Us with our principal, Jason Mabry
For the past six weeks it feels like things have been spinning out of control at our school. We’ve written before how much we like our current administrator. He brought common sense and stability. The later is probably the thing we’ve been missing most since he’s been away taking care of his son, who recently was diagnosed with an illness only treatable outside the village. Things just haven’t been the same. Of course, this is also the time of year where teachers and students alike are at the end of their ropes with frustration. It feels like all our prayers recently have been asking for increased patience.
The last week of school is quite busy out in the bush. Like other schools, we give comprehensive final exams (or at least Kaitlyn and I do). This year we held our exams over a three-day period, two exams per day. The high school instituted an attendance incentive at the beginning of the school year allowing students to skip their final exam if they have missed 5 or less class periods for the semester and were passing the class. We had about six qualify. I (Tim) personally felt really good about my Civics exam. This time more than any other final exam I’ve written I felt that it represented the information learned in class and was aligned with each of our chapter objectives. In addition to our final exam schedule we had graduation, which was held on a Tuesday afternoon during school and our Kindergarten/8th Grade Promotion, which was held on Wednesday afternoon during school. Teachers have to clean out their classrooms and apartments before they leave for the summer.
The last week of school is quite busy out in the bush. Like other schools, we give comprehensive final exams (or at least Kaitlyn and I do). This year we held our exams over a three-day period, two exams per day. The high school instituted an attendance incentive at the beginning of the school year allowing students to skip their final exam if they have missed 5 or less class periods for the semester and were passing the class. We had about six qualify. I (Tim) personally felt really good about my Civics exam. This time more than any other final exam I’ve written I felt that it represented the information learned in class and was aligned with each of our chapter objectives. In addition to our final exam schedule we had graduation, which was held on a Tuesday afternoon during school and our Kindergarten/8th Grade Promotion, which was held on Wednesday afternoon during school. Teachers have to clean out their classrooms and apartments before they leave for the summer.
Graduation
High School Graduation
Togiak graduation is a community event. We usually fill the bleachers with parents and family. We had 9 students graduate and 3 receive a certificate of attendance this year (this usually means that they didn’t pass their exit exam). Our graduations are pretty much identical to those down south. We had the class valedictorian and salutatorian speak, as well as an invited speaker. This year one of the senior’s grandparents was chosen, who speaks English fluently. A slide show of the graduating seniors throughout their years is also shown. All in all it took about an hour. One thing that is different is that our seniors keep coming to school after graduation. There might be some seniors in other schools down south where this happens, but probably not 2/3 of the entire class. They graduated on Tuesday and I think I saw most of them throughout the rest of the week show up for school, usually around lunchtime.
Kindergarten & 8th Grade Promotion
8th Grade and Kindergarten Promotion
The day after graduation, the kindergarteners and 8th graders had their own promotion ceremony. It is basically the exact same thing as the high school’s graduation, just with littler people. The 8th grade valedictorian and salutatorian speak and the principal gave a short message instead of an invited guest. It was actually fitting for the principal to speak anyway because his son who is sick is part of this 8th grade class and would have been up on stage with them. I (Tim) teach the 8th graders first period everyday. So, it became my job to take them to the gym the morning of their promotion and practice walking to the stage and where to sit. It was actually kind of fun because the kids have never learned what a “beat” is in a song, so when it came to marching on the beat of the song they needed some help. We played Pomp and Circumstance for them and they all dressed up so that it was felt more official.
The kindergarteners were super cute. They all get dressed up as well and when they came down to receive their promotion certificate they also said what they wanted to be when they grew up, which consisted of everything between a dentist to a ballerina.
The kindergarteners were super cute. They all get dressed up as well and when they came down to receive their promotion certificate they also said what they wanted to be when they grew up, which consisted of everything between a dentist to a ballerina.
Other things of the week
Our good friend Heather Jeffers’ mom came to visit her for the last week of school. It was fun to visit with and meet her. We went to dinner at Heather’s house on Wednesday and spent the last few hours in Togiak there with them.
The school required that we worked on Saturday. We packed up all our bags and brought them to school, then we took a few coolers and bins and mailed them to our friends the Petersen’s in Anchorage who will keep them over the summer. Then we spent a few hours cleaning and organizing our rooms. Which for me meant that I shoved a bunch of stuff in closets. Out of sight out of mind, right?
The last day was very cold and snowing. In fact, it snowed all day. We left Togiak with 7 other Togiak teachers. We were very excited to leave. It’s such a wonderful feeling to know that you have zero responsibilities!
The school required that we worked on Saturday. We packed up all our bags and brought them to school, then we took a few coolers and bins and mailed them to our friends the Petersen’s in Anchorage who will keep them over the summer. Then we spent a few hours cleaning and organizing our rooms. Which for me meant that I shoved a bunch of stuff in closets. Out of sight out of mind, right?
The last day was very cold and snowing. In fact, it snowed all day. We left Togiak with 7 other Togiak teachers. We were very excited to leave. It’s such a wonderful feeling to know that you have zero responsibilities!
