by Peter Twitchell
I’m thinking back in time to 1954 when Mom brought me to the log cabin building – the school in downtown Bethel which was located next to the Cowan Hut, across the street from the old green BIA school.
There I saw a number of teachers: Gladys Fancher and an older black woman who was a preschool teacher. I had been to Mrs. Fancher Sunday school class at the Moravian Church so I knew her and I was one of her pupils in preschool.
From that moment on the mission I was on involuntarily was attending classes daily for the next 15 years of my young life.
From Mrs. Fancher my next teacher the following year was Mrs. Kangas. I liked all of my teachers and I looked forward to going to school every day, that was my job. To go to school until I graduated from high school.
This was our life as we grew up and there was no hesitation but the desire to finish our education. There was never a choice between: I’m going to my classes or we’re sleeping in until 1 o’clock in the afternoon. I have heard so many stories of our children basically dropping out of school for their own selfish reasons in the 21st-century!
Students when I was growing up in the 50s were committed to school, that was a part of growing up. We had no say. Mom and Dad made sure we were fed in the morning, dressed warm, and walked to school each day.
I noticed a new generation of native children in their early teens attending a career school in Anchorage. I was never aware of this career academy in Anchorage until this past weekend.
It’s called Kusilvak Career Academy, and there were countless number of young men and women from everywhere imaginable in our great state.
I believe these kids in attendance are going to go far in life and have a good career. I was told that the Lower Yukon School District with their main office in Mountain Village, had young men and young women from a number of villages including Hooper Bay, Scammon Bay, Mountain Village, Alakanuk, Chevak, and other Yukon Villagers, Kuskokwim Region, and south western coast villagers. One individual I talked to mentioned that her daughter was studying to become a Registered Nurse.
I know these young men and women are happy to be training in the field where they can become helpers and professionals. It makes me so happy that these kids from Rural Alaska are setting a mark, a milestone, in their lives and that’s something, an accomplishment that they can be very proud of, and I commend them.
So, always encourage your children to go further in school and in their education. It is so positive, so necessary, and needed in our culture and our families. Thank you.
