Kaylee’s Name & Blessing
Kaylee's Blessing Day Recently Kaylee’s adoption became final. Now that she is legally our daughter we are allowed to make permanent records for her at church. This means we can give her a name and a blessing and seal her to us in one of God’s Holy Temples. About a week ago we blessed her in church. Our branch is pretty small, so I invited all the Melchizedek Priesthood holders to help; there were five of us. We named her Kaylee Cikiun Phillips. The blessing went on without a hitch. Poor Kaylee was slightly nervous during the whole thing. She’s usually quite happy, however, she didn’t move a muscle during the entire blessing. It was all kind of funny. Kaitlyn tried to transcribe the blessing; overall she did pretty well. We took some pictures after church.
New Stuyahok
New Stuyahok, Alaska As part of my job, I get to go around the district and visit with secondary education teachers. I love being in the school. There was so much excitement on many of the student’s faces. My focus in my position is not evaluative; rather, to see how instructional material is being utilized and offer ideas to teachers to better help them deliver content. My purpose, at least the way I see my job, is to get teachers what they need so they can teach. I did meet up with a brand new teacher, which made me think I was looking in a mirror of myself as a first year teacher. I made the same mistakes then that he was making now. Him and I sat down and I told him that I wasn’t any different as a first year teacher, and I think that made him feel better. I then proceeded to offer him a bunch of teaching and classroom management strategies to better help his classes. I feel that it was received well. Overall, it was a great opportunity to meet with those teachers. It’s always nice to get out of the office every now and then and be reminded of what school is really all about–kids.
A unique benefit about visiting New Stuyahok is that the principal is a good friend of mine, Robin Jones. We worked together in Togiak our first year, before she became a principal in New Stuyahok. It’s always fun to catch up and spend time together. I was invited to stay with them, which was awesome. It definitely beats sleeping on an air mattress on a classroom floor!
A unique benefit about visiting New Stuyahok is that the principal is a good friend of mine, Robin Jones. We worked together in Togiak our first year, before she became a principal in New Stuyahok. It’s always fun to catch up and spend time together. I was invited to stay with them, which was awesome. It definitely beats sleeping on an air mattress on a classroom floor!
