First Week In Metlakatla

Nate & I flew up to Alaska, checked out Ketchikan a bit and then flew over to Metlakatla. (The ferry doesn’t run to the island on Tues. & Wed.). We have a three bedroom house that is one block from the waterfront and one block from the school. It is a two block walk to the grocery store. We went sea kayaking and saw several Eagles, a seal, and lots of sea creatures. The water is so clear that we can see to the bottom. There are bright star fish, red and orange, and jellyfish the size of basketballs.

Nate had to go back to Durango to finish up his USFS contract and will be back up here next weekend. He has gotten a great job with the University of South East Alaska. He is the Adult Education Coordinator 20 hours a week. He gets benefits that include free tuition. Great news! He may also substitute teach. The school district is also interested in him for a computer specialist position. Nate will decide what he wants to do upon his arrival.

My first week of school went well. I have a class of 21 4th graders, 11 boys and 10 girls. They are a very vocal group and very excited about learning. We are doing a special unit on the Seven Continents since I have been to all of them and it will be an easy and fun unit to teach. We will switch continents every 6 weeks or so. If you have any photos or stories from any of your travels that you would like to share with my class, just email them to me and I will incorporate them into my lesson for that continent. We are also doing a unit on the United States; we will do a unit on every region by the end of the year.

Nate and I are both taking online classes at night as well and are super busy during this transition time. If we don’t get back to you right away, it is simply because we are busy!

We hope all is well with you all. We send our love. Nevada Jane