Wrestling almost done!

As you can read by the title of this post my wrestling season is almost done! Last weekend we had the elementary and middle school championships in Noatak. I took 8 wrestlers, 5 elementary/middle school and 3 high schoolers. Teams that had open seats on their plane brought high school wrestlers to get them some much needed extra mat time. When the closest school is a 25 min flight away you pick up matches whernever you can. Out of my five wrestlers that were competing I had three make the podium and one finish 4th. I had a first place, a second place and a third place. I am extremely proud of theses wrestlers they have worked hard all season and this was pay off time. I am glad some were able to have success and bring some pride and hardware back to Kiana. The funny part of this tournament is that they decided to award team championships for elementary and middle school, while all other teams brought 8 wrestler max, (one plane load) Kotezebue brought 36 wrestlers....gee I wonder who won the team championships?? Even if every one of my kids took first we still would not have won the team championships.....ohhhh bush Alaska! My season will finish with the high school championships in Kotzebue on Dec 1st. Practice will probably not happen this week because basketball is starting and the gym is being painted. Basketball is king in bush Alaska, everyone plays, everyone should coach (in their minds), and "if coach would have played them more they would have won state" . Those places you here about where parents and communities get in fights and brawls over high school sports, that happens over basketball in the bush. I'm really looking forward to basketball season because i'm not coaching!







We had a short week in school due to thanksgiving. It is amazing how the short weeks often feel like the longest weeks! The kids were rowdy and not wanting to be in school. All the kids could think about is where they were going or what they were going to do on their days off. Finally the week ended and it was time for thanksgiving! This was my first major holiday away from my family! It took me 29 years to have a holiday without my family. Obviously we are a tight knit family, I am sure this holiday was harder on my mother than me. As for my part I had great thanksgiving! The staff at school all pitched in and we had thanksgiving dinner together. On my part I brought some bread and layered jello. It was my first time making the jello and with the guidance from my mother I was a able to make a decent dessert. We had a great dinner with all the trimmings. The people I was sharing the day were with great! They're amazing people who are my adopted family here and they really made it a great day. Of course I ate too much and was stuffed but I have started my workouts for the week trying to get 6 days in this week so I can work all this pumpkin pie off!



Saturday night all the teachers got together again and we had a nice bonfire in the middle of our housing complex. It was a great bonding time for us and it was pretty warm out! It was about -9, standing close to the fire I had to take my coat off so I wouldn't get too hot! We roasted hotdogs and made smores. We had some kids there as well and it is always fun to see them at a bonfire. It was a great ending to the week. Today is Sunday, I have been watching my neighbors dogs for 4 days. I don't mind because they have a tv and satellite, so I am sitting here with two german shepherds watching the Seahawks game! What a great Sunday! Thank you so much for reading my blog and being interested in what is happening in my life.

Been a good couple of weeks

First and foremost i'm sorry for taking so long to post on my blog. These weeks have been busy as ever and I have not had a free weekend yet! Some exciting things have happened in these two weeks. I was able to attend a professional development conference in Anchorage for four days! It was great to be at a conference of likeminded people and it was a pleasure and privilege to go. That being said, it was the first time leaving my classes in the hand of a substitute. How nerveracking! Thankfully the students were great during my absence with no incidents. On our way to anchorage we had to stop in Nome. After taking off again we had clear skies and luckily I was able to get some great pictures of Denali and the Alaska range from the plane.




Upon returning to the village I was approached by my principal asking if I could start setting traditional snare traps with my inupiaq crafts and cultures class targeting fox. We have a huge problems with fox that have moved into the village and may carry rabies. Of course I said "set snares? Hell yes I can". Well I have never snared before in my life but decided I would teach myself. It is great how much you can learn from the internet and reading. After researching and talking to some elders I was able to set some wire snares up in trails around town that the foxes are using. I am concentrating my efforts around the school first, then I will spread to the community. I have caught 3 foxes so far! I am very proud of myself. Of course all of the students consider me a master trapper now, worthy to mentioned with names like Daniel Boone and Davey Crockett! Well...who am I to change their views? Along with teaching trapping I am also teaching skinning. We are teaching case/tube skinning. The foxes and other animals that are skinned in class will be tanned and used for hats, gloves etc. The students are really enjoying these activities and they seem to be learning a lot! These kind of projects are right in my wheelhouse as well. I really enjoy doing these projects and they are part of these kid's culture. We are also teaching them how to possibly make some big money when they are older. Last year a trapper in Norvik made $30,000 last winter by just targeting martin. Hmmmm sounds tempting......










Wrestling has been going very well. I took the team to Buckland last weekend and we went 25-4! I am so proud of my wrestlers. They have been working very hard and it was excellent for them to be able to preform in a hostile environment. It has been a very challenging season for me. Trying to coach grades 4 through 12 with varying skill levels is difficult to say the least. The most important thing is that the kids have had a lot of fun....and we have been winning ;). This weekend we travel to Noatak for the 4th-8th grade championships. Maybe it's just the coach talking but I think every wrestler I put on the mat could be the district champion! Stay tuned to my blog for updates.
Unfortunately I haven't had too much time for myself but during school I was finally able to start a pair of mittens for myself. They are going to be very warm and hand sewn! I have also made beadings to adorn the outside! This is what I have so far. I love skin sewing and beading. I have always had a crafty side (tying flies, building rods ect.) but since I didn't bring up that stuff this fills my need to be crafty.






It is amazing how fast I have acclimated to the weather. It has been sub zero most days and now I consider any temp around 0 "warm"! This next week is supposed to bring temps to -20 so we will see how well my mittens and hat hold up. I am guessing they will be toasty warm. I still need to get a better pair of boots. My boots are said to be rated at -40 but there is no way! My feet got chilled at -10 ice fishing the other night. Ridiculous! So that is the last necessity I need for deep winter. Luckily the boots i have are good enough to go back and forth from school and travel but not for long excursions out in the country. We have had bright sunny days, except it gets light at 10 am and dark around 5:30. I guess there is one more necessity, A good head lamp! I hope you enjoyed reading this post. I will try to not let so much time go between posts next time. Thanks for reading and take care.