The Joys of X Country

Hello All!

So the 2014/2015 school year has begun and it started with a BANG!   We spent a solid two days on scheduling and I spent another two days moving from my classroom (where I've been for 4 years) to the Library.  Some may say, "YAY the library!  How wonderful"  Nay I say to you that speak that.  It was A LOT of work, we had to empty all of the bookshelves in order to move them.  That in itself was just sucky.

BUT....in the end it all worked out and I'm very happy in my new space....and let's face it.....I LOVE books so living in the library now is not that big of a sacrifice.

One of my many duties in Kong is the X Country coach, and I love it.  This year, one of the new teachers has graciously stepped in as my assistant coach, Mr Brummert, or Mr B for short.  It's been so nice having two adults in practice.  Mr B runs with them and I time them.  Good times had by all.

We've gone to two meets this season, one in Tooksook Bay and one to Akula.

The first meet was crazy/awesome.  The crazy part was the route.  Oh the JH had a pretty easy time of it, up a hill and down but the HS....yeah...totally different story.  The awesome part was that the four runners who went did an amazing job of running and representing our school.

JH excited to go

The HS boys getting ready to fly

View from the Plane

Austen's point of view

So, let's begin with the first meet shall we?  Well the only student that had actually been to Tooksook was Kyle, the rest of us had never been up there before.  It's gorgeous!  Tooksook is right on the ocean and they have the most magnificent views.  The hills were alive with blackberries, and the weather was perfect: sunny with bits of clouds.  Of course the first order of business when we got there was checking out the store.  So we went on an adventure and found a store...with slush puppies....everyone was happy.

Coming back from the store

 







The next item on our agenda was walking the course.  This is where all the athletes and coaches walk where they will be running the next day.  It lets the runners know what to expect AND helps to avoid people getting lost.

The JH portion....no problem.  The HS portion.....totally different  experience.

So here we are on our way up the beginning hill.....no worries

This is the crazy GIANT hill we got to trek up....AFTER we crossed a ravine that was super awesome to climb down into.

I'm not joking when I say I felt like Frodo walking towards Mt Doom....it was intense



We finally made it to the top of the hill....and took a mini break....because we were ALL sucking air.  The boys admired the view for a bit and we even saw a few musk ox....BONUS

 

 Going down was just as much fun as going up.  It was uber steep and again there was another awesome ravine we got to climb down into and then out again.  Needless to say there were a few people that biffed it once or twice.

Walking back to the school

By the time the 'walk' was over, we were all good and tired.  Dinner was pretty quiet and then it was 'free time.'  The Blackberry Festival was happening that weekend so Tooksook was the place to be.  Tons of people where there.  We didn't go to the festival due to a $25 cover charge, but we heard it all night long.  Fun times.

Austen died the minute we turned on the movie

THE DAY OF THE RACE:

After a very short nights sleep we all got up and got ready for the races.  JH went first and HS right after.

Theodore and William were ready to race!

Ready....set....GO!

Well done boys!!

Both of the JH boys did very well.  They finished strong and showed great sportsmanship throughout the meet.  YAY!  

Up next was the HS race.  I was a tad nervous, purely from a medical standpoint.  I really didn't want to be the coach that called up the parents and said, "so...they broke their ankle....but they are still breathing"  That conversation is never fun to have.  So I made a deal with my HS runners: they don't get injured and I'll buy them this GIANT container of cheese balls.  I know, it's lame but I REALLY didn't want them to get hurt.

They SURVIVED! 

 Both Austen and Kyle survived!  Kyle came in 6th and Austen 8th.  We were SO proud of them.  They ran smart and really ended the meet well.

So, as promised, they got their container of cheeseballs!

Cheese Ball Heaven :)

Yeah...they are happy campers

 We decided that this would be the trophy for the Tooksook meet every year.  I think it's a solid idea.

There were tons of flights coming in and out of the village.  Our flight was delayed by about an hour. Weirdly this worked for us.  The boys were told by everyone in the village to go berry picking and get some black berries (we were lacking here in Kong)  So the boys put on their boots and went berry picking for a solid hour.

Needless to say, the entire flight was spent eating cheese balls or napping.  It was a great meet, with a lot of laughs, crazy courses and cheese balls.  Good Times.

Cheesy Fingers!

Stay tuned for the 2nd meet in Akula :)

Earth Day - Kong Style

Haven't blogged in awhile.  Let's see if I remember how!

This year, Earth Day fell on the perfect day.  We had testing happening before and after, so it gave me a day to let the students think and do something completely different.

I went online to find some ideas of what I could do with them and came up with a scavenger hunt (thank you Pinterest!)  The scavenger hunt was a bit off for bush Alaska, but we made it work.  For example, #1 was hug a tree....yeah....we don't have those at all.  So I made it high five a friend or hug a bush, same idea.

The scavenger hunt went like this:

1.   High five 1 classmate: include picture

2.  Use 2 words to describe what the weather is like (thesaurus is handy)

3.  Make 3 wood rubbings (paper/crayons provided)

4.  Collect 4 rocks

5.  Find 5 different plants on the tundra (pictures please!)

6.  What are 6 ways you can help take care of the Earth?

7.  What are 7 reasons why you should take care of the Earth?

8.  Name 8 kinds of animals that live on or around the Tundra. (can you act any of them out?)

9.  Tell me 9 ways you can use the plants/animals from the tundra for medicine.

10.  Pick up 10 pieces of trash to throw away or recycle.

The weather that day was superb!  We had sunshine and a light breeze, perfect for exploring the tundra and finding treasures to share.

 #1 High Five a Classmate (or hug a tree)  Who knew sitting in a bush was an option?

 Here are a few more awesome high fives that happened on the scavenger hunt

  #3 was make wood rubbings

I should have known better BUT I thought my students knew what wood rubbings were....I was wrong

I got this instead.....

SO, I described wood rubbings and they actually found some sticks, bushes, etc, and a few got some really cool rubbings to show for it.

#5 was find different plants on the tundra.  We got so lucky because a ton of the plants were coming back to life or showing up again.  We found berries, tundra tea, and lots of other plants that I didn't know but they did.

Of course #10 was pick up 10 pieces of trash and BOY did we pick up trash!  We filled over 5 giant garbage bags full of trash.  All of the students were great sports and really did their best to pick up as much as they could.

Overall it was an amazing day.  Being outside, on the tundra, in the sunshine was a great break from everything else that needed to be accomplished at the end of the year.  Love my job, but sometimes I feel like all I do is test, not teach.  I'll leave this blog with a couple of my favorite pics from the day; students playing in nature and just enjoying being kids for a bit.

She found the LAST bit of snow!

I believe she's a snow goose (#8)

One of my favorites

He was finding his zen

Each class made a collage of everything they found

He's hard to explain but took up the challenge of finding a tree to hug :)

The school year has ended.  Not going to lie, I'm a tad sad.  Until next year and my new adventures in Kongiganak.  We're also going to be fundraising like crazy for the next Student Trip to the Lower 48!  If you have any ideas for fundraising PLEASE send them my way.  We're going to be taking 3 trips in 3 years, due to the large class sizes coming up.  More money now, means less stress for me in the future.

That's it for me!  Write me if you enjoyed, have questions, etc.