Hello everyone! This is my journey as a teacher in a rural village in Alaska. I arrived here in Gambell, Alaska on the first day of school. I know that sounds crazy, but believe me this was a whirlwind event. Last summer, I returned home from teaching in the United Arab Emirates and I moved to a small town in Rural Virginia. This was a quaint county with a definite small town feel. My husband and I both love the mountain views and the friendly people, but I found it tough to find a full time teaching position. I searched our county and all the surrounding areas, and still no contract. So after searching for over a year, I began looking into teaching elsewhere.
In 2007, I found a job working on the North Slope of Alaska. I began working at a small native village that was about 250 miles west of Barrow. I enjoyed the town, but due to my husband's health we had to leave the area before the end of the year. I have always said I would love to return to Alaska, so I applied at every district I could find. I knew that the time before school was to start was fast approaching and soon the districts would be anxious to find teachers to fill all of their positions. Well, that knowledge soon paid off when I was contacted on a Friday afternoon by a HR representative. After speaking with her on the telephone, we set of a Skype interview for later that day. I was pretty nervous but I did great! In fact she offered me the job teaching 4th graders in Gambell, Alaska.
The next day, Saturday, I received my contract and travel arraignments. I looked at my itinerary and I realized that my flight out was in TWO days! I would be flying out of Roanoke, Virginia on Monday morning! Wow, Monday was coming so quickly and I had a ton of things to do!
To be continued...
In 2007, I found a job working on the North Slope of Alaska. I began working at a small native village that was about 250 miles west of Barrow. I enjoyed the town, but due to my husband's health we had to leave the area before the end of the year. I have always said I would love to return to Alaska, so I applied at every district I could find. I knew that the time before school was to start was fast approaching and soon the districts would be anxious to find teachers to fill all of their positions. Well, that knowledge soon paid off when I was contacted on a Friday afternoon by a HR representative. After speaking with her on the telephone, we set of a Skype interview for later that day. I was pretty nervous but I did great! In fact she offered me the job teaching 4th graders in Gambell, Alaska.
The next day, Saturday, I received my contract and travel arraignments. I looked at my itinerary and I realized that my flight out was in TWO days! I would be flying out of Roanoke, Virginia on Monday morning! Wow, Monday was coming so quickly and I had a ton of things to do!
To be continued...
