Wrestling Fundrasier, Musical, and Dog Sledding

Good evening from Barrow, Alaska. It's currently 10:26pm and like always the sun is still high in the evening sky. Today, was a very eventful day. The student's performed their end of the year musical concert. In which, one of my students played a piano solo and another sang a solo. Both of them did an amazing job and it was awesome to see all of their hidden talents. Once school was over, all of the staff gathered in the gym for some end of the year activities. The activities/games we played were: Blind fold bean bag game, where you had to drop bean bags in a bucket while being blindfolded and a scavenger hunt. Of course my team beat Travis and Rachel's teams in the bean bag relay.... haha. I should also mention Rachel Anderson came to the elementary today and observed Travis and I and got a chance to interact with all of the students.

After school, the crew, along with Tony and Steve Gillespie, gathered at the middle school to prepare for the wrestling fundraiser. The fundraiser consisted of the Gustavus student teachers going along with a group of varsity wrestlers. The goal was to raise as much money as we could to help support their upcoming season. In order to raise the money, the team members went door to door asking for toilet paper donations. They would then go to the next house and ask if they would be willing to buy the toilet paper for a cash donation. The toilet paper was being bought for as much as 100 dollars, which is great to see when it's going to such a great cause. After walking door to door down the Barrow streets, everyone gathered at Northern Lights for a couple slices of pizzas. While eating, we also totaled up our total income, which ended up being around $1,200. Great Work Whaler Wrestling Team!!!

Yesterday, Travis and I had an opportunity of a life time. We went dog sledding with Geoff Carrol. He is an amazing individual and it was a pleasure to ride on his sled and hear all of his stories. When we arrived at his house, he was busy getting the sled ready for our adventure. Travis and I instantly helped him with anything he needed and before we knew it we were placing harnesses around each of the dogs and connecting them to the ropes. Once all of the dogs were strapped in and ready to go, we were ready to take of. The dog sledding adventure lasted for about two hours. During this time, Travis and I were able to listen to some of Geoff's stories, lead the dog sled team, and take in the beautiful weather and scenery. I loved listening to all of Geoff's amazing hunting stories and his story about going to the North Pole. Geoff is an amazing individual and I would love to sit down with him again. When we returned to Geoff's house, it was time to take the dogs out of their harnesses and get them chained up. Then each dog was given a frozen white fish to eat. Each fish weighed about 1 t0 2 pounds. The dogs must have been extremely hungry because most of them finished their personal fish in a few bites, bones and all. Both Travis and I had our favorite dogs on the team. Travis' favorite dog was a white husky named "Cookie" and mine was brown, black, and white husky that had an Inpiauq name which meant "Trouble." Fitting right? Overall, this was an awesome time and one that I will never forget!!! Truly AMAZING!!!!

What Does It Mean To Be Well-Educated?

1. Continue your education.
A well-educated teacher should continue to educate themselves on the latest findings and information. There is new findings and methods of teaching being discovered everyday. It's a teacher's job to continue educating themselves on those strategies and methods. If these means taking college classes or attending weekend seminars. Do what you can do to learn the new material being discovered.

2. Understanding the culture.
Know the culture in which you are teaching. Take time to learn the traditions of the culture and try to learn their language. This will benefit you in so many ways. It will help you when communicating with parents, elders, and community members. Also step out of our comfort zone when doing so. Don't be afraid to meet people and ask them questions about their culture. Elders and other community members are here to help you learn the culture and traditions. They can also serve as a great resource in your classroom when discussing the culture.

3. Get to know each of your students.
All students are different. Some learn faster then others and some look different than others. Take the time each and everyday to learn something new about each of your students. Learn from them. Also find out what each of your students are good at (talents). Then apply what the students are good at into your lessons. Set the students up for success and make sure to incorporate all of them in your lessons. Everyone learns at a different pace and in a different way. It's a teachers job to figure out what the students are good at and show them that they can be successful. Demonstrate to the students that they will be using this material in the future. Relate the material to the students goals, culture, and show it's importance.

4. Positive Role Model.
Understand that you are the student's teacher, but more importantly you are their role model. Act with class where ever you go and make sure you take care of yourself. Your students look up to you and will follow your lead if you like it or not. Be responsible and respectful!!

5. Get to know all of the faculty members.
In order for a school to be successful all ends have to meet. A school can only be as strong as it's weakest link. Get to know everyone in the school from the nurse to the preschool teacher. Everyone serves an important role within the school and it's very important that you show your appreciation.

Peace, Love, and Whaling; Get After It; It's a Beautiful Thing,

Captain Justin Robert Helget