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Thanks for that description, I have heard good and bad things about Atqasuk. I haven't been able to come to Atqasuk, I am not going to be able to b/c of the price of flights, but I have been doing my research. I am really excited about moving there. I have decided that I am going to love this place (but I am realistic I will be prepared to get myself home if things don't turn out that way). I am looking for the adventure that you have been talking about in all of your other posts. I have looked at all of your photos, I have to say I am really excited to see Barrow as well.
Thanks for that description, I have heard good and bad things about Atqasuk. I haven't been able to come to Atqasuk, I am not going to be able to b/c of the price of flights, but I have been doing my research. I am really excited about moving there. I have decided that I am going to love this place (but I am realistic I will be prepared to get myself home if things don't turn out that way). I am looking for the adventure that you have been talking about in all of your other posts. I have looked at all of your photos, I have to say I am really excited to see Barrow as well.
When you are headed this way, let me know. And if all else fails, when you get off the airplane, grab a phone book and look up my number. If you can in any way swing it, try to schedule 3-4 days here in Barrow. I'll make sure you stay busy and wide eyed the whole time, and head for Atqasuk with at least some idea where you are going.
BTW, the picture of the little girl on my web page was taken in Atqasuk about 10 years ago, at a basketball game.
Location: land of quail, bunnies, and red tail hawks
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Polyphonic,
I can't improve on what Floyd has said, so I'll just address a couple of issues.
A four-wheeler is often a great way of traveling in a Bush community. Since Barrow is one of the larger communities, it may have restrictions on using four-wheelers on the roads. Perhaps Floyd can address this issue. However, I'll second what Floyd said about the practicality of four-wheelers during the winter months. Unless one has a garage that will keep the machine warm, most four-wheelers refuse to start at about 15 below. Barrow will be much colder than that for much of the winter. Snow machines are usually a better bet for winter usage, but even they get sluggish and hard to start when temps drop to 30 below. The extreme cold temps are hard on any kind of machinery. It seems that when temps reach 35-40 below in my community, most people abandon their vehicles and start walking. Believe it or not, it is possible to survive a walk in -50 temps! Compared to the villages, Barrow is more spread out. If you can't afford to bring a regular vehicle up here, you may want to consider housing in a centralized location so that you can walk when your four-wheeler gives out. Even many regular vehicles do not cooperate in the extreme cold. If you do manage to get your vehicle started, you'll probably need to baby it because parts like to break in extreme cold.
I admire your desire to work with the youth wherever you go. In my experience, Bush children are starved for appropriate attention, so if you have the proper attitude, you'll probably be welcomed with open arms. The missionary activities of yesteryear aren't reflective of most church work that occurs today, but memories are long so some people will not have much respect for you or your work. Be patient and loving; the rest will come in time. However, you need to realize that most Bush communities cannot afford to pay a regular pastor, let alone a youth minister (despite their needs). More than likely, you'll have to raise your own support if you want to work with youth full-time.
I'm somewhat bothered by the attitude the two of you are displaying about her marketability. Teaching institutions seem to be spitting out new teachers with highly unrealistic expectations and overly inflated opinions of themselves. I touch on this in the post I linked. It seems most new teachers come to Bush Alaska with the attitude that they know it all; therefore, they are usually unwilling to listen to the advice of other teachers or the administration. Parental input is also unwelcome because the teacher is the "expert." Displaying such an attitude will not get anyone very far. (Obviously, I'm not sure if your fiancee fits this category, but I wanted to issue a big caution.)
In my experience, school districts with a large community such as Barrow usually reserve vacancies in the large community (e.g., Barrow) for established teachers who want to transfer out of a smaller village. Most new teachers are required to pay their dues in one of the villages for a few years before being offered a position in the larger community. Floyd might know whether or not this is the practice in Barrow. YOU might want to move to Barrow; the school district might have other ideas.
Best wishes on your ambitions and upcoming marriage. Be still long enough to hear God's voice.
That would really be beneficial. From what Floyd's saying, it sounds like the school district is a little underfunded... my fiance will be extremely marketable, I guess the school we go to is... I don't know what she's saying, it sounds like "N-Kate" certified. Which is apparently good. She's going for social studies concentrating on secondary ed, minoring in math and french.
We don't care about how much money they pay her (to a point; we'd love to be able to eat 3 square under a roof), so long as they hire her. :-/
Looking forward to hearing about it!
A & B
You will, like I said before, be in for a big surprise!
As Blueberry said, they often move newly hired teachers towards bush villages and fill Barrow slots from bush transfers. That isn't exactly a planned action, it's just a matter of bush teachers are already employees, and open slots are offered to them before any external recruiting is done. Standard practice just about everywhere, but the effect here is as stated.
As or the school district being underfunded... That is a problem throughout bush Alaska due to the way the state legislature works and the fact that nearly half the population lives in the basically urban oriented Anchorage bowl, has never been to the bush, and has not understanding of the bush. The schools funded by the Arctic Northwest Borough and the North Slope Borough are the only two exceptions.
The North Slope Borough School District is of course an exception because it can levy propterty taxes on Prudhoe Bay oil infrastructure.
A few odd facts: Fred Ipalook Elementary School in Barrow Alaska was the most expensive per square foot school ever built in the US. In 2003 the North Slope Borough School District spent $21,000 per student on education, of which 26% came from State or Federal monies. Compared to that, the Mat-Su district spent $6,900 per student, of which 75% came from State or Federal monies.
One thing that is clear, the NSB does not hesitate when it comes to the expenditure of money for educating our children.
And I might note also that a few years ago the State Legislature tried very hard to remove virtually all State money for the NSBSD with the stated intent of redirecting it to South Central Alaska. The only reason they could not make it fly was that to remain Constitutional they had to hit the entire bush area evenly, and no method was ever discovered that would allow them to drain the NSBSD without totally bankrupting the Lower Kuskokwim School District (Bethel and the surrounding villages).
I admire your desire to work with the youth wherever you go. In my experience, Bush children are starved for appropriate attention, so if you have the proper attitude, you'll probably be welcomed with open arms. The missionary activities of yesteryear aren't reflective of most church work that occurs today, but memories are long so some people will not have much respect for you or your work. Be patient and loving; the rest will come in time.
I understand about bad memories of missionaries. Part of my problem the Church is how poorly they handle things like that sometimes. To my understanding, the best way of ministering to people isn't to beat them over the head with the bible. If you love people, live well, are compassionate and open, generally just be a good person, you will make a lot more friends.
If we can get there, I'd like to think that I would be welcomed because I love to learn about people! I have so much respect for different cultures that I think people would pick up on that and appreciate it. At least, I hope so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueberry
However, you need to realize that most Bush communities cannot afford to pay a regular pastor, let alone a youth minister (despite their needs). More than likely, you'll have to raise your own support if you want to work with youth full-time.
Hey, I didn't plan on going into the youth min. gig because I'd be making fat stacks. :-P
I'm somewhat bothered by the attitude the two of you are displaying about her marketability. Teaching institutions seem to be spitting out new teachers with highly unrealistic expectations and overly inflated opinions of themselves. I touch on this in the post I linked. It seems most new teachers come to Bush Alaska with the attitude that they know it all; therefore, they are usually unwilling to listen to the advice of other teachers or the administration. Parental input is also unwelcome because the teacher is the "expert." Displaying such an attitude will not get anyone very far. (Obviously, I'm not sure if your fiancee fits this category, but I wanted to issue a big caution.)
I may have come off sounding a bit arrogant about her education. That is, in no way, my intent. She's just going by what the school tells her. She's very humble and has a passion for teaching kids. I read her your thread about teachers outloud and every other sentence she was reacting negatively to, as in, she was taking the things you were saying personally. I told her not to, lol. She understands and acknowledges all the points you made and agrees with you. She, like me, has a heart for teaching and loving kids. She just wants to do it with education, not God. Well, because of God, but not teaching them God. You know what I mean.
She especially has a heart for kids who can't get the quality of education that some other kids get because of the area they live in (think the Detroit ghettos) so I think she would be great in the Bush. Her passion alone would amaze people!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueberry
In my experience, school districts with a large community such as Barrow usually reserve vacancies in the large community (e.g., Barrow) for established teachers who want to transfer out of a smaller village. Most new teachers are required to pay their dues in one of the villages for a few years before being offered a position in the larger community. Floyd might know whether or not this is the practice in Barrow. YOU might want to move to Barrow; the school district might have other ideas.
Best wishes on your ambitions and upcoming marriage. Be still long enough to hear God's voice.
Bummer. :-(
Ah well, if we have to start lower and move to Barrow later, we'll just have to deal.
Thank you for your well-wishes. God bless you.
A & B
Floyd, good to hear that the State legislature couldn't make that plan fly. That would've been horribly wrong.
Sad to hear about funding problems up there; those kids deserve as good an education as everyone else.
I really hope my fiance could get plugged in somewhere, even if it wasn't in Barrow. From the sound of it, she would be in an environment that would help her learn a lot at the same time as being able to live out her passion: teaching kids.
Hey, I'm just going by what she tells me. Michigan is ranked third for teachers, or whatever, in the US, and the school we go to is at the top in Michigan for something to do with teachers. Don't ask me what. *shrugs*
She won't have any experience other than substituting, which I'm sure doesn't account for much. If they're anti-teacher now, hopefully they might change their tune in a few years.
When a bush district is hardup for teachers they will welcome out of state teachers with open arms BUT butbutbutbutbut your fiance is VASTLY overestimating the value of her degree here (and many other places, tell her to try to get a teaching job in CA for example, with a Michigan certification) Firstly, Alaska has its OWN university system, therefor most teachers IN Alaska, actually were educated here, and this of course holds much more water than being educated in Michigan or anywhere else. Secondly, if she has no experience, she is at a disadvantage, if she has no experience AND no certification, then she is at a weighted disadvantage. That isn't to say you can't get a job here, it just means she isn't anymore special than the nice teachers we have on this forum from places like Louisiana and Texas who also pop in to ask about bush teaching jobs. Nobody cares about the quality of her current university- they care about whether she is eligible for Alaska teachers certification. Thats really ALL a school district is concerned with- is she ELIGABLE by state law to teach.
Good luck with it all.
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