Akpik Berries

Things have been busy here this week. Last week before school started went for along walk on the other side of the John river and picked berries. I found a new kind of berry I have never seen before... the Akpik or Salmon Berry. Salmon berry is a common common name and caused confusion to those that may live in southern Alaska where a different Salmon berry grows. The Akpik berries, as they are called in Inupiaq, area yellow to peachish colored berry that grows on a single stem coming from a plant with 2 broad leaves. They have an almost peach like flavor and are related to the raspberry. They are one of the favorite berries of the locals. So I save the quart of berries that I picked to make Akpik Berry Muffins the first day of school for my high school kids.

School started on Wednesday the 20th. I am teaching mostly high school. Here is my schedule

First period: Health (14 Students)

Second period: North Slope Science (14 students)

Third Period: Algebra I (3 Students, including the Principal's son, and another teacher's son, both of whom are actually in 8th grade, and the former pastor's son.)

Fourth Period: Home Economics (14 students)

I have heard it said "Kids are Kids", "Kids Everywhere are the same." Well I had a great group of kids in NM and I have a pretty darn good group of kids here too. I did not know what to expect. I have heard some horror stories from some teachers in other villages, but so far these kids are friendly. They seem willing to work and follow most directions. We already have one successful field trip to look at plants on the tundra and write in our field journals.

I am really excited to teach the North Slope Science class, there is an awesome curriculum focused on the natural history and human use of the area. This is going to be a hands-on-field based class, much like the environmental science class I taught in NM.

Oh and did I mention I am teaching a packaged math curriculum to 4th graders for an hour after lunch? They can not even sit still for an hour! The whole time I am telling them to ignore each other, as they are constantly poking or sticking out their tongues or falling off their chairs. Sigh. This is going to be interesting. They are FAR below grade level. I had a long talk with the principal about the program I was supposed to be teaching them. I did not understand why they are not getting 3rd grade math if they are not on grade level. He assured me that if I use the curriculum they will come up to grade level because the curriculum spirals... well we'll see!

I'll post some school photos later in the week. Here's some more photos from the tundra for now.