School is Out!

It is over.  Summer is here.  We are packing for Anchorage.

I just found this blog again.  Forgot all about it!  This will get you caught up with us and the family.

We moved from Perryville to Chignik Lake and spent 4 years there.  Last year we decided to move back to Perryville.  All the teaching staff were leaving and it was a good move for us both.  Joe was already principal in Perryville (PVL) and I could teach kindergarten through third grade.  Today marks the end of our first year back in PVL and our tenth year in Alaska!  WOW!

Perryville is at the end of our district --- Lake and Peninsula School District.  We are about 500 miles out of Anchorage.  The only way here is by plane or boat.  The village has less than 100 residents and a  school population of about 17.  Preschool will have 5 next year. We will have 3 teachers here and I will have kindergartners and second graders. Joe will be principal here, Chignik Lake and Chignik Lagoon.

Our daughter and son both attend the University of Alaska at Anchorage.  Hannah will student teach next spring and then teach in the bush.  Nathan is a biology major and hopes to attend medical school.

We still have our two dogs - long-haired English cream dachshunds.  Schultz and Carson keep the rest of us in line.

We will be staying in Anchorage this summer.  We will fly out of PVL tomorrow and will be back August 21.  School doesn't begin until September 5.  Our school district has cut the year by 20 days --- as opposed to going to a 4-day week.  They are hoping that by using this "subsistence" calendar, the students will be better settled when school begins and most fishing and gathering activities will be be over.  We're hoping to see better attendance over  the year.

So, this was going to be brief --- just something to get back into writing.  I hope there are still people out there who want to read.  Please, ask questions --- we'll be happy to respond.  This life we lead now is so different from before but seems so natural to us now.

Back to packing ----- Melissa