This past weekend was jam packed with activities in Shaktoolik. New teachers and returning Shaktoolik School staff participated in a cultural weekend at the school. The events kicked off with a couple of speeches and an Eskimo dancing demonstration by the students.
Saturday was spent taking a Structured English Immersion class. It was a 1.5 day class where we learned techniques for teaching English Language Learners. I have definitely made a lot of mental notes on future activities!
On Saturday night some students hosted a Cake Walk to raise money for a trip to Hawaii.
There were also breakout sessions where we heard native Alaskans talk about their experiences growing up, how things have changed, and why certain behaviors in the Alaskan culture exist. It was eye-opening to hear their viewpoint and get a new perspective on the culture.
On Saturday night there was a wedding reception in the gym, which we were all invited to. The reception started out with a buffet style dinner consisting of native foods: Eskimo salad (bowhead whale and seal muktuk, fish eggs), dried salmon, 2 types of prepared salmon, caribou, rice, ham, and raw veggies. For dessert there was cake, cooked berries, and Eski
mo ice cream (berries and seal oil).
Following dessert was an Eskimo dancing performance by the King Island Dancers. As the audience, we got to participate in
the invitational dance, which consisted of flinging our arms around in an attempt to imitate the dancers. We were an eyesore but it was still fun!
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