attach it to a string. This string is then tied to a piece of wood. There is no bait involved in catching smelt, instead you just lower your fork into the water and the smelt will try to bite it. As soon as you feel a bite, you drag the line up quickly and the fish comes with it. This whole process tends to be pretty quick. Many people in our community have been catching 80-100 fish in the span of only a couple of hours. It seems that you're barely dipping your line in the water before you are having to quickly drag it back out. 

Melissa and I's success the first day led us to drag the husbands out with us the following day. The four of us drove back out and were pleasantly surprised to find no less than fifteen others from our village and Ugashik out there fishing already. Our village tends to be fairly insular, so getting the opportunity to get out and do something with such a large group was a huge deal. I was also excited to meet some of the residents of Ugashik because the tiny, nearly abandoned village is pretty fascinating to me. One of the residents even had a mammoth ivory carving that he brought out to show us. It was pretty incredible! 

We caught quite a few fish over the course of the weekend, and the four (Melissa, Ben, Cody, and I) of us had a fish fry with our daily catch on Saturday night. There is no doubt in my mind that we will go back out, if given another chance. Smelting was just another fun, new experience to add to our list of adventures out here in the bush. 

Your turn...Have you ever gone smelting or ice fishing? 

Currently listening to...Blue Ridge Mountain - Fleet Foxes

Moving Your Dogs to Rural Alaska

Oftentimes people ask Cody and I about how our dogs have adjusted to the move. Anyone who knows us knows that we horribly baby our dogs, so, naturally, people wonder how they are holding up in the new environment.  I usually respond to people's questions with a simple, "they're good, it's different, but they're good."  I say this because - they are good! There are some interesting adjustments that we've all had to make though, and being a dog doesn't exempt them from the oddities of life in the bush.

If you're thinking of moving to rural Alaska with a dog, particularly as a teacher, or if you're just curious what they heck we do with ours up here, then this is a good post for you. Here are seven things I've learned about having dogs in bush Alaska, so far:

1.) Room to roam. There really isn't a limit set on where dogs can go here.  For a dog like Specks, who operates leash-free, it's wonderful.  He can roam around, smell all the smells, chase birds on the beach, and just basically live his life like a wild dog. There are no leash laws or rules about dogs being registered.  As long as a dog isn't a nuisance, it's pretty much good to go. Even for a leashed dog like Luna it's still amazing how much exploring she gets to do.

2.) Stray dogs. Stray dogs are EVERYWHERE. In our village, all of the dogs have owners, which is a rarity in bush villages. That doesn't mean that they aren't still much like stray dogs though.  They roam freely all day (and some of them all night too).  Many of them sleep outside and forage around the village for food. Again, we are lucky because our stray dogs are mostly nice, but we do have to be extra careful with our dogs because of this. There are always going to be dogs that yours don't "click" with and it has taken some trial and error to learn to deal with the village dogs.

3.) Wildlife is both good and bad. Our dogs love to chase wildlife.  A shrew, a rabbit, every single duck they see. Here though, we do have to be a bit more careful. We have frequent fox visitors and there are obviously big predators all over the place.  While it's fun for them, it's also quite dangerous. Wolves, bears, and lynx are pretty common in our village and the surrounding areas.  The threat of big predators makes me really nervous because if our dogs wandered off there's a good chance they'd run into one of these animals.

4.) Local attitudes. Alaskans in general look at dogs in a slightly different manner than people from the lower 48. Traditionally, Alaskans have used dogs as a means to get a job done and as a way to travel.  Dogs in our village tend to hunt and forage for a lot of their food (and some of them like to beg at my door too - they must sense that I'm a pushover). Many of them still get fed at home, but it's not always going to be the traditional diet of kibble and treats.  It's often table scraps or chum salmon. Many of the dogs here also sleep outside, warn their owners of bears, and live more like animals of the wild. I've had multiple locals give me a jokingly hard time about walking Luna on a leash or the fact that our dogs don't roam unsupervised. I brush it off and always tell them, "I just love to baby them!"

5.) Buy all doggy items in advance - way in advance. We're lucky because our store does occasionally sell bags dog food. However, this is not the norm, and it's definitely not the brand that our dogs are used to eating.  It takes weeks for our dog food to ship from PetCo, so we have to order 3-5 bags at a time. It's an expensive and necessary evil of having dogs in such a remote place. We also tried to stock up on basic doggy meds and anything they might need if they get ill.  The closest vet is in Anchorage.  Our vet will meet a dog on an airplane at the airport, which is amazing, but little things needed to come with us.

6.) Talk to your district/employer. I highly recommend discussing the pet-friendliness of your village/district with your interviewers before you accept any type of job here. I had one district offer me a job and then tell me they didn't allow pets in teacher housing and another district warned me about bringing dogs because any dogs that the village saw as "strays" would be shot one day per month. Our vet in Anchorage even warned us about animal abuse in certain villages. Obviously, none of those districts or villages would have been good fits for us.  Safety of our pets and the availability of housing that allowed more than one dog was important.

7.) Consider travel. What will you do with your dogs when you travel? As a bush teacher, we have to travel a handful of times per year for district events, inservice trainings, or coaching sports. For these events, it's likely that your pet won't be able to join you. Cody is an aide at the school and is therefore exempt for these events, but if you're alone or if your spouse teaches too you do need to take into consideration who will watch your dogs when you are gone. You also have to consider the cost of flying them to and from your village. Some airlines charge per pound (we paid $300 for ours on one airline) and other airlines may allow your dogs to count towards your free freight allowance.

If you are planning to come to the bush with dogs you should think about it seriously because it's much different than having dogs in the lower 48. We lucked out with being placed in a village that has a good view of pets and a district that is so pet-friendly, but we had to do the research to find them.  Aside from everything I listed above, we wouldn't have ever considered coming to Alaska without our dogs because they are our family.

Pilot Point seems to be a good place for them though, and I think they're really enjoying the wild rumpus that is their lives in the bush.

Your turn..Do you have any pets? 
Currently listening to... Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine

Goodbye, 2016

This year was a year of change and adventure in our household. We traveled all over the United States and Canada, we moved to a tiny bush village in Alaska, and we learned to live our lives intentionally as a married couple. Much like I did in 2015, I'd like to take this first post of the year to reflect on my favorite moments from the last twelve months.

January... The beginning of 2016 brought big snows to our little island in Lake Michigan. Cody and I enjoyed a couple of well deserved snow days, and we celebrated by getting some much needed r&r and fitting in a couple of hiking adventures. Beaver Island was picturesque in the snow and provided a peaceful retreat on those breaks from school.

February... The weather in February took a nasty turn and it seemed to be endless weeks of temperatures just above freezing. We tried our best to get out and enjoy ourselves as a way to fight off the winter blues that are so common in the north. Thankfully, the dogs kept us outside often and our awesome island friends kept us busy by going out on the town.

March... Unseasonably warm springtime weather crept into northern Michigan in early March and stuck around for awhile. The snow completely melted and it was warm enough that the dogs happily took a dip in Lake Michigan.  We also got to get out and hike Little Sand Bay Nature Preserve, which is one of our favorite short hikes on Beaver Island.

April... At the beginning of April, Cody and I officially made the announcement that we would be returning to Alaska. I had been feverishly interviewing with potential districts for two weeks leading up to our decision.  While we were sad to be leaving our island life, we were stoked for the adventure unfolding before us.

May... One of my favorite trips of the year occurred this month. My sister, after living the last three years in Hawaii, had moved to Virginia (just outside of DC) and I was able to travel to see her for spring break. I had an absolute blast spending quality time with my nieces, sightseeing in Washington DC, and exploring a new state.

June... Our last month on Beaver Island was fairly stressful as we wrapped-up housing, jobs, and said goodbye to friends that we'd grown to love and cherish over the last two years. We did our best to find some time to enjoy life though because the weather was stellar. My aunt and cousins came to visit two weeks before our move and we had a blast kayaking around the inland lakes, watching sunset on the beach, and just hanging around.

July... July was a complete whirlwind. We crammed in as much family time as we could before heading off on our Alaska-Canada Highway (ALCAN) adventure. We left Michigan in mid-July and spent weeks camping our way through some truly spectacular places.

August... As July turned into August we found ourselves still on the road. We traveled to Banff and Jasper National Parks for the first time and were in awe of the views. We also flew to our little village for the first time and I took off for the most incredible teacher inservice ever. Our inservice included flying to a remote wilderness lodge, learning to fly fish, and collaborating with some truly awesome educators.

September... In September we started really settling into life in our village. We began learning to subsistence fish and we frequently went berry picking on the tundra. By the end of the month, our freezer was stocked with 50+ fillets of wild caught salmon and bags and bags of frozen blackberries, blueberries, and cranberries.

October... We started feeling very "home" in the village this month. We hosted two potlucks in October at the school and learned to make aqutak (eskimo ice cream). I also traveled to King Salmon for another teacher inservice late in the month.  While at inservice, I was able to take a class on skin sewing and learned to make fur mittens.

November... Even though our first snowfall was a month earlier, November was truly a month of beautiful fall weather and colors. This was my first experience with the tundra changing colors, and it was absolutely stunning to watch. I also tried to spend more time doing photography with my nice camera, which helped me capture some cool shots.

December... As we wrapped up the year, we began enjoying true Alaskan winter weather. We saw temperatures in the -20's and snow fell more often than not. The students put on a cute holiday performance and then we released them for three weeks. Cody and I decided to stay in Alaska for the holidays, only traveling to Anchorage for a few days near New Years. It was the perfect ending to a busy year.

With all of that said, I am more than ready to start another year of adventures. 2017 is already proving to be a big year for The Middle(tons) of Nowhere. Stay tuned for new adventures and changes as the year begins! 

Your turn...What were some of the highlights of your year? 

Currently listening to... Shenandoah - Trampled by Turtles