Our Last Day (April 18th)

The Stebbins school was hosting a joint inservice with Shishmaref for half of Thursday and all of Friday, so Andrew and I didn't get as much time with the kiddos as we would have liked, but it was very interesting to sit in on the SIG, CHAMPS, and STEP meetings.  I am now, however, pretty sick of acronyms.  The Stebbins school has some really effective student incentive awards, such as "den dollars" that can be saved up and used to purchase laundry and shower tokens.  Also, they have a stellar set of hoodies available, as you can see modeled by Andrew and I in our photos.

 We were on one of Hageland's caravans flying between Stebbins and Unalakleet

The ice between Stebbins and Unalakleet has broken down significantly since our flight a week earlier 

It was an absolutely stunning flight leaving Stebbins.  The ice never ceased to be interesting - I had my camera out the entire flight.

 

Coming into Unalakleet.  At the airport we ran into Lynnae and Julie, fresh off the plane from Koyuk!  I took a picture of them but it turned out blurry so in order to keep them as friends I didn't post it.  Andrew took some pictures too though, so check out his blog!  I posted the link a few days ago...

Our Last Full Day

This is a pop can cookstove.  Drain the can, cut the can in half, cut the top out, ripple the the inside, pop it in the bottom half, pour in some Heet, and light it.  This will boil water, and is great in survival situations.

Fish camp about a mile from town 

Today we hiked up a bluff on the other side of town, looking for ptarmigan and lynx but finding none.  With town at my back in this picture, I am facing the direction of the fish camp found in an above picture.

The kindergarden room was hard to leave, 

mostly because I had 3-5 kids on my lap the whole time.  We spent a lot of time with the elementary students - they were so sweet and fun.

A Menagerie of Content

 The dump site is about a mile from town, on the other side of a hill.

The dump doubles as a shooting range, and Mr. Gillas the science teacher brought his .45 and 9mm pistols...

...Andrew shot both, I only shot the 9mm.

People in Stebbins generally do not have indoor plumbing, so they do their business in a honey bucket with a garbage bag.  When full, the garbage bag is tied up and tossed in a bin like a trash can.  The bin is then picked up, like pictured above, and taken to a site near the dump (pictured below).  In the center of the picture is what may look like dirty snow, but is actually trash bags full of "business".

Yield to oncoming traffic.  There are about ten working cars in Stebbins.

Science and nutrition teacher Mr. Gillas started tomato and pepper plants in August.  In a fish tank on the other side of the classroom, he is raising salmon (about two inches long right now).

 Today was pretty windy and carried a chill, but as always we got a splendid view, this time from the top of a hill on our walk.

Our day: class, hike, open gym, playground, bed. Tomorrow: replace "open gym" with Movie Night!

The kids here are a blast and we love them dearly.  I don't know if we are allowed to post pictures of the kids or not, so if you want to see how much fun Andrew and I are having with the students, go to Andrew's blog at: https://sites.google.com/a/alaska.edu/stebbins-ak/ 

We hiked up a bluff that overlooks Stebbins

Something ate a ptarmigan and this is what was left exactly as I found it.  Beautiful!

While we played basketball with them at open gym, the kids told us how they hunt crane, seal, ptarmigan, rabbit, beluga, and walrus.  A sixth grade boy showed us his seal hop.

Warm weather for a warm community

Another beautiful day in Stebbins

Tomcod caught ice fishing in the ocean

The girls put their catch in a shallow pool to keep the cod fresh

Our first evening in Stebbins

Breakup happens sooner in Unalakleet than Stebbins, creating a mosaic of ice floes (view from the plane)

Dinner and magic at the Stebbins' science teacher's house!  Science teachers make up the best meals and entertainment.  Andrew and Lon Gillas.  The video isn't streaming as planned so you don't get to see the best part yet, I will try to remedy that...

Volcanic sand makes a soft, course beach 

The ice is still solid here as far as the eyes can see

At the airport in Anchorage

Andrew's stuff is on the left, mine is on the right.  Our box of produce is in the center, containing apples, avocados, spinach, strawberries, and Nacho Cheese Doritos.

...a whopping 22lbs...

Our plane to Unalakleet: a Dehavilland Dash 8 Turboprop