Tuesday, April 17th was an exciting day at school. I was placed in the Yup'ik language classroom. The students in this town are no longer speaking Yup'ik at home as their first language, but students from K-12 have access to the language at school. The amount of time they are exposed to the language is not very extensive. For instance, the elementary grades are only in the Yup'ik classroom 25 minutes a day, once a week. The High School students are in the Yup'ik classroom 55 minutes each day of the week and a typical school day starts at 9:15 and ends at 3:30.

Back to my exciting first day of observations. During first period students were introduced to ten Yup'ik vocabulary words and afterwards they completed a word match worksheet. Here is the vocabulary list:

1. kumlaneq- frozen fish
2. up'nerkaq- spring
3. kiak-summer
4. kegginaq- face
5. iqluuq- she's lying
6. nepaituq- it's quiet
7. qenertuq- she's angry
8. qastuuq -she's loud
9. cikuliurun -ice pick
10. iniivik- clothesline

This vocabulary list was presented to two other classes and a different vocabulary list was given to another class. This list belongs to a first semester Yup'ik class. 

One of the unique aspects of the class was the presence of the community elders in the classroom. This was unique, because in the community there are 4-6 elders who are fluent Yup'ik speakers and their English proficiency was pretty minimal. I thought it was great to have elders in the classroom because they are able to provide any assistance that students might need with language and culture related questions. Even more impressive was the elders' involvement in the cultural contribution to the class. With the guidance of the elders, the students are able to create, build and make practical cultural artifacts. For example, I went into the shop room and students had made sleds for carrying wood, meat and anything else that needs transport. 

In a school where student attendance can be a problem and where students might find it difficult to make school the place to be or their number one priority, I think it helps to have the elders in the school. This has a positive impact on the students, because if their 60, 70, or 80 year old grandparent is getting up to go to school to teach cultural and linguistic information that is in the verge of dying, it means the students should also care enough to be there. Anyhow, this is a good program, because it makes the school be a much bigger part of the community.

I had a great time talking to the women while I was beading myself a necklace and a bracelet. After completing my beading work and getting teased by the ladies, I went to the shop to talk and work with the elders who mostly spoke Yup'ik. They spoke so much Yup'ik that when I went back to my apartment for my siesta, I dreamed I was talking and teaching Yup'ik. Talk about a wild dream. Anyhow, here is a picture of Nick Gumlickpuk, the second oldest member of the community (84 years old, the other grandpa is Peter and he is 85 years old). Peter on the right working on a pair of miniature snowshoes (Pupsugcetaaq).

After spending some time in the classroom and the shop, I had a delicious lunch of brown rice, beef nuggets, green-beans and apple sauce. It beats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches anytime. 

Well, this is it for now. I am going to go work on making myself an ulu.  

This is my first attempt = Fail